2008 Fantasy Football Rankings – Top Wide Receivers

Fantasy GMs can be grateful that the NFL continues to be in a pass happy era. The rules are in place to favor a wide-open offense, and there has been a big influx of young, talented wide receivers. The depth in the receiver ranks is at a level which hasn’t been seen before.

Here is the top of the draft crop for this year:

1. Randy Moss (New England Patriots) – It’s not hard to understand why Moss has regained the top spot on the draft list given his record setting 2007. In addition to his 23 TD receptions, he tallied 1,493 receiving yards. Expect Tom Brady to continue his mastery of the ultra-efficient Patriot offense which should keep all Moss owners smiling.

2. Terrell Owens (Dallas Cowboys) – Like fine wine, Owens continues to get better with age. Not many receivers entering their 13th year in the league are coming off of a 15 TD / 1,355 yards receiving year but he is. The Cowboys return all of their offensive weapons from last year, which will help keep Owens at the top of his game.

3. Braylon Edwards (Cleveland Browns) – Edwards took some huge strides last year with over 1,200 receiving yards and 16 TDs. That TD total was almost double his 9 career TDs from his first two years. He should continue to improve, as the Browns are putting talented players at all the key offensive skill positions.

4. Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) – 2007 was somewhat of a breakout year for Wayne with a career high 1,510 receiving yards to go along with 10 TD receptions. He’s been a bit under the radar playing opposite Marvin Harrison, but the truth of the matter is that he had 3 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons prior to last year and had averaged just under 9 TDs per year.

5. Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) – Great productivity since his first year as a pro. Fitzgerald has averaged over 1,100 yards and almost 9 TDs per year over his first four years. At 24 years of age, his best days are still ahead of him, which gives many a defensive coordinator sleepless nights.

6. Andre Johnson (Houston Texans) – Typically, there would be a bit of worry with a receiver coming off an injury-plagued year, but Johnson is simply too talented to pass over. Projecting his stats from the 9 games he did play last year over the entire year and he was headed for a 1,500 yard / 14 TD season.

7. T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cincinnati Bengals) – While his teammate Chad Johnson continues to gather the media attention, T.J. has steadily been putting up elite-level numbers. Over the past four years he has averaged just over 1,000 yards and 8 TD receptions per year. Not too shabby for the perceived #2 receiver for the Bengals.

8. Marques Colston (New Orleans Saints) – No one thought much when the Saints spent their 7th round draft choice of 2006 on a wideout from tiny Hofstra. Colston was a rookie surprise and definitely did not suffer any sophomore slump. His two year totals of 2,240 yards and 19 TDs will make any fantasy GM smile.

9. Plaxico Burress (New York Giants) – Burress fought through a painful ankle in 2007 to put up the fourth 1,000-yard receiving season of his career and haul in a career high 12 TD passes. The Giants and QB Eli Manning are riding a wave of confidence as Super Bowl Champions and that should translate into another successful year for Eli’s favorite wideout.

10. Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers) – The little man with the big heart continues to put up great numbers. Despite just average QB play and constant double teams, Smith has had over 1,000 receiving yards and at least 7 TDs in four of the last five years. (He played in only 1 game in 2004 before going on injured reserve.)

The rest of the Top 25 wide receiver draft picks.

11. Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals)

12. Anquan Boldin (Arizona Cardinals)

13. Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos)

14. Torry Holt (St. Louis Rams)

15. Wes Welker (New England Patriots)

16. Roy Williams (Detroit Lions)

17. Joey Galloway (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

18. Greg Jennings (Green Bay Packers)

19. Jerricho Cotchery (New York Jets)

20. Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh Steelers)

21. Roddy White (Atlanta Falcons)

22. Kevin Curtis (Philadelphia Eagles)

23. Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs)

24. Lee Evans (Buffalo Bills)

25. Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers)

See all Pro Football lists