2026 Fantasy Football: Way-too-early wide receiver projections

The middle of February may seem too early for Fantasy Football projections. 'Seem' may not be a strong enough word in that first sentence. Free agency is right around the corner, but the NFL Draft won't happen for two more months. It is way too early. But that doesn't mean it isn't helpful to take a snapshot before things get crazy.

One of the big questions at wide receiver is whether this position as a whole rebounds in 2026. Last year, only nine wide receivers averaged more than 15 Fantasy points per game, and one of them was Rashee Rice, who only played eight games. Of the 11 wide receivers who averaged 13 to 14 FPPG, four of them played 10 games or fewer. To put that in context, in 202,4 we had 18 wide receivers who averaged at least 15 FPPG and another 13 who scored 13-14. The answer is that I do expect a bounce-back season, as I already have 13 wide receivers projected for 15 FPPG, even without projecting any of the potential free agents.

Even amongst those top 13, there are some pretty significant tier breaks. Ja'Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown are in a tier of their own, with Rice, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, and Drake London forming a clearly delineated Tier 2. It's in Tier 3 that we find several guys with the ability to produce elite numbers, but too many question marks to project them there now. 

Will Justin Jefferson get better quarterback play?

Will CeeDee Lamb have to share with George Pickens again?

Will A.J. Brown still be on the Eagles?

Will Zay Flowers or Nico Collins see a boost in targets or touchdowns?

Will Malik Nabers be 100% recovered from his torn ACL?

These are the questions we will try to answer in the next six months as we sort out the first two rounds of Fantasy Football drafts.

It is probably worth mentioning the names you don't see in the projections below. Pickens, Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, Alec Pierce, and Jauan Jennings are just a few of the free-agent wide receivers I haven't projected yet because we don't know where they'll be playing in 2026. Pickens is the only one from this group who has a chance of cracking the top 12, and Evans is the most likely to end up in the top 24, but that is no guarantee.

I also won't add any rookies to the projections until the 2026 NFL Draft. I am expecting Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, and Makai Lemon all crack the top 48 as soon as they are drafted, and if they land in the right spot, they could go much higher than that. While this position was a disappointment in the NFL last year, when it comes to the 2026 rookies, wide receiver looks like the bright spot of this class.

Here are my way-too-early projections at wide receiver 2026: