WR Idiocracy Is Here in 2025

It seemed like just another Wednesday at the Georgia Branch of Footballguys' Content Division. There I was, scanning Average Draft Positions (ADPs) for a preseason article, when I noticed—one after another—WR Values that made zero sense.

Several receivers later, I believe I have uncovered an anomaly of fantasy football stupidity unlike anything I've witnessed in some time -- A WR Idiocracy.

Does that scare you as much as the idea of Jason Wood riding a giant spider robot and declaring the end of the working man scares me? Maybe that will be my first AI video project.

Once you reach a certain level of life experience, you notice something that's intended to scare you on the daily. Most of it is noise. This is probably noisier than the reality, but we like noise.

Today, I see draft-day values at WR that resemble a dystopian fantasy world. There are five notably valued WRs who have no business getting picked so early.

There are also three WRs where it's a crime that they are going so late. One of them is Jayden Reed, and his value should be classified as a federal offense.

Maybe I'm the idiot in the room. It won't be the first time nor the last. Until that's proven in this circumstance, let's examine this potential WR Idiocracy player by player.

WR Idiocracy Supreme: Jayden Reed

I had already seen some stupefying WR values when I first scanned the ADP list before I got to Reed. It was Reed where I had the realization we had reached the tipping point into a WR Idiocracy.

When I saw his consensus draft position of WR44, I had to do a double take. Consensus player 44? Sure. WR44?

Jayden Reed? Last year's WR17 and WR19 during his rookie year?

Yep, that Jayden Reed, who shares the depth chart with Christian Watson -- the butterfingered WR61 and WR60 for the past two years that has never played an entire season of NFL football.

The same Jayden Reed, who is also sharing the depth chart with the massively overhyped Romeo Doubs. You know Doubs, the rookie hero of Packers' camp in 2022 who has never delivered fantasy starter value during his three-year career, and the Packers want to deal him.

I'm still tilting over the fact that the reliable, versatile, and leading Packers' WR, Jayden Reed, is WR44. Who else on that roster offers a Stefon Diggs' Starter Kit of skills and can double as Deebo Samuel Sr.?

Matthew Golden? Maybe, but top rookie WRs are usually immaculate route runners like Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. Most rookies need a legitimate primary receiver working opposite them in the lineup to deliver starter production in Year One.

Golden is not that immaculate with his routes, and Reed is the closest thing to a legitimate primary receiver the Packers have. Golden is no threat to Reed's starting role.

I love Savion Williams as a short-term developmental option, but several things must happen for him to crack the starting lineup as a receiver. Williams might have more fantasy upside this year as a makeshift running back than a starting receiver.

There's always the fourth-year option, Dontayvion Wicks. Remember him? He dropped his opportunity to become something more than a promising WR4 -- not a fantasy WR4, the team's WR4.

As of presstime, Jaylen Warren is getting picked ahead of Reed. The No.2 RB on the Steelers is going a pick earlier than the No. 1 WR on the Packers.

What in the Feel It or F--It is going on around here? Grand larceny with a presidential pardon awaiting, that's what's going on.

WR Valuation Clown Show: Davante Adams

Let's get this straight about Davante Adams...

• Adams has been no worse than WR14 since 2020.
• He has played at least 14 games during this span.
• He has been productive with a gimpy Aaron Rodgers behind a makeshift Jets line.
• He has been this productive with a combo of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell in Vegas.
• He has been this productive with a walking disaster, Josh McDaniels, as his head coach.
• He's still one of the best man-to-man route runners in football.
• He's working opposite Puka Nacua, a near-elite flanker.
• He's catching passes from Matthew Stafford.
• He's in Sean McVay's offense that can support two top-12 fantasy WRs, easily.

All this, and Adams is valued as WR17 this year?  Does anyone out there realize that Adams is the most complete WR on the Rams, not Nacua?

If you flip-flop the valuation of Nacua (WR7) and Adams (WR17), you're probably closer to the truth than where it stands today. Personally, I believe both players will be top-12 fantasy WRs. Steal.

WR Wish-Casting Gone Wild: Marvin Harrison Jr.

Only once in his six-year career has Kyler Murray supported at least two fantasy starters in the passing game in a season -- Christian Kirk (WR28) and Zach Ertz (TE11) in 2021. Once.

Guess what? The Cardinals coaching staff wants Murray to run the ball more often.

via GIPHY

Murray already ruins good pass protection and forces receivers to reroute unnecessarily more often than any quarterback in the NFL. If Murray climbed more climbable pockets to make the efficient throws to his second or third reads, he'd actually match the buzz on him.

Instead, Murray is a Three Stooges episode reenactment multiple times a game. It's why he makes SportsCenter highlight reels at least 8-10 times a season.

Here's the problem: How many seasons out of six has Murray led his team to a winning record?

His jersey number is a great clue.

We've become stupid over highlight reels. Unless the Cardinals stop enabling Murray and find a way to make Call of Duty a pocket training simulation, the best shot Murray has of supporting at least two fantasy starters in a two-receiver lineup might be a magical realm.

Magical thinking is what had the fantasy public delulu about Marvin Harrison Jr. in this setting last year. It was bad enough that Harrison joined a team with a quarterback like Murray, but most missed that he has tracking and attacking problems with targets that top-end primary receivers win.

This was apparent in his Ohio State Film, but Harrison was seen as the next great rookie producer to take the league by storm.

Did we learn this offseason that Harrison has worked on tracking the football with specific target locations that stymied him last year? Did we learn that Harrison has fixed his attack so he's winning the ball efficiently rather than fighting it in these situations?

No. We learned Harrison added muscle to his frame.

Despite his flaws, it's plausible Harrison ascends to low-end fantasy WR value in most leagues this year because he is a good route runner, and he excels at winning the ball with is back to the defender. If you're considering Harrison alongside Davante Adams, George, Kittle, and Mike Evans, welcome to the idiocracy.