Sources close to the San Francisco 49ers have indicated to me that they are seriously contemplating signing Mike Wallace, a restricted free agent from the Pittsburgh Steelers, to an offer sheet.

The Steelers, who decided against placing the franchise tag on their star receiver, do not have the salary cap room to match any competitive offer for the restricted free agent. Any team that signs Wallace to an offer sheet would have to give the Steelers a first round pick as compensation if the offer isn’t matched.

A front loaded deal would seem to guarantee that Pittsburgh wouldn’t be able to match the contract. With that said, there are only a handful of teams that need a wide receiver who could put together such an offer.

The New England Patriots, Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers would be the most likely destination for the up-and-coming receiver. At this point I would conclude that Washington is out of the running due to where they are selecting in the first round.

This leaves the Patriots and 49ers as the two top suitors.

For his part, Wallace isn’t shying away from the possibility of going to either team, stating that he could be the “missing piece” for both teams.

This source wouldn’t get into detail too much about the fluid situation, but believes that the 49ers wouldn’t be adverse to giving up the 30th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft to acquire Wallace.

This makes a lot of sense considering that San Francisco is said to be targeting a wide receiver with that pick in the first place. Why not get the proven player that has put up two consecutive 1,000 yard seasons and is still only 25?

Reports also suggest that a contract offer with a first year base salary of $12 million would make it nearly impossible for Pittsburgh to match.

San Francisco is in position to make such an offer.

With all this said, I would put the chances that Wallace is signed away from Pittsburgh at about 25 percent.

It's time for 60 Minutes, with your host, Mike Wallace!

There are some really great Week 8 fantasy football match-ups at the WR position beginning with a new receiver in the number one listing slot, Mike “60 Minutes” Wallace.

Wallace has completely entrenched himself as a deep-ball specialist and it just so happens that he faces a New England team that has been notoriously burned all year by deep-ball receivers.

Aside from Mike Wallace, keep in mind that this is a great week to utilize your WR 2 and 3 players wisely, since some of them could be putting up some better than expected numbers.

Let’s take a look.

MY MISSION STATEMENT
(or, to read more about how I detest mission statements, click here)
What frustrates me above all else are so-called fantasy advice columns that fit into one of two categories:
1) They refuse to stray from conventional wisdom, often until it’s weeks too late to save or help your season or
2) They only offer rankings commentary on the “big-name” guys that everyone knows to play anyway. Gee, Adrian Peterson will have a bounce back week and I shouldn’t bench him for Danny Woodhead? Thanks!
Each week I will examine what I consider to be the most pressing issues facing fantasy owners. I will try to focus only on issues that you may actually be concerned with, namely: marginal flex players, tough matchup decisions, and above all else, how to assimilate new information from the previous week. This is a column of the people, by the people, for the people (thanks, Abe). And as long as I’m offering oaths, I promise to always tackle the difficult questions as I see them, not be chained by conventional wisdom, and not allow traditional or draft-position bias to affect my weekly rankings.

1. Ray Rice
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Darren McFadden
4. Adrian Peterson
5. Arian Foster
6. Matt Forte
7. Fred Jackson
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Wes Welker
10. Greg Jennings
11. Maurice Jones-Drew
12. Michael Turner
13. Mike Wallace
14. Frank Gore
15. Ahmad Bradshaw

The Big Boys
This week’s top-15 should show, fairly clearly, the separation of 2011 running backs into fairly clear tiers, or at least one fairly clear tier: the top one. I think backs 1-7, above, are definitely a level above all others. I was very tempted to rank Calvin Johnson as no. 1 overall in my flex rankings this week, but I can’t help feeling that sooner or later someone will get to Matthew Stafford or at least figure out to triple-team Megatron. Maybe not. And probably not this week. Mike Wallace has been consistent, and looking at those directly below him, I feel fairly confident ranking him as highly as I have. I am low(ish) on Gore this week simply because of the matchup. I think this game could be ugly. How interesting that just a year or two ago we’d be playing any fantasy back against the Lions, and ranking them highly. I just have a sensation that this might get out of hand, and while Gore could stay involved in the passing game, keep in mind he still has Alex Smith throwing to him, even if it is on a short dump-off.

16. Cedric Benson
17. Hakeem Nicks
18. Steve Smith
19. Peyton Hillis
20. Jahvid Best
21. Jimmy Graham
22. Miles Austin
23. Steven Jackson
24. Darren Sproles
25. DeSean Jackson
26. Steve Johnson
27. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
28. Roddy White
29. Jeremy Maclin
30. Dez Bryant

Early Trends
Apart from the “Ocean” game with Jacksonville, Steve Smith has scored in double digits every week. With Newton at the helm, we have to recognize his production will continue. Same with Jimmy Graham: he is arguably the number one threat in the Saints offense, one of the best offenses in football. A quick check of what Jackie Battle did to the Colts last week should explain my ranking of Cedric Benson. While I don’t think he’s a stud, comparing him to similar backs of the same tier, I don’t like anyone else’s chances enough to rank them ahead of Benson. I’m not convinced I have the Eagles receivers in the correct order. Maclin is receiving plenty of targets and will likely cash them in for a big day sooner rather than later. While my ranking of Peyton Hillis really feels like a “name” rank, I also recognize Oakland can be run on, and what else does Cleveland have to do with the ball?

31. Jason Witten
32. Felix Jones
33. A.J. Green
34. Marques Colston
35. Jermichael Finley
36. Santana Moss
37. James Starks
38. Daniel Thomas
39. Pierre Garcon
40. Anquan Boldin
41. Aaron Hernandez
42. Reggie Wayne
43. Owen Daniels
44. Shonn Greene
45. Tony Gonzalez
46. Rashard Mendenhall
47. Santonio Holmes
48. Jordy Nelson
49. Victor Cruz
50. Rob Gronkowski

The Year of the Tight End
Go ahead, make it the thirteenth symbol of the Zodiac. 2011: the year of the tight end. If only Antonio Gates was healthy. Tony Gonzalez was held out of the endzone last week but still had six catches for 60 yards. Owen Daniels should continue to pick up the slack for Andre Johnson. Aaron Hernandez didn’t have a monster week, but if you watched the game tape you would see Tom Brady looking for him numerous times on long, down-the-field routes. If he converted one of those passes (several were simply overthrown by Brady, who will be more accurate as the two get back on track), Hernandez would have had a huge day. Also, Dallas-New England has the potential to be a shootout. I think Cruz has officially surpassed Manningham in terms of fantasy relevance. While I would rather not rank Mendenhall this low, he has too many questions. More importantly, he has not been very productive this year to-date. With Curtis Painter starting, Pierre Garcon has 7 catches for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Uhhh… wow.

51. DeAngelo Williams
52. Percy Harvin
53. Plaxico Burress
54. Earnest Graham
55. Ryan Torain
56. Tim Hightower
57. Brandon Marshall
58. James Jones
59. Deion Branch
60. Mike Thomas
61. David Nelson
62. Greg Olsen
63. LaDanian Tomlinson
64. Johnathan Stewart
65. Mark Ingram
66. Delonte Carter
67. Robert Meachem
68. Vernon Davis
69. Ryan Grant
70. Mike Williams
71. Julio Jones – officially ruled OUT for week 6
72. Jacoby Jones
73. Darrius Heyward-Bey
74. Brandon Pettigrew
75. Lance Moore

Question Marks
What will Ryan Grant’s role be in Green Bay? I think sadly he is moving into fantasy obscurity. Julio Jones would and should be much higher- I think last week was a blip- if not for questions about his hamstring. Even if he plays, he could be limited or tweak it and be done. Usually I stay away from such scenarios if I have reasonable alternatives. Delone Carter might be ranked far too low, especially if Joseph Addai is indeed out, which I expect to be the case. In a similar case, Earnest Graham may deserve moved up a few notches, especially since he is on the field in passing situations anyway. Meanwhile, where has Mike Williams gone? I’m not sure, but if this trend continues he may also soon be gone from these ranks. I don’t know what to make of the Redskins backfield, and perhaps neither does Mike Shannahan. They have three usable backs, all with talent, all who could help your fantasy roster if they were guaranteed the most of the carries. Since none of them are, we can’t trust any of them. Best of luck if you have to play them.

As always, you can tweet lineup questions to @petethegreekff. Enjoy week 6!

_PDK

But  did you also know:

• Saints receiver Robert Meachem has also been one of the more consistent receivers in the league?
• Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace is holding his own even in double coverage and faces Jacksonville, Arizona and New England in the next three weeks?
• Miles Austin is back?
• Greg Little of the Browns was promoted to a full-time starter?
• Or that Arizona - Denver – Kansas City – San Diego – Seattle and Tennessee all have the bye this week?

Let’s take a look at what else is on tap for Week 6, and who is who in the rankings.

Good luck this week, and feel free to leave your questions below as usual, folks!

Remember that you always have to take into account what the defenses are going to do to the quarterback—particularly up front—in order to kinda gage what might come.

There’s no exact science I’m talking about here, but this approach certainly helps.

Let’s take a look at who’s who in Week 3.

1. Calvin Johnson – DET: The Minnesota pass defense has—through two weeks now—shown some significant stamina issues, and defensive coordinator Fred Pagac has shown he can’t adjust after half-time. Megatron is already a serious threat to the much smaller corners of Minnesota, but if the Vikings keep their trend of a second half collapse team, Johnson is going to wreak havoc all over this secondary for four straight quarters. He has the best matchup out of the Top 5, this week, in my opinion.

2. Andre Johnson – HOU: The only issue with keeping Andre Johnson out of the number one spot is the Saints’ ability to apply pressure on the quarterback, which they have shown for two straight weeks now. Will Johnson have a banner day? Yes. Will it be better than Calvin Johnson? Not in my opinion. The other issue here is that the Texans are likely to try and go back to featuring the run more if their backfield is healthy enough, which might cut into his potential production.

3. Vincent Jackson – SD: Jackson is back and better than ever, and he faces a Chiefs team that is reeling right now for some unknown reason. The Chiefs are playing a lot worse than they actually are, and receivers and tight ends have been reaping the benefits, along with their respective quarterbacks. Jackson is in-line for another monster day, no doubt about it.

4. Larry Fitzgerald – ARI: Is there anyone who can stop this guy for four straight quarters? The only reason why Fitz isn’t higher in the rankings is because the Cardinals are still trying to find a way to start hot. Fitzgerald caught seven passes for 133 yards and a TD last week, but the majority of the work came in the second half, after the Cardinals went to five-wide. This week he is NOT dealing with DeAngelo Hall, and should have a slightly better week than Week 2.

5. DeSean Jackson – PHI: He is a bona-certified playmaker who will always been the focal point for Michael Vick, especially in clutch situations. The problem with the ranking? There are too many other cooks in the kitchen to think he will have a better day than most of the aforementioned receivers. Jackson should still have another solid outing, however, and is certainly a Top 10 receiver.

The Rest of the Week 3 Class

6. Kenny Britt – TEN	Two incredible outings make Britt a stellar start this week, and proves he is in fact, back. Britt’s hamstring is not serious enough to prevent him from playing this week.
7. Roddy White – ATL	The Eagles did a nice job of shutting down White, but expect him to have a bounce back week against the Bucs.
8. Greg Jennings – GB	Jennings is a primary target for sure, but the Bears always seem to give the guy just a little bit of trouble…just enough to keep him down in the rankings this week.
9. Hakeem Nicks – NYG	Nicks is “nicked up” and you already saw what they did to Roddy White.
10. Brandon Marshall – MIA	Marshall is a quality start against an inconsistent Browns coverage D.
11. Mike Wallace – PIT	Wallace has a nice matchup against the now woeful Colts.
12. Wes Welker – NE	PPR machine as usual.
13. Steve Smith – CAR	Smith is seeing a rejuvenated season with Cam Newton, but Newton needs to show he can last 4 quarters against the better teams in the league to raise Smith’s rank.
14. Jeremy Maclin – PHI	Jackson will start to Vick’s left, and will see more targets this week than Maclin. I said the same about Maclin in Week 2 which our own Greg Brosh can verify, and I was right.
15. Steve Johnson – BUF	Johnson is a little banged up and could lose some effectiveness on the outside, but he does play the worst passing D in the league. Held out of practice Wednesday for precautionary reasons.
16. Santonio Holmes – NYJ	Holmes is shining right now.
17. Dez Bryant – DAL	Bryant’s targets will increase with Miles Austin missing time, but Bryant is also a little banged up, and should split targets with TE Jason Witten.
18. Mike Williams – TB	Atlanta stinks at covering and Williams excels against poor coverage teams.
19. David Nelson – BUF	Nelson crack the Top 25, as the player who has the better matchup, and opportunity here. There is, however, some risk if Steven Johnson does not play, since it will reduce Nelson’s opportunities.
20. Percy Harvin – MIN	A 44.1% snap percentage, and not being featured in the red-zone packages significantly hurts Harvin’s rank this week.
21. Mario Manningham – NYG	Manningham is dealing with the aftershock of a concussion which has already hurt his value. He may not even play this week, so keep checking back for more news when it becomes available. Manningham was held out of Wednesday’s practice, things aren’t looking good.
22. Santana Moss – WSH	I like Moss’ chance for a modest game here.
23. Anquan Boldin – BAL	The Rams are a sneaky team on defense, except against true slot receivers like Boldin.
24. Nate Burleson – DET	Could wind up being the forgotten man on the field.
25. Hines Ward – PIT	Can’t go wrong with the old veteran against the Colts.

UPDATE: The Votes are in and Top 40 wins outright!

Since this thread became too long for any addition, you can view the extension over at the brand new Top 15 Second Tier WR Rankings when you are done with this piece.

Thanks for the input guys, and  as always, good luck!

So without further ado, here is Week One’s top 50 players:
Standard Scoring: 4 points per passing TD, 6 points per rushing and receiving and PPR.

I’ll be taking a look at the Top 25 starters for Week 1; in a similar fashion I did my Week 1 Quarterback Rankings.

There are a TON of receivers in the league, and each individualistic league setup will vary along with each individual team, so not everyone out there will be listed here obviously.

If there is a player not found on this particular list that you have a question about, feel free to ask away below, or in our Forum.

You can also check out our Member Only Services, which provides specific player updates, fully customizable to your liking—here’s the link, if you’re interested.

Also, DON’T FORGET ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT’S GAME!

And now, the fantasy football WR rankings for Week 1.

1. Larry Fitzgerald – vs. Carolina: It has been well documented that Cardinals Quarterback Kevin Kolb has found a true sync with WR Larry Fitzgerald, and that is good news for fantasy owners who own him—like me! Carolina will struggle to cover Fitz as everybody does, and Kolb will look to target Fitz early and often, making his matchup better than any other fantasy receiver in Week 1.

The End Of Vincent Jackson?

2. Vincent Jackson – vs. Minnesota: The Chargers simply have way too many weapons for the Vikings to cover, even if the Vikings were a Top 10 coverage team against fantasy receivers in 2010. The Chargers were an already explosive team in 2010 WITHOUT Vincent Jackson, so just imagine what is going to happen in not only the home opener, but also Jackson’s first game BACK as a Charger in fantasy land.

3. Andre Johnson – vs. Indianapolis: I love this matchup for Johnson, but I worry about Houston’s added emphasis on the ground game, which will cut down on overall aerial targets in this game. The other issue is that Johnson will be targeted early, no doubt, to help build a comfortable lead, but if that happens, the Texans will inevitably go BACK to the run by the second half for game preservation, especially against a Colts team that will not be able to keep up without manning under center. He’s still aTop 3 receiver though.

4. Roddy White – @ Chicago: Again, this will be a game in which quarterback Matt Ryan will spread the ball around in a pass-happy offense, and while White will have Top 5 numbers, he doesn’t quite have a better matchup than the other four above. Chicago has always had trouble dealing with big physical receivers deep, which still makes this game a tasty matchup for fantasy owners.

5. Calvin Johnson – @ Tampa Bay: I worry about Aqib Talib’s presence, but I don’t worry about Megatron’s potential performance in this game. I would put him higher in the rankings, but Tampa is tough at home, and has a sneaky defense that is better than they appear to be on paper, which could keep Johnson just slightly in check—slightly.

The Rest of the Best

Sit ‘Em Down: There are few receivers that I would like to quickly run through that I feel are fantasy stars, but need to be considered as bench candidates for Week 1. Remember, a name does not always garner you fantasy points—a common rookie mistake—rather it is the matchups that present the best fantasy potential, both from a start perspective and a sit perspective.

• Percy Harvin isn’t going into a good matchup here. The Chargers ranked second overall against fantasy receivers in 2010, and the Vikings are likely to heavily rely on the run. He’s not a good start at all.
• Santonio Holmes is a nice superstar, but if you have a better option I would start him over Holmes. Mark Sanchez struggled in preseason and isn’t any better than an average quarterback, making Holmes’ stock drop against a good Dallas D this week.
• Steve Smith of the Panthers is another fantasy stud that should be sat, as he goes through the motions of having an unproven rookie QB under center against one of the better secondaries in the NFC. Not a lot of fantasy point potential here.
• A.J. Green: Explosive rookie with a lot of upside that plays in a bad offense, against a modestly good Browns secondary. Nuff said!
• Anquan Boldin didn’t show too much in the preseason, and the Steelers secondary usually has little trouble covering this guy, even over the middle. I don’t like Boldin’s chances in this game and recommend he sits in favor of better options if you have them.

Now that we have looked at the offensive side of the ball, be sure to make yourself a well rounded manager, and head on over to our IDP section where our own Tom “Diggs” Digliani has the entire defensive side of the ball covered with some VERY in-depth coverage you simply can’t ignore.