by Will Overton

Before the season it seems so clear cut, Calvin Johnson would always be your number one and Larry Fitzgerald would be right behind him. Halfway through the season it’s not that clear cut anymore. Guys like A.J. Green and Victor Cruz are leading all receivers in points and the rankings are in flux week to week.

For week 9 here is how I see the top 50 shaking out:

1. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Denver
2. Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions – at Jacksonville
3. Brandon Marshall – Chicago Bears – at Tennessee
4. Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos – at Cincinnati
5. Marques Colston – New Orleans Saints – vs. Philadelphia
6. Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts – vs.  Miami
7. Victor Cruz – New York Giants – vs. Piitsburgh
8. Steve Smith – Carolina Panthers – at Washington
9. Mike Wallace – Pittsburgh Steelers – at New York Giants
10. Vincent Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Oakland
11. Andre Johnson – Houston Texans – vs. Buffalo
12. Percy Harvin – Minnesota Vikings – at Seattle
13. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Dallas
14. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals – at Green Bay
15. Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Dallas
16. Jordy Nelson – Green Bay Packers – vs. Arizona
17. Eric Decker – Denver Broncos – at Cincinnati
18. Jeremy Maclin – Philadelphia Eagles – at New Orleans
19. Denarius Moore – Oakland Raiders – vs. Tampa Bay
20. Dez Bryant – Dallas Cowboys – at Atlanta
21. Torrey Smith – Baltimore Ravens – at Cleveland
22. Miles Austin – Dallas Cowboys – at Atlanta
23. Mike Williams – Tampa Bay – at Oakland
24. Hakeem Nicks – New York Giants – vs. Pittsburgh
25. Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers – at New York Giants
26. Desean Jackson – Philadelphia Eagles – at New Orleans
27. Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs – at San Diego
28. Titus Young – Detroit Lions – at Jacksonville
29. Randall Cobb – Green Bay Packers – vs. Arizona
30. Malcolm Floyd – San Diego Chargers – vs. Kansas City
31. Lance Moore – New Orleans Saints – vs. Philadelphia
32. Steve Johnson – Buffalo Bills – at Houston
33. Kenny Britt – Tennessee Titans – vs. Chicago
34. Andre Roberts – Arizona Cardinals – at Green Bay
35. James Jones – Green Bay Packers – vs. Arizona
36. Sidney Rice – Seattle Seahawks – vs. Minnesota
37. Cecil Shorts – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Detroit
38. Santana Moss – Washington Redskins – vs. Carolina
39. Brandon LaFell – Carolina Panthers – at Washington
40. Brian Hartline – Miami Dolphins – at Indianapolis
41. Josh Gordon – Cleveland Browns – vs. Baltimore
42. Anquan Boldin – Baltimore Raves – at Cleveland
43. Kendall Wright – Tennessee Titans – vs. Chicago
44. Darrius Heyward Bey – Oakland Raiders – vs. Tampa Bay
45. Earl Bennett – Chicago Bears – at Tennessee
46. Justin Blackmon – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Detroit
47. Donnie Avery – Indianapolis Colts vs. Miami
48. Michael Jenkins – Minnesota Vikings – at Seattle
49. Kevin Walters – Houston Texans vs. Buffalo
50. Golden Tate – Seattle Seahawks – vs. Minnesota

Thoughts:

• So far this season A.J. Green has averaged almost two more fantasy points per game than any other receiver in football. Denver’s secondary is good, and getting better, but they’re not great and Green is due to get some respect. I’m going to give him a pass for that game against Pittsburgh and count on at least one TD for the 7^th game in a row this week.
• Speaking of struggling against Pittsburgh, there is a reason I ranked Victor Cruz number seven. Cruz is coming off a down week, he’s a little banged up with a calf injury and he’s about to face the best secondary in all of football. Obviously when you’re talking about the top 10 – 15 guys they’re going to start no matter what, but I wouldn’t count a big game from Cruz as a lock this week.
• You’d like a bit more consistency from Vincent Jackson before claiming him a surefire top ten, but this matchup with Oakland is a favorable one. While the Raiders secondary is better this season, they’re still vulnerable and Jackson knows the team and it’s personnel quite well from his days in San Diego.
• I want to rank Percy Harvin higher than this, I really do, but I’m just not sure about this one. Harvin is banged up, Christian Ponder seems to have regressed a little the last two games, and Seattle’s secondary is actually quite good. I anticipate that he’ll have a decent game, as he doesn’t have many bad ones, but I don’t expect a great game.
• Others are higher on Denarius Moore than I am, and I can’t blame them, especially this week with a great matchup against Tampa Bay. I need to see a little more from him before I go higher than this ranking though. Moore has shown a knack for finding the end zone, three games in a row, but I’d like to see a few more
• If the Eagles passing attack can’t bust loose this week than I completely and totally give up on them ever doing it. The Saints secondary have been a fantasy football player’s dream matchup for receivers this season and even Michael Vick should be able to exploit them to help Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson put up some good points.
• Last week was the coming out party of Titus Young we had all been hoping and waiting for. Congratulations to the owners patient enough to hang on to him after early struggles. He’s listed as questionable right now,  but assuming he plays I expect another very solid week. Matthew Stafford looked more like his old self last week and that can only mean big things for the Lions receiver corp.
• What a mystery Kenny Britt has become this season. It seems as if he is still now at 100% in terms of his health and you kind of hope that’s the case considering how lackluster his recent performances have been. Pair the struggles with a matchup against Chicago and he’s not a must start this week by any means.
• There have been ups and downs this season so far for Brandon LaFell, but this seems like a good time to own and play him. Over the last two weeks LaFell has combined to score 19 fantasy points. Now this week he’s set to take on the woeful Redskins secondary who are allowing more passing yards that just about anyone. LaFell isn’t a bad number three receiver option this week, or at least a flex play.