DeVonta Smith fantasy football insight from Hayden Winks - PPR Rankings

With A.J. Brown gone, Smith is the clear-cut WR1 for the first time since he broke as a rookie in 2021. In 5 games without AJB since then, Smith is the WR3 in yards per game (89) on WR10 targets (9.0). It's an extremely small sample and the Eagles have Makai Lemon now plus their red zone rush rate, but Smith could put up top-10 receiving yards if OC Sean Mannion proves to be an upgrade over last year's static play caller. Smith was just at 64 YPG and 7.0 targets in games with AJB over that same sample. This could be a 10-20 receiving yards per game trade for Smith, who is firmly in the prime of his career without an injury history. While not quite as physically imposing as the others in the top-10 conversation, Smith checks every box and is capable of moving all across the formation. He'll probably play more outside this year, which could lead to a higher aDOT. I'd welcome that in fantasy, particularly in best ball. Another framing for Smith's 2026 fantasy value is to see where Brown ranked as Hurts' WR1 over the years, even if these are closer to upside comps than baseline comps. Brown was PPR's WR14 last year, WR16 in 2024, WR8 in 2023, and WR9 in 2022. It paints the picture of a low-end WR1 upside case and a projectable WR2 baseline in both full and half PPR.