WR Targets
Draft season is heating up, and these are the five wide receivers I keep coming back to no matter where I'm picking. New situations, new offenses, and a couple of quiet workhorses that the market hasn't fully caught up to yet. Let's get into it.
#1. A.J. Brown (NE)
Brown was traded from Philadelphia to New England on June 1 for a 2028 first-round pick, instantly becoming Drake Maye's WR1 and landing in the best situation of his career.
He's now the unambiguous alpha in an offense that finished 2nd in the NFL in points scored (490) with a pass-heavy identity… Romeo Doubs is the WR2, but there's no real competition for target volume.
Even in the worst scheme fit of his career last season, Brown posted 121 targets (14th), a 29.5% target share (9th), and 103 first-read targets (7th). Those numbers should climb further in a pass-friendly system.
He's now catching passes from Drake Maye, who finished as NFL MVP runner-up in 2025 with a 72% completion rate and a league-leading 8.9 yards per attempt.
Four straight 1,000-yard seasons in a suppressed role, now paired with a top-3 ascending QB — this is the clearest bounce-back spot in the entire WR pool.
#2: Ladd McConkey (LAC)
A "sophomore slump" line hides what actually happened: McConkey was buried in a crowded target room, and a scheme change is arriving right on time to fix it.
Ladd McConkey posted a 76.5% success rate vs. man coverage and 84.0% vs. zone: the highest marks in the entire 2025-26 data set, per Reception Perception.
New OC Mike McDaniel replaces Greg Roman, and the scheme is expected to prioritize McConkey's shiftiness and yards-after-catch ability; per Evan Silva of ETR, his 4.39 speed fits McDaniel's speed-obsessed system perfectly.
Even through the down year, he still ranked 13th in target separation and 4th in total routes run… proof the underlying skill never left.
If the target competition thins out and the McDaniel offense unlocks his rookie-year form, McConkey is a WR2 rebound being drafted like a WR4.
#3: Luther Burden (CHI)
With DJ Moore now in Buffalo, Burden steps into a wide-open WR1 role behind one of the most efficient rookie seasons in the league.
Following the DJ Moore trade, Burden is the consensus favorite to lead the Bears in targets and receiving production in 2026.
He ranked 2nd in the NFL in yards per route run (2.62) and 7th in yards per target (10.9) as a rookie, trailing only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in YPRR among receivers with at least 40 targets.
He closed the year on a heater: 21 catches, 324 yards, and a touchdown on 26 targets over his final four regular-season games, then commanded 14 targets across two playoff games.
Elite efficiency plus a clear runway to the No. 1 role… this is a Year 2 breakout profile in the making.
#4: Christian Watson (GB)
Watson quietly produced like a top-15 fantasy receiver on a per-game basis last year, and he's about to get a bigger role and a fresh long-term commitment from Green Bay.
Despite playing just 10 games, Watson ranked 15th in the NFL in fantasy points per game (13.2), finishing with 611 yards and 6 touchdowns.
He ranked top-4 in the league in yards per route run (2.65), yards per target (11.1), and yards per catch (17.5): elite efficiency across the board.
Green Bay lost pass-catchers Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks this offseason, clearing the runway for a larger target share, and Watson just signed a 4-year, $110.5 million extension that cements him as the offense's centerpiece.
A per-game WR1 producer when healthy, now the unquestioned top target in an offense that just paid him to be exactly that.
#5: Ja'Marr Chase (CIN)
Chase proved he's completely quarterback-proof in 2025, and now he gets a full season with a healthy Joe Burrow throwing him the ball.
He led the NFL in targets (175) and ranked 3rd in red zone targets (21), finishing as the overall fantasy WR5 while playing all 17 games.
Despite Joe Burrow's Week 2 turf toe injury forcing him to catch passes from Jake Browning and Joe Flacco for much of the year, Chase returned to elite WR1 production from Week 6 on thanks to massive target volume.
Per Evan Silva of ETR, Chase has averaged 117 catches, 1,445 yards, and 11 touchdowns per season over his last three years.
If Burrow is healthy in 2026, Chase's quarterback-proof 2025 floor becomes the launching pad for a real push at WR1 overall.
So that’s the list. I’m not leaving my drafts this season without at least one of these guys locked and loaded.
-Joe