Outlook: It's hard to overstate just how good Tyreek Hill was in 2020 and there's really no reason to think that things are going to be any different heading into 2021. The super speed wide receiver lit up the league by tying a career high with 87 receptions for 1,276 yards and he set a new career high with 15 receiving touchdowns. His impact is unlike that of almost any other player in league history as he doesn't just possess speed, but he can also make plays underneath and on contested catches. This combination of skills, along with playing alongside perhaps the most physically gifted quarterback in league history, makes him an absolute monster for fantasy purposes.

Hill's season was not without frustration from a fantasy point as he did turn in a couple of duds, but he scored at least one touchdown in all but four of the 15 regular season games he played in 2020. He carried things over to the playoffs, too, where he caught at least seven passes in each of the Chiefs' three games, accumulating a whopping 355 total receiving yards during the Chiefs' run to the Super Bowl.

Now with Sammy Watkins out of the picture, the Chiefs could actually end up relying on Hill even a bit more than they have in previous seasons. Certainly Watkins has been a disappointment overall, but he was targeted an average of 5.5 times per game in 2020 and 6.4 times per game in 2019. No other wide receiver on the Chiefs roster has shown to be anything more than a situational contributor, so don't be surprised to see Hill's target total go up a tick this season.

Aside from Davante Adams in Green Bay, who happened to be the only receiver who outscored Hill in 2020, there may not be another other elite wide receiver who is in quite as consolidated of a target share situation as Hill is. That, combined with Hill's unique skill set and Kansas City's overall offensive firepower, makes Hill a serious contender to be the top wide receiver in fantasy football this season.

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Outlook: Ridley had a breakout campaign in 2020, setting career highs in receptions (90) and receiving yards (1,374) while posting 9 TD. Thrust into the WR1 role due to nagging injury issues to Julio Jones, he showed big play ability and the versatility to attack from the slot or the boundary, as a deep threat, and as a catch and run weapon on short and intermediate routes. With Jones gone, expect Ridley, who has averaged over 11 targets per game when Jones was out of the lineup, to be a full-on fantasy stud in 2021. His versatility, HC Arthur Smith's offensive creativity, and the presence of Kyle Pitts, Russell Gage, Hayden Hurst, and even Mike Davis and Christian Blake keeping defenses honest could equate to new heights for Ridley, who has proven to be nearly uncoverable at times.

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Outlook: One of the top breakout superstars of the 2020 season was wide receiver DK Metcalf. He turned in an excellent rookie season in 2019, but he established himself as one of the league's most dominant pass catchers this past season when he caught 83 passes for 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns. Perhaps most impressive was Metcalf's consistency, as he was able to catch at least four passes in 12 of 16 contests for the Seahawks.

The Seahawks threw the ball at an uncharacteristically high rate to start the 2020 season which led to a big start to the season for Metcalf, but we did see a bit of a drop off from him later in the year. Still, Metcalf finished the season as a top five fantasy wide receiver in standard scoring formats and he was in the top 10 in average yards per target, proving that his upside could be even higher if he is given more opportunities.

WR1 overall is probably not realistic for Metcalf just given how Seattle tends to play, but Metcalf is a strong bet to be a top 10 wide receiver again this season. His only established competition for targets is Tyler Lockett and we've already seen that those two can both feast even in this relatively low volume passing attack.

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Outlook: Like his quarterback, Diggs posted career-highs across the board in 2020, with personal bests in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. He emerged as the alpha dog receiving option for a QB who took a massive step forward in efficiency and production.

Diggs was the best of both worlds for fantasy managers in 2020, as he delivered monster games at times while also providing top-8 consistency scores according to our Consistency Calculator. As you might expect, the 5th-round steal from the prior year is now a fringe first-round pick, depending on format.

No longer a steal, fantasy managers who desire to have Diggs on their roster will need to pay a mighty premium for his services, forgoing RBs ranked in the top-12 and elite tight ends like Travis Kelce.

Allen's breakout season was so beyond his career averages that some regression to the mean is likely, especially at his 6.5% TD rate. The regression could eat into the overall production of the receiving weapons on the team, but Diggs 166 targets and a league-best 127 are more than enough evidence to believe he will once again be the main target for Allen and among the top WRs in the league.

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Outlook: Another season, another top-12 WR performance from DeAndre Hopkins in 2020. The former Texan shut up naysayers when he joined Buffalo's Stephon Diggs in smashing the age-old "receivers don't produce on new teams" argument. Hopkins completely shattered all expectations by finishing second in the league with 160 targets, which he converted for a career high-tying 115 receptions, 1,407 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Hopkins is about as reliable as it gets at the wide receiver position and there's really no reason to be concerned about him heading into the 2021 season. He was targeted at least seven times in all but one game in 2020 and he saw double-digit targets in nine different games. While the Cardinals did bolster their wide receiver group, history has shown us that truly elite wide receivers like Hopkins tend to maintain their target shares even when their team adds more complementary weapons.

The fact that Hopkins only finished as the standard-scoring fantasy WR9 in 2020 is something that does bring worry to some fantasy owners, but it's worth considering that he did that while scoring just six touchdowns on 115 catches. There's some positive regression coming for Hopkins if he's able to see that many passes come his way again this season, so look for that total to be closer to 10 touchdowns.

The Cardinals also look like a good bet to increase their pass-to-run ratio which should only further fantasy owners' confidence in Hopkins, who looks like every bit of an elite fantasy option once again this season. Young receivers like D.K. Metcalf, Justin Jefferson, Calvin Ridley and A.J. Brown have been getting plenty of hype this offseason, but none of them possess the high floor and high upside combination that a player like Hopkins does. Don't sleep on him in your drafts just because you like the idea of a shiny, new toy.

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Outlook: Normally, rookies in the NFL slowly "move on up" as their career develops, but this Mr. Jefferson seems to have started his career in that "deluxe apartment in the sky", so what could he possibly do as a follow-up to his historic rookie season? (props to you if you are old enough to get the references, apologies if you aren't!) Slaying Anquan Boldin's 16-year old record, and evoking memories of Randy Moss debut season with the Vikes, Jefferson was nearly unstoppable after his 7-175-1 outburst in Week 3. Tagged by many as the most NFL ready receiver coming into the 2020 draft, Jefferson by most metrics, was one of the best receivers in the league. He could get down the field deep (13th in average depth per target), make plays after the catch (14th in yards-after-catch) and score touchdowns (7). An expert route runner capable of the full route tree, Jefferson can, and will be a match-up nightmare in 2021. With a likely regression in receiving yards, the former LSU Tiger should be able to make that up with more receptions and an uptick in touchdowns. Baring a true catastrophe, I can't envision a scenario where Jefferson isn't a WR1 in all formats.

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Outlook: If you are intent on drafting a Titans receiver this season, this is the guy I would target. While the team's run-first philosophy certainly has the potential to limit his production, Tennessee's high percentage passing attack fits neatly into Brown's wheelhouse. A big, strong, physical receiver at 6-1, 226, with reliable hands, he creates serious mismatches in the short to intermediate passing game. He snatches the ball in traffic, breaks arm tackles, and has surprising run after the catch ability for a man his size.

Because he lived in the shadow of players like Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith, and Delanie Walker at the start of his career, he's sort of been tabbed as an up and comer, a player to watch coming off a big season. The truth is he's been as consistent as anyone with two 1,000-yard efforts to his credit already. He's caught 122 passes on 190 targets, with nine 100-yard games and 19 scores in his first two seasons in the league. He also ran for 60 yards on three carries and another score in 2020. Brown is a beast, a matchup nightmare, and a dangerous weapon in the red zone.

Some see the newly acquired Julio Jones as a threat to his targets, but I don't. While Jones is now on the scene, Smith and Davis are not. Brown is the future, is a great fit for this offense, and after ranking 10th amongst fantasy WR's a season ago, should be a WR1 in every format for 2021.

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Outlook: 2020 was a year of adjustment for Evans as he worked to create chemistry with Tom Brady and adapted to an offense that was evolving by the week. Truth be told, most of Evans' numbers were down. His 109 targets and 62.9 receiving yards per game were the worst of his career. He barely surpassed the 1,000-yard mark (1,006) and averaged just 14.4 yards per catch, both the 2nd-worst of his career. His catches (70) and 100-yard games (4) were only lower two other times in his seven-year NFL run. The one stat that was up was his touchdown total, a career-high 13.

So, if in a "down" year, when everything is new, he gives you 70 catches for 1,000+ yards and 13 scores, that's still a win for fantasy owners. He ranked 7th in the NFL with 11.2 fantasy points per game, and it would seem to follow that he'd be better in 2021 with a year of Brady under his belt.

It's important for owners to understand, however, that the Buccaneers attack is going to continue to look more and more like the possession game that Brady favors, featuring more short and intermediate routes and check down routes to the TE's and RB's. That's going to limit some of Evans' considerable upside as a deep threat, and he's still going to be sharing targets with a whole host of talented pass-catchers in this offense. Simply put, they're loaded! But if you view Evans as the sort of Randy Moss of this offense, stretching the field on occasion and owning the red zone targets, he's still solidly in the WR1 discussion.

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Outlook: If you're looking for an under-the-radar player who is being disrespected in fantasy drafts this season, look no further than Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen. The veteran has often been underappreciated throughout his career as he doesn't tend to put up the flashy highlights that some other pass catchers do, but he's been extraordinarily productive, including in 2020 when he was playing with a brand new rookie quarterback.

Allen's 2020 final season numbers don't paint the full picture as he played in just 14 games, but he was an absolute target monster. His 16-game pace would've been a whopping 168 targets, which would've put him just ahead of Stefon Diggs', who led the league with 166 targets. He still reached 100 receptions on the year for the third time in four years and he hasn't finished with fewer than 97 receptions in a season since 2016 when he missed almost the entire season with an injury. The Chargers didn't invest significantly at pass catcher this offseason, so there's little reason to believe that Allen won't again be near the top of the league in targets per game.

Traditionally better in PPR formats, Allen brings one of the highest floors in fantasy football to the table, despite the fact that he hasn't often provided the huge single-game explosions that some others do. Then again, he also hasn't been playing with a truly strong-armed QB like Herbert throughout his career, so perhaps we'll see the Chargers coaches opt to change the playbook up a bit and let him stretch the field more than he did in 2020 when he finished with a career-low of 9.9 yards per reception. Even with that, though, Allen finished sixth among wide receivers in PPR fantasy points per game in 2020 and 13th in standard formats. He's being drafted at or below that range in most fantasy drafts right now, so don't be afraid to add him at his current discounted rate.

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Outlook: About to be on the north side of 30, Thielen seemed to be supplanted as the team's No.1 option last year by a fella named Justin Jefferson. Thielen, who was coming off an injury marred 2019, was just 24th among receivers in receptions and yardage. So what carried him to a top-10 finish at the position? A career high 14 touchdowns, something that is nearly impossible to duplicate or count on for 2021. Touchdown scoring is always a fickle stat in fantasy, so for receivers, it comes down to targets and receptions, and expect those numbers to rebound some for Thielen. I expect defenses to shift their gaze to Jefferson a bit more this year, and that should open up Thielen for more looks than he's seen in a few years. Sure, he's lost a bit of that downfield explosion, but his elite body control, hands, and rapport with Cousins in the redzone is more than enough to make him a WR1 standard league candidate in an offense with diverse threats.

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