Scott Pianowski Fantasy analyst Wed, October 21, 2026 at 9:01 PM UTC · 5 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our month of Shuffle Ups concludes here, with the wide receiver lap. Let's see what's going on with the position.
The Shuffle Up series is all about market value moving forward. Everything that's happened to this point is merely an audition. The board below is how to approach a fresh draft starting tonight, or something you can use for roster maintenance, trade talk and self-scouting. It's all up to you.
The salaries are unscientific in nature and meant to show where the talent clusters. Players at the same salary are considered even. Any player with an asterisk has a current injury; those are courtesy ranks, not to be debated. Settle in, settlers, and away we go.
London has never been a dynamic touchdown scorer in his career and he's at 47 targets without a score this season — the busiest bagel in the NFL. OK, maybe he's Andre Johnson. We can still work with that, as Michael Penix Jr. will target London off the bus, and the Atlanta target tree is wonderfully narrow.
Collins remains one of the most talented wideouts in the game and C.J. Stroud is having a tremendous comeback season. But it's not all sunshine and lollipops for Collins — he never plays full seasons, and the Houston passing game is all of a sudden loaded with mouths to feed (Jaylin Noel is a breakout player, Kayshon Boutte and Marvin Harrison Jr. were acquired in trade, Dalton Schultz might catch 70 balls). We always have trouble accepting that some players are better in real life than they are in fantasy in our game, and Collins might fit that frame.
It's all green lights for Washington, as he's bumped his yards per catch and touchdown equity. And the signal Trevor Lawrence showed late last year has carried to the fresh season. The Jaguars still aren't sure what their second option is downfield — Brian Thomas Jr. might have to be traded, Travis Hunter is still mostly a defensive player, Brenton Strange looks like a good-not-great player, Jakobi Meyers is solid but also about to turn 30. Washington only has two double-digit target games, but I could see him averaging close to 10 looks per week moving forward.
Golden's had a favorable runout — Jayden Reed got hurt and the Green Bay running game fell apart, and Tucker Kraft's onboarding has been slow. But Golden's also making his own luck with wins downfield — 16.7 yards per catch and nine grabs over 20 yards (Christian Watson, meanwhile, is at 18.6 and 10, respecitvely). Bless Green Bay for bringing the long pass back to football, and credit Matt LaFleur for continuing to target Golden despite the sophomore's occasional problem with dropped passes. This aerial circus can run all year.
Brown's drop party last week was hard to watch, though it's easily corrected. But Brown is also a bigger receiver navigating his eighth year, and dealing with a degenerative knee condition . Drake Maye has gotten comfortable with spreading the ball around, and even as Brown did immediately absorb 10 targets last week, I don't think the Patriots will force the ball to the star receiver. If Brown has a big game against Chicago, it might be a good time to shop him, take advantage of the name-brand value.
Boston has popped from the opening snap in Cleveland, though he hasn't made it past seven targets in any week. The Cleveland pass-catchers all have the same problem — competition for the ball, and the limitations of the QB room. I'd like to have Harold Fannin Jr., KC Concepcion and Boston all ranked higher, but Deshaun Watson is capping everyone's upside.
I tried to get Cooper in waivers here and there this week, though the presence of Adonai Mitchell (if he ever returns) complicates things. But the Jets are looking downfield every week, and Geno Smith quietly has a passer rating 13% over league average. The Jets could be like the Saints were last season, one of those non-contending teams that's quasi-competitive (and fantasy useful) more often than not.
I get it if you're skeptical chasing Tucker's two surprise touchdowns from last week, but he has carved out a weekly role — four catches or more for five straight games. Kirk Cousins has been much better than expected, buoyed by the sharp Klint Kubiak schemes. The Raiders were blown out at New England but they've been competitive with everyone else, including the Bills and Chiefs. I expect a competitive game against the Rams this week, too.
Source: Sports
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