Should it be a surprise a player from the Big 12 is atop the fantasy receiver rankings? This position is generally the most difficult position to rank, but it was a pretty easy selection at the top this year. Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant tops Athlon’s first release of the 2009 college fantasy receiver rankings. Considering 300 fantasy points is well within reach this year, Bryant should be a first rounder in most drafts this offseason. Don’t be surprised to see Bryant selected ahead of the first rusher off the board, especially with an unsettled situation atop the running back rankings.

Considering receivers are the toughest to decipher during the year, if you swing and miss on a sleeper pick, there should be plenty of options on the waiver wire. Although you don’t want to miss out on one of your draft picks – especially early on – taking a few gambles at this position is worth the risk.

Top rated freshman – Florida’s Andre Debose (No. 61) – With Percy Harvin gone, don’t be surprised to see this true freshman getting plenty of touches in the fall.

Transfer to watch – Vanderbilt’s Terence Jeffers (No. 84) – The Commodores desperately need a receiver to step up this fall, and this Connecticut transfer is expected to be the go-to guy for quarterback Larry Smith.

Welcome back! Syracuse’s Mike Williams (academics), BYU’s McKay Jacobson (LDS mission) and Illinois’ Jarred Fayson (transfer) did not play last season, but are expected to be fantasy factors in 2009.

On the comeback trail – Southern Mississippi’s DeAndre Brown suffered a broken leg in the New Orleans Bowl, but is expected to return in time for the season opener. An injury to any receiver’s leg is always a concern, but Brown is worth the risk this fall.

Be sure to keep in mind all rankings will change as needed throughout the offseason and a major update will be posted before August.

Rank	Player	Team	08 Fantasy Pts	Bye Weeks	Returning QB?*
1	Dez Bryant	Okla. State	290.3	5	Y
2	Dezmon Briscoe	Kansas	232.9	5	Y
3	Aldrick Robinson	SMU	200.2	4	Y
4	Jordan Shipley	Texas	218.9	5	Y
5	Ryan Broyles	Oklahoma	118.4	4	Y
6	Mardy Gilyard	Cincy	198.7	6, 12	Y
7	DeAndre Brown	USM	216.0	10	Y
8	Antonio Brown	CMU	192.8	10	Y
9	Em. Sanders	SMU	183.3	4	Y
10	Tyron Carrier	Houston	205.9	3	Y
11	Arrelious Benn	Illinois	180.2	3, 12	Y
12	Golden Tate	ND	168.3	6	Y
13	Detron Lewis	Tex Tech	142.4	10	N
14	Dexter McCluster	Ole Miss	161.0	2	Y
15	Michael Floyd	ND	135.2	6	Y
16	James Rodgers	Oreg State	188.9	7, 13	Y
17	Damaris Johnson	Tulsa	168.8	6	N
18	N. Roosevelt	Buffalo	223.9	9	N
19	Kris Adams	UTEP	205.9	7	Y
20	Jerrel Jernigan	Troy	158.9	5	Y
21	Kerry Meier	Kansas	180.5	5	Y
22	Eric Decker	Minnesota	183.0	13	Y
23	T.Y. Hilton	FIU	185.1	1, 13	Y
24	Bryan Anderson	CMU	149.0	10	Y
25	Jeff Moturi	UTEP	147.6	7	Y
26	Cortez Gent	FAU	159.5	2, 6	Y
27	Damian Williams	USC	132.7	6, 12	N
28	Ryan Wolfe	UNLV	199.1	12	Y
29	Jeff Fuller	TAMU	144.0	2	Y
30	Juan Nunez	WMU	139.6	12	Y
31	Austin Pettis	Boise St.	126.7	6	Y
32	Adron Tennell	Oklahoma	11.3	4	Y
33	Kendall Wright	Baylor	144.8	2	Y
34	A.J. Green	Georgia	176.1	8	N
35	Lyle Leong	Tex. Tech	47.6	10	N
36	Stephen Williams	Toledo	161.6	10	Y
37	Chris Wellington	Nevada	114.0	2	Y
38	Brandon LaFell	LSU	169.4	7	N
39	Julio Jones	Alabama	119.3	9	N
40	Brandon Banks	K-State	217.0	13	N
41	Dion Morton	Colo. State	189.1	11	N
42	McKay Jacobson	BYU	—	9	N
43	Kevin Jurovich	SJSU	31.8	5, 8	Y
44	L.J. Castile	Houston	115.6	3	Y
45	Malcolm Williams	Texas	56.9	5	Y
46	Slick Shelley	Tulsa	120.4	6	N
47	Jacory Stone	EMU	156.3	4	Y
48	Phillip Livas	La. Tech	146.6	4, 13	Y
49	Deonte Thompson	Florida	53.9	5	N
50	Jimmy Young	TCU	150.3	1	Y
51	Carlos Singleton	Memphis	128.9	8	Y
52	Edward Britton	Tex. Tech	89.1	10	N
53	Patrick Edwards	Houston	114.0	3	Y
54	Andre Jones	Akron	138.4	5	Y
55	Titus Young	Boise State	44.8	6	Y
56	Ronald Johnson	USC	95.5	6, 12	N
57	Joe Adams	Arkansas	68.9	2	N
58	Shay Hodge	Ole Miss	136.6	2	Y
59	DeVier Posey	Ohio State	23.2	13	Y
60	Randall Cobb	UK	135.78	2	Y
61	Andre Debose	Florida	—	5	N
62	Ryan Tannehill	TAMU	142.2	2	Y
63	Freddie Barnes	BGSU	74.7	9	Y
64	D'Andre Goodwin	Washington	109.0	9, 12	N
65	Tramain Swindall	Tex. Tech	85.8	10	N
66	Briggs Orsbon	Ball State	123.9	10	N
67	Rashaun Greer	Colo. State	148.0	11	N
68	O'Neill Chambers	BYU	11.7	9	N
69	Jeremy Williams	Tulane	87.7	3	N
70	Mike Williams	Syracuse	—	7	N
71	Brandon Collins	Texas	69.0	5	Y
72	Danario Alexander	Missouri	59.3	5	N
73	Vincent Brown	SDSU	128.8	6	Y
74	Terrell Turner	Arizona	71.5	5, 9	N
75	Malcolm Beyah	MTSU	109.1	5	N
76	Darius Darks	Iowa State	81.2	13	Y
77	Phillip Payne	UNLV	101.0	12	Y
78	Dwight Jones	N. Carolina	—	7	Y
79	A.J. Whitmore	Tulsa	115.86	6	N
80	Malcolm Lane	Hawaii	95.8	4	Y
81	Duke Calhoun	Memphis	73.8	8	Y
82	Owen Spencer	NC State	101.5	8	Y
83	Torrey Smith	Maryland	53.3	9	Y
84	Seyi Ajirotutu	Fresno St.	123.4	5, 13	N
85	Terence Jeffers	Vandy	—	13	N
86	Cameron Kenney	Oklahoma	—	4	Y
87	Eric Ward	Tex. Tech	—	10	N
88	Trae Johnson	Tulsa	73.7	6	N
89	Jarred Fayson	Illinois	—	3, 12	Y
90	Kierrie Johnson	Houston	95.9	3	Y
91	Aldarius Johnson	Miami	65.1	2	Y
92	Luke Ashworth	BYU	6.4	9	Y
93	Riley Cooper	Florida	53.1	5	N
94	Tim Brown	Rutgers	84.3	6, 10	N
95	Alex Torres	Tex. Tech	—	10	N
96	Rodney Bradley	Hawaii	—	4	Y
97	David Nelson	Florida	58.8	5	N
98	Jamar Howard	Cincy	—	6, 12	Y
99	De. Thomas	Ga. Tech	99.2	12	Y
100	Jonathan Baldwin	Pitt	67.5	9, 12	Y
101	David Gilreath	Wisconsin	125.0	8, 13	Y
102	Deryn Bowser	Akron	134.5	5	Y
103	Jock Sanders	WVU	132.9	4, 12	N
104	Johnathan Wilson	Kansas	87.3	5	Y
105	Jacoby Ford	Clemson	112.2	6	N
106	Chris McGaha	Ariz. State	70.8	2	N
107	Delashaun Dean	Arizona	74.6	5, 9	N
108	Toren Dixon	Rice	99.0	9	N
109	Scotty McKnight	Colorado	106.6	4	Y
110	Marcus Anderson	NMSU	140.7	10	N
111	Mart. Odoms	Michigan	76.1	13	N
112	Graham Zug	Penn State	34.9	13	Y
113	Gerald Jones	Tennessee	90.7	7	N
114	Jamar Bryant	ECU	45.5	8	Y
115	Mark Dell	Mich. State	95.3	13	N
116	Taylor Price	Ohio	127.0	10	Y
117	Frantrell Forrest	UAB	96.9	6	Y
118	Desmond Gee	MTSU	54.2	5	N
119	Jamere Holland	Oregon	10.7	7, 13	Y
120	Jared Perry	Missouri	95.1	5	N
121	Marvin Jones	California	1.3	6, 13	Y
122	Bert Reed	Fla. State	60.7	7	Y
123	Randall Carroll	UCLA	—	4	N
124	Kealoha Pilares	Hawaii	111.1	4	Y
125	Alshon Jeffery	S. Carolina	—	12	N

Bye Week Key -

Week 1 - Sept. 5
Week 2 - Sept. 12
Week 3 - Sept. 19
Week 4 - Sept. 26
Week 5 - Oct. 3
Week 6 - Oct. 10
Week 7 - Oct. 17
Week 8 - Oct. 24
Week 9 - Oct. 31
Week 10 - Nov. 7
Week 11 - Nov. 14
Week 12 - Nov. 21
Week 13 - Nov. 28

* Returning starter at quarterback = projected starting quarterback in Athlon's 2009 National magazine that started at least seven games or final six games in 2008

2009 draft kit

2009 kickoff
Quarterback rankings
Kicker rankings
Running back rankings
Team defense rankings

Coming later this week

Tight end rankings
Top 200

Coming later this summer

Player profiles
Sleepers
Position battles
Strategy features
Mock draft
Freshmen/JUCO reports
Keeper watch

Follow us at Twitter: AthlonFantasy

Check out u-sports.athlonsports.com for more information on college fantasy leagues for the 2009 season.

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