{"id":259773,"date":"2025-12-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=259773"},"modified":"2025-12-19T17:46:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:46:19","slug":"nfl-ranking-the-wide-receivers-in-week-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/20\/nfl-ranking-the-wide-receivers-in-week-16\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL: Ranking the Wide Receivers in Week 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve seen some surprising shakeups at the wide receiver position this year. Youngsters such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and George Pickens have broken out and put up monster stats, while established stars at the position, such as Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and CeeDee Lamb, have seen their production go up and down. Here are my top 15 NFL wide receivers for Week 16.<\/p>\n

Week 16 Wide Receiver Rankings<\/h2>\n

15. Tee Higgins<\/h3>\n
\"Tee
Photo Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Higgins has struggled to stay healthy at times this season, but he\u2019s still among the NFL\u2019s elite at the position. His long frame and strong hands help him to make spectacular catches at a consistent rate.<\/p>\n

14. Jaylen Waddle<\/h3>\n
\"Jaylen
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Waddle hasn\u2019t been great recently, but I\u2019d blame the quarterback rather than the talented receiver. Waddle\u2019s explosive speed would make him a game-breaker if paired with a competent downfield passer.<\/p>\n

\n

For more help with your fantasy football playoff lineups, check out our Week 16 Start’Em Sit’Em<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

13. Tetairoa McMillan<\/h3>\n
\"Panthers
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McMillan is having a good rookie year, but his recent lack of involvement is puzzling. He\u2019s the Panthers<\/a>\u2019 only consistent receiving option, yet he has just six targets and three catches in his last two games.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

12. DeVonta Smith<\/h3>\n
\"Week
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith, like Brown, wasn\u2019t too involved in the Eagles<\/a>\u2019 offense in Week 15, catching two passes for 50 yards. But he\u2019s still 12th in the league in receiving yards (889) and is having a nice season.<\/p>\n

11. Chris Olave<\/h3>\n
\"Week
Photo Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olave had a nice game in New Orleans<\/a>\u2019 upset over Carolina<\/a> in Week 15. The speedy wideout snagged six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

10. George Pickens<\/h3>\n
\"George
Photo Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pickens has gained just 70 yards in his last two games, but he\u2019s still having an outstanding year. His 1,212 yards rank third in the league, behind only Smith-Njigba and Nacua.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

9. Nico Collins<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Collins serves as both a reliable possession receiver and explosive deep threat for the Texans<\/a>, and he was the latter in Week 15. He caught three passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns in Houston\u2019s blowout win over the Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8. A.J. Brown<\/h3>\n
\"A.J.
Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brown didn\u2019t do much against the Raiders<\/a> in a blowout win, but he did gain 41 yards and find the end zone on one of his two catches. He\u2019s had a nice turnaround in the past month following a disappointing start to the year.<\/p>\n

7. Justin Jefferson<\/h3>\n
\"Justin
Photo Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jefferson can\u2019t seem to get involved in the offense with J.J. McCarthy throwing the ball. The elite wideout is averaging just 33 yards per game in his last seven games.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6. Drake London<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

London has missed four straight games, yet is still near the top 20 in the NFL in terms of receiving yards. His big frame and strong hands allow him to catch damn near everything thrown his way.<\/p>\n

5. CeeDee Lamb<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lamb has returned to his WR1 ways, having topped 110 receiving yards in each of the last three games. His combination of elite athleticism and excellent route-running makes him incredibly difficult to defend.<\/p>\n

4. Amon-Ra St. Brown<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

St. Brown continues to serve as the engine of Detroit<\/a>\u2019s passing game, and he racked up 164 yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches in Week 15. His elite hands and route-running make him the ultimate security blanket for Jared Goff.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Ja\u2019Marr Chase<\/h3>\n
\"week
Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bengals<\/a> might be struggling, but it\u2019s not Chase\u2019s fault. He got back to business in Week 15, catching 10 passes for 132 yards.<\/p>\n

2. Puka Nacua<\/h3>\n
\"Puka
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nacua overcame some personal controversies and had the best game of his NFL career in Week 16. He caught 12 passes for a whopping 225 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba<\/h3>\n
\"Jaxon
Dec 7, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rams<\/a> shut Smith-Njigba out in the first half of the game on Thursday Night Football, but couldn\u2019t contain him in the second. His elite route-running allowed him to gain consistent separation, resulting in eight catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

For more great fantasy football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve seen some surprising shakeups at the wide receiver position this year. Youngsters such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and George Pickens have broken out and put up monster stats, while established stars at the position, such as Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and CeeDee Lamb, have seen their production go up and down. Here are my top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":259777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,33912],"tags":[2320,32602],"class_list":["post-259773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-fantasy-rankings","tag-nfl-schedule","tag-wide-receiver-rankings"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259773"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259779,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259773\/revisions\/259779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}