Wild Card Round Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Tiers and Start/Sit Guide

Fantasy football in the playoffs is … weird, for lack of a better word. Even though this is technically a “Start/Sit” article, I imagine the vast majority of people playing fantasy in the playoffs (and reading this article) are playing some kind of DFS instead of a traditional fantasy format where you have to set a lineup. 

With that in mind, instead of designating individual players as “starts” and “sits,” I'll be breaking the Wild Card wide receiver options into tiers based on how confident I would feel relying on them in any fantasy format. This will make more sense with some examples, so let's get right into it. 

For more help with your toughest playoff fantasy football start/sit decisions, check out FantasySP's NFL Start/Sit tool!

Wild Card Round Running Back Tiers

Tier 1: Puka Nacua 

• Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

I gave Christian McCaffrey his own tier in my running back article, so it seems only fair to give the same courtesy to this year's other OPOY candidate. Our site projections for the Wild Card Round have Nacua at 94 receiving yards … no other player is above even 73. That paints a pretty fair picture of how clearly Nacua is the best option at WR this week. 

Tier 2: Must-Starts

• Nico Collins, Houston Texans

• A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles

• Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams

Collins and Brown are classic WR1s, dominating targets for their respective offenses. Playing alongside Nacua, Adams won't see quite that high a target share, but he makes up for it with frankly absurd usage near the goal-line.

The veteran missed time with an injury and appeared in just 14 games, but he still finished with nearly twice as many end zone targets as anyone else: 27 to just 18 for the next-closest players (George Pickens and Trey McBride). That earns him a spot in this tier. 

Tier 3: Solid Options

• Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers

• Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

• DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

• Jakobi Meyers, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers

• Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers

• Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers

• DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers

The players in this tier aren't quite as dominant as the ones above, but they're all still solid options (hence the name). We've got some clear WR1s on questionable offenses in McMillan and Metcalf. We've got a couple of WR1s with just a question or two about their usage in Diggs, McConkey, Watson, and Jennings. 

Of that group, I was closest to moving Diggs up a tier, as his usage has been better of late, but his low route rates for most of the season are still scary. Watson was the closest to moving down, as the Packers' WR room is massively crowded, but his usage when healthy has been decent regardless.  

Finally, we have a Jacksonville duo of Meyers and Washington. Meyers is definitely the safer of the two, but Washington has had excellent production — and the usage to go with it — over the last couple of weeks. 

Tier 4: Boom/Bust Plays (Complimentary)

• Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears

• Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears

• Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers

• Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills

• Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers

• Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

Having Burden all the way down here is almost certainly my most controversial pick of this article. The rookie was elite on a per-route basis all season and truly broke out down the stretch. However, that breakout came with Odunze sidelined, and now the second-year player is back. I also don't love that — even including games with Odunze out — Burden's season-high in route participation rate was a very sketchy 66%.

Reed and Shakir are an interesting duo. They have both historically been very efficient despite being stuck in part-time roles. But they both actually recently saw surprisingly large roles, hitting 84% (Reed) and 86% (Shakir) route rates in their respective teams' most recent meaningful games. With that positive trend, I like them both this week.

Finally, we have Johnston and Thomas. Neither of these former first-round picks is likely to rack up tons of targets, but they are both still capable of huge plays. 

Tier 5: Boom/Bust Plays (Derogatory)

• D.J. Moore, Chicago Bears

• Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers

• Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots

• Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers

• Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers

These are the last five receivers I would feel any sort of good about trusting in fantasy this week. However, there are no easy groupings here, as each player has their own distinct pros and cons:

• Moore has been at worst the Bears' WR2 all season, but if Burden is going to play a larger role (as many are predicting), it will likely be at his expense.

• Allen is still an impressive target earner but has been in a part-time role since halfway through the season. 

• Boutte will run plenty of routes for potential MVP Drake Maye, but he isn't a volume player — he needs a big play to come through.

• Coker is talented and the Panthers' clear WR2, but Carolina's offense is clearly the worst of the bunch this weekend. 

• Doubs has to be acknowledged as yet another talented young receiver in this Packers offense, but he's clearly the third fiddle (even in terms of routes) at this point. 

Tier 6: At Least They'll Be On the Field

• Jahan Dotson, Philadelphia Eagles

• Demarcus Robinson, San Francisco 49ers

• Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers

• Joshua Palmer, Buffalo Bills

• Brandin Cooks, Buffalo Bills

• Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

• Christian Kirk, Houston Texans

• Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Pittsburgh Steelers

In no particular order, these are the last players I can confidently say will run routes on at least 50% of available passing plays this weekend. The only possible exceptions are the two Bills, Cooks and Palmer — Buffalo's WR rotation has been a mess all season, so there's a chance that Keon Coleman, Tyrell Shavers, and/or Gabe Davis actually deserve those spots. 

Some of these names are more appealing than others, but all of these guys are just dart throws at the end of the day. However, that's more than can be said for anyone I didn't list. Guys like Adam Thielen, Matthew Golden, DeMario Douglas, and Kyle Williams aren't going to be on the field enough for me to recommend them (Thielen and Douglas are possible exceptions, but I'd still prefer any of the players in this tier). 

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasySP. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.