Fantasy Football’s Top Wide Receivers In 2024

With the 2024 regular NFL season coming to an end, it’s time to look back at the top fantasy wide receivers and compare them to predictions I made prior to the season. Some guys performed at the level of expectations, and some did not. So here are the guys who were at the top in 2024.

(Note: When analyzing wide receivers in fantasy, it’s important to know if your league is a “Points Per Reception” (PPR) league or not. All the data I use is for non-PPR league format. Rankings may change slightly when using PPR statistics.)

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Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (276 FPts, 16.2 FPts/G) – I had Chase ranked at #7 prior to the season, mainly because his quarterback, Joe Burrow, had been dealing with injuries in 2023. But Chase ended up being fantasy football’s best wide receiver in 2024 with 127 receptions for 1,708 yards and 17 TDs, which not only were all career highs, but led the league, in all 3 categories as well, making Chase the clear cut fantasy WR1 in 2024. Although Ja’Marr has had very productive seasons in his 4 year career thus far, this was his real breakout season that many of us have been waiting for. I’ve seen Chase ranked as the number 1 overall pick in a number of different mock fantasy drafts for the 2025 season.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (214 FPts, 12.6 FPts/G) – Jefferson, who was teammates with both Chase and Burrow at LSU, was my pre-season pick to be WR1 for the 2024 season. Funny enough, that was contingent on Kirk Cousins still being the QB in Minnesota. Well, he wasn’t, and Minnesota planned on going with rookie J.J. McCarthy behind center until he was ruled out for the season with an injury during the pre-season. Insert newly acquired back up QB Sam Darnold, who surprisingly outplayed Cousins, who was acquired by the Atlanta Falcons. This series of events played out perfectly in helping Jefferson to have a highly productive season with 103 receptions for 1,533 yards (second in league) and 10 TDs. Both Chase and Jefferson have the size, speed and skill set to be at the top again in 2025.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (201 FPts, 11.8 FPts/G) – St. Brown plays with a real chip on his shoulder. He has memorized all the receivers drafted before him in the 2021 NFL draft, and looks to show those teams what they missed out on in every game he plays. He’s slightly undersized, but has the quickness and hands to make up for it. St. Brown eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the 3rd straight year catching 115 passes for 1,263 yards and 12 TDs. He even threw a TD one game. I predicted St. Brown to finish 5th in 2024, and will stick with that same number for my 2025 season prediction.

(R) Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (197 FPts, 11.6 FPts/G) – Thomas Jr was one of the wave of rookies who made a huge splash in the 2024 NFL season. What was even more impressive, was the fact that he was dealing with QB play that was less than desirable. This kid looks to have a bright future in the NFL, and I’ll be very interested to see what the Jags decide to do at the QB position. I admittedly did not have Thomas Jr in my pre-season top 15 predictions list because I haven’t put top 15 kind of stock in rookies in the past. I’m thinking I may need to rethink that ideology as Thomas finished the 2024 season with 87 receptions for 1,282 yards and 10 TDs.

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Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders (186 FPts, 10.9 FPts/G) – McLaurin is my guy. I recognize he’s not the top receiver in the NFL, but I still really like him anyway. He has delt with an array of poor quarterback play in his first 5 seasons as a pro, all with Washington. But in 2024, rookie sensation QB Jayden Daniels was drafted #2 overall in the NFL draft and developed a connection with McLaurin in D.C., helping the Commanders get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. I didn’t have McLaurin in my pre-season top 15 predictions either because I didn’t know how the quarterback situation would go. Now that I’ve seen how good Daniels can be, I’ll consider inserting him into the top 10 for 2025. As for 2024, McLaurin had 82 receptions for 1,096 yards and 13 TDs, eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards for the 5th consecutive season.

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons (181 FPts, 10.6 FPts/G) – London was a guy I was much higher on once QB Kirk Cousins was acquired. Last year I did not update predictions all the way up to draft time, and left London off of the top 15 because it was made prior to the Cousins acquisition. I did encourage my son to draft him in his fantasy draft though, and he was thankful I did with London catching 100 passes for 1,271 yards and 9 TDs. He is still young, a big target and I believe he will continue to get better at his craft. Cousins fell apart towards the end of last season and the Falcons turned to rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. to lead the offense the rest of the way out. Now, London will have a full off-season and training camp to really build a connection with his young QB.

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (166 FPts, 11.9 FPts/G) – Having “Big Mike” ranked at 14 prior to the season shows I let a little doubt slip in, wondering if he’s going to start slowing down a bit. In actuality, Evans was right on par with his previous 10 seasons, eclipsing 1,000 yards receiving for the 11th consecutive year, tying Jerry Rice for the NFL all-time record. Evans is the highest ranked WR on this list that had to miss some time, so his stat line comes with 3 fewer games then the 6 receivers ahead of him. QB Baker Mayfield had a career year, which helped Evans get to 1,004 yards receiving on 74 receptions and score 11 TDs. I’m going to go ahead and say he’ll break Rice’s record and go for another 1,000 yard receiving again in 2025.

(R) Malik Nabers, New York Giants (165 FPts, 11.0 FPts/G) – These LSU receivers are really making waves in the NFL. Some believe Nabers to be the best rookie WR, with the brightest future, in the 2024 class. He demonstrated some of that with his 7/171/2 stat line in week 17. The Giants will need to find a quality quarterback, but Nabers’ future certainly looks promising. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m always reluctant to put rookies on the top lists, but these guys are coming into the NFL more ready to play and make an immediate impact then ever. Nabers was able to pull in 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and 7 TDs even having missed 2 games and a carousel of poor QB play all year.

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (162 FPts, 10.8 FPts/G) – Some feel like Lamb holding out of training camp due to contract disputes hurt his play in the early stages of the 2024 season. Something was certainly different than the previous season where he was fantasy’s far and away best receiver. It felt like he was just getting a groove going and his QB, Dak Prescott injured his hamstring and was out for the remainder of the season. All considered, Lamb still hauled in 101 receptions for 1,194 yards and 6 TDs. I’m going to assume he’ll be closer to the top WR rank in 2025.

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos (159 FPts, 9.4 FPts/G) – Sutton had his best season yet of his 7 year career. The Broncos started their rookie QB, Bo Nix, so the offense got off to a slow start, as to be expected. But after a few weeks, they got rolling and even made it to the playoffs. Sutton is another big target with good hands and will go up and get a 50/50 ball. He finished the 2024 season with 81 receptions for 1,081 yards and 8 TDs and I believe those number will be even better in 2025.

11. (R) Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers (159 FPts, 9.9 FPts/G)
12. Davante Adams, New York Jets (156 FPts, 11.2 FPts/G)
13. Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions (154 FPts, 10.3 FPts/G)
14. Jaxon Smith Njigba, Seattle Seahawks (153 FPts, 9.0 FPts/G)
15. Garret Wilson, New York Jets (150 FPts, 8.9 FPts/G

Wide Receivers I predicted to do well in 2024, but did NOT

Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins was my #2 pre-season ranked WR. That all went down the drain when his QB, Tua Tagovailoa, was injured in week 2, missed the remainder of that game, plus 4 more. Miami lost 4 of those 5 games and the whole offense never seemed to bounce back.

Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers, my #8 pre-season ranked WR, just fell off. I’m not sure what else to say. I mean, realistically, he probably should have been benched. I’m not sure if he was dealing with injuries that weren’t made known to the general public or what. He had 9 games where he had 3 or less receptions. I’ll be interested to see what the 9ers do with Samuel in the off season.

Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs of the Houston Texans, and Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams all missed significant time due to injury and would all be in the top 15 if we ranked them in order of FPts/G.

That’s a wrap on the top fantasy Wide Receivers of the 2024 season. I appreciate you stopping by! Let me know which Wide Receivers you like for the 2025 season in the comments below! I’ll be putting out my first top 15 prediction list some time soon after Super Bowl, so be sure to look for it!