Underdog Fantasy Rankings 2023: Drafting Wide Receivers for Best Ball
It’s safe to say that wide receiver is the deepest position in fantasy football these days. Justin Jefferson led all pass-catchers in receptions, targets, and receiving yards in 2022, but he finished tied for 11th in receiving touchdowns. The numbers were still good enough to make Jefferson the unquestioned WR1 from a fantasy standpoint a season ago, and it’ll be fascinating to see how he fares in 2023 if he enjoys a bit of positive regression in the TDs department.
While Jefferson is likely to be the first pass-catcher off the board in your Best Ball drafts, he’s certainly no lock to repeat as the top-scoring wide receiver next season. That’s no knock on Jefferson, of course. It’s really just a testament to how loaded the WR position is. Injuries and other unpredictable events can also turn preseason prognostications upside down.
If you’re looking for Underdog Best Ball wide receiver rankings ahead of the 2023 campaign, you’ve come to the right place. Drafts are already underway, so it’s never too early to get a head start on your research. If you’re new to the site, be sure to take full advantage of our Underdog Fantasy promo code “GRINDERS” for a 100% match bonus on your first deposit of up to $100.
Best Ball Rankings & ADP – Wide Receivers
2023 Best Ball WR rankings are courtesy of Spike Week
| Player | Team | Rank | ADPrk | ADP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Jefferson |  MIN | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ja’Marr Chase |  CIN | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Tyreek Hill |  MIA | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Cooper Kupp |  LAR | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Stefon Diggs |  BUF | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| A.J. Brown |  PHI | 6 | 9 | 24 |
| CeeDee Lamb |  DAL | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Garrett Wilson |  NYJ | 8 | 11 | 26 |
| Jaylen Waddle | MIA | 9 | 8 | 16 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown |  DET | 10 | 12 | 34 |
| Davante Adams |  LVR | 11 | 7 | 12 |
| Chris Olave |  NOS | 12 | 15 | 38 |
| DeVonta Smith | PHI | 13 | 13 | 35 |
| Tee Higgins | CIN | 14 | 10 | 25 |
| D.K. Metcalf |  SEA | 15 | 14 | 37 |
| Deebo Samuel |  SFO | 16 | 23 | 51 |
| Calvin Ridley |  JAC | 17 | 18 | 43 |
| Amari Cooper |  CLE | 18 | 19 | 45 |
| Jerry Jeudy |  DEN | 19 | 32 | 65 |
| Keenan Allen |  LAC | 20 | 17 | 41 |
| Drake London |  ATL | 21 | 33 | 67 |
| D.J. Moore |  CHI | 22 | 21 | 47 |
| Christian Watson |  GBP | 23 | 22 | 48 |
| Terry McLaurin |  WAS | 24 | 20 | 46 |
| Mike Williams | LAC | 25 | 24 | 53 |
| DeAndre Hopkins |  ARI | 26 | 31 | 64 |
| Brandon Aiyuk | SFO | 27 | 25 | 55 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA | 28 | 43 | 98 |
| Christian Kirk | JAC | 29 | 27 | 57 |
| Diontae Johnson |  PIT | 30 | 26 | 56 |
| Tyler Lockett | SEA | 31 | 34 | 68 |
| Jordan Addison | MIN | 32 | 37 | 76 |
| Michael Pittman |  IND | 33 | 29 | 61 |
| Jahan Dotson | WAS | 34 | 35 | 70 |
| GabE Davis | BUF | 35 | 36 | 72 |
| Chris Godwin |  TBB | 36 | 16 | 40 |
| Treylon Burks |  TEN | 37 | 44 | 100 |
| Zay Flowers |  BAL | 38 | 48 | 112 |
| Rashod Bateman | BAL | 39 | 42 | 95 |
| Marquise Brown | ARI | 40 | 30 | 62 |
| Mike Evans | TBB | 41 | 28 | 58 |
| George Pickens | PIT | 42 | 39 | 79 |
| Quentin Johnston | LAC | 43 | 45 | 105 |
| Brandin Cooks | DAL | 44 | 40 | 85 |
| Kadarius Toney |  KCC | 45 | 41 | 94 |
| Courtland Sutton | DEN | 46 | 38 | 78 |
| Michael Thomas | NOS | 47 | 50 | 121 |
| Skyy Moore | KCC | 48 | 57 | 172 |
| Jonathan Mingo |  CAR | 49 | 54 | 162 |
| Tyler Boyd | CIN | 50 | 52 | 136 |
| Michael Gallup | DAL | 51 | 51 | 123 |
| Jakobi Meyers | LVR | 52 | 47 | 108 |
| Nico Collins |  HOU | 53 | 46 | 106 |
| DJ Chark | CAR | 54 | 53 | 153 |
| Rashee Rice | KCC | 55 | 56 | 168 |
| Odell Beckham | BAL | 56 | 55 | 166 |
| Darnell Mooney | CHI | 57 | 49 | 117 |
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2023 Best Ball Tips & Strategy: Drafting a WR
As is the case with DFS, stacking is a popular Best Ball strategy. Pairing a top wide receiver with his real-life quarterback means you’re maximizing upside via correlation. If Joe Burrow throws for 350 yards and 5 touchdowns in a game, there’s an awfully good chance Ja’Marr Chase enjoyed a fruitful afternoon, as well.
Without any can’t-miss running backs topping the rankings heading into the new season, you’re likely to see Jefferson go 1.01 in your Best Ball drafts. After him, however, things get a bit murkier at the position.
Davante Adams had a huge 2022 campaign with Derek Carr under center, but could he regress now that Jimmy Garoppolo is the new sheriff in town? Will Cooper Kupp and the Rams’ offense bounce back from a miserable, injury-riddled season? Will Tua Tagovailoa play enough games for Tyreek Hill to continue to put up eye-popping numbers? Does the addition of Jaxon Smith-Njigba tank the value of DK Metcalf?
Going into a Best Ball draft with a game plan is something that will suit you well in the long run. Because wide receiver has so much depth, you could easily see between 10 and 15 grabbed off the board within the first two rounds of your draft.
That’s where the rankings come in handy. If you decide to reach for a certain wideout well above his ADP, you’re running the risk of opening the door for one of your opponents to reap the benefits. Drafting based strictly on rankings isn’t a must, but using ADP as a tool for identifying undervalued players is practical.
Prioritizing wide receiver early in drafts is also generally a smart approach. Some will be tempted to reach on elite QBs, but you can almost always find productive passers later on. Loading up on premium WRs and hoping to strike gold with an undervalued QB in the later rounds is often a savvy move.
Don’t Sleep on Cooper Kupp
Based on last season, there’s a chance Cooper Kupp may slide in drafts. The Rams’ star wideout has been doing this for a long time, and it’s worth wondering how much gas he has left in the tank. He’s still only 30, but he was held to just 9 games a season ago due to injury. LA’s offense as a whole was a complete mess on the heels of their Super Bowl run a couple of years ago.
Kupp still averaged nearly 11 targets in the 9 games he played, which was the second-best mark in football behind only Ja’Marr Chase. He managed to lead the Rams in catches and finished second in targets despite playing a little more than half the season. You can chalk some of that up to the Rams’ lack of talent at the position beyond Kupp, but production is production.
Nobody really knows what to expect from the Rams next season after a dismal 5-win showing. Matthew Stafford isn’t getting any younger, either, and the team hasn’t done much this offseason to address those depth concerns.
Of course, the lack of depth should lead to Kupp continuing to see insane volume as long as he can stay on the field. He hasn’t been a beacon of health over the years, but he’s still only two years removed from leading the NFL in catches, targets, receiving yards, and receiving TDs.
As a result, Kupp should still be a priority high in the first round of Best Ball drafts.
Garrett Wilson Breakout SZN?
Maybe “breakout” is the wrong word here considering Garrett Wilson just enjoyed a remarkably productive rookie season. The Ohio State product reeled in 83 of his 147 targets for 1,103 yards and 4 touchdowns for an otherwise mediocre Jets offense in 2022.
Wilson nearly doubled the yardage total of the Jets’ next-best pass-catcher – Tyler Conklin – and put up stellar numbers despite the Jets’ rotating cast of characters masquerading as starting QBs. This guy caught passes from Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Joe Flacco all year long.
This year, things look a little different. Aaron Rodgers is in town, and that alone should be a major boost to Wilson’s stock. There are admittedly some question marks about the 39-year-old QB on the heels of his mediocre year in Green Bay, but the Packers didn’t necessarily surround Rodgers with a competent supporting cast.
Wilson finished as the WR21 a season ago despite being the Jets’ only real offensive threat. The return of Breece Hall should bring more balance to the offense, while the team hopes Allen Lazard and Corey Davis will help to free up more space for the second-year star.
Our updated Underdog Best Ball rankings have Wilson as the WR9, just behind Davante Adams. He’s coming in ahead of the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, and Tee Higgins.
The Deebo Conundrum
Deebo Samuel was a hot commodity at this time a year ago. He was fresh off of racking up 1,400 receiving yards in 2021 on a career-high 77 catches. The Niners also utilized him heavily in the ground game, and he responded by finding paydirt 8 times on the ground. Samuel’s 14 total TDs that season were tied for the fifth-most in football among skill position players.
Things changed last year, however. Deebo was held to just 13 games due to injury, and the Niners added Christian McCaffrey in a blockbuster midseason trade. That move gave San Francisco arguably the two most versatile offensive players in the same offense, but Samuel’s production tanked from where it was in ’21.
Samuel finished as the WR3 in terms of per-game output a couple of years ago. Last season, he fell all the way to 30th. Deebo reeled in just two touchdown passes, as well. He’s also far from the only option in the passing attack, as George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk combined to haul in 19 touchdowns last season.
There are a lot of mouths to feed here, but there is still reason for optimism with Deebo heading into the new campaign. The 49ers still view him as a core piece in the offense, even with C-Mac in the fold. In that phenomenal 2021 season, Samuel averaged 7.6 targets and 3.7 rush attempts per game. In 9 games with McCaffrey last year, Deebo attracted 6.9 targets along with 3.4 rush attempts per game. He also still averaged a healthy 5.5 yards per carry in ’22.
He’s currently ranked as the WR17, just ahead of risky options like Terry McLaurin and Christian Watson. Based on the aforementioned numbers, the volume should still be there for Samuel moving forward. As long as he can stay healthy, you can easily make the case that he’s undervalued as things stand.