The Lineup Show - NEW Top 24 WR Rankings & Tiers | 2026 Fantasy Football
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
46 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 17, 2026
Published
Fri, July 17, 2026
26
Player insights
11
Players mentioned
Topics
Mike EvansCarnell TateDeVonta SmithLuther BurdenChris OlaveGarrett WilsonLadd McConkeyTerry McLaurinTetairoa McMillanZay FlowersBrock Purdy
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Purdy
PositiveProjection0:38
Purdy was second in points per game among QBs last year and averaged 32 points per game throughout the fantasy playoffs, making him a sneaky QB option.
Insight pageCarnell Tate
PositiveBreakout0:41
Rookie wide receivers break out in a major way down the stretch almost every year, and Tate could be one of the league-winning rookies in the back half of 2026.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout0:41
Tate is a rookie with elite draft capital (4th overall) and a clear path to targets under OC Brian Dable, who has a history of building offenses around #1 receivers with elite target share.
Insight pagePositiveSleeper0:42
Tate is currently WR29 off the board and is one of the biggest screaming values with the most obvious candidate to fly up draft boards in August among rookies.
Insight pageChris Olave
PositiveProjection0:31
Olave was wide receiver 6 last year but was also 6th in targets. With the addition of Jordan Tyson via the draft, his target share will likely decrease. He's only had one top 15 finish in his career, making him dependent on volume.
Insight pagePositiveInjury0:32
Olave has had concussion issues throughout his career that kept his price down last year, and we cannot discount that as a health concern even though he didn't have a concussion last season.
Insight pageDeVonta Smith
PositiveProjection0:19
When Devonta Smith lined up out wide last season, he had 2.95 yards per route run, tied for third best in the NFL. With AJ Brown leaving Philadelphia, Smith has the potential to be a true wide receiver one with a ceiling that could be super high if the offense bounces back.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:19
Smith is being taken around the 12th receiver off the board, which represents good value for a former Heisman and Biletnikoff winner with elite talent pedigree.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:20
Smith's floor is safe at around wide receiver 2 territory due to volume, but his ceiling depends on whether the Eagles offense bounces back and whether Makai Lemon takes too large a slice of the already small Philadelphia passing attack.
Insight pageGarrett Wilson
PositiveProjection0:35
Wilson was second in the NFL in target share at 34.3% last year, but with the Jets adding Marlon Brando and Sadiq Cooper, his target share will decrease significantly. Without that elite target share, the Jets offense cannot support Wilson as an elite fantasy receiver.
Insight pagePositiveDepth Chart0:35
The Jets drafted Marlon Brando and brought in Sadiq Cooper, diluting Garrett Wilson's target share in an offense that now has multiple competent pass catchers for the first time in his career.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
PositiveValue0:21
McConkey is going a whole round plus later than he was last year despite a much improved situation with Mike McDaniel, a healthy offensive line, and the departure of Keenan Allen who vacated 122 targets.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:22
With Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, a healthy offensive line with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt returning, and 122 vacated targets from Keenan Allen's departure, McConkey has a wide receiver one overall ceiling.
Insight pageLuther Burden
PositiveBust0:43
Burden finished outside the top 24 receivers in all but two games last season and finished as WR48, presenting significant downside risk despite upside potential.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:43
Burden posted the third-highest yards per route run among receivers with 50+ snaps last season and has received positive coach speak from Ben Johnson, warranting a top-24 ranking.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:44
Burden's cost is out of control relative to his floor, though his ceiling as the #1 receiver in Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson's offense is incredible.
Insight pageMike Evans
PositiveProjection0:38
Evans is ranked as the #1 receiver in Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy's offense after the 49ers invested significant capital in him this offseason, suggesting strong 2026 upside.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:38
Evans is a Hall of Fame receiver who will be the number one receiver in a Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy offense. The 49ers showed their confidence by spending significant capital on him this offseason.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:39
Evans' WR21 ADP price is too low given his historical consistency: five WR1 finishes in 11 seasons, never finishing below WR22, suggesting he could rise above consensus rankings.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:39
Evans is compared to DeVontae Adams from 2025, suggesting similar touchdown upside and league-winning potential in 2026.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
PositiveValue0:39
McLaurin is undervalued as a WR22 in 2024 who came within 0.1 points of WR7 Jackson Smith-Njigba and should benefit from a healthy Jaden Daniels returning to the Commanders.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:40
McLaurin is projected to be similarly productive in 2026 as he was in 2024 when he finished as WR7, going much later in drafts despite that upside.
Insight pageTetairoa McMillan
PositiveProjection0:23
As a rookie, McMillan had 1,000 yards and 7 touchdowns, ranking 6th in total PA among wide receivers. He ranked 10th in explosive plays, 4th in air yard share, 4th in deep target share, and 9th in first read targets, making him a ticking time bomb for a potential breakout.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:24
McMillan is falling in rankings and ADP despite having top five draft capital and impressive underlying metrics, making him an incredible value if he stays at his current price.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveValue0:33
Flowers had 118 targets last season and gets a healthy Lamar Jackson back. He should finish as a top 18 receiver, likely around wide receiver 14 for a wide receiver 18 price tag, representing good value.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:33
While Flowers has a safe floor due to his share of Ravens passing volume, his ceiling is capped because the Ravens don't pass enough and red zone opportunities go to Derek Henry, Lamar Jackson's legs, or Mark Andrews.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Today we are ranking and tiering the top 24 fantasy football wide receivers for 2026.
0:04We're breaking down the biggest names plus a few that your league mates are severely undervaluing.
0:09Let's go. Welcome into the Live Fantasy Football Show, I'm Mitch Anderson.
0:12I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, training camp is officially here which means I think it's time for us to do our first true redraft rankings of the summer.
0:20So without further ado, I'm going to let you get into the number one wide receiver for fantasy football in 2026.
0:26Yeah, no surprises here. Don't think we have to spend that much time on it.
0:30It's Jamar Chase. Yeah. You have an elite talent, an elite passer at quarterback, an elite fantasy environment, elite volume.
0:36I'm saying the word elite so much it doesn't even sound like a real word anymore.
0:40But really what else can you ask for with Jamar Chase?
0:43He has the safest floor of any fantasy receiver, just as high of a ceiling as any fantasy receiver.
0:49We saw that ceiling just a couple of years ago when he went absolutely nuclear in 2024.
0:54He's got to be the first receiver off the board.
0:56Yeah, like you said, triple crown winner back in 2024.
0:59He averaged 21 and a half fantasy points per game last year in PPR with Joe Burrow when healthy.
1:05And even with Burrow down, he's playing with Flacco and whatever on earth you want to call that Jake Browning experience.
1:10Still finishes the wide receiver four overall and wide receiver three in points per game.
1:15I feel like it's a no brainer. This is a guy that's just always open mellow.
1:19He's always on that. You plan that. I had to wear my Jamar Chase shirt for this one.
1:24But let's get into our second guy. This is another guy that I mean, if you leave your draft with him, you're going to be really happy.
1:32And that's Puka Nakua. Picking Puka Nakua is not going to bite you in the ass.
1:36He might bite you in the shoulder. But this is last year's wide receiver one still attached to Matthew Stafford.
1:42All of the talk from last season and rightfully so was the emergence of JSN.
1:46But Puka scored a full 1.7 points per game more than JSN.
1:50He's got no coordinator change like JSN who loses Clint Kubiak.
1:53And he should slot right back into the same role that made him the wide receiver six, the wide receiver three, and
1:59then the wide receiver one in points per game throughout his young career.
2:03How can you not love Puka Nakua? How can you not be romantic about Puka Nakua?
2:07How can you not be romantic about Puka Nakua?
2:10I know I mentioned Jamar has got to be the first receiver off the board.
2:14Puka to me is the only guy I'll accept an argument even over Jamar because Puka himself is also an elite receiver.
2:20He also has an elite passer. I just have him a hair lower.
2:24I'm not too concerned with the off the field stuff.
2:27You mentioned the bitten shoulder type of antics. That doesn't really scare me, but it is in the back of my mind.
2:33And it also just isn't fun on Sundays when he visits the blue medical tent so frequently you would think he has relatives living there.
2:40That's not a good feeling, but I still love Puka Nakua so much.
2:44He is so good and he still should be the second receiver off the board.
2:48Some people have our next guy here at three as their number two though, and that is Jackson Smith and Jigba of the Seattle Seahawks.
2:55Mitch, they don't call just anyone the Emerald City round artist.
2:58No. He earned that nickname. And last year he proved he's in the upper echelon of NFL receivers.
3:03He luckily still has his guy in Sam Darnold slinging him the ball.
3:07Sam Darnold helped JSN lead the league in target share last year at over 35%, which is just absolutely ridiculous.
3:12I think I'm a tiny bit more worried about the departure of Clint Kubiak than most people are, but not worried enough
3:18to move him outside of my top three. Yeah.
3:21You've infected me with that worry about Clint Kubiak if I'm being honest.
3:25I actually want to ask you here because I'm curious.
3:27I don't have a ton to add, but do you think there's a tier break here after JSN or do you think we include the next guy?
3:35It's like a soft tier. It's like taking a step down the stairs as opposed to a cliff, but I'd say a small tier break maybe.
3:42I think that's fair. And when you're dealing with the S tier guys, I think the S tier is so above and
3:49beyond everyone else that if you're even having any hesitation, they got to drop down.
3:53But like you said, huge point about Clint Kubiak leaving Seattle to go to Las Vegas.
3:57We've made it a point on our show to always point out not to discount these coordinator changes.
4:02Like the system can be very, very important to fantasy production, but Jackson Smith and Jigba last year, second in fantasy points
4:09per game, led the NFL in target share, third in reception, second in total EPA, second in yards per outrun.
4:14We prefer Puka by a hair, but like JSN was a tiny step behind him all season.
4:19And I think he's more than deserving of the number three spot.
4:22Definitely. All right, let's get into our first guy of the A tier here.
4:26It's so close. It's razor thin at number four.
4:29We have the guy who's going to finish as the wire receiver three in 2026.
4:33That is Amon-Ra St. Brown Brown and Mello. How do I know that?
4:37Because he's finished as the wide receiver three in three straight seasons.
4:40We know exactly what Amon Ross role is going to be.
4:43And I think because of that, people kind of view him as a dude without a ceiling.
4:48When I don't know what else you call consistently finishing in the top three receivers other than a high ceiling.
4:54So for me with Amon Ross, don't confuse consistency with boring.
4:57If he's on the board after those top three guys, I grab him every single time, especially in best ball this summer.
5:03When I see Amon Ross in the middle of the first round, it's like the easiest click in the world.
5:09Amon Ross lives in the ceiling. He lives in the attic, if you will.
5:13Yes. It's like a reverse Harry Potter. He's, well, I mean, we have him at four here.
5:17That is still very high, but you're right. He's outperformed each of the last three years.
5:22So from that lens, it's not that high. And barring injuries, I just don't see any scenario that Sun God isn't a top five fantasy receiver in 2026.
5:30So it feels like such a good bet. I actually have him at five.
5:34Personally, we have him four at four in our consensus.
5:37I feel like both a jerk and a dumbass at the same time for not having him at.
5:42I probably am both. I probably need to accept that.
5:44Maybe go to therapy for it. But I just can't quit on the guy we have at five here in our consensus rankings.
5:51And that is Justin Jefferson. I am pushing all my chips to the center of the table that JJ will be so back in 2026.
5:58When I say JJ, I mean, Justin Jefferson, not JJ McCarthy.
6:01Do not confuse that at all. I'm all in on JJ McCarthy.
6:05All in on JJ McCarthy. You can throw out that Chernobyl-esque McCarthy experiment from last year.
6:09And if you do that, Justin Jefferson had been a top five fantasy receiver in points per game four years in a row now.
6:16Kyler has supported elite number one pass catchers in the past.
6:19And just half decent quarterback play is all Jefferson needs.
6:22We've seen it with like fricking Nick Mullins and Josh Dobbs and limited sample sizes.
6:26JJ McCarthy is just far worse than half decent.
6:28Kyler will get the job done. And I think Justin Jefferson's all the way back.
6:33Yeah, we've talked about this, how it's not a Kyler Murray conversation.
6:36It's a JJ McCarthy conversation because Justin Jefferson, I want to say he was still going for like seven receptions for 90
6:42yards a game last year with Carson Wentz. So JJ McCarthy, it's addition by subtraction here in Minnesota.
6:47And I know you're our resident Justin Jefferson enthusiast, but like I want it on the record.
6:52I'm also above consensus. You don't have to go all that far back to remember that he was the wide receiver one
6:58overall in points per game for 2022, wide receiver five in 2023, wide receiver four in 2024.
7:032025 was a blip on the radar, a disaster, weird situation.
7:06I love what you said. Chernobyl-esque with JJ McCarthy.
7:09So he's now the wide receiver six off the board, according to most consensus ADP rankings.
7:13And I think we're just asking you to trust Kyler Murray a little bit more than JJ McCarthy.
7:18And we've seen Kyler do it with, I'm sorry, DeAndre Hopkins, who I think is less talented than Justin Jefferson is now.
7:25And, you know, I trust KOC and his coaching staff to make sure that they're going to keep their superstar happy and
7:31have a bounce back year for Justin Jefferson. Feed it to me, Mitch.
7:34I need it in my veins. Let's drop to number six.
7:38This is the guy that most people have as their consensus number five.
7:41And that is Cedarian Lamb wide receiver one for the Dallas Cowboys.
7:45Another guy who had a wide receiver one overall finish not that long ago, back in 2023.
7:49He is, I think you would agree, a very tough guy to rank.
7:53I don't think he's getting disrespected in the fantasy community because we've still got him as the consensus wide receiver five.
7:59But I think he's kind of gotten disrespected in NFL discourse just because of the George Pickens breakout.
8:04But to me, he is still the clear wide receiver one here.
8:07And should he remain healthy? I think he's a lock to finish as a wide receiver one.
8:12My issue with Pickens more so is that it limits the ceiling.
8:16And I think that there's not the potential there to have an overall wide receiver one finish out of Cedee Lamb anymore.
8:22But I think he's a very safe bet to get enough volume to slot in as a mid to higher end wide receiver one.
8:29Yeah, I don't have too much to add there.
8:31I think I agree with every single thing you just said.
8:34He is tough because he's still relatively young. He has that wide receiver one overall finish like you mentioned.
8:40But he just probably won't get back there. It is Pickens that's really put the damper on things.
8:45Especially because Pickens probably was better than Lamb even when they were both on the field last year.
8:50But Lamb wasn't really healthy even when he was on the field.
8:53So as long as he can stay healthy, it's hard for me to imagine Cedee not leading this team.
8:58Which is by the way a very explosive offense to begin with.
9:02I think he'll lead this team in most statistical categories.
9:05There's an argument to be made here as well about the fact that Dallas is financially committed to Cedee Lamb for the future.
9:11And they're not necessarily financially committed yet to George Pickens.
9:14And I think there has to be an element of that involved that they're going to try to keep him happy.
9:20Oh definitely. He's there for the long run. Especially after a down year like.
9:24Yeah. You don't want him to become the next diva receiver.
9:27You're going to get your boy the ball when you're paying him that kind of money.
9:31And he's good enough to warrant it. Absolutely. Speaking of diva receivers.
9:35I knew you were going to say that. Coming in here at seven is AJ Brown.
9:39I think some people are overthinking this match. We have him a tiny bit higher than consensus.
9:44But he's a guy who has finished as a wide receiver one four times in his career.
9:49His worst finish of his career through seven years was wide receiver 32.
9:53In an injury riddled season that he didn't even play a ton.
9:56Now he has a young debatably elite quarterback who undebatably is an extraordinary elite deep ball passer.
10:01Which is exactly what AJ Brown does so well from the outside of the field.
10:05We trust the quarterback. We trust the play caller in Josh McDaniels.
10:08We should trust Brown and the resume that he has.
10:11This just seems like such a slam dunk to me.
10:14I agree. I also, I don't think it's debatable.
10:17I think Drake may as an elite QB, but you know, whatever you feel, let us know in the comments.
10:22Last season, disaster in the streets of Philadelphia. A cataclysmic offense that caused AJ Brown to go from calmly reading self-help books
10:28on the sideline to assassinating the positivity rabbit in the locker room.
10:32And through all of that mellow, he finishes as the wide receiver 11 in fantasy football.
10:36He's clearly still got it. PFF's 12th highest grade receiver last season.
10:40Now you pair him with Drake may who again, I believe is elite led the NFL and totally PA completion percentage and
10:46finished second among starting quarterbacks in a dot. Anything lower than the spot is just too low for AJ Brown to me.
10:52I'm glad we're on the same page. I we're higher than consensus, but it's warranted.
10:56Absolutely. On to number eight, a guy that we actually recently addressed, but let's dive in a little bit deeper.
11:02Let's talk some Drake London. I think this is a great spot to revisit our conversation about Tua and Pennix that we had on Monday.
11:09And if you missed Monday's episode, our clear takeaway is that we're watching this training camp battle to see who's going to
11:15get the starting job because you've illustrated this so clearly with so many statistics that Michael Pennix would be such a massive
11:21bump for Drake London who finished as the eighth highest in fancy points per game among wide receivers last season.
11:27But I'm going to let you add a little bit more color to why Pennix starting is so important for Drake London's
11:33production and why Tua would probably bump him down a little bit in our rankings.
11:37Thank you. I appreciate you giving me this opportunity.
11:40I think I might write my dissertation someday on Drake London stats with Michael Pennix.
11:44I got a couple of familiar ones for you, a couple of new ones even.
11:48But London has averaged 21.48 fantasy points per game in 13 games with Pennix over the last two years.
11:54To put in perspective how good that is, that would have been good enough for the wide receiver two overall last year
12:00and the wide receiver two overall in 2024. That is how elite the numbers are with Drake London playing with Michael Pennix.
12:06Not necessarily the most pro Pennix guy in general.
12:09He has his own shortcomings, but he is undisputably great for Drake London in fantasy.
12:13So if Pennix can somehow be the starter of the full season, eight might be too low for Drake London.
12:19But if it's check down Tua who refuses to push the ball down the field very often, eight might be too high for Drake London.
12:26Yeah, this is a big time ambiguous quarterback situation keeping a wide receiver's price down.
12:30Yeah, that is some reason. Oh, 100%. It's so much of it is dependent on the quarterback.
12:35This next guy here at nine, we feel at least more confident in who the quarterback will be.
12:40Not necessarily how good he'll be, but that is Nico Collins with the Houston Texans.
12:44He's been just so consistently reliable for four years now when he's been on the field.
12:48He just feels like such a safe bet to give you fringe wide receiver numbers.
12:53Picking him is just like comfort food to me.
12:55You just know you're getting something good. Yeah, you're getting something reliable to play a little bit of devil's advocate against ourselves
13:01though since we both individually have him at nine and then obviously nine here in the consensus as well.
13:07But last year was the best finish of his career at wide receiver eight overall.
13:11So it's fair to ask yourself, are we drafting him at his ceiling, especially if we see Jaden Higgins and some of
13:17these other young receivers start to eat into the target chair more, get more involved.
13:21I'm not projecting that, but it's something I'm starting to ask myself with Nico.
13:25I was actually going to say, and I love Nico Collins like so much and you know that, but I do have
13:32the fear that just because of the nature of this offense and how good the defense is, like I kind of struggle
13:38to see a world where Nico like blows his ADP out of the water.
13:42Like he feels like one of the more low ceiling guys in this range.
13:46And so to me, this is like a guy you draft.
13:49And like you said, I love comfort food. You lock him in as a mid to low end wide receiver one.
13:55You feel good about it and there's nothing wrong with it.
13:58But like you said, the emergence of Jaden Higgins that we're so excited about a low pass rate in Houston, it's just
14:04it's tough to project him finishing much higher than like a wide receiver seven or wide receiver eight, especially with the fact
14:10that we always get one weird guy sneaking into that top like six or seven in fancy football.
14:15Yeah, my thoughts exactly. On to number 10. We already talked about his teammate, but let's talk about the wide receiver four on the season last year.
14:23And that was George Pickens. I think we as a podcast, as a show have been a little critical of George Pickens long term value.
14:30But I don't think that matters for 2026 because he's still in this explosive Cowboys offense with Dak Prescott, the helm and
14:36this defense that forced Dak to attempt 600 passes last season.
14:39And I know the defense is better, but like this passing game is still going to be firing.
14:44And George Pickens was, as everyone knows, elite last season, third in receiving yards in the NFL, boasted a 2.34 yards per outrun.
14:51He should be a guy that you feel great about having as a wide receiver one on your roster.
14:56The only thing here is it'll be interesting to see what his finish looks like if we do get a healthy CD.
15:02But I think it's a similar situation where there's going to be enough volume for him.
15:07It's just that the other guy in this offense is limiting the ceiling.
15:11Yeah, he's tough similar to CD because they're on the same team.
15:14I feel a lot better, even though the situation in Dallas is a little bit murky and ambiguous.
15:19I feel a lot better he wasn't traded because that was my big fear early offseason.
15:24I think he is ultimately best off in Dallas.
15:26I still think he'll be very good. If CD stays healthy, like you said, though, I think he'll probably reclaim the true
15:32wide receiver one role in this offense. And maybe it's fair to be a little worried that this defense could be a
15:38little bit better than it was last year. And they maybe don't throw the ball quite as much as they did last year.
15:45So all of that kind of brings Pickens down for me.
15:48But with that said, he was so good last year.
15:51He's unquestionably just electric, such an incredible player that putting him at 10 feels like a pretty fair compromise, all things considered.
15:57He's like the Devon Achan of wide receivers where he's a guy I have so many concerns about.
16:02But if you click that button on draft day because you just want to watch him on Sundays, I literally could not blame you at all.
16:09No, he's fun to watch. And they're always on prime time, which like shouldn't factor into who you draft, but it kind
16:16of makes you want to draft him. You got to talk into your drunk Uncle Jim at Thanksgiving because you know the Cowboys are going to be on.
16:24You're like, sorry, got him on my fantasy team.
16:26I don't know. I kind of want to talk to drunk Uncle Jim.
16:30That sounds like a pretty good time. Well, Mitch, I'm going to keep the boxing gloves away, but we're going to be
16:36talking about Rasheed Rice here coming in at 11, who I know we have some differences on.
16:41We've hashed it out. I'll try to play nice here, even though you have him at 13 like the hater you are,
16:47where I personally have him at 10. I'm actually holding him down a little bit as I anxiously wait to confirm that
16:53there will be no suspension, which I don't think there will be, but I'm still kind of waiting.
16:58And also, I want to make sure the Chiefs don't bring in anyone else because if they bring in a Stephon Diggs
17:04or even like a Debo Samuel, that definitely does hurt Rasheed Rice's value.
17:08But if none of those things happen, I'll probably move him up to my wide receiver 6 or 7 overall, which I
17:14think will be much higher than consensus. But I think it's fair given he was the wide receiver 4 over the stretch that he played last year.
17:22He was the wide receiver 2 over the stretch that he played in 2024.
17:26It's just the injuries and then the suspension that have limited or halted him from having the big season-long finish that looks
17:32really great on a piece of paper. But on a per-game basis, we've seen it so consistently from Rasheed Rice in this offense.
17:39Yeah. Okay. As our resident Rasheed Rice hater, I will say that my concerns are very much long-term.
17:44Similar to the Pickens situation, honestly. This is actually very much mirroring it where I'm not so sure about their dynasty value.
17:50But in redraft, I'm actually pretty in on this price.
17:53We just grabbed him in our big money best ball league that we do every year in the Dalmatian.
17:58And to me, if Rasheed is healthy, if Mahomes is healthy, he should crush at this price.
18:03He averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game last season when they were both out there.
18:07And as the 11th wide receiver off the board, I would gladly take it.
18:11I think long-term, we'll see what the Chiefs do.
18:14But I don't have an issue paying this price here in 2026.
18:17That's music to my ears, Mitch. All right. Let's jump into number 12.
18:21I feel like we've talked a lot about guys that don't quite have a ceiling, but they have a safe floor, blah, blah, blah.
18:27Let's talk about a guy that genuinely has an extremely high wide receiver one ceiling because of how much has changed with their situation.
18:34And that is Devonta Smith. A lot of JSN comps out there right now for our 12th receiver off the board.
18:40Our actually last one of the wide receiver one range.
18:43In games without AJ Brown in the last two seasons, this is where a lot of these kind of conversations are starting.
18:49Devonta Smith averaged seven receptions for 80 yards with a 35.1% target share.
18:53Last year with AJ Brown there, he was eighth among all wide receivers and totally PA.
18:57But if you bring it back to the JSN comparison, which kind of makes sense.
19:01You look at JSN when DK left Seattle and we see this big emergence.
19:05Now you've got Devonta and AJ Brown leaves Philadelphia.
19:08Do we see something similar? When Devonta Smith had the opportunity to line up out wide last season, he had a 2.95
19:14yards per route run, tied for third best behind Pukunikua, and you guessed it, Jackson Smith and Jigba.
19:19So to me, I think the comps are fair.
19:22I think there's a world where this Philadelphia offense doesn't bounce back in the wake of Kevin Patool leaving.
19:27But we're two guys that are very high on Jalen Hurts.
19:30We're very high on this offense bouncing back. And I have always been someone who's extremely high on the talent of Devonta Smith, former Heisman, former Boletnikoff winner.
19:38Like this guy's got the pedigree to be a true wide receiver one.
19:42This is one of those bets that I really love taking a swing on right now around the 12th receiver off the board.
19:48I don't mind it. I like Devonta Smith a lot.
19:51I think you're a little bit more excited than me, but I am still very excited.
19:56I think he's worth right around where we have him ranked.
19:59I love all the statistical evidence you have for just how productive he's been and how talented he is.
20:04But it really just boils down to like the simple sentence that Devonta Smith is good.
20:09And he's good. He's good. And that shouldn't be a question.
20:12No AJ Brown in town. It really does make the sky the limit.
20:15But I think if I'm like sort of hedging against myself and I have any worries, it's just that this Eagles team
20:21has been very close to dead last in past attempts each of the last two years.
20:26So if that's going to continue to be the case, you bring in Makai Lemon, who is not as good as AJ
20:32Brown, or at least won't be his rookie year, and will play a very different role in the offense.
20:38But if he is good enough to take a big enough slice of this already small pie, that is the Philadelphia passing
20:44attack, then maybe Smith doesn't really have the ceiling we think he does.
20:47But if this offense does bounce back and he still is leading this team in target chair by a wide margin, which
20:54he very well could and maybe should, the ceiling is super high.
20:57And honestly, even the floor, he's not going to, barring injury, he's not going to fall out of like wider C or two territory.
21:04No, I think the volume will be there to give him a pretty safe floor.
21:08And I just think he's got a phenomenal ceiling.
21:11And I'll let you introduce the next guy. But I kind of hate that these guys are going relatively similar in our
21:17rankings, but at least they're a little far apart in ADP, so I can try to snag both when I'm feeling a little frisky.
21:24I know, but honestly, we have a stretch of guys coming up here that are all going super close.
21:29And I love them all, and I think we're a little higher than consensus.
21:33But next it is Lad McConkie, who, like you said, one of our favorites here at the lineup.
21:38We love Lad McConkie. We love the upside. We are way above consensus on Lad McConkie, way above.
21:43And I will not apologize for it. No. Because I want this versatile number one receiver and a Justin Herbert and a
21:49Mike McDaniel offense with a healthy offensive line that should be very good when healthy.
21:53All of the ingredients are there for success. And if these wonderful ingredients are cooking up anything in particular, it is a
22:00delightful dip, Mitch, because McConkie is going a whole round plus later than he was last year, despite this much improved situation.
22:06And despite the same talent that he had last year, I'm super hot and bothered by Lad McConkie right now.
22:11Yeah, I think people are forgetting about when the situation was actually good in LA two years ago for him, and he finishes the wide receiver 12.
22:19And that's how everyone got burned last year, because he obviously shot up in his sophomore season.
22:24But we look at this year and so much has changed.
22:27You bring in Mike McDaniel as the offensive coordinator.
22:29We've seen him prop up guys to wide receiver one finishes, two finishes, three finishes.
22:34You look at, you know, Jalen Waddell, Tyreek Hill, Debo Samuel.
22:37You also bring back Rashawn Slater and Joe Ault, both all pro tackles that went down with injuries last year and led
22:43to Justin Herbert taking a career-high amount of sacks and a career-high scramble rate because of it.
22:48And then you take out Keenan Allen, who was also playing such a similar role to Lad McConkie, and you vacate 122 targets.
22:54So I understand if you got burned last year by Lad, but that's how you get these incredible scenarios where people are
23:00so scared off of last year's production, but so much has changed here in the background that I think he is such
23:07a smash hit and a guy that genuinely has a wide receiver one overall ceiling.
23:11I need it. I want it so bad. Feed me the Lad full-on breakout this year.
23:15All right, on to number 14. We just talked about a guy who disappointed in his sophomore season.
23:21Hopefully this guy doesn't do the same. Let's talk about T-Mac, Tedaroa McMillan.
23:24He is someone who's really interesting to me. I think this one might break into a little bit longer of a conversation.
23:30I don't know if you've seen the same discourse as I have on Twitter and people souring on him, not very excited for him this season.
23:38And I wonder if it's because of the Lad McConkies and the Brian Thomases last year that disappointed people.
23:43And so I get the concerns. He was 23rd in fantasy points per game last season.
23:48He only had three games with 15 plus points, only one with 20 plus points.
23:52Granted, it was a 33 point outburst. But for me, this is a guy who as a rookie had a thousand yards and seven touchdowns.
23:59He was sixth in the entire NFL and totally PA among wide receivers.
24:03But what excites me most is the deep play ability.
24:05Per player profiler, he ranked 10th in explosive plays, fourth in air yard share, fourth in deep target share, and he was
24:12ninth in the entire NFL and first read targets.
24:14He feels like a ticking time bomb in fantasy football in the best way possible that the breakout could come this year,
24:20next year, and he's just going to explode on the scene.
24:23I'm projecting it, honestly. I think I'm much more bullish on him than most.
24:27And I've actually been seeing him fall in a lot of rankings.
24:31That's what I'm saying, yeah. A lot of these ADPs.
24:34I remember talking about him with you back in March saying, I like TMAC where he's being ranked now, but he won't
24:40be there in July and August and I'll probably not be super in.
24:43I was right. He's not there, but he's gone in the opposite direction of what I thought, which is really like music to my ears.
24:50And I love seeing it. And it's strange because this is normally the time of year we start pumping up these year
24:57two receivers way too high in cost to the point where it's ridiculous.
25:00I think he might be right. Like last year, the Brian Thomases and the Lad McConkeys and like, even like the Marvin
25:07Harrison juniors, not really pulling it together in year two, maybe a scared people away.
25:11But if McMillan stays put where he is now, I think he's an incredible value.
25:15He's a guy who has top five draft capital.
25:17You talked about some of those underlying metrics. There's a laundry list of them that we could do a whole episode on
25:24if we wanted to, for just how impressive he was as a rookie.
25:27He has the makings of the next elite receiver in the NFL.
25:31And I think he is absolutely worth the shot in 2026.
25:34I think it's funny. We talk about with player production a lot, that when we're ranking these guys, we're so reactive to just what happened the year before.
25:42But we also do it when it comes to trends and fantasy.
25:45Like if we're burned by sophomore receivers, then we don't rank them as highly the next year.
25:50Or you look at like, even just last year still, zero RB was such a popular strategy.
25:55And now it's by the wayside. And if you don't have a running back in your first two rounds, you're screwed.
26:01And so sometimes it's good to, not to, you know, not to always zig when everyone's zagging, but at least check the
26:07market a little bit and make sure we're not overcorrecting in any direction.
26:10That is honestly, maybe the best fantasy advice we've ever given on this show.
26:14And I'm not trying to be hyperbolic or just, you know, trying to hype you up here, but that is so true.
26:21People are sheep. I'm guilty of it. I can be sheepish.
26:24I'll follow the pack. I am Sean the sheep.
26:26It's, I mean, I think we are a little bit deep inside, but we have to remember, like sometimes people do overreact
26:32to whatever happened the previous year, whether it's about a player or a trend or a strategy.
26:37And sometimes you just kind of got to fade that a little bit and trust your priors to a certain extent.
26:43With that said, this next player is another great example of that.
26:47We're going into year two for this guy. And it's a Mecca, a Buka, a guy we absolutely love on this show.
26:53This, this whole range of guys were super bullish on compared to most.
26:56I think he didn't have the most complete list of excellent underlying metrics.
27:00Like I talked about with T-Mac, but he was hurt for a large part of the year.
27:05And Baker was definitely very hurt for a large part of last year.
27:09So that obviously hurt the production of the Buka as well.
27:12He now goes into year two and a phenomenal situation, a pass heavy offense.
27:16We compared Devonta Smith to JSN. I see shades of JSN in a Mecca, Buka, and I just cannot shake them.
27:22I just keep seeing it. Even when I try to talk myself out of it at his current cost, he's entirely worth the upside to me.
27:29You wake up in a cold sweat, seeing shades of JSN thinking about a Mecca, Buka.
27:33I'll be honest. I think you can flip him and T-Mac and I wouldn't fault you here.
27:38Like I put them so similarly, similarly in my rankings.
27:41I don't know if you saw the news that came out of Netflix's quarterback show, but Baker Mayfield was dealing with a
27:47sprained MCL and PCL from week two on last season.
27:50And obviously we've talked about how a Buka dealt with the hamstring injury from week six on.
27:55And prior to that, he was the wide receiver three through five weeks.
27:58And I feel like everyone's like, oh, he just fell off.
28:02And meanwhile, there's a direct injury report moment that you can look at exactly when the wheels kind of fell off the Abuka hype train.
28:09So I'm trusting the talent here. If both these guys stay healthy, I think we see a full on breakout from a Buka.
28:15I also think you see an incredible value in Baker Mayfield right now, who's going too late in drafts.
28:20And one thing I'll say about him versus T-Mac, I think T-Mac's floor is a hell of a lot safer than a
28:27Buka's, but I think a Buka's ceiling is significantly higher than T-Mac.
28:30And I think that if you're really swinging for the fences here with this pick, and you're looking at the two of
28:36them on your draft board, I would be taking a Buka to swing for the fences.
28:41It hurts me to not agree with you because I love a Buka so much.
28:45I'm probably taking T-Mac, but honestly, I don't think that's an outrageous take at all.
28:49A Buka has incredible upside in 2026. We can, we can disagree on one thing.
28:53Let's move on to, we've said a few guys have been tough to rank.
28:57This is by far the toughest guy to rank right now, I think in all of fantasy football, and that is Malik Neighbors.
29:04This ranking is based entirely on the fact that the buzz is telling us we won't see Neighbors until week five.
29:10We just got a report that he'll probably be at camp, but no confirmation at all about how he looks or whether we'll see him for week one.
29:18So if we end up getting the news that he's going to be playing week one, I'm probably moving him like directly into my top 10.
29:25But let's take a look at the 2024 stats on how good Malik Neighbors was as a rookie and try to project
29:31it into what we could see if he gets out on the field this season.
29:35He was number one in target share in 2024 at 34.91%, which is outrageous.
29:39It's the second best in the past four years behind only JSN this past season.
29:44He was the wide receiver two through two short weeks with Russell Wilson last season before that ACL and meniscus tear.
29:50And so for me, it's like, imagine what he could do with Jackson Dart in this offense with a full season and
29:56like them building the whole thing around him. And so I hope he comes back healthy.
30:00I hope that we're wrong about this ranking. And by the time we talk about him in late August, we can be
30:06shooting him up to the wide receiver eight or nine.
30:09But for now, we've got to hold him here because we don't know how many weeks you're actually going to get out of Malik Neighbors.
30:16Yeah, I don't have too much to add. I think you covered that very, very well.
30:21Eight or nine is probably accurate. We might even have them at like six or seven.
30:25If there were truly zero injury risk and ACL never happened, like he, he might be a French top five guy for us.
30:32It's just tough that he'll probably open the air on the pup.
30:35Drafting him is basically just a measurement of how cocky you are, because if you trust yourself to hit on your late
30:41picks enough to scrape together a couple wins early on in the year and your home, your high school or college buddies,
30:48then take the shot because the longterm investment is going to be worth it.
30:52But if you're worried that you're going to have to do whatever like degenerate punishment, you and your friends have cooked up
30:58in your home league, maybe a fade him because taking a guy that high, that isn't going to be playing is a
31:04really tough way to start your year. Yeah. You're punting at least four weeks on that pick, like at least maybe more.
31:10And who knows if he's up to speed when he gets out there, it's just a, it's an icky situation to be
31:16spending a top pick on right now. Yeah. And that's why he's the toughest guy to rank.
31:21The next guy we have here though, easier to rank in that he's somehow healthy, although he struggled with it throughout his
31:27career, but harder for some other reasons. And that's Chris Olave who were actually lower on, uh, than consensus.
31:33We have him here at the water receiver 17.
31:35He was a wide receiver six last year, which makes our rankings seem mightily disrespectful.
31:39The problem is he was sixth in targets as well, which almost inevitably inevitably will go down with the addition of Jordan Tyson via the draft.
31:47Olave has also only had one top 15 finish his entire career, which was obviously last year in his defense.
31:52A lot of that's been entry induced and not necessarily the fact that he's been bad, but it's still just tough to
31:59bet on a guy who's only done it once.
32:01He was so dependent on volume. And with all that said, he's honestly someone I could see myself moving down even more
32:07as we get closer to the off season, but curious on your thoughts as well, Mitch.
32:12Yeah. Here's where I'm at with Olave and you know, I'm an Olave truther, but what I will admit is so much
32:18of what he did last season was based on the volume that he got.
32:22And like you mentioned, his price is being suppressed right now by Jordan Tyson.
32:26They take him with the eighth overall pick. And I think where we have him ranked here is appropriate when you factor that in.
32:33And plus not to mention you kind of alluded to it, the concussion issues and the health concerns that kept his price down last year.
32:40And I don't think we can just discount and pretend that was never an issue because he didn't have a concussion last season.
32:46Like that's still a thing. I actually do think there's room here for Chris Olave to become a value.
32:52And we just discussed this earlier this week about guys.
32:54We expect to fly up draft boards during training camp rookies specifically.
32:58And we didn't mention Jordan Tyson, but you know, Jordan Tyson is going to be putting up highlight plays during training camp
33:04and people are going to be moving them up the board.
33:07And when you get one teammate in the same position room, flying up a draft board, the other guy is going to fall.
33:14And maybe we end up seeing Chris Olave fall into a value, but I think I kind of have him priced in that way at this ranking.
33:21And so I think we've got Chris Olave at the right spot at 17.
33:25Yep. I think that's probably fair. On to number 18, Zay Flowers.
33:29I think Zay Flowers is a value. I think he'll definitely pay off on this price.
33:33And I don't think he's going to pay off on much more than it.
33:37He had 118 targets last season. You get a healthy Lamar Jackson back.
33:41Zay should crush like in this offense. I think he should be great.
33:44It's just, they don't pass enough in this Baltimore offense for it to be like a truly like league winning play.
33:50And so he just doesn't have the same upside as some of the previous guys we talked about.
33:55But I think you pick Zay Flowers and you're probably getting like the wide receiver 14 for a wide receiver 18 price tag, which is great.
34:03Yeah. From that lens, I think we have him too low because I feel really good.
34:07He'll finish as a top 18 receiver as well.
34:10I just don't know how much better than that he'll be, which is, I think I'm probably even a little bit more
34:16bearish on him than you, but I still do like him because the floor seems so safe.
34:21He'll get a huge slice of the Ravens passing volume, but like you said, they don't pass a ton.
34:26And then as soon as they get in the red zone, it's Derek Henry, Lamar Jackson with his legs or Mark Andrews.
34:32So that definitely hurts Zay Flowers. He's just a little bit capped in what his ceiling is.
34:37He was to his credit, the wide receiver seven overall last year.
34:40So maybe we're not being generous enough to him.
34:43That, however, was largely on the back of a week 18 explosion and a game that from a fantasy perspective, didn't matter
34:49at all because most leagues at least wrap up in week 17.
34:53Real life, it mattered though. So we, I mean, we have to give him his flowers for it.
34:58No, no pun intended. Genuinely. He still was very good.
35:00Like it still counts for something on the stat sheet.
35:03I just think wide receiver seven overall is probably his ceiling.
35:06And I'd be pretty surprised if he hit it, but it'd also be surprised if he fell lower than like the wide receiver 20.
35:13I mean, yeah, if he finished wide receiver seven again, you would be ecstatic with this wide receiver 18 price tag.
35:19Oh, you would blow the ADP out of the water.
35:22Yeah. Here's a guy I feel much worse about in terms of the floor, Mitch.
35:26That's Garrett Wilson, the New York jets. I probably would have had him at like 11 or 12 or so.
35:32If it weren't for what the jets did to him in the draft, Marlon Brando, look how they massacred my boy.
35:38I mean, that's how I feel about Garrett Wilson after the draft.
35:41Now, all of a sudden you have Gino Smith, a quarterback on an offense that has half competent pass catchers outside of
35:47Garrett Wilson, which is something we really haven't seen Garrett Wilson because of that has thrived off target share.
35:53We talked about it with Chris Olave. He was sixth last year.
35:56Garrett Wilson was second in the NFL at 34.3%, which is just an astronomically ridiculous target share.
36:01Yeah. And I just don't think the jets are good enough to support Garrett Wilson as an elite fantasy receiver without that type of target share.
36:08So that's why I'm kind of low on Garrett and maybe still even falling, but he's such an incredible talent.
36:14Like how do you keep him outside of the top 20?
36:17I think, I think you covered it exactly. I just, he's so talented and I love watching him and it kills me,
36:23but I just cannot in good conscience rank him any higher than this.
36:27You go out and you spend first round draft capital on Sadiq and Cooper and you bring in Gino Smith, who I
36:33guess is an upgrade over Justin Fields, but he's not revving me up.
36:37And I think a lot of people have Garrett Wilson ranked higher than us.
36:41And I think you're going to be very disappointed when, like you said, like without that big of a piece of the
36:47pie, he's just not going to be able to pay off on ADP.
36:50Those damn New York jets. Those damn jets. They ruin everything.
36:54On to number 20. Let's talk about T Higgins.
36:56Mello, a wise man once told me that T Higgins has not outperformed his ADP since 2021.
37:01When he was the wide receiver 22. And yet he still gets ranked in the top 15.
37:06Almost every year. That man was you. In fact, he's only been a top 15 wide receiver one time in his career
37:12last season when he was literally the wide receiver 15.
37:15And so I get it. He's uber talented. He's attached to Joe Burrow.
37:18But in my mind, this is Jamar Chase's team.
37:21This is Jamar Chase's passing volume. And we're yet to see the proof that there's enough of that volume to sustain a high end fantasy finish from T.
37:29And so we have him lower than consensus. And if anything, he's probably going to keep moving down as we get closer in August.
37:36Yeah. I feel honored to be the wise man here.
37:38And I'm still feeling wise for having him a little bit lower than consensus.
37:42I don't think he's like the most ridiculous pick you can make because he is so freaking talented and he does have Joe Burrow.
37:49But it's like you said, this is Jamar Chase's team.
37:52We've seen it year over year. T Higgins can have these huge spike weeks and he can be very good.
37:58But his ceiling is just super limited without being the number one receiver on this team.
38:02So that makes it tough to draft him at ADP.
38:05But all the other variables are there aside from the fact that he is a number two.
38:10So he's still going to be a really good wide receiver too, I think.
38:14Yeah. All right. Next here, let's, let's get into the unction territory, Mitch.
38:17At 21, we have Mike Evans. I know you love Mike Evans.
38:21I know you're a big Mike Evans guy. I think we're bigger or higher than him, higher on him than consensus.
38:27I just can't get over the fact that we have a Hall of Fame receiver here who is going to be the
38:33number one receiver in a Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy offense.
38:36That just seems like too obvious that he's going to be good.
38:39And if you don't think he still has it, okay.
38:42Well, guess what? Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch do.
38:45And they showed that in the form of U.S.
38:47currency this offseason. So there's a lot to be excited about for Mike Evans in 2026.
38:52Money talks and we're listening. I'm giddy. I'm always giddy to talk about Mike Evans.
38:56He's attached to one of my favorite sneaky QBs in fantasy.
38:59Brock Purdy, who was second in points per game last year among quarterbacks, averaged 32 points per game throughout the fantasy playoffs.
39:05Outside of the injury-riddled 2025 last year, I know we all have the disappointment taste in our mouth.
39:10But in the previous 11 years, Mike Evans had five wide receiver one finishes and 11, which for those counting at home,
39:16is all of those seasons in the top 24, never finishing below the wide receiver 22.
39:21And so I think a wide receiver 21 price is like maybe too low.
39:25Like this is a guy that when I say T.
39:28Higgins could fall, I think Mike Evans could keep rising above him.
39:31And the comp for this is so unbelievably easy.
39:34He is 2026's Devontae Adams from last year. If he gets that many touchdowns, some of my best ball-amps are going to be loving that.
39:41Lordy. On to number 22, a man who is no stranger to touchdowns, Terry McLaurin of the Washington Commanders.
39:46And I think he is just yet another victim of the public sleeping on the Commanders bounce back.
39:51I think it's very easy to forget back in 2024, Terry came within 0.1 points of Jackson Smith and Jigma as the wide receiver seven on the season.
39:59Now you get a healthy Jaden Daniels back. People forget.
40:02I think everyone wants to say that Jaden did so much of his work on the ground.
40:07He was absolutely slicing up defenses through the air and his favorite target to do it with, Terry McLaurin.
40:12I think Terry is going to end up being a value.
40:15I agree. I like where he's going. I think he is a value there.
40:19He kind of reminds me of Mike Evans a little bit, this veteran ex-receiver who's the number one option on what should be a good offense.
40:26And that's what we are at least projecting here, that they're similarly productive in 2024 or in 2026 as they were in 2024.
40:33Which, by the way, that year, Scary Terry was the wide receiver seven overall.
40:37I'm not saying he'll reach those heights again. He is a little bit older.
40:41He probably won't score 13 touchdowns again like he did that year.
40:44But he's going so much later than that in drafts that if you're projecting this offense to bounce right back, how can
40:50you not be excited about Terry McLaurin? Absolutely. Mel, let's get into the next guy that we are violently above consensus on.
40:57Yeah, people are going to be. I'm higher than consensus.
40:59You're like mega above consensus. I'm like Snoop Dogg higher than consensus.
41:03It's concerned. Like, I might need to, like, call a doctor or something for you.
41:07If you've been higher than consensus for four or more hours, call a doctor.
41:11In this case, we are for the rookie, Carnell Tate.
41:14And Mitch, I want to start this discussion with a little public service announcement for our listeners.
41:19I'm an aggressive one. I might yell it. I don't know.
41:22I'm going to hurt your ears. I won't yell it.
41:24But I want you to imagine me yelling because it's that important.
41:28Do not panic trade Carnell Tate if he has a slow start.
41:31Rookie wide receivers break out in a major way down the stretch pretty much every single year.
41:36Last year was weirdly probably the outlier where it didn't really happen.
41:39But basically every year you see one or two rookie receivers win leagues down the stretch, the back half of the year.
41:46That could be Carnell Tate. So if you draft him, don't panic trade him if it's a slow start.
41:51He had super high draft capital in the real life NFL draft.
41:54He has a clear path to targets. And for what it's worth, Brian Dable, the OC of this offense, we've seen him
42:01build his offenses around number one receivers before and feed them elite target chair.
42:04We saw it with Stefan Diggs in Buffalo. We saw it with Malik Neighbors in New York.
42:09So I'm getting pretty amped up here for Carnell Tate.
42:12Thank you for your service on that PSA. The more you know.
42:15This might be my favorite Tate since the guy who makes the bomb-ass gluten-free cookies.
42:20But you're hitting everything on the head here. This guy is an absolute stud.
42:24He has insane draft capital, number four over all the Tennessee Titans.
42:27Currently the wide receiver 29 off the board. Mello, I would be shocked, flabbergasted, bewildered.
42:31Dare I say Humber flubed. In fact, if his price does not rise at least five spots in August on the wide receiver rankings.
42:38Maybe more. He is one of the biggest screaming values that is the most obvious candidate to fly up draft boards in August among rookies.
42:45And so, like you said, do not panic if it's a bad start.
42:49Do not trade him. However, if there is a slow start and there's another manager in your league that's starting to sweat
42:55with Carnell Tate, he is going to be one of my favorite trade targets after week three or four.
43:00That's probably the better advice. Trade for him after the month of September if it is a slow start.
43:06Because I'll be trying to do the same. By the way, Humber flubed, I'm going to start using that unironically very frequently.
43:12All right, let's jump to number 24. If you've somehow stuck around with us for like 40 minutes here, thank you so much for enjoying the content.
43:19Please hit that subscribe button if you want to catch all of our rankings and a bunch of random other shit that
43:26we're going to do throughout the summer. But let's talk about a guy that we have been nothing but complimentary of, Mello.
43:32And that is Luther Burden III. Poof. I'm going to be candid here.
43:36I have not been a Luther Burden guy. This is a guy who finished outside of the top 24 receivers in all
43:42but two games last season and finished as the wide receiver 48.
43:45But I have to admit, the upside is clear.
43:48Lots of positive coach speak out of Ben Johnson.
43:50He's been saying to quote buy stock in Luther Burden.
43:53And Burden did post the third highest yards per out run among any receiver who played 50 or more snaps last season.
43:59So basically any receiver with a pulse. And of course, we're dealing with the bizarre Roma Dunze foot saga that continues to linger.
44:06And so I do think as much as I'm not as high as other people on Burden, it would be malpractice not
44:12to have him inside of our top 24. Look at us.
44:15That's science. Who would have thought? Over a Dunze even.
44:18It is the foot though. Like I actually just recently changed my rankings.
44:21I had a Dunze a few spots higher than Burden.
44:24Now I think I had Burden one spot higher than a Dunze.
44:28The foot stuff is just really scaring me. We had someone in our comments recently, I think, compare Burden to hash browns
44:34or something like that when we did our fast food episode.
44:37Because it's like they might be very good, but I'll never know because it's so expensive.
44:41And that's so perfect. It's kind of like Panera mac and cheese for me.
44:45I love that shit, but I never buy it because it's just too damn expensive.
44:50And that's what I feel about Burden. I love the talent.
44:53I love the underlying metrics as Rick a year.
44:55The cost is just a little bit out of control, but I don't blame people because a pick on him is a
45:02bet on upside that he'll be the number one receiver in this Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson offense, which has incredible ceiling.
45:08It just has a really low floor too. And I know we're talking about Burden, but pretty much everything I just said
45:14applies to a Dunze as well, aside from the fact that he is going cheaper in drafts.
45:19But I think the word malpractice, like you said, is probably a good way to describe it to keep him outside of
45:25the top 24 with just how hot and bothered the entire fantasy community is by him right now.
45:30I think Luther Burden is the perfect Panera mac and cheese because when it's hot, it's amazing.
45:35But every time there seems to be a bunch of cold spots throughout.
45:38And that feels like what you're going to get throughout the 2026 season if you draft Luther Burden.
45:44All right. Well, join us next time when we do a whole 30 minutes on why Luther Burden is Panera mac and cheese.
45:50While we're eating a chicken paw pie. Those are our top 24 receivers for the 2026 fantasy football season.
45:55If you enjoyed the episode, please let us know down below.
45:58We love reading your comments and we respond to every single one.
46:02If you have someone that didn't make the list that should be, please let us know and let us know your favorite
46:08wide receiver one right now for fantasy football. But Melo, before we get out of here, do we miss anything?
46:14Nothing for me except thank you for sticking with us this long.
46:17If you did really appreciate it. All right. We'll catch you guys next episode.
