RotoBaller's half-PPR fantasy football wide receiver (WR) rankings with August 2025 updates. These fantasy football WR rankings are updated for 2025 drafts.
We're finally in August, which means the NFL kicks off next month, and it's officially fantasy football draft season. In these 2025 fantasy football wide receiver rankings (half-ppr), check out where key wideouts such as Nico Collins, Rashee Rice, Jordan Addison, Travis Hunter, Tee Higgins, and more stand for the upcoming NFL campaign.
Our NFL rankings team has been covering fantasy football all year long, and we'll continue to do so through the start and end of the NFL season. Be sure to also check out and bookmark our various 2025 fantasy football rankings, including formats like best ball fantasy football rankings, dynasty fantasy football rankings, and 2025 NFL rookie fantasy football rankings. Whatever you're interested in, we've got you covered.
RotoBaller's lead NFL analyst Nick Mariano put together these updated 2025 half-PPR WR rankings, which will be updated regularly throughout the NFL offseason. As injuries happen and depth charts shake up, be sure to check back in.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had another top-10 fantasy finish despite the second half of his season being ruined and prematurely ended by a shoulder injury. The wideout was the No. 4 WR in half-PPR scoring through Week 8, but endured a sprained AC joint in Week 9, which was the same week Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring tear. Going from Prescott to Cooper Rush hurt the offense, even though Prescott was battling a career-worst 3.8% touchdown rate.
And those Trey Lance reps sure didn't do him any favors. Still, the star WR made it work through volume and remained the No. 4 WR through Week 16 before being shut down as his condition deteriorated. Lamb says he's feeling good after five months of recovery and rehab, which is encouraging going into the 2025 season with a healthy Prescott and a new teammate.
George Pickens steps into Brandin Cooks' No. 2 WR role, but is a vertical threat and shouldn't interfere with Lamb's alpha status. Perhaps he can keep the safeties from bracketing Lamb, who remains a healthy first-round pick in fantasy drafts.
A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is positioned for yet another strong season after squeezing 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns out of 67 catches (97 targets). He missed nearly a month due to a hamstring strain early in the year, but was the PPR WR5 between Weeks 6-17 with 194 fantasy points. However, if you shift the scope to a per-game basis, then he becomes the WR17 in that same window. This team's starting 11 is largely unchanged from their championship campaign, so the infrastructure to run first and hammer teams on the ground remains.
They were second in the NFL with 179.3 rush yards per game and had the fourth-lowest passing tally at 187.9 yards per game. However, Brown's 31.1% team target share was the second-highest mark among WRs, and his 41.6% share of team passing yards led the NFL. With no additional competition, Brown should find himself once again near the top of those leaderboards. As a result, his RotoBaller rank and early ADP appropriately land him as a top-20 pick for fantasy managers to build around.
Nico Collins, Houston Texans
Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins continued to produce as a big-play machine even as the offense took a step back, tallying 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns on 68 catches while limited to 12 games. He's yet to play in 16 games across his four-year career, but the elite dynamism now has the alpha volume to make a splash worthy of the first round.
With Tank Dell recovering from his serious leg injury, Collins will now line up next to Christian Kirk (coming off a broken collarbone) and 2025 second-round pick, Jayden Higgins. Lining up as a powerful X receiver, this remains his team. Collins is also the only receiver to rank within the top eight in yards per route run against both man and zone coverage in both 2023 and '24.
We won't need C.J. Stroud to put up top-five QB metrics like he did as a rookie for the efficient Collins to hit it big, but a full rebound from Stroud could produce a top-three fantasy WR year. Will you gamble on Stroud's Year 3 and Collins' health this early?
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins remains a key piece of the best passing offense in the NFL, which provides a top-25 rank and ADP. Over 12 games, Higgins caught 73 passes for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns on 109 targets. Despite the injury, that is wildly close to his 16-game totals from 2022 (74-1,029-7 on 109 targets), which speaks to Cincy's potency with Joe Burrow at the helm. Ja'Marr Chase remains the top WR, but Higgins was nearly even with Chase's target share in the games where they both played.
We won't expect the TD rate of 10 scores in 12 games to carry forward in 2025, but this offense needs to put up numbers to stay in the game. The Bengals did not make significant additions to their vulnerable defense this offseason, and may be even worse if they don't reach an extension agreement with Trey Hendrickson. Higgins has only played in 12 games in each of the last two seasons, but he's only entering his age-26 season and is one of the best WRs in the game, even when overshadowed by Chase.