Top 15 Fantasy Football Wide Receivers for 2012
Fantasy football wide receivers are very deep this season which means there a lot of high quality
Here is a list of the top 15 fantasy football wide receivers for the 2012 NFL season:
1. Calvin Johnson - Detroit Lions
Notes: Johnson is easily the best wide receiver for fantasy football this year. Last season he had eight 100 or more yard games, two were for more than 200, and five multiple touchdown games. He's incredibly consistent and valuable each week.
3. Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals
Notes: The Cardinals' quarterback situation makes it tough for me to rank Fitzgerald as the number two best fantasy football receiver this year. However, he's been very consistent year after year and you can expect at least a 1,000 receiving yard season from him. It's the number of touchdown passes he'll catch this year that are highly questionable.
3. Brandon Marshall - Chicago Bears
Notes: Last time Marshall was paired with Jay Cutler they both had the best seasons of their careers. This year should be no different. The Bears have one of the easiest quarterback and wide receiver schedules of any NFL team which should really help Marshall's fantasy football production.
4. Julio Jones - Atlanta Falcons
Notes: Last year Jones' fantasy football value was hurt because of injury but if he stays healthy this season he'll have huge breakout production. The Falcons are looking to utilize the passing game more this year and they have an easy schedule for Matt Ryan and his receivers. So considering that and an average 17.8 yards a catch last season, I'm expecting Jones accumulate a lot of receiving yards this year.
5. Greg Jennings - Green Bay Packers
Notes: Unfortunately for Jennings' owners last season he missed three games and they saw fellow Packers receivers cut into his fantasy football production. However, in the 13 games he did play he had 11 quality performances of at least 8 or more fantasy football points. Consistency is an invaluable asset in fantasy football receivers and Jennings has it.
6. Roddy White - Atlanta Falcons
Notes: Last season White controlled about 36% of the Falcons red zone targets and had the most red zone targets of any receiver in the NFL. I expect White's role to be no different this year but if Jones stays healthy, White should see a decent drop in his receiving yards.
7. Victor Cruz - New York Giants
Notes: Even though many of Cruz's long touchdown catches will be hard to re-produce, he still managed to accumulate receiving yards without a problem. Last season he had seven games of 100 or more receiving yards, 4 of which were over 150 yards, as well as three games with at least 90 yards. Touchdowns or not, Cruz is a receiving yard machine.
8. Hakeem Nicks - New York Giants
Notes: Nicks has a lot of potential going into this season with Mario Manningham gone and defenses focusing more on Cruz. The Giants have a fairly difficult schedule this year and his injury is a bit of a concern but I wouldn't be surprised to see Nicks post around 1,200 yards and double digit touchdowns this season.
9. Wes Welker - New England Patriots
Notes: Tom Brady has so many options to throw to this season it makes it hard not to be down on Welker. He still is an exceptional receiver and will probably end up as either Brady's number one or two target this year but I don't expected similar fantasy football production to last season.
10. A.J. Green - Cincinnati Bengals
Notes: To be honest I'm not sold on Green. He plays in a division with difficult pass defense and has a highly competitive schedule this year. Either way he still will be Andy Dalton's number option and I expect him to have solid fantasy football production.
11. Jordy Nelson - Green Bay Packers
Notes: Last year was Nelson's breakout season where he finished second in receiving touchdowns with 15. Notably even if he had eight less touchdowns he'd still be almost a top five fantasy football wide receiver. Nelson's value will drop a bit this year but he'll still be one of the better options for fantasy football teams.
12. Andre Johnson - Houston Texans
Notes: Between 2003 and 2009 Johnson had only missed ten games in his career. In the past two seasons he missed a combined 12. If Johnson hadn't become so injury prone recently he would undoubtedly be a top five fantasy football wide receiver this year.
13. Percy Harvin - Minnesota Vikings
Notes: For the time being while Adrian Peterson's health and potential performance is in question, Harvin will probably become the number one guy on the Vikings offense. When Christian Ponder took over the quarterback role in the second half of the season last year Harvin became the number one targeted receiver in the NFL, averaging seven receptions a game. Harvin is a highly undervalued fantasy football receiver with a lot of utility.
14. Steve Smith - Carolina Panthers
Notes: Smith's receiving numbers are great when Cam Newton is passing well. He's is a quality receiver who is playing against some very weak pass defenses. Having said that I'd expect another 1,000 or more receiving yard season with close to double digit touchdowns.
15. Marques Colston - New Orleans Saints
Notes: The pros of Colston's fantasy football value is that he's playing one of the most pass friendly schedules on a pass heavy offense with Drew Brees who set the passing record in a single season last year. The cons are he is one of a few quality targets and Brees loves to spread the ball around.
