Blue Rated Wideouts Week 18 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 18 wide receivers with blue-rated upside



 

Zay Jones, Jacksonville

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville

It's hard to overstate just how terrible the Titans secondary is. Tennessee ranks last in passing yards and completions allowed this year and is next to last in passing touchdowns allowed. The Titans come into this contest with multiple injuries in their secondary as well, and this defense gave up 227 net passing yards to the Jaguars in Week 14. Those factors combine with Jacksonville's desire to push the Tennessee offense to throw early and often and make Jones and Kirk very good upside picks this week.

D.J. Chark, Detroit

Allen Lazard, Green Bay

Everything about this contest indicates that the Lions and Packers are going to score a lot of points, as Green Bay has tallied 24+ points in five straight games, while Detroit has been at the 23+ point mark in seven of the past eight contests. Each club's defense has been hit-or-miss of late, especially when it comes to passing yards, so that also factors into Chark and Lazard's upside cases. Merge those elements with Chark having posted three strong showings in the past five weeks and Lazard potentially benefitting from Christian Watson's hip injury and it makes each of these wideouts a quality Week 18 start prospect.