2026 Dynasty Risers and Fallers at Wide Receiver

Aidan Weingartner
2026 Dynasty Risers and Fallers at Wide Receiver | Fantasy In Frames

Welcome to our 2026 Dynasty Risers and Fallers at Wide Receiver breakdown!

Today, we continue on with the Dynasty Risers and Fallers series here at Fantasy In Frames for you all in 2026, and examine the Wide Receiver position. As you know, the NFL is always a rapidly changing environment, and factors such as trades, coaching/scheme changes, and overall offensive stability greatly reshape the Dynasty fantasy football landscape from year to year, in more ways than one. With that being said, let’s look at some players that are trending up and down in these formats at WR, shall we?

Riser: Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

If you ask me, Zay Flowers is on the precipice of a MONSTER alpha-like breakout this season in Baltimore, and the path to it is extremely clear. Isaiah Likely is no longer around to steal some of those similar middle-of-the-field routes; Mark Andrews is aging and coming off two back-to-back disappointing seasons; Rashod Bateman is always hurt; and Elijah Sarratt and Ja’Kobi Lane are two Day 3 rookies who offer skill sets completely different from Flowers’. The runway is absolutely there. Flowers is a smaller WR, but don’t let that fool you…that doesn’t limit him in the least. Last season, he had a 10.1 aDOT and ran 65% of his routes out wide.

He is also surprisingly physical at the catch point for a more slender receiver, with a 67% contested-catch rate in 2025. This is a player who has consistently seen high-level usage since he stepped on the field in Baltimore as a rookie; from 2023-2025, his target share was 23%, 24%, and 28%, respectively. The name of the game with Zay Flowers is shiftiness and explosiveness, as among WRs who ran at least 300 routes in 2025, he ranked 8th in YAC/rec and 7th in MTF/rec. This is a player who is far and away THE #1 option in a very high-powered offense.

Riser: D.J. Moore, Buffalo Bills

Well, this is awkward. Last year at this time, I called DJ Moore a Dynasty FALLER…and now, I am calling him a Dynasty RISER. To my defense though, Moore was still on the Chicago Bears back then, and I was struggling to see a promising path forward for the player at that point. After being traded to the Buffalo Bills a few months ago, this player has been revitalized in Dynasty formats, if you ask me.

Everyone loves to say that the last two years in Chicago have been rough for DJ Moore and, in turn, have been easily the worst stretch of his career. While that may be true, context is sorely needed here. In 2024, he was dealing with a rookie Caleb Williams, a horrible coaching staff, and a horrible offensive line; in 2025, he was behind rising young talents such as Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, and Rome Odunze in terms of true involvement in the passing game.

Moore’s reunion with new Buffalo Bills HC Joe Brady alone should get you excited here, as with the Carolina Panthers in 2021, when Brady was his OC, he saw an absurd 163 targets and put up over 1,000 receiving yards. The elite connection between a playcaller and a WR from the past is clearly evident.

At the end of the day, it boils down to this: DJ Moore is tied to an elite QB in Josh Allen for the next three years at the very least, is the UNQUESTIONED alpha in a very high-octane passing attack, and provides a skillset that Buffalo has been sorely missing ever since moving on from Stefon Diggs a couple years ago. Not to mention, this is a very versatile veteran WR: last season in Chicago, he lined up in the slot 33% of the time and out wide 65%. He even had a Designed Play Rate of 17.1%, showcasing his ability to handle gadget-like plays (screens, handoffs, jet sweeps). Many outs to fantasy success here.

Riser: A.J. Brown, New England Patriots

The expected move finally happened, as on June 1st, 2026, WR A.J. Brown was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the New England Patriots after months of speculation. We all knew this was coming, but now that it has happened, everyone seems to be all over the place on the player’s true Dynasty value and outlook going forward. Fantasy managers seem way more excited about Brown for Redraft this season than for Dynasty right now, but in my eyes… the hype should be high for both formats no matter what.

2025 is viewed as a “down season” for A.J. Brown, as it was very rocky and inconsistent. Yes, I’ll admit we didn’t see the massive spike weeks we were used to in the past… but through all the noise, he still managed to post a very impressive 2.23 YPRR and pull in a very high 28% target share. He also saw a 35% First Read Share, showing that the offense still ran through him first and foremost.

The biggest positive I can say about the veteran WR’s fit in New England is that he has virtually no high-level target competition. Hunter Henry is a high-floor, low-ceiling type player, and I like Romeo Doubs as much as anybody, but he has always just been a very solid second or third option in a passing game in his career rather than a true high-volume target earner, and he always will be. Oh, and Mike Vrabel and A.J. Brown have a deep past connection with one another as well. I am investing confidently in A.J. Brown going forward, and I suggest that you do the same.

Faller: Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs

If you set aside the fact that Xavier Worthy is tied to Patrick Mahomes and is a former first-round pick, you’ll realize he has never put anything together consistently enough from a fantasy standpoint. Through two seasons in the NFL, Worthy has finished as the WR45 and the WR61 in PPR scoring. Less than ideal to say the least. Everyone gets all hyped over Worthy’s freakish athleticism and speed, but when it comes down to it, that hasn’t seemed to matter.

This is a player who doesn’t offer much diversity to his game, as he’s solely a serious threat. In 2025, his aDOT was 12.8, his deep target rate was 24%, and he ran 69% of his routes out wide. Being an explosive and dynamic deep threat is fine, but that’s not ALL you can be, and the efficiency has to come with it as well, which it has not for Xavier Worthy, at all really. Last season, he posted a 1.40 YPRR, pulled in a 14.5% target share, and totaled an 18% first-read share. All very lackluster numbers for a player with such an exciting athleticism profile.

Not to mention what Patrick Mahomes is (or isn’t) at this point in his career. Nobody wants to admit it, but Mahomes has been a checkdown machine over the last few years and has not been throwing deep NEARLY as much as he did early in his career. The QB’s aDOT has been 6.7 and 8.2 in 2024 and 2025, respectively, proving my exact point. The perception of Xavier Worthy vs. the reality of Xavier Worthy are two VERY different things.

Faller: Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions

Let the hot takes commence. I explained this in a previous discussion a few weeks ago, but to me, Jameson Williams is a player that lives off of downfield usage and explosive TD potential. There is no consistent expanded route tree/role, as evidenced by his 12.9 aDOT and 17% target share last season. Williams is also very limited in where and how he is featured in the Detroit Lions’ offense, as he ran a large share of his routes out wide in 2025 (76%, to be exact). Very little versatility in that sense.

This is the DEFINITION of a boom-or-bust WR: on any given week during the season, you could get 5 points or 25 points. You just never know. Looking past all the numbers, though, the target competition alone in Detroit is a big concern for Jameson Williams, if you ask me.

Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the very best WRs in the entire NFL, all reports indicate that Sam LaPorta is in line for a big long term contract extension very soon, and say what you will about Isaac TeSlaa‘s insane TD rate as a rookie last season, but he flashed some big time talent in limited opportunities, so his volume/usage could see an uptick going forward as well. Plus, Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the very best pass-catching backs in the entire league, and an absolute DYNAMO with the ball in his hands. There’s just a lot going on here, and in my eyes, Jameson Williams is the odd man out.

Thanks for reading my 2026 Dynasty Risers and Fallers at Wide Receiver article. Stay tuned for my next installment of 2026 Risers & Fallers, where I’ll be discussing Tight Ends. To see our Dynasty Rankings here at FIF, click here.

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