Week 1 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings: Replacements for Cooper Kupp, Jerry Jeudy and more

Chris Towers walks you through his Week 1 WR rankings

By Chris Towers

Sep 10, 2023 at 9:43 am ET • 4 min read

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Let's say you drafted your Fantasy Football team a few weeks ago and then stopped paying attention to NFL news until today. Let's further stipulate that you drafted a receiving corps with Cooper Kupp, Christian Watson, Terry McLaurin, Jerry Jeudy, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba at the top of your depth charts. Chances are, you probably felt pretty good about that team leaving your draft, right?

Are you sitting down?

Alright, well, I've got some bad news for you: I'm only projecting McLaurin and Smith-Njigba to play, but even they might be limited as they work their way back from injury. Kupp was placed on IR Saturday and is out until Week 5, at least, while Jeudy is dealing with a hamstring injury that has him very much in doubt for Sunday's game:

Kupp: Hamstring strain, a setback from a previous injury that has him out for Week 1 ... at least.
Watson: Has been ruled out after missing all week with a hamstring injury. Romeo Doubs is also questionable and might be limited this week if he plays
Jeudy: Hasn't been ruled out, but isn't expected to play.
McLaurin: Dealing with turf toe suffered in the team's second preseason game, but he ended up not listed on the injury report and will play. I do worry about him getting off to a slow start, but McLaurin will be out there, and it'll be tough to go away from him as a high-upside WR3.
Smith-Njigba: Had wrist surgery about two ago, but he was back at practice this week and will make his NFL debut. .

That is going to leave pretty significant holes in a lot of lineups for the season opener. You hopefully have some depth to help overcome them, but if not, here are the five wide receivers I have ranked highest for Week 1 who are currently rostered in less than 50% of CBS Fantasy leagues:

Zay Jones (42%) – WR40 – Jones has been buried in a lot of rankings and projections because of the addition of Calvin Ridley, but I think he'll still be useful in a pinch, ala Tyler Boyd in Cincinnati.
Marvin Mims (35%) – WR43 – I've drafted Mims on a bunch of my rosters of the past few weeks. He's locked into a top-three role even if Jeudy plays, but he'll be a starter if Jeudy is sidelined. Courtland Sutton has every opportunity to get off to a fast start, but Mims could be a factor, too.
Van Jefferson (23%) – WR47 – I'll admit, I'm pretty lukewarm on Jefferson, who has just five games with 65-plus yards out of 47, including the playoffs. But he's the most proven thing in this Rams offense if Kupp is out – though don't be surprised if fifth-round rookie Puka Nacua is the Rams WR everyone is running to add on waivers next week.
Jayden Reed (23%) – WR49 – Reed was expected to open the season as the Packers No. 3 WR, but with Watson out and Doubs possibly limited, he could be forced into a bigger than expected role from Day 1. We don't know what to expect from the team's second-round pick, but he was a decent athlete with a good age-adjusted production profile in college, and is well situated to hit the ground running.
Darnell Mooney (32%) – WR51 – Like Jones, Mooney is kind of a forgotten man after the Bears added D.J. Moore, and I do expect he'll take a back seat in this offense. But he's a big-play receiver who should still be on the field a lot, and might only need one play to be worth starting.

In an ideal world, you won't need any of those guys. But, if you drafted Jeudy, Watson, or Kupp, you aren't living in an ideal world. Hopefully, all four will be back soon.

Do you play in a deeper full-point PPR league? Over at Sportsline, Jacob Gibbs has you covered with full-point PPR position-by-position rankings for Week 1.

Here are my full rankings for Week 1 at wide receiver for PPR leagues: