Fantasy Football: 5 Wide Receivers Who Drastically Outperformed Their 2016 Preseason Rankings

Jamison Crowder, Washington Redskins

Jamison Crowder's rise to fantasy relevance didn't come out of nowhere like the others on this list. He had a productive rookie season in 2015 with 59 catches for 604 yards and 2 touchdowns.

What kept Crowder's preseason value down was all the other receiving options Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins had: elite tight end Jordan Reed, backup Vernon Davis and wide receivers Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson and Josh Doctson. Running back Chris Thompson was also pretty good at catching his share of dump-offs.

That's why Crowder failed to crack the top 200 of any of the five preseason lists.

Doctson, though, couldn't shake an Achilles injury and played in only two games all season. And like his first three years in the league, Reed again missed time -- four games -- due to injuries.

This gave Crowder more opportunities to become a bigger part of the offense, and he did by catching 67 passes for 847 yards and a team-high 7 touchdown grabs.

Garcon and Jackson each posted 1,000-yard seasons, but Crowder had more fantasy points (122) than both of them in standard leagues. Jackson finished with 118, while Garcon had 113.

Crowder finished tied for 25th among wide receivers in standard leagues and tied for 28th in PPR leagues. Overall, he was tied for 70th in PPR leagues and tied for 102nd in standard leagues.