Sports

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Tier Rankings: Rashee Rice And AJ Brown Climb To Tier 2

By Mark Morales-Smith Sports Illustrated

Updated June 3, 2026 8:27 AM

Two of the most important tools for fantasy owners are rankings and tiers. Tiers are valuable because they group players who are at a similar or equal value. They allow fantasy owners to know when a drop-off at a position is coming. These are our WR Tier rankings.

Tier 1

Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals

Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

These are the top two elite options entering this fantasy season. They are in a class of their own, but there are some wideouts knocking on the door.

Tier 2

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

AJ Brown, New England Patriots

Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

This group has elite talent, and we wouldn't be shocked if any of them made a push for the WR1 overall spot. Our only real concern in this group is Rice's off-field issues.

Tier 3

Malik Nabers, New York Giants

George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys

Nico Collins, Houston Texans

This group just barely missed the cut from tier 2 for a number of reasons. Nabers currently has questions surrounding his knee, Collin is often injured and has a mediocre quarterback, and Pickens has only done it once and is still the WR2 on his own team.

Tier 4

Jaylen Waddle, Denver Broncos

DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers

The Tier 4 trio has three stud receivers who could all make a huge jump this season into the high-end WR1 conversation.

Tier 5

Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

DJ Moore, Buffalo Bills

Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts

Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers

Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

Tier 5 has a handful of locked-in WR2s who have the upside to finish as a low-end WR1.

Tier 6

Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals

Garrett Wilson, New York Jets

Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mike Evans, San Francisco 49ers

This is a group with a ton of upside but also quite a few concerns, whether it be injuries, age, a shaky finish to last season, or being in the worst passing attack in the league year after year.

Tier 7

Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears

Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears

Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders

Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers

Carnell Tate, Tennessee Titans

You can find a ton of value in this tier. There are a ton of potential fantasy stars in this group; however, we also have too many worries to move them any higher.

Tier 8

Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams

Marvin Harrison Jr, Arizona Cardinals

DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers

The upside is here for this group, but so is the floor. This is a high-risk, high-reward tier.

Tier 9

Jordyn Tyson, New Orleans Saints

Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals

Chris Godwin Jr, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

Michael Pittman Jr, Pittsburgh Steelers

Jakobi Meyers, Jacksonville Jaguars

All of these players should be safe options. We just aren't sure the upside is there without someone else getting injured.

Tier 10

Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers

Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars

Makai Lemon, Philadelphia Eagles

KC Concepcion, Cleveland Browns

Chris Bell, Miami Dolphins

Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings

This tier is a bit of a mixed bag. Here, we have some high-upside rookies and WR2s who will have week-winning performances but lack consistency.

Tier 11

Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers

Romeo Doubs, New England Patriots

Wan'Dale Robinson, Tennessee Titans

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers

Brian Thomas Jr, Jacksonville Jaguars

Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs

Tier 11 is close to tier 10, but we don't see quite as much upside in this group.

Tier 12

Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers

Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns

Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

These aren't receivers we necessarily want to be drafting, but they are worth mentioning and could end up being solid flex options this season.

More Fantasy Sports On SI News

This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Tier Rankings: Rashee Rice And AJ Brown Climb To Tier 2.

This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 8:09 AM.