Outlook: Michael Thomas is on a G.O.A.T. pace among wide receivers. In his first four seasons, he has produced 92, 104, 125, and 149 receptions. His yardage totals have climbed from 1,137, to 1,245, to 1,405, to 1,725 in 2019. He has scored 9 touchdowns in three of four seasons. On top of those ridiculous stats, his catch rate has been over 80% in each of the last two seasons, which is an incredible stat in and of itself.

No matter what defenses do to try to stop him, he finds a way to get open enough to make the reception. His catch rate shows his strong hands and great length, along with the fact that he is a fierce competitor. He truly wants to be the best receiver, and he puts in the work to get there.

After his historic 2019, Thomas is the first receiver off the board in 2020 drafts, going in the middle of the first round. That is the case despite the dearth of options at running back after the first couple rounds. Thomas is simply too valuable, particularly in PPR leagues, for him to slip much lower than that.

Nothing has changed in his situation much in 2020, aside from two things that have the potential to hurt his fantasy stock. First, Drew Brees continues to age. Although that has not negatively affected his play yet, sometimes age can cause a sharp and sudden drop-off in the quality of a quarterback's play, as we saw with Peyton Manning in his final season. Were that to happen, Thomas could take a big hit. Much of his success has depended on his connection with Brees and on Brees' accuracy.

Second, the addition of Emmanuel Sanders to the team should help them overall, but there is a chance we could see Thomas' target share fall a bit. If his targets go from 185 in 2019 to 140 in 2020, that would certainly knock his production down a few pegs. I doubt the impact will be that dramatic, but it's something to keep in mind.

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Outlook: There isn't much examination necessary when it comes to Davante Adams. On the cusp of breaking out for years prior to his monster 2018 season, 2019 looked to be the year that Adams planted his flag firmly in consistent WR1 territory. While missing four games with a leg injury suppressed his final numbers, he still remained one of the more dominant receivers in the game.

His 10.8 FPts/G average put him in the top-10 in standard leagues, and his 83 receptions in only 12 games put him on a 110 reception pace. He then bullied defenses at the end of the season, finishing with four 100-yard games in his final five, including dazzling numbers in the playoffs, where he gave Seattle and San Francisco fits.

Adams is the undisputed No.1 option in this Green Bay passing game. Most importantly he has the trust and rapport with Rodgers that ensures he'll be the first look in most situations. Adams is one of the more sure things in the fantasy world, and will be one of the first two or three receivers off the board in every format.

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Outlook: Julio Jones is one of the top wide receivers of the past decade. He has produced annually and has been durable, playing in fewer than 13 games only once. He has racked up 797 receptions for over 12,000 yards in his 9 seasons. He and Matt Ryan seem to be fully on the same page, and they are extremely effective together. We should expect more of the same from Jones this season.

It is true that he recently turned 31, but there have been no signs that he is slowing down due to age. He looked as dynamic as ever last season, and put up 99 receptions for 1,394 yards. He has never been a prolific touchdown scorer, but most of that is due to offensive scheme and to the defense paying extra attention to him near the goal line. He is an excellent pick in any fantasy format, and even in dynasty leagues Jones should have a good enough next three seasons to make him a solid pick.

The continued development of Calvin Ridley should only help Jones, as defenses are able to double team him less. In addition, if Gurley is more effective than Freeman, the defense will also have to pay more attention to the running game, opening up more opportunities for the receivers to get free in space. If Jones stays healthy, production is all but guaranteed.

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Outlook: Like other players in the Kansas City offense, Tyreek Hill started off the 2019 season with an early-week injury - and his happened early in Week 1. Hill would go on to miss each of the next four games before he got back on the field and immediately started dominating again. He would also get knocked out of the Chiefs' Week 11 game with a knee injury. The missed games cost Hill his overall ranking on the season as he finished 29th among WRs, but his 10.9 fantasy points per game were eighth in the NFL among WRs who started at least five games.

There may not be a more dynamic, explosive receiver in the NFL than Kansas City's Tyreek Hill - we just have to make sure that he's on the field. If he's out there, there's no reason to bench him in really any matchup. He's capable of producing week-winning performances, but he also provides a surprisingly solid floor in comparison to most "big play" receivers. Hill finished with at least three catches and 50 yards in every regular season game he started in 2019 and all but two games in 2018.

The competition for targets really has not changed much so Hill remains a near lock to reach 120 targets on the year. No receiver is without question marks, but Hill really does provide the type of upside and floor that makes him a legitimate threat to finish as the top-scoring fantasy wide receiver this season.

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Outlook: In perhaps the most shocking off-season move we saw this year, the Cardinals acquired one of the league's most productive pass catchers in DeAndre Hopkins. It was part of a bizarre trade that also saw the Cardinals move running back David Johnson to the Texans, but Hopkins was certainly the shining jewel in the transaction.

Hopkins will have to learn to play in Kliff Kingsbury's air raid offense, which should give fantasy owners a bit of a pause as it is not often that wide receivers move from one team to another and maintain, let alone improve, their statistical production right away. Hopkins has been a top-10 fantasy wide receiver in three straight seasons so we should have no worries about him as a player, and his floor remains a quality weekly starter in just about any matchup, but it could be a bit more difficult for him to produce the elite WR1 numbers that some are expecting now that he's in an offense that is known to spread the ball to different targets.

Still, there's some hope that Hopkins can remain an upper-half WR1 this season as Arizona clearly saw a reason to trade for him. After struggling to finish drives with touchdowns in the red zone in 2019, particularly through the air, it became apparent that the Cardinals needed to find a contested catch stud. It's not often that a need gets filled so perfectly, but they found perhaps the very best jump ball receiver in the league. There's a real chance that Hopkins leads the league in end zone targets this season and those opportunities alone could lead to him remaining one of the league's best fantasy assets despite the difficulty involved in switching teams.

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Outlook: Continuing his meteoric rise since being a 3rd round pick out of Northern Illinois in 2017, Kenny Golladay tickled the upper echelon of fantasy receivers by finishing 3rd overall in standard scoring leagues. Buoyed by an NFL leading 11 receiving touchdowns and a career high in yardage (1,190) Golladay was dominant at times during the 2019 season. All of this production came despite catching passes from the likes of David Blough for almost half the season.

His size and ability will always favor the deep ball, so he's unlikely to catch a high percentage of his passes or be a PPR stud, but his scoring potential and return of Stafford bode extremely well for his 2020 prospects. There are enough threats on the offense to keep defenses from focusing too much on Golladay, so a return to near double-digit touchdowns is a good bet. With an uptick in efficiency and continued experience in the offense, there aren't many receivers in the NFL with the upside of Kenny G. There may be some week-to-week volatility based on his role in the passing game, but Golladay is a fit as a WR1 in all formats.

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Outlook: He was already going to have a tough time duplicating his historic 2018 season, so being a victim of a more run oriented offense in the first half of the season, then playing at less than 100% during the second half and missing 6 total games was too much to overcome, in what was largely a disappointing fantasy run in 2019.

Sure, there were flashes of the possibilities in Week 5 and the Wild Card round, but everything in between was a mess. In the other 10 games he did play in, Thielen went over 60 yards only once, actually had three games where he failed to reach a full point in standard scoring leagues. But an extremely down year could be a blessing in disguise for a player who had been one of the best values in fantasy football before last year.

With the departure of Diggs, Thielen instantly becomes the unquestioned WR1 for the Vikings. With a likely kick to the outside to let Jefferson take over the slot, Thielen should run more of the downfield routes in the offense, leading to more big plays. One positive takeaway from last season was the 6 touchdowns he managed to score in 10 games, meaning double digit scores this season are a decent bet. The passing volume in the offense is unlikely to return to pre-2019 form, so hoping Thielen sees 150+ targets is probably a pipe dream, but the departure of Diggs does leave 94 unaccounted for targets. He should be a back-end WR1 in PPR and standard scoring leagues that you can get value on.

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Outlook: Chris Godwin is on a fast march toward elite status. He has played for three seasons, and his targets have risen each year, going from 55 to 95 to 121 (in 14 games). In 2019 he had 86 receptions for 1,333 yards and 9 touchdowns, which was good enough for the No. 2 spot in the PPR wide receiver rankings. He will be in the same offense this season, with the same coaching staff, so it certainly makes sense to project him for another great year.

He must get on the same page with his new quarterback to continue putting up such numbers, and that seems unlikely to be a problem. Overall, I see the switch to Brady both helping and hurting Godwin statistically. It helps him in that Brady loves to throw to the slot, and that's where Godwin runs most of his routes from. Godwin can become Brady's new heavily-targeted slot option in the vein of Edelman and Welker. On the other hand, the switch to Brady could hurt his stats because Brady will run the offense more efficiently, going with a slower pace of play and not turning it over 30-plus times. The constant turnovers from Winston often forced the offense into passing heavily as they attempted to come back, and this will not be the case this season. In the end, the two should offset each other, and I anticipate seeing another great season for Godwin statistically.

One other factor to consider is that Rob Gronkowski is in town, and he has been one of Brady's favorite targets in the red zone during his career. He runs some similar routes to Godwin, in particular seam and sideline routes from the slot. This could end up decreasing Godwin's touchdown rate considerably. He doesn't need to catch 9 touchdowns again to be excellent in fantasy football, but it's something to keep in mind.

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Outlook: Possibly the biggest fantasy disappointment of the 2019 season, injuries and shoddy quarterback play conspired against JuJu in his first season as the Steelers No.1 receiver. Widely drafted as and counted on as a mid-tier WR1, Smith-Schuster had a decent start to the year despite the loss of Roethlisberger in Week 2. Over the first half of the season, 5 of his 7 games saw him reach at least 75 yards, while finding the endzone three times. While not exactly stats befitting a WR1, it wasn't a total disaster. At least not till the 2nd half of the season. In an injury plagued back end, Smith-Schuster was nearly non-existent, unable to even surpass five points in any game. His 12 receptions for 109 scoreless yards over five games was truly a low point in his young career.

With all the negative circumstances of last season it's impossible to judge whether he is capable of taking over the WR1 hole left with the departure of Antonio Brown. Like most offensive players on the Steelers, Smith-Schuster's fantasy value comes down to the health of Roethlisberger. If Big Ben can stay under center and return to form, Smith-Schuster is going to see enough volume to get back into the WR1 conversation. With the addition of rookie Chase Claypool, JuJu might be move back into the slot more frequently, as where much of his 2018 success came from routes on the inside. This entire offense is seeing depressed fantasy value so you won't have to reach for anyone, but remember, this team put on a show as recently as 2018, and it's not going to be hard to surpass the disaster than 2019 was. The risk seems to be already built into his current low WR2 draft slot, but if he and Rothelisberger can reestablish their connection quickly, he should easily return some serious value.

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Outlook: The Cooper Kupp vs. Robert Woods debate is one that will leave plenty of fantasy owners scratching their heads heading into 2020, but it may be more straightforward than some are making it out to be.

We know that the Rams are likely going to have to pass the ball quite a bit, so both Woods and Kupp are in line to be consistent, productive fantasy weapons regardless of how things play out, but there could very well be a shift in offensive setup happening in Los Angeles. We saw some of it in 2019 when the Rams offensive line was struggling to protect Jared Goff and open up holes for the running game, which led to the team shifting their offensive personnel groupings. Previously they were among the heaviest utilizers of three-receiver sets in the league when they would deploy Woods and Brandin Cooks on the outside with Kupp in the slot, but they began to shift to an offensive set that utilized just two wide receivers while adding a second tight end on the field. This helped bolster the protection for Goff, increased efficiency in the running game, but it also led to some big performances for Woods down the stretch.

While he failed to exceed 90 yards in seven of his first eight games in 2019, Woods blossomed in the second half of the season when he produced five 90-plus yard games in his final seven contests. Most importantly, he saw no fewer than nine targets in a game over those final seven games.

Woods was also quite unlucky in the touchdown department as he scored just twice despite catching 90 passes for 1,134 yards on the season. His frame isn't built to be a mega touchdown scorer by any means, but two scores on that type of volume is an extreme outlier that would almost certainly return closer to six or seven scores if he produced those yardage and reception totals here in 2020. Adding just a few more scores alone would shoot Woods up the wide receiver rankings, but there's a real chance that he actually sees more targets in 2020 than he saw in 2019 now that Cooks is off the roster. Sure, the Rams did invest a third round pick in Van Jefferson and Josh Reynolds is still on the roster, but neither of those players is likely to command anywhere near the type of target share that Cooks did, so banking on a healthy Woods to produce at least what he did in 2019 seems quite safe, with added upside of finishing as a top-12 player at the position.

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Outlook: With five receiving touchdowns in his first five games, including a monster 226-yard, one-touchdown against the Packers Week 5, Amari Cooper looked primed to challenge Michael Thomas as the top fantasy wide receiver in the league.

Yet in typical Cooper fashion, the former Raider burned owners with one catch for three yards against the Jets. That is what you should expect from Cooper - massive games sandwiched between head-scratching performances that can torpedo your team.

From a volume standpoint, his 7.4 targets per game that he averaged last year is not exactly the type of usage you would like from a No.1 WR. Now with the addition of CeeDee Lamb in the slot, it is hard to envision Cooper getting more than the 119 targets he received last season.

Yes, he is a talented route runner who is playing on one of the best offenses in the league. But from a fantasy perspective, he may not live up to the early-round capital required to draft him.

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Outlook: A.J. Brown was a bit overlooked early on in his rookie season. Many were excited about his potential, but when the Titans drafted him he was widely panned as a rookie prospect. The thinking was that the Titans just don't throw the ball enough to support a stud wide receiver, plus he would be behind Corey Davis in the pecking order.

Sometimes you just have to bet on talent. It was obvious in Brown's college tape that he possesses an incredible mix of speed, strength, and run-after-the-catch ability. He is also a very good route runner, and can run routes out wide and from the slot effectively. He showed all of that and more as a rookie, producing on limited opportunities.

He surpassed Davis as the team's No.1 option en route to 52 receptions for 1,051 yards and 8 touchdowns! That equated to 20.2 yards per reception, showing off his ability to catch the deep ball and his incredible skill in the open field. If he takes another step in the offense and receives 120 targets, he could produce as a top-five fantasy receiver due to how many yards he is likely to rack up after the catch. The fact that defenses have to "stay home" to account for Derrick Henry only opens things up more for Brown.

Brown played significantly fewer snaps than Davis through Week 7, but from Week 8 on he played 99 more than the veteran. It is clear the coaching staff now sees him as their top option in the passing game, so it is reasonable to project him to take over as the clear-cut target leader in the offense.

The biggest risk or downside to picking Brown in the early rounds of fantasy drafts is that the Titans are not a high-volume passing offense like the Falcons, so his opportunities will be limited in comparison with some other receivers. If there is one receiver to bet on despite limited opportunities, it is probably Brown.

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