Things could not have gone much better for Ja'Marr Chase in the 2021 NFL Draft. Already an elite wide receiver prospect, he landed in a pass-heavy offense, with targets available, and his college quarterback throwing passes. While I had initially projected Chase to land in Tier 3 of my Dynasty Wide Receiver Tiers once he entered the NFL, with this perfect storm of circumstances he actually snuck into the back end of Tier 2.
The only negative in ranking that high before he ever plays a game? There's probably going to be more downside at his cost than upside. The same is not true for Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith.
Waddle and Smith find themselves in Tier 4, a large tier with 10 receivers who have a wide range of ceiling and floor, youth and consistency. As players, Smith appears to have a higher floor than Waddle, but Waddle has as much upside as any receiver other than Chase in the 2021 class. What they share is short-term uncertainty.
Both have questions about their quarterbacks, as Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa both have plenty of upside, but very little floor as passers. The advantage for Smith, other than his polish, is that he shouldn't have much competition for wide receiver targets whereas Waddle has to fight through DeVante Parker and Will Fuller, or at least wait for injuries.
It's fitting that these rookies share a tier with four receivers from last year's class. Specifically, Jerry Jeudy provides a cautionary tale about what an unproven second-year quarterback can do to the upside of a rookie receiver. Jeudy had no trouble getting open in his first year in the league, but too often Drew Lock put the ball where Jeudy had no chance at it. The addition of Teddy Bridgewater helps Jeudy's floor, in case Lock doesn't improve. The addition of Aaron Rodgers would move Jeudy to the top of this tier, if not a tier higher.
One other note before we get to the full tier below: Davante Adams is still in Tier One, but concerns about Rodgers have finally gone on long enough for me to drop him out of the No. 1 spot. If you're a contender who wants to gamble on Rodgers staying in Green Bay, this could be a buy (relatively) low opportunity.
Here are the fully updated Dynasty Wide Receiver Tiers:
