Wild Card Weekend Wide Receiver Projections & Rankings for Fantasy Football

Get ready for Wild Card Weekend with updated fantasy football wide receiver projections and rankings, breaking down matchups, recent trends, and playoff usage in PPR formats.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) runs for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks in overtime at Lumen Field. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Just like the running back position, finding stud wide receivers in Week 18 was challenging in the DFS market and for those fantasy teams playing an 18-week schedule. Zay Flowers (4/138/2) made the most of his six targets in the NFL’s final regular-season game, leading to his best outcome of the season. Five other wideouts scored over 20.00 fantasy points, three of which ranked in the top 4 for the season.

• Alec Pierce (29.20)
• Puka Nacua (26.00)
• Amon-Ra St. Brown (24.90)
• Ja’Marr Chase (23.60)
• Michael Wilson (20.90)

Best Wide Receivers in 2025 Fantasy Football

Here are the final top 12 wide receivers in 2025, ranked by fantasy points in PPR formats:

• Puka Nacua (376.00)
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba (361.00)
• Amon-Ra St. Brown (324.00)
• Ja’Marr Chase (314.90)
• George Pickens (291.90)
• Chris Olave (269.30)
• Zay Flowers (246.30)
• Nico Collins (227.20)
• Davante Adams (222.90)
• Jameson Williams (220.70)
• Michael Wilson (220.60)
• A.J. Brown (220.30)

Michael Wilson (WR88 – ADP ~ 231.8) was free in drafts in 2025, and he most likely played his way into the free agent pool in most leagues due to the Cardinals barely looking his way over their first nine games (22/231/1 on 38 targets). An injury to Marvin Harrison Jr. and a change to Jacoby Brissett at quarterback for Arizona led to Wilson being an elite WR1 over his final eight games (56/775/6 on 88 targets). He scored 169.50 fantasy points over this span (21.19) in PPR formats.

Top Wide Receivers According to Average Draft Position in 2025

Here are the top 12 wide receivers drafted in the National Fantasy Football Championship over the final week before the start of the regular season with their ADPs:

• Ja’Marr Chase (1.1)
• CeeDee Lamb (3.8)
• Justin Jefferson (5.6)
• Malik Nabers (8.5)
• Brian Thomas (10.2)
• Amon-Ra St. Brown (10.6)
• Nico Collins (11.1)
• Drake London (12.7)
• Puka Nacua (13.5)
• A.J. Brown (19.9)
• Ladd McConkey (21.5)
• Tee Higgins (25.2)

Seven of the top 12 wide receivers underperformed expectations due to injuries either by them or their starting quarterback. Malik Nabers was the biggest bust due to missing 13 games, but he looked poised to be a productive asset. Brian Thomas (48/707/2 on 91 targets) had the most regression in his play, highlighted by his poor catch rate (52.7%-65.4% in 2024). 

Wan’Dale Robinson (WR63 with an ADP of 146.7) proved to be the best mid-tier value at wide receiver. He finished 14th in fantasy points (217.90) in PPR formats, helped by the injury to Malik Nabers.

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Each week, I’ll release my depth charts and projections on Wednesday, with a neutral eye informed by hints from previous results or in-season injuries. These statistics represent baseline outlooks, with their potential already factored in. Touchdowns create impact scores and winning fantasy days, especially in non-PPR formats. Who scores them each week is the Holy Grail that the fantasy market searches for weekly.

My projections will be ranked in a way that won’t resemble the weekly consensus. My man, Matt Brandon, is in charge of finding a balance between my player outlooks and the public view of each week's rankings.

Wild Card Weekend Wide Receiver Projections

Here’s a look at the wide receiver projections for the first round of the playoffs in PPR formats:

Shawn Childs

Click HERE to view our full Wide Receiver Projections for Wild Card Weekend!