The Blueprint of a Fantasy Football WR1: What the Last 10 Seasons Reveal

Colby Conway
The Blueprint of a Fantasy Football WR1: What the Last 10 Seasons Reveal

Welcome to The Blueprint of a Fantasy Football WR1: What the Last 10 Seasons Reveal!

Only one player can be the overall WR1, and only a select few players have a realistic chance at being the WR1. Avoiding landmines in the early rounds and hitting on the WR2’s in ADP who perform like WR1s is crucial to winning your fantasy football league. To help identify the players in the early rounds who have the best shot at being the overall WR1 and outperforming their fantasy football average draft position, we’re going to take a look back at the last 10 seasons, and identify the common themes amongst those guys, as well as highlight the statistical thresholds that one likely has to meet to finish the year as the leader in the wide receiver clubhouse.

To begin, here is the overall WR1 in half-PPR scoring for each season dating back to 2016:

Looking at the table above, the WR1 blueprint is pretty straightforward:

In short, here is what we are looking for: A wideout under 30 with 140+ target upside and no notable WR2 in a productive passing offense.

Looking at some of the criteria above, here are a few names who don’t fit the mold of being the overall WR1:

Quick disclaimer: Guys like Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba check a lot of boxes, but unless you have one of the first six picks in your draft, you likely won’t get those guys. So, we are going to exclude those two for the sake of this exercise. 

Without further ado, here are a few wideouts that fit the mold, or at least check multiple boxes to be the overall WR1:

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Despite a down year last season, in which he recorded a career-low 1,048 yards, he extended his streak to six straight seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. He notched 84 receptions, his lowest in a full season, and caught just two touchdowns. Yes, you read that right. Two touchdowns. Bad quarterback play hurt Jefferson in 2025, and there’s optimism that things will be better in 2026.

Just how bad were things for Jefferson in 2025? Of wide receivers with at least 75 targets, his 71.7% catchable target rate was the eighth-lowest mark amongst wideouts, per FantasyPoints’ Data. Yes, it was quite bad.

If you play fantasy baseball, you’ll know a lot about expected statistics, and while it’s more prevalent in baseball, we have some expected stats to reference in fantasy football. It likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the disparity between Jefferson’s expected stats and actual stats showcases significant underperformance.

There was a 5.7 fantasy-point-per-game difference between Jefferson’s actual output (9.4) and his expected output (15.1), per FantasyPoints’ Data. No other wideout with 75+ targets on the year had a bigger discrepancy than Jefferson.

Furthermore, in terms of his fantasy points per route run, he once again had the largest discrepancy between his actual output (0.30) and his expected output (0.48).

A couple of other factoids from his 2025 campaign:

Jefferson has proven to have a very high floor and immense upside. He already has an overall WR1 season under his belt, and three other seasons inside the top-6 at the position. Kyler Murray under center is an upgrade over what the Vikings rolled out last season, and he checks all the boxes that have historically led to WR1 seasons.

✅ Under 30 years old

✅ 140+ targets and 100+ receptions upside

✅ Path to 1,700+ yards

✅ No Top 24 WR on team


✅ Top 10 passing offense

A.J. Brown, New England Patriots

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Brown in Philly, but he managed to put up 1,000+ yards and seven TDs in all four of his seasons there. However, he caught only 67 and 78 balls over the last two seasons, and his 1,003 yards last season were his lowest since 2021. Now, he heads to the Patriots, where he’ll be the unquestioned alpha in the passing attack, which, as we know, paves the way to the crucial target and reception metrics needed to be the overall WR1.

We don’t need to go into too much detail about New England’s cupcake schedule last season, but they were a top-five passing offense, and there’s reason to believe they’ll be in the top 10 in 2026. Could Brown find some first-year magic again in 2026?

In his first year with the Eagles, he caught 88 balls for 1,496 yards and 11 TDs, finishing as the WR5 in Half-PPR scoring. That was his best fantasy finish as an Eagle.

Could we see a similar story with Brown in his first year in New England? I don’t see why not.

While a lot of things align for a rejuvenated Brown and an overall WR1 campaign, there’s one thing I’d be remiss not to mention. Brown isn’t getting any younger, and while he’s still under 30, there have been some concerning trends regarding his separation and win rate against man coverage. Some of the numbers are still strong, but these underlying metrics might not inspire much confidence. Take a look at some key metrics for Brown when it comes to facing man coverage, per FantasyPoints’ Data:

TPRR = Targets per Route Run

YPRR = Yards per Route Run

The transition from Jalen Hurts to Drake Maye should improve Brown’s efficiency, and an offense willing to throw more could also ease his workload. Despite some concerning trends in man coverage, he’s the alpha in a good offense and, at the very least, should reach double-digit touchdowns for the first time since 2022.

✅ Under 30 years old

✅ 140+ targets and 100+ receptions upside

✅ No Top 24 WR on team


✅ Top 10 passing offense

❓ Path to 1,700+ yards

Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

Olave was impressive in 2025, catching 100 passes on 151 targets for 1,163 yards and nine receiving touchdowns. On top of finishing the season as the WR6 in Half-PPR scoring, he posted a quality 2.09 yards per route run and an excellent 33.8% first-read rate, per FantasyPoints’ Data.

Here’s where it gets really interesting when it comes to Olave. Once Tyler Shough became the full-time starter in Week 9, Olave took off. Across those nine starts from Shough, Olave posted a 35.8% first-read rate, 14.1 average depth of target (aDOT), 8.9 targets per game, 26.7% target share, 82.5 yards per game, and was the WR4 in fantasy points per game.

If you take his raw numbers in the games where Shough started, here’s how it plays out over 17 games: 102 receptions, 155.1 targets, 1,402.5 yards, and 12.8 TDs

Now, let’s do some math:

51 + 140.2 + 72 = 263.2 fantasy points

That would have been good for the WR4 last year. It would have been the WR3 in 2024, and the WR4 in 2023.

The Saints were 13th in passing yards per game last season, and Kellen Moore is no stranger to pass-friendly situations. It’s not unfathomable that the Saints could jump into the top 10 this year, which history tells us is a prerequisite for a player to be the overall WR1. However, there’s a risk that Shough succumbs to year-two struggles once there is more tape on him.

The Saints did draft Jordyn Tyson in the top 10, so there’s considerable target competition for Olave. However, Tyson has had durability issues, so I’m not sure we can guarantee a full 17 games from Tyson. Olave has his own durability issues, too, so he’s not devoid of risk.

There should be enough volume here, and Shough and Olave clearly were in rhythm last season. The workload and volume should be there for Olave, but 1,700 yards is pretty steep, and if Tyson emerges early on, history says the odds wouldn’t be in Olave’s favor to finish as the overall WR1.

Even if he doesn’t finish as the overall WR1, I love Olave this year.

✅ Under 30 years old

✅ 140+ targets and 100+ receptions upside

❓ Top 10 passing offense

❓ Path to 1,700+ yards

❓ No Top 24 WR on team

Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers

If you have read my other pieces in this series, you’ll know that I fancy this Chargers offense in 2026. If you read my Personnel Matters article, you’ll know that I fancy Ladd McConkey this season, as many do. It was a down year for McConkey in 2025, finishing with 66 receptions on 106 targets for 789 yards and 6 touchdowns. In half-PPR scoring, he ended the year as the WR28, and over 16 games he finished as a WR1 in just three weeks and a top-24 wideout in just six weeks. 

Let’s get a lot of the bad out of the way first. He posted a lower fantasy points-per-route-run metric than DeAndre Hopkins and Mack Hollins in 2025, and he was significantly worse against zone coverage, per FantasyPoints Data Suite. In fact, it wasn’t just that he was worse, but Justin Herbert didn’t make him a priority when attacking zone coverage.

In 2024 against zone coverage, McConkey posted 0.23 targets per route run, 2.44 yards per route run, and 0.37 fantasy points per route run. To call it out, his 2.44 yards per route run ranked 15th-best among wideouts with at least 250 routes run on the year, per FantasyPoints Data Suite. In 2025, those numbers fell to 0.16 targets per route run, 1.31 yards per route run, and 0.23 fantasy points per route run. He remained solid against man coverage, albeit with a slight downturn in his 2025 numbers compared to 2024.

With Mike McDaniel calling plays in L.A. this season, McConkey is poised for his best year as a professional. Many people are bullish on the third-year breakout for the former Georgia Bulldog, and I’m most certainly on that list. McConkey will stay on the field for McDaniel’s 2-WR sets, and he thrived with fewer wideouts in 2024. Furthermore, what I think will be huge for McConkey in 2026 is how he’s produced when the offense utilizes motion (pre-snap or at the snap). See the numbers for yourself, courtesy of FantasyPoints’ Data:

We should see more shades of ‘24 McConkey than the ‘25 version, and the third-year breakout is real. The stars are aligning for a big season from McConkey, and he just feels like a wideout that would thrive in a McDaniel system. He’s quick, twitchy, and can separate quickly, and with an accurate passer in Herbert under center, efficiency and effectiveness will be there for McConkey. He checks a lot of boxes, and will most certainly be someone I’m pushing up on draft day.

✅ Under 30 years old

✅ 140+ targets and 100+ receptions upside

✅ No Top 24 WR on team


✅ Top 10 passing offense


❓ Path to 1,700+ yards

Let me know what you think about my breakdown of The Blueprint of a Fantasy Football WR1: What the Last 10 Seasons Reveal. Stay tuned, as next time I’ll discuss my analysis of The Blueprint of a Fantasy Football TE1.

To see how our analysts rank these and other WRs for the upcoming season, click here!

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