Top-100 Fantasy Football Players By WAR Through Week 3 And What The Hell Is Going On With Wide Receivers?
Let's get a quick fantasy football wins above replacement update after Week 3 and explore a question I think is fair to ask at this point: Is the wide receiver position dead? What is going on here, guys?
Two wide receivers have been worthy of being drafted in the first two rounds of your fantasy draft so far. Two. All according to my WAR stat which you can get the full concept breakdown in my business casual fantasy football Substack blog here:
But we're here today to gripe on wide receivers. It's rough out there for you Zero RB guys. Whoever's left of you. Last year was brutal for the position in terms of injury and everyone thought 2025 would be the year it regresses back to being more productive than it's counterpart top-shelf running backs. Three weeks is a little early to ask the nurse for the time, but things are looking ugly. Check out the top-11 wide receivers in preseason ADP. Only two have really been worth their selection.
ADP #1: Ja'Marr Chase (quarterback currently dead again)
ADP #4: Justin Jefferson (one touchdown averaging 4/67 per game)
ADP #6: CeeDee Lamb (was looking solid then got injured leaving you a Week 3 goose egg)
ADP #8: Amon-Ra St. Brown (solid)
ADP #9: Puka Nacua (solid)
ADP #11: Malik Nabers (plays for the Giants)
ADP #13 Nico Collins (slow start - has some hope)
ADP #15: Brian Thomas Jr. (mega bust)
ADP #16: Drake London (double mega "could be the #1 WR in fantasy" bust)
ADP #21: AJ Brown (may as well read some books on the bench)
ADP #24 Ladd McConkey (getting bodied by Quinton Johnston and old man Keenan Allen)
Not to mention Mike Evans with his scheduled seasonal hamstring injury, Tyreek Hill dealing with Tua issues, Higgins sans Burrow, McLaurin sans Jayden and also getting bodied by Deebo. Marvin Harrison Jr? Remember that guy? Me neither. Just look at your leagues starters right now. Dart throws. Pretty much all of them.
As a firm member of the robust running backs club, this is our time to victory lap before the ACLs start snapping on the backs we chose. But one of the reasons we do this is that it's just so much easier to get a serviceable wide receiver in-season. Check out this list of the most added players by week through Week 3 so far (excludes DST and Kicker). 8 wide receivers in the top-25 vs just 3 desperation dart throw running backs and Quinshon Judkins who actually has some promise.
Hand up if you snagged Quinton Johnston after Week 1 for cheap like me! He's your WR6 on the season so far. Love to see it!
But still. This is all very surprising to see such a dud out of the wide receiver position. A stark reminder that while running backs have a higher chance of getting injured, wide receivers also have to worry about their quarterback getting injured in addition to themselves.
We'll see how all this plays out. It's Week 3 so I might be back here in Week 6 regaling on the good ole days when running backs ruled the roost at the tops of the WAR charts. As we all know - the fickle fantasy gods will always leave you guessing.