Early Fantasy WR Rankings 2023: Wide receiver rankings for standard, PPR leagues

Even with fantasy football draft season six-plus months away, it's never too early to get a head start on next season by readying yourself with our way-too-early WR rankings for PPR and standard leagues. While there's a handful of variables that will ultimately lead to some fluctuation in our rankings — free agency, the NFL Draft, trades, and injuries to name a few—we've compiled our top 20 wide receivers for 2023 if we had to draft today.

Following a 2022 campaign that saw the third-year wideout lead all receivers in yards (1,809), receptions (128), yards after catch (630), red-zone targets (28), expected points added (+113.1), PPR points (368.7) and standard points (240.7), it's no surprise to have Justin Jefferson atop our list. Despite four weeks where he failed to amass double-digit PPR points, J Jettas was as consistent as it comes at a position where weekly variance is inevitable. Fantasy owners don't have to overthink things this offseason -- Jefferson is the undisputed top WR across the board.

Right behind Jefferson is his former LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase, who we're projecting to have an even more complete '23 campaign in a Bengals' offense that's only trending upward. Chase played in just 13 regular seasons game last year, having missed Weeks 8-12 with a hip injury. Still, Chase ended the regular season leading all WRs in expected fantasy points per game (19.8) while compiling the third-most red-zone targets (26). 

2023 FANTASY RANKINGS: QBs | RBs | TEs

Cooper Kupp had his season get cut short in Week 10, but he still led all WRs in PPR fantasy points per game for a second straight season (22.4) and is once again a sure-fire first-round pick with a stable floor and high ceiling given he assumed a 31-percent target share on 10.9 targets per game. Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs round out the PPR top five, as the two AFC East wideouts both ranked in the top five in terms of fantasy points per route run, with Hill leading all WRs (0.69) and Diggs ranking fourth (0.63).

We'll see who is ultimately throwing to Davante Adams next season, but despite a late-season QB change, the three-time All-Pro wideout still showcased his ability to put up numbers. CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jaylen Waddle close out the top 10, as all four wideouts ranked in the top 10 in yards after the catch, showcasing their shiftiness and abilities to extend plays. 

Wideouts 11-20 all figure to see a large enough target share to warrant a high draft pick. The most notables pass catchers from this list include offensive rookie of the year, Garrett Wilson, who put up 1,1103 yards despite dealing with a rocky QB situation, and Keenan Allen, who ranked as the PPR WR3 from Weeks 11 to 18 after returning from a hamstring injury.

From now until the start of the season, a lot's seemingly going to happen that'll cause this list to need some amendments. Be sure to check back into Sporting News Fantasy regularly for news, updates, and revised positional rankings between now and fantasy draft season! 

Early 2023 Fantasy WR PPR Rankings

Early 2023 Fantasy WR Rankings for Standard leagues