By Matt Valentine

Fantasy football championships are earned by drafting a balanced team and after running back there is no position that has a greater impact then wide receiver. Sure, you may be thinking that hey, isn’t quarterback an important position too? Well yes it is, but this isn’t real life football, this is fantasy football! You have to realize that outside of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Tony Romo the drop off at the QB position is nowhere near as severe as it is at the WR position. Grabbing an elite wide receiver early in your draft is key to having a successful fantasy football season. So let’s take a look at who are the elite fantasy football wide receivers.

1. Randy Moss- New England Patriots

It’s funny to think that just 2 years ago Randy Moss was being written off and declared dead as a dominant wide receiver in the NFL. The move to Oakland literally seemed to suck Moss into a black hole, and it wasn’t the one near the Raiders endzone. The savvy New England font office pulled off a spectacular trade and nabbed Moss for a 4th round draft pick, a trade that should go down as one of the best and worst in the history of the sport. The Randy ratio which virtually disappeared in Oakland was back in effect in New England and it paid huge dividends for owners who drafted Moss last season. Moss broke an NFL record held by Jerry Rice, hauling in 98 passes, 23 for touchdowns, and amassing 1493 yards, the second highest total of his career. He was easily fantasy’s number one wide receiver and in most leagues was probably in the top 3-5 in fantasy scoring. If you exclude the years he spent suffering in the black hole that was Oaklands passing game Moss is a consistent double digit TD threat and has always exceeded 1200 yards receiving. Its doubtful that Brady or Moss will match the monster numbers they put up last season, I mean you just can’t expect that type of production in back to back seasons. Though a dropoff is entirely expected it won’t be a massive one, and Moss should still be the number one wide receiver taken in every draft.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1400 Yds. Rec. 17 TD

2. Terrell Owens- Dallas Cowboys

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny the fact that if T.O. is on the board when its your turn to pick you’re going to take him, unless you’re the most die-hard Eagles fan…ever. T.O. is a consistent performer, even though he is entering what is most likely the latter stages of his illustrious, though sometimes embarrassing career. His established a great connection with Tony Romo so much so that he will literally cry if you say nasty things about his man-crush “teammate” Romo. I bet Jessica Simpson has never even cried that hard over their relationship. Anyway, T.O. is the type of talent that can make you cry tears of joy watching him rack up points for your fantasy team. He put up a more then solid effort last year accumulating 1355 yards and 13 TD. The same type of production is well within reach for the Romo- Owens love connection so draft him if you can.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1400 Yds. Rec. 14 TD

3. Braylon Edwards- Cleveland Browns

Speaking of man-crushes, I have to admit I have a huge man-crush on Edwards for this coming season. It is no coincidence that Edwards finally broke out as a fantasy stud in his third year, with Derek Anderson taking the reigns at QB. Edwards finally has someone who can throw him the ball, and he’s got a great young offensive line to make sure that the Browns QB will finally spend less time on his back then Paris Hilton. It truly was a breakout year for Edwards last season, he ranked second in the league in receiving TD’s with 16 and put up 1289 yards. With the acquisition of Donte Stallworth in the off-season the Browns have two deep threats and one of the most solid receiving corps in the league. Stallworth should draw some attention away from Edwards and force defenses out of consistent double teams. Edwards could put up some huge numbers this season if all goes well, and I think he will.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1300 Yds. Rec. 16 TD

4. Reggie Wayne- Indianapolis Colts

Wayne had to shoulder a lot of the workload last season when Marvin Harrison went down with a knee injury and he proved himself more than worthy of the task. He lead the NFL in receiving yards with 1510 and caught 10 TD’s. He is now firmly set to be the number one guy in Indy which is never a bad thing for fantasy production. Having Peyton Manning throwing you the ball doesn’t really hurt that much either. No one knows how much the injury will effect Harrison, but either way you have to expect that he won’t be the same guy especially considering his age. That leaves Wayne as the top dog in this high powered passing attack and means good things for fantasy owners who draft him.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1500 Yds. Rec. 13 TD

5. Andre Johnson- Houston Texans

Johnson started out the 2007 NFL season as the best wide receiver not named Randy Moss, until he was sidelined with an injury that allowed him to play just 9 games. If you look at Johnson’s career up to this point you won’t see stellar numbers, but you have to consider the circumstances he played under. He had a terrible O-line, a terrible QB, no real running back threat and a No. 2 WR that drew about as much attention as I’d get standing next to George Clooney. With QB Matt Schaub in place for his second year running the offense and with Johnson expected to return at 100% he should put up some huge numbers. Look at what he did in the 9 games he played last year, 851 yards receiving and 8 TD (a career high), if you double that you have one hell of a fantasy football season. He may also fly under some people’s radar who only look at stats during a draft, make sure you’re not that guy.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1300 Yds. Rec. 12 TD

6. Larry Fitzgerald- Arizona Cardinals

Fitzgerald just inked a moster deal with the Cardinals so maybe the incentive to play as hard isn’t there, but I doubt that from this guy. He doesn’t have ideal speed for a wide receiver, but that has hardly slowed him down. He knows how to use his size and leaping ability to his advantage, especially in the redzone and puts up good numbers no matter who is throwing him the ball. Matt Leinart should assume the full workload as Quarterback and has shown flashes that he should develop into the QB many thought he would be. With Anquan Boldin still manning the opposite side defenses will have a hard time deciding which guy to double up on. Fitzgerald went for 1409 yards and 10 TD last year he should be able to match or surpass those totals.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1400 Yds. Rec. 11 TD

7. T.J. Houshmandzadeh- Cincinnati Bengals

It took me an hour just to spell his last name, but I don’t need a dictionary to tell me how good this guy is on the field. I’ve ranked him higher then his counterpart Johnson because he hasn’t been whining at all during the off-season and Johnson seems a step away form packing it in and moving on from Cincinnati. A lousy running game and a lousy defense means that Cincy should be airing the ball out quite often. Look at his career and T.J. has done nothing but get better and better and better. Every single season he has upped his yardage and his TD totals and with Ocho Cinco still in turmoil the sky could be the limit for T.J. in 2008. Last year he pulled in 112 catches for 1143 yards and 12 TD. Depending on what Chad decides to do and how that situation plays itself out he could be in line for a nice bump in yards and TDs.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1200 Yds. Rec. 13 TD

8. Chad Johnson- Cincinnati Bengals

I may catch some flak for rating him below his teammate T.J., but I just don’t like the way things are playing out in Cincy at the moment. It was encouraging to hear that Johnson did report to mandatory mini-camp and participated in practice. He did have minor ankle surgery recently, but he is expected to be fully healed in time for training camp on July 27. Chad’s career best 1440 receiving yards placed him third in the NFL and he managed to haul in 8 TD passes. Honestly though, the whole contract/trade situation aside, I think Chad is slightly overrated as fantasy wide receivers go. He’s posted double digit touchdown totals just once in his career (10) and while he does rack up some nice yardage totals TDs win fantasy football championships. That’s why I’d take T.J. over Chad any day of the week. Yet, if all you want is a damn good, consistent fantasy wide receiver then Chad is always a solid option.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1350 Yds. Rec. 8 TD

9.Marques Colston- New Orleans Saints

Colston started out last season very slowly which may have cost owners a chance to make their leagues playoffs. However, if you weathered that storm and continued to use Colston in the second half of the season he paid off in a big way. In fact, his production came at a time when most leagues were entering their playoffs which makes Colston a clutch fantasy performer. In the two years since he was drafted by the Saints in the 7th round Colston has outperformed everyones expectations. Last year he posted 1202 yards and 11 TD and has easily become Drew Brees’ favorite target. I like the Brees-Colston connection and expect that they should continue to grow together in Sean Payton’s complicated but effective offense.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1200 Yds. Rec. 12 TD

10. Plaxico Burress- New York Giants

Plax is not happy with Giants and they way they have treated his contract negotiations. He has refused to participate in mini-camp and is threatening to hold out of training camp if the situation is not resolved. Still, no QB/ WR tandem has connected for more touchdowns in their time together then Burress and Manning and Plaxico has had some good down time to heal from the injuries that plagued him throughout the 2007 season. Plaxico caught 70 passes for 1025 yards and 12 TD last year a career best for TD totals and a pleasure for fantasy owners to watch. He is Eli Manning’s go-to-guy and with the way Eli played during the Giants run to the Super Bowl that is good news for owners willing to draft Burress over other wide receivers. The Giants strong rushing game makes it impossible for teams to concentrate their efforts on Burress and with Amani Toomer, Jeremy Shockey, and Steve Smith available as weapons at Manning’s disposal Burress should have plenty of room to operate.

2008 Projected Stat Line: 1200 Yds. Rec. 13 TD

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