NFL

3 Wide Receivers Primed to Make the Jump in Fantasy Football This Season

Indentifying breakout wide receivers in the preseason is a difficult venture, but can pay off mightily for fantasy owners if done successfully. Here are three candidates who could approach their ceilings in 2015.

During the course of every NFL season, there are a handful of players who ascend from their previous positional rank, setting a new standard that they then carry with them into the next campaign. Identifying these players before our fantasy drafts can go a long way in ensuring a successful fantasy squad.

Looking strictly at the wide receiver position, Jordy Nelson finished 2013 as the 13th best fantasy wide receiver in PPR scoring. In 2014, he finished third. We knew Jordy Nelson had talent, as well as Aaron Rodgers throwing him the football, but a jump of 10 spots that close to the top is huge.

The same goes for Golden Tate, who hovered around the team WR3 range at the end of the 2013 season, but climbed all the way to the 11th-best wideout at the end of 2014. Again, there were factors in play that aided this increase (mainly Calvin Johnson missing time due to injury), but the value that owners who drafted Tate gained was substantial.

It’s foolish (and impossible) to attempt to predict injuries, which is often the key to a player making a big time jump. But there are other, more tangible indicators that we can look at to give us some clues.

With the help of examples of past efficiency and new opportunity, let’s examine three wide receivers that are primed to make the leap on the field, and in turn, becoming key pieces on our fantasy football teams.