Week 5 Rankings (2020): Top 50 Wide Receivers

by Will Overton

Unfortunately, we jumped the gun on bye weeks a bit in week four, but we’ve now reached the official start of bye week season where we have to go a little further down the list to find our guys. Here is my take on the top 50 at wide receiver for week number five:

1. DeAndre Hopkins – Arizona Cardinals @ NY Jets  
2. Tyreek Hill – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Las Vegas 
3. Amari Cooper – Dallas Cowboys vs. NY Giants 
4. D.K. Metcalf – Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota  
5. Adam Thielen – Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle 
6. Allen Robinson – Chicago Bears vs. Tampa Bay  
7. Calvin Ridley – Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina  
8. Stefon Diggs – Buffalo Bills @ Tennessee  
9. Tyler Lockett – Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota  
10. Michael Thomas – New Orleans Saints vs. LA Chargers 
11. Terry McLaurin – Washington Football vs. LA Rams  
12. D.J. Moore – Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta  
13. D.J. Chark Jr – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston 
14. Cooper Kupp – Los Angeles Rams @ Washington 
15. Keenan Allen – Los Angeles Chargers @ New Orleans 
16. Odell Beckham Jr – Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis 
17. Will Fuller – Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville 
18. Mike Evans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Chicago   
19. JuJu Smith-Schuster – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Philadelphia 
20. CeeDee Lamb – Dallas Cowboys vs. NY Giants 
21. Robert Woods – Los Angeles Rams @ Washington 
22. Marquise Brown – Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati  
23. Davante Parker – Miami Dolphins @ San Francisco 
24. Robby Anderson – Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta  
25. TY Hilton – Indianapolis Colts @ Cleveland 
26. A.J. Brown – Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo 
27. Tyler Boyd – Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore  
28. Michael Gallup – Dallas Cowboys vs. NY Giants  
29. Justin Jefferson – Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle 
30. Diontae Johnson – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Philadelphia  
31. Jamison Crowder – New York Jets vs. Arizona 
32. Darius Slayton – New York Giants @ Dallas 
33. John Brown – Buffalo Bills @ Tennessee  
34. Julian Edelman – New England Patriots vs. Denver 
35. Jarvis Landry – Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis 
36. Brandin Cooks – Houston Texans vs. Minnesota 
37. Emmanuel Sanders – New Orleans Saints vs. LA Chargers 
38. Tee Higgins – Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore 
39. Russell Gage – Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina 
40. Jerry Jeudy – Denver Broncos @ New England  
41. Leviska Shenault – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston 
42. Golden Tate – New York Giants @ Dallas 
43. Brandon Aiyuk – San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami 
44. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore 
45. Sammy Watkins – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Las Vegas  
46. Hunter Renfrow – Las Vegas Raiders @ Kansas City 
47. Corey Davis – Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo 
48. Mecole Hardman – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Las Vegas 
49. Tim Patrick – Denver Broncos @ New England 
50. Damiere Byrd – New England Patriots vs. Denver 

Thoughts:

• The high flying Dallas Cowboys offense is a true fantasy juggernaut so far this season. Despite the way the ball is being spread around, Amari Cooper is still the clear cut number one guy who is second in receptions with 37 and tied for third in the league in yardage. Meanwhile the rookie CeeDee Lamb is looking more and more like the future coming off a two TD game and catching no fewer than five passes in any one game. Meanwhile, Michael Gallup appears to be number three on the list and isn’t as consistent, but can go off on any given week with his talent and the balls flying all over the field.
• It’s starting to look more and more like Cooper Kupp’s big 2019 season was not a flash in the pan. Kupp has 23 catches so far for 297 yards and has now scored TD’s in back to back weeks. It’s Kupp’s TD upside that separates him for me a the number one wide receiver on the Rams and pushes him closer and closer to the WR1 tier by the week. The matchup with Washington this week isn’t great, but I’ll still bet on him making it three weeks straight in the end zone.
• The most underrated wide receiver in all of football has to be Keenan Allen, and I am as guilty as anyone else. Allen is averaging 101 receptions per season for the last three years and he’s well on his way this season too. Allen already has 32 receptions this season and 21 the last two weeks alone since Justin Herbert has taken over as the starting quarterback. Now that Austin Ekeler is out for the next several weeks Allen could be an even bigger part of this offense.
• One big game is easy to write off as an outlier, but Justin Jefferson has gone back to back now with 100 yard games. Jefferson is really starting to emerge as the big play threat on the other side of the sure handed Adam Thielen. The odds of it being three big weeks in a row is high for Jefferson as well with a matchup against Seattle that is screaming aerial attack shootout. This rookie class of wideouts is top level, and Jefferson is one of the most talented in the group.
• One big thing to watch this week is the status of Michael Thomas who seems to have a realistic chance of returning for the Saints. Obviously it’s important for those who own Thomas, but those who own Emmanuel Sanders should be watching the status closely too. Sanders caught just four passes in the first two weeks with a healthy Thomas on the other side. Since Thomas has been out Sanders has caught 10 passes including a six catch, 93 yard performance this past week. If Thomas is out Sanders probably jumps up closer to the high 30’s on the list, but he also may drop a few spots with Thomas in.
• My inclusion of Tim Patrick on this list may seem like an overreaction to last week’s game against a bad defense, but I’m not convinced of that. The Broncos have been wrecked by injuries this season and it’s lead to Patrick getting a starting role opposite of Jerry Jeudy, and while he may not have Jeudy’s talent he’s found favor with the backup quarterback running things right now. He’s also a guy with size who has now scored two weeks in a row. Patrick is still young at 26 and it’s not impossible to think he may be just coming into his own given the opportunity.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 rankings: