One list that our site puts together every season is the third-year wide receiver list. While a few receivers will put up dominant numbers as a rookie and a few more will break through in their second season, many receivers require three years to transition from the college game to the professional game.

That can be very helpful for fantasy owners who are either looking to draft bargains in the later rounds or waiver wire pickups in their seasonal leagues or are looking for sleepers that can be stashed away, for future dividends, on their bench in dynasty leagues.

Here is our list of the top 10 third year wide receivers and top three third year tight ends.  The rankings are based on how we believe they will score in 2010 only, with comments if they have extra value in dynasty leagues.

Wide Receivers

1) DeSean Jackson (Philadelphia Eagles) – He is the cream of the third-year receiver crop, as he ranked fourth among all fantasy receivers with 63 receptions for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns, to go along with 137 yards rushing and one touchdown and two punt returns for touchdown.  He had eight touchdowns of 50-yards or more in 2010 alone, tying a NFL record for a single season.  He is worthy of being a number one receiver and will probably be off the board by the end of the second round or the early third round.

2) Robert Meachem (New Orleans Saints) – There is a huge drop off from the first to the second receiver on this list; Meachem had a nice second season with 45 receptions for 722 yards and nine touchdowns and plays on one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, led by QB Drew Brees.  He was 22^nd among receivers in fantasy points scored.  The Saints have struggled to find a player to play opposite of Marques Colston, but if he can stay healthy and play more consistently, Meachem has a great chance to put up 1,000 yard and match his touchdown total of a year ago.  He should finish in the Top 20 this season.

3) Pierre Garcon (Indianapolis Colts) –Garcon had 47 receptions for 765 yards and four touchdowns, ranking 37^th among all fantasy receivers.  He has great value playing with QB Peyton Manning, but he will also have competition for that second spot with fourth-year WR Anthony Gonzalez and second year WR Austin Collie.  I think he will have good value as a fourth fantasy receiver, but will still lose too much time to those players, plus WR Reggie Wayne and TE Dallas Clark are still the stars of this offense and will dominate the offensive touches.

4) Mario Manningham (New York Giants) – WR Steve Smith clearly emerged as the leading receiver with 107 receptions for 1,220 yards and seven touchdowns and Manningham will be facing stiff competition from WR Hakeem Nicks, who had 47 receptions for 790 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie. Manningham is going to have a tough time on improving on his 57 receptions for 822 yards and five touchdowns, but those totals were good for 29^th on the fantasy receiver list, which makes him a viable third receiver in most leagues.  QB Eli Manning is still young, which means Manningham will have good value for years to come, but I think it is a very crowded position that is going to have to sort itself out if he is going to emerge as an every week play.

5) Donnie Avery (St. Louis Rams) – He needs a better team to play on; he had only 47 receptions for 589 yards and five touchdowns and was 45^th among fantasy wide receivers.  Unfortunately, those numbers led all St. Louis wide receivers.  The rumor has been that QB Marc Bulger may retire or the Rams may use their first pick on Oklahoma Sooners QB Sam Bradford, but this team is going to have to improve their passing game before Avery can be considered a worthy fantasy start most weeks.  Avery is a good talent stuck on a bad team.

6) Jordy Nelson (Green Bay Packers) – If this were a dynasty league ranking, Nelson would be second on my list.  Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is going to be 27-years old and is already one of the best fantasy quarterbacks in the NFL.  Furthermore, the Packers have a star receiver in Greg Jennings, who is going to be only 27-years old in September and the other starting receiver is Donald Driver, who turned 35-years old in February.  Nelson could easily be the second receiver by 2011 and would be in position to put up great numbers for the next five to seven years.  He had only 22 receptions for 320 yards and two touchdowns in 2009, but if he could ever see the field, he could put up great numbers.

7) Devin Thomas (Washington Redskins) – He had only 25 receptions for 325 yards and three touchdowns, despite starting ten games.  Old head coach Jim Zorn is history and new head coach Mike Shanahan may be able to turn around this young receiver’s career.  I think Thomas is going to play better than he did last year, but with QB Jason Campbell having been given the first round tender, who knows who will be the quarterback in 2010.  They could allow Campbell to sign with another team, they could give him the one-year tender or Oklahoma Sooners QB Sam Bradford could be drafted and made the starter in 2010 or 2011.  There is just a lot of uncertainty at the quarterback position for me to put this number two receiver higher on my list.  He is a late round pick at best, but he has a lot more value in dynasty leagues where he could put him on the bench and hope he develops in a year or two.

8) Josh Morgan (San Francisco 49ers) – He was the 60^th ranked fantasy receiver with 52 receptions for 527 yards and three touchdowns, which is not very good.  You have to think with the emergence of TE Vernon Davis and rookie WR Michael Crabtree is going to hurt his value in a Mike Singletary offense that would rather pound RB Frank Gore 20 times per game.  I think Morgan’s numbers may take a slight jump ahead in 2010, but he is still a long ways away from being a reliable fantasy starter.

9) Early Doucet (Arizona Cardinals) – He would have a lot more value if QB Kurt Warner had not decided to retire.  WR Anquan Boldin was traded to Baltimore, which means that WR Steve Breaston and Doucet will compete for the starting job, but with WR Larry Fitzgerald clearly the No. 1 receiver, he will still see the majority of the touches.  QB Matt Leinart may very well keep the job or they may sign another quarterback, such as former Cleveland Browns QB Derek Anderson.  Neither signal caller inspires much confidence that Doucet will break out as a 1,000 yard-receiver.  Doucet also has more value in dynasty leagues, as he has time for the Cardinals to sort out their quarterback position.

10) Andre Caldwell (Cincinnati Bengals) – The Bengals appear to be looking to settle their second receiver position in free agency, but WR Antonio Bryant has hardly been able to stay healthy in his career and Caldwell was a big third down receiver that came up big in close games.  Caldwell is going to have to improve on his 51 receptions for 432 yards and three touchdowns if he is going to see more playing time, but he is playing with a solid quarterback in Carson Palmer and made huge strides from his 11-reception rookie season.  The Bengals have become a run first offense, but this is still a player that could blow up in 2010 if the Bengals will look to involve him more in the offense.

HM) Earl Bennett (Chicago Bear) – I personally think that Bears WR Devin

Aromashodu is going to emerge as the teams go to receiver; he had 29 receptions for 378 yards and four touchdowns in the final four games of the season.  That said, WR Devin Hester has hardly been dominant since moving to starting receiver in 2008 and Bennett is a player that could emerge for the Bears as a viable option at the other receiver spot.  Bennett did have 54 receptions for 717 yards and two touchdowns, but ranked only 51^st among fantasy receivers in 2009.  I think he will be a good role player for the Bears, but probably will not have good fantasy value most weeks.   Playing with a young quarterback in Jay Cutler who will spread the ball around helps his value in 2010 and beyond.

Tight Ends

1) Jermichael Finley (Green Bay Packers) – Finley had a great second season, catching 55 passes for 676 yards and five touchdowns.  In the Wild Card Round loss to the Arizona Cardinals, he had six receptions for 159 yards and no touchdowns, which was the second most yards by a tight end in a NFL playoff game.  He has the stud young QB in Aaron Rodgers, an offense loaded with weapons and the physical tools you are looking for in a tight end that is going to dominate games.  He is too big and strong to be covered by secondary personnel, but is too fast to be covered by a linebacker.  He should have a breakout third year and could be one of the top five scoring tight ends in the NFL if he stays healthy.

2) John Carlson (Seattle Seahawks) – He is a legitimate starting fantasy tight end that had 51 receptions for 574 yards and seven touchdowns.  The big question for him is a new coaching staff led by Pete Carroll and a QB that is turning 35-years old in Matt Hasselbeck.  Carlson has the talent to be a dominant tight end for the next 10 years; I am just not sure if he has the supporting cast that is going to maximize his numbers.  The Seattle rebuilding effort hurts his value in the short term.

3) Martellus Bennett (Dallas Cowboys) – He really did not emerge in 2009, dropping back from the 20 receptions, 283 yards and four touchdowns to 15 receptions for 159 yards and no touchdowns in 2009.  He is a great prospect, but there are just so many weapons on this team.  Furthermore, TE Jason Witten is a Pro-Bowl tight end that sees the majority of the tight end looks in the passing game.  He has great value if Witten is hurt, but otherwise will not have much value in Dallas, unless they utilize the two-tight end set more.

4) Brad Cottam (Kansas City Chiefs) – He was very disappointing with only four games played, nine receptions and 120 yards, but the Chiefs now have a dominating running back duo in Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, which could give Cottam some value in the red zone as teams concentrate on that running game.  He is not going to be a viable tight end most weeks, but depending on how his role develops, he could become a bye or injury replacement.

5) Tom Santi (Indianapolis Colts) – He does not have much value with starter Dallas Clark playing in front of him, but Manning does love the tight end and the Colts have had years where two tight ends have scored over five touchdowns, such as 2004 when Marcus Pollard and Clark combined for 11 touchdowns.  He is a super sleeper at this point that would probably need Clark to be injured to have value, but he is someone to keep the radar on as any player that sees the field regularly with Manning has value.

Other Third Year Wide Receivers:

Atlanta Falcons Harry Douglas

Buffalo Bills James Hardy, Steve Johnson

Carolina Panthers Marcus Monk, Kenneth Moore

Cincinnati Bengals Jerome Simpson,

Denver Broncos Eddie Royal

Minnesota Vikings WR Jaymar Johnson

New England Patriots Matt Slater

New Orleans Saints Adrian Arrington,

New York Jets Marcus Henry

Oakland Raiders Chaz Schilens

Pittsburgh Steelers Limas Sweed

St. Louis Rams Keenan Burton

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mario Urrutia

Tennessee Titans Lavelle Hawkins

Washington Redskins Malcom Kelly