2021 Top Wide Receivers
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The 2022 NFL Draft is complete, the 2022 NFL Schedule (thoughts on the 2022 NFL Schedule) has been released! The fantasy football community is eager to start the upcoming 2022 Fantasy Football Season! Before that happens, I want to give a look at the Wide Receivers and some key stats for the position from the 2021 Fantasy Football Season. I think it may be helpful as we look forward towards our Wide Receivers of preference in 2022. Especially if we can compare previous years to see any trends.
Keep in mind a players Ability, Availability, Opportunity, Consistency, Advantage/Upside and Matchup. Feel free to review our position leaders in Targets and Touchdowns for the 2021 Fantasy Football Season as they are players that were most likely a top player at their position last year. I believe both statistics are helpful in finding opportunity for Fantasy Football production!
2021 Top Wide Receiver – Targets
| Player | Team | Receptions | Yards | Total TDs | Targets | Games Played | Targets/Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Kupp | LA | 145 | 1,947 | 16 | 191 | 17 | 11.24 |
| Davante Adams | GB | 123 | 1,553 | 11 | 169 | 16 | 10.56 |
| Diontae Johnson | PIT | 107 | 1,161 | 8 | 169 | 16 | 10.56 |
| Justin Jefferson | MIN | 108 | 1,616 | 10 | 167 | 17 | 9.82 |
| Stefon Diggs | BUF | 103 | 1,225 | 10 | 164 | 17 | 9.65 |
| D.J. Moore | CAR | 93 | 1,157 | 4 | 163 | 17 | 9.59 |
| Tyreek Hill | KC | 111 | 1,239 | 9 | 159 | 17 | 9.35 |
| Keenan Allen | LAC | 106 | 1,138 | 6 | 157 | 16 | 9.81 |
| Marquise Brown | BAL | 91 | 1,008 | 6 | 145 | 16 | 9.06 |
| Darnell Mooney | CHI | 81 | 1,055 | 4 | 140 | 17 | 8.24 |
| Jaylen Waddle | MIA | 104 | 1,015 | 6 | 140 | 16 | 8.75 |
| Brandin Cooks | HOU | 90 | 1,037 | 6 | 134 | 16 | 8.38 |
| Terry McLaurin | WAS | 77 | 1,053 | 5 | 130 | 17 | 7.65 |
| D.K. Metcalf | SEA | 75 | 967 | 12 | 129 | 17 | 7.59 |
| Michael Pittman | IND | 88 | 1,082 | 6 | 129 | 17 | 7.59 |
| Mike Williams | LAC | 76 | 1,146 | 9 | 129 | 16 | 8.06 |
| Ja'Marr Chase | CIN | 81 | 1,455 | 13 | 128 | 17 | 7.53 |
| Hunter Renfrow | LV | 103 | 1,038 | 9 | 128 | 17 | 7.53 |
| Chris Godwin | TB | 98 | 1,103 | 5 | 127 | 14 | 9.07 |
| Jakobi Meyers | NE | 83 | 866 | 2 | 126 | 17 | 7.41 |
| Deebo Samuel | SF | 77 | 1,405 | 6 | 121 | 16 | 7.56 |
| Marvin Jones | JAX | 73 | 832 | 4 | 120 | 17 | 7.06 |
| CeeDee Lamb | DAL | 79 | 1,102 | 6 | 120 | 16 | 7.50 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | 90 | 912 | 5 | 119 | 17 | 7.00 |
| Mike Evans | TB | 74 | 1,035 | 14 | 114 | 16 | 7.13 |
Above are your Top 25 Wide Receivers in Targets for the 2021 NFL Season. If you can find a Wide Receiver that has some rushing yards along with their receiving yards, it just feels like sneaky additional yardage. At the very least it gives that player a slight edge with opportunity! Referencing some history with this Targets category Targets WR – 2019 Regular Season and 2021 Wide Receivers give an idea of what we anticipated going into previous seasons.
2021 Top Wide Receiver – Touchdowns
Using the above yearly Touchdowns rankings I was looking from one year to the next to see how many of the previous years wide receivers made the following year list. As you follow the colors (Grey – 2015, Green – 2016, Red – 2017, Blue – 2018, Grey – 2019 and Electric Blue 2020) it helps to pick out who stayed on the list from the previous year. In 2016, 5 wide receivers from 2015 made it. In 2017, 6 wide receivers from 2016 made the Top 20 list. While in 2018, 7 wide receivers from 2017 made it. For 2019, 10 wide receivers from 2018 made the Top 20 list. In 2020, 10 wide receivers from 2019 made the list and they were joined by 5 rookie Wide Receivers (noted with the yellow block beside their name)! In 2021, 12 wide receivers from 2020 made the list.
Referencing some history with the Touchdowns category Wide Receiver TDs – 2020 Outlook and 2021 Wide Receivers gives you some look at what we anticipated going into previous seasons.
2021 Top Wide Receiver – Receiving
| Player | Targets | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Rushing Yards | Total Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Kupp | 191 | 145 | 1,947 | 18 | 1,965 |
| Justin Jefferson | 167 | 108 | 1,616 | 14 | 1,630 |
| Davante Adams | 169 | 123 | 1,553 | 0 | 1,553 |
| Ja'Marr Chase | 128 | 81 | 1,455 | 21 | 1,476 |
| Deebo Samuel | 121 | 77 | 1,405 | 365 | 1,770 |
| Tyreek Hill | 159 | 111 | 1,239 | 96 | 1,335 |
| Stefon Diggs | 164 | 103 | 1,225 | 0 | 1,225 |
| Tyler Lockett | 107 | 73 | 1,175 | 9 | 1,184 |
| Diontae Johnson | 169 | 107 | 1,161 | 53 | 1,214 |
| D.J. Moore | 163 | 93 | 1,157 | 48 | 1,205 |
| Mike Williams | 129 | 76 | 1,146 | 0 | 1,146 |
| Keenan Allen | 157 | 106 | 1,138 | 0 | 1,138 |
| Chris Godwin | 127 | 98 | 1,103 | 21 | 1,124 |
| CeeDee Lamb | 120 | 79 | 1,102 | 76 | 1,178 |
| Tee Higgins | 110 | 74 | 1,091 | 0 | 1,091 |
| Michael Pittman | 129 | 88 | 1,082 | 44 | 1,126 |
| Darnell Mooney | 140 | 81 | 1,055 | 32 | 1,087 |
| Terry McLaurin | 130 | 77 | 1,053 | 12 | 1,065 |
| Hunter Renfrow | 128 | 103 | 1,038 | 3 | 1,041 |
| Brandin Cooks | 134 | 90 | 1,037 | 21 | 1,058 |
| Mike Evans | 114 | 74 | 1,035 | 10 | 1,045 |
| Jaylen Waddle | 140 | 104 | 1015 | 3 | 1,018 |
| Marquise Brown | 145 | 91 | 1008 | 5 | 1,013 |
| Christian Kirk | 103 | 77 | 982 | 11 | 993 |
| D.K. Metcalf | 129 | 75 | 967 | 6 | 973 |
The chart above is nice because so often we hear about the Receiving Leaders at the Wide Receiver position. Since over the years more often than not, the Wide Receivers just caught the football. That is certainly something to keep in mind but not the only thing. Depending on the type of league you have, carries and rushing yards could be very beneficial. Deebo Samuel and Tyreek Hill both added over 95 yards rushing to their yearly totals last year. These stats may not always be seen looking at Receiving Leaders each year at the Wide Receiver position.
The chart can be re-sorted by category to help you see of the Top 25 Receiving Leaders in 2021, who had other opportunities in the rushing game as well. Those Wide Receivers may turn out to be a little more helpful for you depending on your league and settings. I am certainly a fan of players at positions that do a little bit more (ie. Running Backs that get a few more Receptions, Wide Receivers who get a few more Rushing Yards and Quarterbacks who can get a few more Rushing Yards) throughout the year as they may be valued more in your league. They are not as obvious, but areas to be aware of when going into your 2022 Drafts. Referencing some history with Rushing Yards, 2021 Wide Receivers gives an idea of what we anticipated going into last season.
2021 Top Wide Receivers Final Thoughts
The 2022 Fantasy Football Season is getting closer as the summer goes along. Much will happen from now until the start of the season. Be flexible and look for the value when drafting your Wide Receivers this year. Most value will come from Targets, Touchdowns and Yards that a Wide Receiver can accumulate through the course of the season. If you have the opportunity to draft a Wide Receiver that has a receiving floor with some rushing upside, I think you would be smart to make that selection.
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Find players that will have: Ability – Availability – Opportunity – Consistency – Advantage/Upside – Matchup
If your players are on an offensive team that can get many Targets and Touchdowns, you know I would be interested in them! Statistics courtesy of The Football Database, a great resource for your NFL players statistics. If you enjoyed the article, please share it with others (via the social media links).
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I hope everyone continues to stay safe and healthy! Enjoy the journey throughout the 2022 Fantasy Football Season!
