by Will Overton

We’ve made it to week 13 and the playoffs are looming large, maybe even as soon as next week. The wide receiver position came through last week largely unscathed by injuries so there are still a lot of strong options to consider and a lot of tough decision to be made. Hopefully my breakdown of the Top 50 will help:

1. DeAndre Hopkins – Houston Texans @ Buffalo
2. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay
3. Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis
4. Odell Bekcham Jr – New York Giants vs. NY Jets
5. Brandon Marshall – New York Jets @ NY Giants
6. Allen Robinson – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee
7. Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay
8. Alshon Jeffrey – Chicago Bears vs. San Francisco
9. Mike Evans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta
10. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland
11. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis
12. Jarvis Landry – Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore
13. Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos @ San Diego
14. T.Y. Hilton – Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh
15. Randall Cobb – Green Bay Packers @ Detroit
16. Amari Cooper – Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City
17. Eric Decker – New York Jets @ NY Giants
18. Martavis Bryant – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis
19. Dez Bryant – Dallas Cowboys @ Washington
20. Jeremy Maclin – Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland
21. Emmanuel Sanders – Denver Broncos @ San Diego
22. Michael Crabtree – Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City
23. Kamar Aiken – Baltimore Ravens @ Miami
24. Travis Benjamin – Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati
25. Sammy Watkins – Buffalo Bills  vs. Houston
26. Desean Jackson – Washington Redskins vs. Dallas
27. Anquan Boldin – San Francisco 49ers @ Chicago
28. Donte Moncrief – Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh
29. Danny Amendola – New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia
30. Brandin Cooks – New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina
31. Allen Hurns – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee
32. Jordan Matthews – Philadelphia Eagles @ New England
33. Brandon LaFell – New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia
34. Vincent Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta
35. DaVante Adams – Green Bay Packers @ Detroit
36. Stefon Diggs – Minnesota Vikings vs. Seattle
37. Stevie Johnson – San Diego Chargers vs. Denver
38. John Brown – Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis
39. Golden Tate – Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay
40. James Jones – Green Bay Packers @ Detroit
41. Marvin Jones – Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland
42. Doug Baldwin – Seattle Seahawks @ Minnesota
43. Tavon Austin – St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona
44. Devin Funchess – Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans
45. Pierre Garcon – Washington Redskins vs. Dallas
46. Kendall Wright – Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville
47. Reuben Randle – New York Giants vs. NY Jets
48. Ted Ginn – Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans
49. DeVante Parker – Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore
50. Cecil Shorts – Houston Texans @ Buffalo

Thoughts:

• Last week was a nice breakout performance from A.J. Green after three straight weeks being held in single digits for fantasy points. He has been consistent this season in that he’ll get you 6–8 points every week and doesn’t need to find the end zone to produce them. However the big games are kind of hit or miss, which keeps him as a fringe Top 10 option who you would never think of benching, but if you’re down 12 points and counting on him to get it you’re sweating.
• Even with a strong matchup against Washington I can’t rank Dez Bryant any higher on this list, and in fact I might still be too high. He has one big game out of five since coming back from injury and one other game he salvaged with a TD score. You almost wonder if he’s really 100% healthy, but even if he is now that Tony Romo is hurt and Matt “Checkdown” Cassel is back under center Bryant’s value takes a hit. The talent is too strong to put him below WR2 range, but he’s not completely above benching depending on what you have.
• There is a temptation to bump Sammy Watkins further up this list based on the kind of game he had last week. The problem is he’s all or nothing. Watkins has some really big games, but he has some absolute duds too. The Texans defense has shown a lot of improvement lately so I am more apt to roll with someone I feel is a little bit safer (even if it means risking the upside).
• I assume I am probably a little bit higher on Anquan Boldin than most are, but he’s been clicking well with Blaine Gabbert the last two weeks (even against a tough Seattle Seahawks defense). If you take out the two weeks in which Boldin was injured he’s had at least 90 yards or more receiving in four of five games. Now he gets a favorable matchup with the Chicago Bears and he easily could make it five out of six games with 90+ yards.
• At this point the two defenses that give me the most pause when it comes to receivers is the Broncos and Panthers, which means this week I don’t know that any Chargers or Saints receivers are must starts. The guy from those teams I have ranked the highest is Brandin Cooks. Recently he has been riding a bit of a hot streak, but Josh Norman is one of the scariest shutdown corners in the league and I think Cooks is going to find the going a bit rough i(like Dez Bryant did last week). Cooks still comes in as a lower end WR3/FLEX play, but he’s far from a must start.
• Earlier this week I touted Doug Baldwin as my favorite add from the waiver wire among wide receivers. I gave him that title because he’s clearly started to separate himself from the pack of receivers as Russell Wilson’s go to guy. Still, despite my growing admiration he doesn’t make much of a jump in these rankings because of the tough matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Baldwin is still likely to lead the Seahawks in targets, but I think Seattle leans more on Thomas Rawls and the run game this week then last week.
• If you’re looking for a sneaky pickup and play your guy might be Devin Funchess. The New Orleans Saints can’t seem to be able to stop anyone on defense and I assume Carolina will keep that trend going. Funches has shown glimmers of potential here and there, but nothing consistent enough to make this not a risky play. Still, there is a lot of potential reward given how bad the Saints are. You could roll with Ted Ginn too in this matchup, but I think Funchess is actually the guy more likely to find the end zone.

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Make sure to check out all of our Week 13 rankings: