Looking for some steals in this year’s fantasy football drafts?
BetOhio.com — your source for Ohio sportsbook promos — decided to look at the pass catchers who are movin’ on up fantasy football rankings.
We used FantasyPros.com’s NFL Rankings to gather the Top 100 returning WRs in points per reception (PPR) rankings for the 2023 season. We then utilized FantasyData.com’s NFL Final Rankings to find the final rankings of WRs in PPR for the 2022 season. Subtracting the WR Rankings from 2023 by the WR Rankings from 2022, we came up with the biggest jumps for WRs in fantasy football.
Biggest Receiver Jumps in Fantasy Football
You simply can’t have enough information in fantasy football and in Ohio sports betting. You never know: These results might come in handy.
Trade Should Pay Off for Browns
A quick look at the Cleveland Browns depth chart after the Super Bowl showed the wide receiver position had to improve.
So, Cleveland made a late March deal with the New York Jets to acquire Elijah Moore.
And guess what? Moore is second on this chart.
Moore was odd man out in the Jets’ receiving corps, and with Aaron Rodgers bringing in his own “hands” guys, the Jets found Moore expendable. A 2021 second-round pick out of Ole Miss, Moore caught 43 passes, with five touchdowns, in 11 games his rookie season, but had his numbers drop in Year Two. If they get the Moore the Jets drafted, the Browns’ playoff chances will improve. Quarterback Deshaun Watson should help raise Moore’s numbers to make him a very credible fantasy wide receiver pick.
But there’s Moore. The wideout making the biggest jump in this year’s fantasy rankings is Skyy Moore of the Kansas City Chiefs. Skyy Moore was a second-round pick out of Western Michigan last year and caught 22 passes in 16 games for the Chiefs. With the departures of Juju Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, there should be more opportunities this season to make him a mid-level option. Moore jumped 69 spots in this year’s rankings, but that doesn’t mean you should be picking him over Justin Jefferson. His PPR (points per reception) ranking was very low last year.
Of course, the Chiefs’ Super Bowl odds always will be high, no matter who is catching passes from Patrick Mahomes.
The Buffalo Bills’ Khalil Shakir made the third biggest jump — he does play with Josh Allen — but that only got him to 93. A fifth-round pick out of Boise State last year, Shakir caught 10 passes, and one for a TD, as a rookie.
Deebo Samuel of the 49ers moved up 17 spots to claim No. 4 on the chart. Samuel was already a very good player — he merely bumped up from 37 to 20. After a tremendous 2021, in which he caught 77 passes for more than 1,400 yards, Samuel missed four games in 2022 and his numbers showed it. He’s looking to rebound.
Tied in fifth place are the Commanders’ Jahan Dotson, the Bears’ Darnell Mooney and the Patriots’ Tyquan Thornton. The rankings rise says Dotson has the biggest upside, especially if his offense doesn’t come to blows with new coordinator Eric Bieniemy. In his rookie season last year, the first-round pick from Penn State caught 35 passes and scored seven touchdowns. Mooney, a 2020 fifth-round pick from Tulane, finished his third year in Chicago with 40 catches and two touchdowns. The improvement of QB Justin Fields should help his numbers.
Thornton’s numbers also should improve after a rookie season in which he had 22 receptions and two TDs. Thornton was a second-round pick out of Baylor.
No. 8 Christian Watson was a second-round pick last year out of North Dakota State. He brought in 41 balls and scored seven touchdowns. But if you haven’t heard, the Packers have a new quarterback this year and no Allen Lazard or Randall Cobb. That could be good for Watson. Or not.
Nos. 9 and 10 were already solid receivers, but their games should go up a notch. Derek Carr now will be taking snaps in New Orleans and that should help No. 9 Chris Olave, a first-round pick out of Ohio State last year, who caught 72 passes for more than 1,000 yards and four touchdowns for a Saints offense that should be more explosive.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Garrett Wilson, a first-round pick of the Jets last year, also from Ohio State. He’s also getting a new signal caller. As a rookie, Wilson caught 83 passes for more than 1,100 yards and four TDs for a Jets offense that struggled, so if he clicks with Aaron Rodgers, he could put up big numbers.
