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Fantasy Football: Ranking the 2nd tier Wide Receivers

By Dan Salem

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How would you rank the second tier of fantasy football wide receivers? Their production is so similar, so its all about the quarterback. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Check out more of the brothers in Seesaw Sports Debate on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

Our most recent fake fantasy football trade got me thinking. The difference between Randall Cobb and T.Y. Hilton seemed so slight, is there really that much of a difference between even a set of 8-10 wide receivers in that second or third tier?

Perhaps Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Dez and some others are comfortably on top, but that next group is expansive without much separating each player’s talents.

I’m going to give you a chunk of the fantasy wide receiver position, just listed alphabetically, and I want you to list the players in order of how they’ll score in fantasy points in 2015.

– Randall Cobb
– T.Y. Hilton
– DeSean Jackson
– Alshon Jeffery
– Jeremy Maclin
– Brandon Marshall
– Emmanuel Sanders

It’s an eclectic group of deep threats. A few are entering years on brand new teams while others are finally coming into their own as stars or number-one threats. Taking a quick glance, here’s how I would order them for fantasy purposes:

1) Cobb
2) Hilton
3) Jeffery
4) Maclin
5) Sanders
6) Marshall
7) Jackson

What about you?

Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (10) makes a reception in front of Indianapolis Colts cornerback

Vontae Davis

(21) during the third quarter in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

DAN:

Picking fantasy wide receivers is all about the quarterback at first glance. Then I like to identify players on successful teams, followed by those on really bad teams. If an NFL team is always playing from behind, chances are they are throwing a lot, and doing so to one above average player.

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I’ll leave that last note behind, because all of these receivers have star power on potentially solid football teams. Yet the quarterbacks have changed for many of these players. That is critical to my rankings here.

1) Hilton – Colts
2) Sanders – Broncos
3) Cobb – Packers
4) Jackson – Redskins
5) Maclin – Chiefs
6) Marshall – Jets
7) Jeffery – Bears

I love Andrew Luck‘s upside entering this season and think he’ll improve on his stellar 2014. This bodes very well for T.Y. Hilton and puts him atop of my mid-range wide receiver rankings. He barely beats out my number two guy, Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders keeps rising up the ranks in Denver and should see even more targets this season. The only issue here is Manning’s health, yet I’m not super concerned. He beats out Cobb because he’ll see the ball more and I believe Green Bay will run as much as possible. This is especially true late in the year. It’s just a hunch, but Cobb’s production will probably dip slightly this season.

Ranking Jackson in the middle is based on my good feelings surrounding the Redskins. I think RG III gets it together just enough to make Jackson a valuable fantasy option.

As for Maclin, I’m more concerned about the Chiefs situation than the Redskins, slotting him in much lower than you. I like Marshall in New York, but that’s a run first offense and until I see it, I won’t be ranking him higher on this list.

Jeffery comes in at the bottom of my list. The Bears feel like a team in the midst of upheaval and I don’t trust their quarterback situation or their success. If Cutler keeps the job, then Jeffery is a valuable asset. Any other situation and I’m staying away as long as possible.

Next: Fantasy Football - Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck?

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