Week 2 WR Rankings

I waited until after the Thursday Night game was complete to publish these, and after seeing the game, I think I was completely justified in doing so.  We all know no player in the Jets receiving corp was worth a Top 50 ranking.  If you own Jets receivers anyway, you're probably already hitting the panic button your season.  I would have ranked Patriots WR Julian Edelman as a Top 20 play because he was frankly the only WR who had a little bit of Tom Brady's trust and could consistently catch the ball after running the correct route.  Aaron Dobson made a little noise with his first career TD, but the WR group became the big story in this game with their terrible route running and inability to hold on to passes.  Thus, every WR proved to be no better than a Top 35 play, including Edelman, who lit it up in PPR formats, but left owners in standard formats with less than 10 points and a sorry score heading into Sunday's action.  Here the rest of the WRs heading into Sunday/Monday's games.  As always, play the highest receiver in the case of a sit/start issue:

1) Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay
2) Demaryius Thomas, Denver
3) Brandon Marshall, Chicago
4) Calvin Johnson, Detroit
5) AJ Green, Cincinnati
6) Steve Smith, Carolina
7) Julio Jones, Atlanta
8) Larry Fitgerald, Arizona
9) Randall Cobb, Green Bay
10) Andre Johnson, Houston
11) Victor Cruz, NY Giants
12) Wes Welker, Denver
13) Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis
14) Pierre Garcon, Washington
15) Roddy White, Atlanta
16) Dez Bryant, Dallas
17) Marques Colston, New Orleans
18) Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City
19) Jordy Nelson, Green Bay
20) Hakeem Nicks, NY Giants
21) Torrey Smith, Baltimore
22) Cecil Shorts, Jacksonville
23) Anquan Boldin, San Francisco
24) DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia
25) Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh
26) Mike Williams, Tampa Bay
27) Miles Austin, Dallas
28) James Jones, Green Bay
29) Stevie Johnson, Buffalo
30) Rueben Randle, NY Giants
31) Eric Decker, Denver
32) Lance Moore, New Orleans
33) Chris Givens, St. Louis
34) Mike Wallace, Miami
35) Brian Hartline, Miami
36) TY Hilton, Indianapolis
37) Malcom Floyd, San Diego
38) Emmanuel Sanders, Pittsburgh
39) Golden Tate, Seattle
40) Denarius Moore, Oakland
41) Sidney Rice, Seattle
42) Michael Floyd, Arizona
43) Andre Roberts, Arizona
44) Tavon Austin, St. Louis
45) Kenny Britt, Tennessee
46) Vincent Brown, San Diego
47) Donnie Avery, Kansas City
48) Marlon Brown, Baltimore
49) Greg Little, Cleveland
50) DeAndre Hopkins, Houston

Vincent Jackson comes in at #1 this week because he is the type of WR that torches secondaries like New Orleans.  In 2 matchups with the Saints last year, Jackson went off for 13 catches, 297 yards and a TD, including a 216 yard performance in Tampa.  I like him to continue seeing targets early on this season before he eventually fades away into the middle of the WR pack come Week 8 or so.

Calvin Johnson coming in at #4 isn't so much about Calvin himself, but about the 2 players just ahead of him and the matchups they face.  Demaryius Thomas gets the sieve that is the Giants secondary and Brandon Marshall plays the Vikings, one of the few teams Jay Cutler has absolutely torched in his tenure with the Bears.  Calvin draws a 1 on 1 with top corner Patrick Peterson and while Megatron is usually impervious to matchups, I see a less thunderous Sunday afternoon for him in Detroit's newly found balance on offense.

Steve Smith jumps up into the Top 10 this week with Carolina coming off a defensive struggle last week and the promise of the Panthers' offense looking to push the ball downfield.  I like his chances against a depleted Bills defensive backfield.

A few Questionable tags plague my Top 15, so keep your eyes peeled on these situations, although I expect all 3 of these names to play and play well: Julio Jones, Larry Fitzgerald and Roddy White.  If for some reason any of these guys aren't able to suit up for Sunday action, slide the WRs below them (especially Fitzgerald's teammates Floyd and Roberts) into playable status.  If Julio and Roddy both can't go, I'm not starting any of the Falcon wideouts behind them on the depth chart, so expect them each to go.

Cecil Shorts is at 22 because Chad Henne is quarterbacking the Jags on Sunday and they draw the Raiders.  I at least like to believe Henne is a more serviceable QB then Blaine Gabbert and will give Shorts a chance to put up some decent stats.

I have James Jones at 28 because the names above him are ridiculously deep, but I like him to see a lot more action against Washington's pitiful DBs.  He got zero targets in San Fran last week and Aaron Rodgers will change that this week.

Follow me on Twitter @BernacK6 and let's debate these rankings and get your Sit/Starts answered before game time.