Early 2026 Fantasy Football WR Rankings: Justin Boone's top wide receivers for next season

5 days ago 2

Justin Boone won the FantasyPros Most Accurate Expert Award in 2019 and has eight top-10 finishes in the competition. He now brings his rankings acumen to the Yahoo Fantasy audience after joining the team as an analyst.

Below you can see a very early look at his fantasy rankings for the 2026 season. More expanded rankings, including PPR scoring and rookies will be available in future updates.

Early 2026 Fantasy Rankings

Wide Receivers
Tight Ends (Jan. 8)
Top 150 (Jan. 9)

Takeaways from the early WR rankings

Puka Nacua earns the top spot in my receiver rankings in a close battle with Ja’Marr Chase and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Nacua led all wideouts in fantasy scoring this year with 19.3 points per game in half PPR, which was over a full point more than JSN, who was in second. While there are some concerns about a soon-to-be 38-year-old Matthew Stafford potentially retiring after the season, Nacua has shown he’ll be the focal point of Sean McVay’s passing attack regardless of who’s under center. His 2025 campaign is even more impressive when you remember his teammate Davante Adams posted 14 touchdowns playing alongside him. There are no bad picks among the top-three receivers, but Nacua has the early edge for 2026 drafts.

I’m extremely curious to see where the ADPs land for the star receivers who missed significant time this year. Rashee Rice served a six-game suspension and missed the final three weeks with a concussion, but in between, he averaged the third-most fantasy points at the position with 15.5. Even with uncertainty around Patrick Mahomes' health heading into the 2026 season, Rice is a solid WR1. Malik Nabers suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in late September and will need to be monitored all offseason to see if he can get back to WR1 form for Week 1. Garrett Wilson missed half the season with a knee strain on a team that wasn’t going anywhere. His fantasy ceiling will be tied to whether the Jets can figure out their quarterback situation. And Terry McLaurin sat out seven games due to injury in what amounted to a lost season after a summer contract dispute. When healthy and firing on all cylinders, McLaurin is a fantasy WR2 with WR1 upside. Coming off incomplete campaigns, all four wideouts will likely be undervalued next season.

There are a couple crowded receiver rooms that will require more work in the offseason before I feel truly comfortable about my projections for them. The first is the Buccaneers, who started the season hot before limping to the finish line and ultimately missing the playoffs. Mike Evans will turn 33 this year and his future is up in the air. Chris Godwin Jr. will hope that another year removed from injury will get him closer to his top form. Emeka Egbuka will try to recapture what made him a top-10 fantasy option early in the year before he was held under 50 yards in seven of his last nine games. Even Jalen McMillan will be a sneaky fantasy sleeper depending on what happens with Evans. It’s a similar story for the Jaguars, who signed Jakobi Meyers to a contract extension after trading for him during the season, lost Travis Hunter to a season-ending injury, struggled to get Brian Thomas Jr. going in Liam Coen’s offense and watched Parker Washington step up on numerous occasions. There’ll be value to mine from both receiving corps, but settling on the best players to target on these teams will take more time.

It’s undeniable that Michael Wilson was a more successful fantasy option in 2025 than his teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. Perhaps we’d view this in a different light if Harrison hadn’t gotten hurt and missed time in the second half of the season, but it’s tough to deny the impact Wilson had with Jacoby Brissett under center. Harrison was the WR28 in FPPG with five top-24 finishes in 10 games before being noticeably limited due to injury. Meanwhile, from Week 9 on Wilson was the WR7 in FPPG with top-24 finishes in six of his last nine contests during the fantasy season. Wilson also had four top-10 results on the season, something Harrison only accomplished twice. In addition to the stats, Wilson looked like the more dominant No. 1 receiver whenever he was featured. The problem is that the organization has more invested in Harrison from a draft capital standpoint and a new coach as well as a potential new quarterback could change the look of the offense entirely. Both players will be intriguing fantasy picks next year, but we can’t nail down their projections until we know who will be calling plays and throwing them the ball in 2026.

Finding sleepers at receiver is always fun and while we’re looking at this very early, there are some names that stand out already. Jalen Coker took on a bigger role in the offense down the stretch and was the WR29 in FPPG over the final six weeks (if we include Week 18). Coker was a top-24 WR in three of his five contests during that span and will hopefully carry that momentum over to 2026 as the Panthers’ No. 2 option in the passing game. Josh Downs has a chance to take a step forward in the Colts’ offense, with Alec Pierce heading to free agency. Downs finished the year with at least 60 yards or a touchdown in three of his last four outings. I’ll also be investing in sophomore wideouts who flashed during their rookie seasons, even though the high-end stats might not have been there. That includes deeper targets like Pat Bryant and Tre’ Harris, who I’ll surely be talking and writing about more as the offseason progresses.