Draft season is where your team can be put on the right track for winning a championship and hitting on the wideouts that you add can be a key piece of that puzzle.
Between massive offseason trades shifting team target shares, dynamic second-year wideouts stepping into larger roles, and a wave of intriguing rookies entering into the league, sticking purely to ADP consensus is a dramatic mistake in 2026.
If you want to build a dominant roster, you can’t just react to where players are being drafted – you have to plant your flag on the wide receivers who could leave their ADP in the dust when it’s all said and done. Let’s dive in to my favorite wideouts this season who could do just that.
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The Best WRs To Draft In Fantasy Football
AJ Brown, New England Patriots
It seems to me as though the general public has completely forgotten just how talented of a WR AJ Brown actually is after spending time in Philadelphia.
Despite dealing with Jalen Hurts’ shortcomings as a passer, which he does have plenty, Brown continued to put up very solid production over the past little bit as a member of the Eagles.
With a role that was primarily boundary routes and jump balls down the field, Brown eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons even though he did not play all 17 games each year.
He averaged an impressive 16.1 yards per reception in 2024, but that number came down to 12.9 in 2025 as his role changed slightly. And he finished with seven touchdowns in each of those seasons.
Now, he hit the upgrade button in a massive way this offseason being traded from Philly to New England, where he’ll now get to catch passes from Drake Maye. Additionally, he’s reunited with his former head coach from Tennessee that gave him a very fantasy-friendly role and led to some absurd production.
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We should see Brown used as the focal point of this offense and there’s a very strong chance that he sees the highest target totals of his career this season, which would be more than the 158 he had with the Eagles back in 2023.
Maye is lightyears ahead of Hurts as a passer and Josh McDaniels is going to scheme up touches for Brown in a way that very few offensive minds in the league can.
Yes, we need to be slightly worried that Brown’s age will start catching up with him, but that’s more of a conversation for dynasty fantasy football. In redraft leagues, he should go off the board as a top-8 WR and be a key contributor this year.
Luther Burden, Chicago Bears
If you’ve been following my work on the website this year – or in the free Substack newsletter – you know that I’ve talked plenty about Luther Burden and the jump I think he’s about to make in Chicago this season.
There are plenty of statistics we can point to from an efficiency standpoint to signal that Burden is ready to break out in a big way this year.
For example, last season, Burden ranked ninth in the NFL last season in terms of Yards Per Target with 10.9.
He didn’t finish with an exorbitant amount of targets or yards, but he showcased that if he does get a larger role, he’d be ready to produce in it. Add in his yards after the catch ability, Burden could be ready to produce in a monstrous way for an offense that should take another step forward in year two under Ben Johnson.
With DJ Moore also out of the picture via trade to Buffalo this offseason, the target tree has narrowed to just Burden, Rome Odunze, and Colston Loveland as key players. That makes projecting this offense a lot easier.
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Yes, he’s currently dealing with a groin injury, but that is not expected to sideline him into the season and he should be out there Week 1. This time on the injury report should keep his ADP suppressed though, which bodes well for smarter fantasy managers who will scoop him up at a discount.
Jaylen Waddle, Denver Broncos
The more that the offseason has rolled along, the more I’ve warmed up to the idea of drafting Jaylen Waddle in fantasy football this year.
The Denver Broncos clearly have tried to piece this offense together over the past couple of seasons by making Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims, etc. play roles that they’re simply…fine at, versus it being a strength of the offense.
Sean Payton loves to utilize the short passing game and lean on players’ run after the catch ability to act as an extension of the run game.
Screens, jet passes, slants, quick ins, etc. are all key facets of his passing scheme and he hasn’t had a player that was able to fully thrive in this role up to this point.
Enter Waddle this offseason via trade that saw Denver send a first, third, and fourth round pick to the Miami Dolphins to be the solution to Payton’s problems.
This means that we should easily see Waddle enter into the lead role for this WR room and handle the majority of the short-yardage targets. And while for other WRs that’s not necessarily going to lead to a super productive role for fantasy, Waddle’s YAC ability can absolutely convert those opportunities into solid points.
The best part is that he’s going off the board as the WR23 in the latest Consensus ADP. If the volume ends up being even more than we’re projecting or anticipating, Waddle has top 12 WR upside this season.
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Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars
There’s been plenty of debate this offseason as to who will be the WR1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brian Thomas Jr. Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and even Travis Hunter all have pathways to how they could emerge in a big way for this potent offense.
My strong stance is – and has been all offseason – that Washington is the player to roster from a fantasy standpoint. He showed last season that he has incredible chemistry with QB Trevor Lawrence and his talent level was on full display in multiple moments.
For example, Washington finished with the most Yards After Catch Over Expected in a single game this last season with 70 in Week 16 against the Denver Broncos. His yards after the catch ability is a true threat and he’s growing as a route runner each and every season.
Thomas Jr. is expected to play the X-receiver role in this offense, which will have spike weeks, but will come with a lot of volatility from a fantasy standpoint. Washington should be the player that’s consistently seeing 8-10 targets a week and he’s being criminally undervalued in fantasy drafts right now. Target him wherever you can.
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Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers
I’ve been a fan of Jayden Reed’s this offseason, particularly his low ADP, but seeing how this offense looked in the first week of the preseason has me even more optimistic for the former Michigan State product going into 2026.
The majority of the NFL is moving towards heavy 12-personnel looks (one RB on the field, two TEs), which leaves plenty of slot wideouts on the outside looking in on snaps.
However, Green Bay – by all appearances seem to be keen on zigging while the rest of the league zags. This means that we’re going to see plenty of three-WR sets and Reed’s going to be a key focal point of the passing attack over the middle of the field.
Last season was not ideal for Reed, but we need to remember just how talented of a player he is when he’s on the field. Before suffering collarbone and foot injuries in Week 2 last year, Reed had a combined 14 touchdowns over his first two seasons in the NFL.
And that was with a constant rotation of players at the WR position that limited his overall snap opportunities. Now, heading into 2026, the pathway is wide open.
Christian Watson will be the Z-receiver, which will move all over the formation and get free releases off the line of scrimmage with motion, etc. Meanwhile, Matthew Golden is going to primarily play X-receiver and work the intermediate to deep levels of the field.
This frees Reed up to operate underneath in the schemed touch and shallow passing game, which is where he excels. Adding in the fact that TE Tucker Kraft isn’t going to be up to full speed to begin the year and Reed could see an immense amount of targets right out of the gate.
If this team leans into more of a passing-dominated attack with the question marks surrounding Josh Jacobs and his off-the-field situation, Reed’s going to smash his ADP.
