Blue Rated Wideouts Week 13 2022

The volatile scoring nature of the wide receiver position may cause more start-sit headaches for fantasy managers than any other position, but when things go well wide receivers can post point totals capable of winning fantasy games.

How does one know which wide receivers are capable of posting those game-winning point totals? My player grading system (a full version of which can be found at TheFootballScientist.com) aims to identify these players via an overall/upside/downside approach. A player's overall grade measures his likely performance, the downside the grade indicates how a player is apt to fare if things go poorly for him that week, and the upside grade measures the scoring ceiling of a player if things go well in a given contest.

This grading system also uses five color-coded categories: blue (indicating someone who can post elite point totals), green (a strong starter), yellow (a solid backup or a potential starter in bye weeks or deep leagues), orange (a desperation play), and red (someone who should not be started).

This means fantasy managers who are looking for big scoring potential at wide receiver should aim for someone who has a blue-rated upside grade (which is 90-100 in my system). This weekly article series will identify all the blue-rated upside wideouts in a given week and then provide details on a few of the unexpected candidates on this board. It will also detail the strength of the matchup each of these receivers is facing via a matchup points total of 1-100, with 100 being most favorable.

Week 13 wide receivers with blue-rated upside



 

Zay Jones, Jacksonville

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville

Jones and Kirk have bounced between boom and so-so games of late, but a matchup against a Detroit secondary that gives both Jones and Kirk strong matchup points totals means that they are both candidates to get into all lineups this week.

Joshua Palmer, LA Chargers

Palmer has posted 14+ points in three of the past five weeks. Since Mike Williams is out of the lineup again this week and the Chargers have time to gameplan in advance to put Palmer back up the target priority list, he stands a very good chance of posting another 14+ point game.

A.J. Brown, Philadelphia

DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia

Nick Sirianni takes full advantage of the luxury of having the ability to lean on the run or the pass based on matchup. Since the Titans have one of the strongest rush defenses in the league and have allowed the fourth highest passing yards total in the league, the Eagles are apt to put the ball in the air early and often. That should vault both Brown and Smith into flex status, but they also have a high percentage chance of posting much better point totals than they have of late.