Jayden Reed, Ricky Pearsall, And 2 Other Potential Fantasy Football WR ADP Fallers
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The story is never written for how a fantasy football player will perform before the start of the 2026 season. Some players end up playing above their average fantasy football draft position, while some play well below it. Here are four WRs who have a good chance to play below their average draft position based on the 2026 ESPN PPR fantasy football rankings.
Chris Godwin Jr.
ESPN 2026 PPR WR Rankings: WR41
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for the first time in 12 seasons, will not have WR Mike Evans on their roster. And while Chris Godwin Jr. immediately seems like he would be one of the main players to step up and fill a big part of the void Evans is leaving on offense, that may not necessarily be the case.
Godwin Jr. in 2025 had 33 receptions for 360 receiving yards and two touchdowns in nine games.
WR Jalen McMillan serves as a threat to take away targets from Godwin Jr. Last season, he dealt with injury problems, but had bright spots here and there, including a 114-yard receiving game against the Miami Dolphins. In year three, he certainly could leap and be a more meaningful threat than Godwin Jr. WR Emeka Egbuka will allso certainly see a rise in production in his second year in the NFL.also
Outside of competition for targets on the 'Bucs roster, one of the main things that could make Godwin Jr. play below his average draft position in fantasy football is his health. He is 30 years old and coming off a second consecutive season where he played fewer than 10 games.
Wan’Dale Robinson
ESPN 2026 PPR WR Rankings: WR38
Wan’Dale Robinson was the clear WR2 with the New York Giants in 2025. Upon joining the Tennessee Titans in the 2026 offseason, that role looked like it would stick, but after a couple of moves Tennessee made, he may end up with a reduced role than he did a season ago. That factors heavily into him possibly playing below his ADP in fantasy football.
Robinson in 2025 had 93 receptions for 1,014 yards and four TDs.
The Titans selected Carnell Tate with the #4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. They also opted to keep Calvin Ridley. These two moves have the potential to delegate Robinson down to the position of WR3. If this is the case, just below him on the depth chart are two second-year WRs who will be in run for notable production in the pass game as well, Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor. Last season, Dike had 48 receptions for 423 receiving yards, and Ayomanor had 41 receptions for 515 receiving yards.
Ricky Pearsall
ESPN 2026 PPR WR Rankings: WR42
With Juan Jennings being a free agent, it seemed Ricky Pearsall could be the San Francisco 49ers' WR1 going into 2026. That is not the case now with them, signing Mike Evans from the Buccaneers in free agency.
Pearsall in 2025 had 53 receptions for 528 receiving yards and no TDs.
The 49ers also added some WR depth in the draft, with De’Zhaun Stripling out of Ole Miss, who should be in line for some decent production. With these roster moves in mind and Pearsall coming off a season where he just played in nine games, he has a good chance to play below his ADP in fantasy football in 2026.
Jayden Reed
ESPN 2026 PPR WR Rankings: WR49
Becoming a common theme in this list of players, Jayden Reed, WR for the Green Bay Packers, is also coming off a season where he had injury problems. He missed 10 games with a broken Clavicle. In the seven games he played, he had 19 receptions for 207 yards and 1 TD.
Reed comes into this season with WR Christian Watson back to start the 2026 season healthy, and a high-ceiling, low-floor fantasy player Matthew Golden playing alongside him. With these players avaible their is a likely path for Reed to play below his ADP and be a non-relevant fantasy player in 2026, even if he is healthy.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops