Fantasy Football Top 10 Wide Receivers

Fantasy football season is approaching quickly and it is time to begin preparing. Your fantasy football league (FFL) will probably be drafting in the near future and it is important to look at the players you might be targeting with your picks.

There are only a handful of truly elite wide receivers, and there is a rather steep drop off at the position after those guys are gone. After these top ten players, there will be other receivers who emerge as valuable commodities, but it is difficult to anticipate who exactly will make the leap to greatness. Some potential candidates for this are Santonio Holmes, Anthony Gonzalez, and Vincent Jackson. Those guys have made huge strides and are great options as your number tow WR, but none is guaranteed to be a top-10 kind of player by the end of the season.

In the history of fantasy football, there used to be a common mindset that the best strategy was to take running backs with your first two picks in the draft. Currently, though, a new strategy has emerged of taking the best wide receiver available earlier, rather than holding off on the position. This has been spurned by the frustrating onset of timeshares and the dreaded Running Back By Committee options employed by an increasing number of real NFL teams. These situations have created more parity at the running back position, so you can land a high-caliber wide receiver or two in your first couple of rounds and still have serviceable, but not elite, running backs.

One more reason to grab receivers early is the following list of names: Michael Turner, Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, DeAngelo Williams, and Steven Slaton. All these guys were probably available after round four or five at last year's draft, yet they were top-ten players. If you had drafted Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson with your first couple of picks and paired them with two of those running backs, the odds are really strong you would have had a championship-caliber fantasy team.

1. Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had an incredible regular season last year and was a solid contributor to many fantasy football teams. What puts him at the top of this list, though, is how he came through in the postseason. Fitz had seven touchdowns in four games and did not go for less than one hundred yards in any of those contests. Expect great things from this athletic receiver, but don't expect to draft him in the second round!

2. Randy Moss, New England Patriots. Brady is back from his injury and no one benefits more than Randy Moss. The season before Brady was out for the year, Moss grabbed 23 touchdowns. Don't expect him to catch that many touchdown passes, but expect him to garner plenty of scoring opportunities.

3. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans. Houston is primed, as a team, to put up huge offensive numbers. They found a balance between their passing and running games with the emergence of Steve Slaton last year and this benefits the receivers greatly, as opposing defenses cannot just key in on the WR's. Kevin Walter did take away some of the scoring opportunities for Andre Johnson and that could be a concern for those who draft AJ, but he still was the league leader in yardage and catches. Johnson can be a highly valuable #1 WR for your fantasy team.

4. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions. The player they call "Megatron" had a breakout campaign last year for the woeful Detroit Lions. In spite of being the team's only true receiving threat, Calvin Johnson was capable of putting up big numbers on a regular basis. Part of the reason for this, besides his natural talent and size, is the fact that the Lions fell behind early and usually by a lot. As such, the team was forced to throw a lot during the game. Expect a similar situation this year and further development from Megatron.

5. Anquan Boldin, Arizona Cardinals. Boldin is tough, recovers from injury at a superhuman rate, and catches a lot of touchdowns. Drafters might be concerned about taking Arizona's #2 guy, but the Cardinals are a pass-first, second, and third kind of team. There will be plenty of numbers to go around in this offense. Everyone focuses on Larry Fitzgerald, but Boldin could possible sneak his way into the top spot by the end of the year. The reason Boldin is fifth, though, is because it's more likely that Fitz ends up the top WR. Just don't be surprised if his teammate passes him.

6. Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers. Jennings will get yards and come up with a lot of receptions, but what he does best is score touchdowns, and score them often he will. The Green Bay offense really clicked last year, but their defense kept the other team in the game rather frequently. Expect a similar situation this year as the Packers adapt to a 3-4 defense. The new adjustment means that opponents will probably be sticking around in games again and the GB pass offense will be needed to move the ball down the field.

7. Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning's favorite wide receiver is being overshadowed by guys like Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson, but he is a perennial All-Pro who will put up a ton of yardage in the high-powered Indy offense. There are other options for the Colts, so defenses can't key exclusively on him. If they were to do such a thing, they risk being torn apart by Dallas Clark or Anthony Gonzalez or either of the two talented running backs the team now has. Wayne will have opportunities, as always, to excel and he will, as always, take advantage of them.

8. Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers. Steve Smith is a dynamo of a receiver. He has speed and can catch just about any pass that is lofted up for him. Smith's real danger, though, is after he has the ball in his hands. Many a defensive back has needed to go back and pick up his jock strap after Smith speeds by. He is elusive, but he won't elude the end zone. Expect him to get your team a fair share of touchdowns.

9. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons. Roddy White is an extremely consistent wide receiver in a high-octane Atlanta offense. The addition of Tony Gonzalez to the Falcons will give opponents one more offensive threat to worry about and will help create room for White to get behind the defense and into the end zone.

10. Marques Colston. Colston was hurt early last year, but when he came back he put up decent numbers. Now, with the off season under his belt and time removed from the injury, he will be back to becoming the dominant force he was two years ago. Additionally, reports out of New Orleans indicate that the team will be looking in his direction a lot when they are in the red zone. As a fantasy football owner with Colston on your team, you will be happy about that.