How to Rank Crowded WR Rooms

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  • By Jon Mosales

    Last Updated on June 16, 2025 11:10 am by Jon Mosales | Published: May 2, 2025

    Fantasy is never black and white and part of the complexity is the chaos of the actual games and no matter how right our process is, the result is often the final arbiter of right and wrong.  Most teams teams have plenty of weapons, but they don’t always deploy them efficiently and sometimes it takes a trade or an injury for a player to properly bloom into the fantasy star we know him to be. On some teams the hierarchy is simple, aka team with true superstar WRs.  On the Bengals Ja’Marr Chase eats first, Tee Higgins eats second and anything left over goes to Mike Gesicki or Andrei Iosivas.  The Vikings have Justin Jefferson at the top and might alternate between Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson.  We’re not worried about the process or result of those teams.  If you want Chase or Jefferson, it’s going to cost an arm and a leg and probably be worth it.  For this article, let’s take a look at some of the more level playing fields and see if we can determine who has the best value and who might be headed for a breakout/regression.

     

    San Francisco 49ers

    ADPs: Jauan Jennings (WR43), Ricky Pearsall (WR45), Brandon Aiyuk (WR40)

    This is one of the most difficult skill groups to evaluate as you can’t use last season as a sounding board.  Aiyuk only played five games and only had more than 50 yards in one of them after sitting out most of the summer.  Pearsall was shot which put a damper on his season and he didn’t get on the field until Week 7.  He peak late and finished with over 200 yards in his last two games, so the ceiling is there.  Jennings was the most reliable of the group, but his season was also uneven with five games with 40 or less receiving yards.  He also played 15 games, almost had a 1000 yards (975) and was often the number-one WR on the field.  Jennings graduated from and third-and-Jauan to an every down WR, slowly  building chemistry with Brock Purdy as evidenced by his 31.3% first-read target share  They all have a similar ADP, so draft capital isn’t as relevant, but Aiyuk has the most upside long term as he’s finished as a top-15 WR, Jennings is the most trustworthy as he’s a giant target and has great chemistry with Brock Purdy, but Pearsall has the most mystery and if Aiyuk can’t bounce back, he could be the deep threat in an explosive offense that is primed to explode.

    The question is who do you draft first.  Regardless of Aiyuk’s upside, we’ve seen too many times that star players take too long to get back after a serious injury.  His ADP reflects that risk, but why take it when fantasy football is already ripe with the unknown.  So between Jennings and Pearsall, it’s about what you value.  Brock Purdy has been a top-three QB in b2b seasons in yards-per-attempt and with Deebo Samuel shipped out of town, there is a tremendous opportunity, especially in the early portion of the season to make an impact.  We’ve seen that offenses can’t really support three WRs and with George Kittle still a superstar, there might room for only WR to crush his ADP.  It’s the classic floor vs. ceiling as Jennings is going to get the volume, having 10+ targets in five games, but Pearsall has first-round pedigree, an explosive end to the season and a path as the deep threat in a downfield offense.  I will probably draft Jennings first in redraft leagues with 3WR, but Pearsall might be someone I would target in 2WR leagues or Best ball.

    Indianapolis Colts


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    May 2, 2025, 12:34 pm