Fantasy Football Dynasty Wide Receiver Rankings: Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb remain joined at the hip
Heath Cummings is still waiting for something to separate Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb. Their rookie year may just do it.
Even in a normal year, rookie receivers have a hard time making a big Fantasy impact. Last year we saw Terry McLaurin start fast, while A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf came on late, but as good as those guys were none of them finished in the top-20 receivers at the end of the year in PPR. And that was a good year for rookie receivers.
So I'm going to have a hard time getting too excited about any of the rookie receivers in a year where OTAs will be virtual and we still don't know how normal training camp will look. The expectation should be a slow start, and that's at least partially responsible for the fact that I don't have any of the rookies in the top 20 of my updated Dynasty rankings. But please don't take that to mean I don't like this class. It's remarkably deep, and it's not short on upside.
Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb each have top-12 upside that either could reasonably reach by 2022. They were in a tier of their own for me before the draft, and they're now both just inside my top 24, 10 spots higher than any other receiver in the class. They both have stiff competition in Year 1, but it's not as if they can't overcome it. In fact, I like Jeudy's chances of challenging Courtland Sutton by the end of this year.
Henry Ruggs is his own special kind of animal. He may just be the fastest player in the NFL and he was the first wide receiver drafted, so I'd understand if his ranking at 34 seems too low. I just do not love the fit, especially his quarterback. And while I do believe he has Tyreek Hill upside, it's worth noting that most receivers whose best quality is speed do not turn into elite Fantasy producers. Ruggs needs a lot of improvement to be team's No. 1 receiver, much less a Fantasy manager's.
The third tier in this class includes Jalen Reagor, Laviska Shenault, Justin Jefferson, and Denzel Mims. All four have situations that could make them better in 2020 than Ruggs, and one of them may lead the class in targets in their rookie year. They all have obstacles to overcome as well. This tier will re-sort itself multiple times throughout training camp and the 2020 season. I'd expect one or two of them to be in my top 30 by November, while at least one of them will likely fall out of the top 50.
You can see how I rank the rest of these rookies in the rankings below, but I wanted to make one more note first: Jeudy, Lamb and Ruggs have more value to a a rebuilding team than they do to a contender. If I'm trying to win in 2020, I'm more likely to take one of the top five running backs, but there's a pretty good chance that three years from now Jeudy or Lamb is viewed as the most valuable asset in the class. Or at least top two.
Here are my updated Dynasty wide receiver rankings:
















