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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
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Michael Fabiano

NFL Draft Fantasy Rookie Wide Receiver Rankings

The 2026 rookie wide receiver class certainly boasts a bit of depth, but it doesn’t have a player projected to be on the level of Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson or CeeDee Lamb. The best wideout in the class is widely considered to be Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, who is regarded as a top-10 pick and could go as high as No. 4 to the Titans.

The rest of the notable receivers in this class include USC’s Makai Lemon, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, Texas A&M's KC Concepcion, Washington’s Denzel Boston and Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. Lemon and Concepcion are considered the top slot men, while Tyson and Boston are the most notable perimeter receivers with first-round draft grades. 

Here’s my look at the top 20 rookie wide receivers heading into the 2026 NFL Draft.

2026 Fantasy Rookie Wide Receivers Rankings

Rk Player Pos TM Bye
1 Carnell Tate WR OSU 21
2 Makai Lemon WR USC 21
3 Jordyn Tyson WR ASU 21
4 KC Concepcion WR TAMU 21
5 Denzel Boston WR WAS 22
6 Omar Cooper Jr. WR IND 22
7 Chris Brazzell II WR TEN 22
8 Antonio Williams WR CLE 21
9 Chris Bell WR LOU 21
10 Elijah Sarratt WR IND 22
11 Zachariah Branch WR UGA 22
12 Germie Bernard WR ALA 22
13 Ja'Kobi Lane WR IND 21
14 Malachi Fields WR NDST 23
15 Ted Hurst WR GSU 22
16 Skyler Bell WR UCONN 23
17 Bryce Lance WR NDST 23
18 Deion Burks WR OKL 23
19 Brenen Thompson WR MSU 22
20 De'Zhaun Stribling WR MISS 21

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Draft Fantasy Rookie Wide Receiver Rankings.

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