He is a smart, high-effort player and among the best in the NFL at his position. Justin Jefferson can lay claim to the title of being the best receiver in the NFL. Speaking of top-end receivers who switched teams in the offseason, Adams presents another great case study in positional value. He primarily (though not exclusively) seemed to be used as a deep threat option in Seattle. He shows enough effort and skill in route running that I think he will develop into a capable NFL starter under good coaching, but I think his immediate value will be on special teams, where he already has the ability to make an impact. When I reviewed McLaurins college tape for this ranking last year, I noted that he was a tremendous athlete, good route runner, and a willing and physical blocker. NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 15: Building the AFC Pro Bowl Games roster on offense, NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 15: Building the NFC Pro Bowl Games roster on offense, RB Index, Week 15: Three fresh-legged running backs who could impact the NFL playoff picture, NFL rookie rankings at quarter pole of 2022 season: Jets duo holds top spots; Lions lead with three reps, NFL QB Index, Week 15: San Francisco 49ers rookie Brock Purdy soars into top half of rankings. NFL Week 15 underdogs: Can Dolphins halt slide against Bills? Eventually, Washington took it. Of course, no position group consists of just one star player. [7:50] Cooper again lines up top of screen opposite Mike Hughes. You won't want to miss a moment of the 2022 season! If Carson Wentz can return to his 2017 form and stay healthy for 16 games, this Eagles receiving crew could lead the division in statistical production. Cooper again runs down the sideline and seems to get open by selling the deep route, but breaking it back to shake loose. They really don't have a choice, as Hill's yards-per-route figure jumps to 4.2 against man coverage and 4.6 when left on an island against single-high coverages. This play shows again that McLaurin has more ways to win than just speed, and even against the best of CBs, he found a way to get open through physicality, smart positioning, and excellent route running and timing. Hes not moving to the slot; the ball gets snapped while hes in the process of transitioning, allowing him to catch the ball in the backfield while the other two WRs act as blockers for him. [12:06] This is the second of two plays that are representative of how Cooper gets open on many occasions. [2:08] Here is another example of using excellent body-positioning to box an opponent out, but this time against a much better opponent: Julian Love (taken by the Giants in the 4th round of the 2019 draft). Whenever defenses left him 1-on-1 against non-elite CBs, he was able to get open for a big play, though he was often missed by inaccurate Redskins QBs early in the season. With this improved play expect a jump in production for all NFC East receivers in the upcoming 2021 season. His only real weakness to me is that he depends on physicality to get open quickly, as he lacks the short area quickness to get open purely based on acceleration. Richardson is a very smart WR, aware of the field and good at improvising to keep himself open as a viable option when the play breaks down (he made a similar TD off of improvisation against the Panthers last year). In addition to football, in high school he was all-state in basketball and placed highly in track. On tape, Richardsons quickness and speed stand out. Because you know what happens when a rookie receiver enters the league? However, this is all based on his rookie year alone, and he is still developing. Overall, I think Reagor is a skilled, explosive playmaker who can stretch the field vertically while also taking short passes or handoffs for big gains, using his sudden cuts and quick acceleration to juke defenders and get yards after the catch. Ceedee Lamb is the best performing rookie by some distance. The breakout quarterbacks are among the Next Gen Stats analytics team's 10 players most likely to earn all-star accolades for the first time this season. Andrew is a self-taught film analyst with a pretty impressive resume. [7:19] Slayton lines up on the boundary top of screen opposite Stephon Gilmore. Brown has been dominant on tight-window throws this season, with a career-high 273 yards on such targets (second in the NFL behind George Pickens). McLaurin is an ideal Z receiver, though not quite big enough to play X and not able to consistently beat the best CBs in the NFL. Even better, he displayed strong hands, winning quite a few contested catches. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. He still doesnt have the short-area-quickness or suddenness to juke DBs out of their shoes, but he showed better ability to get open in tight spaces using fakes and body positioning. In particular, Lamb has been lethal when going in a shift or motion, leading the NFL with both 337 receiving yards and 4 receiving TDs on such snaps this season. This play highlights Richardsons deep threat ability, change-of-direction, ball tracking, body positioning, leaping ability, and strong hands at the catch point. Sure, there are ways to use formation and motion offensively to help receivers get away from press. Washington Commanders. Cooper isnt weak, but hes not especially physical, and pressing him at the line can disrupt his routes. Justin Jefferson is arguably the best wide receiver in the league. Just a few years ago, the NFC East was chock-full of high profile wide receivers. Odds & lines subject to change. That is a difficult habit to unlearn at this point in his development, though I saw enough hands catches to think he can develop. He does a good job locating the ball, but realizes hes been a bit underthrown and slows his route down to adjust to the ball and make the catch (another body catch). Gallup had 59 for 843 and 5 as third option. Commanders Reacts Survey: Do you want to see the Washington Commanders on Hard Knocks in 2023. This week, we've assembled a list of the top 10 wide receivers heading into Week 15. Who are the most impactful tight ends in the NFL right now? [7:06] Very clever play design by Doug Pederson. In his rookie year in the NFL, he did an excellent job reaching out and catching the ball away from his body (hands-catching), which is critical to keep the ball safe from DBs that rarely allow as much separation as in college. But the NFC North has four of the very best wideouts in football, including possibly the best wideout in the league in Adams. 2022 NFL season's top 10 wide receivers: Justin Jefferson reels in No. Instead of taking a step back, Hill has elevated an entire offense and been the key to third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's breakout season. 10 pick in Smith, who will become their No. Tate gets wide open and signals Wentz for the TD. The NFC East has three new head coaches and a young group of quarterbacks; its probably no surprise that it has more young and promising receivers than older established veteran receivers. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. Watching tape of McLaurins 2019 season, it became clear that other teams saw him as the number one threat in the Redskins passing game. He ranked top three in both receiving grade (91.7) and yards per route run (3.64) versus such looks. The Cowboys receivers may have the most talent and productivity potential of any group in the NFC East, but, with the Cowboys run-centered offense, and Dak Prescotts limited pass production (he averages 3,625 yards and 25 TDs per season in his career), this group is unlikely to put up truly big numbers in 2019. The Dallas Cowboys rookie taken 17th overall in the 2020 NFL draft looks like a bona fide future star and may emerge as the divisions best weapon sooner rather than later. Play man, get dusted. His only obvious weakness is as a blocker in run support, where he doesnt quite have the strength and physicality to excel. 3. Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 28, 2023. I wanted to include this play for 2 reasons. Robinson is a superstar whose contributions have been overlooked. Will he ever duplicate that magical five-game stretch last year? 1 receiver. He primarily uses a combination of route running, short-area quickness, and savvy (with fakes/misdirection and ability to find the soft spot in zones) to get open and make plays. Updated Jan 5, 2023 at 10:27pm. Hogs Haven looks at all four teams in the division in an effort to identify the best and the weakest of the NFC East. Often at the college level, receivers see very little in-your-face physical man coverage, so watching what we can and analyzing it very closely is extremely important. This makes fitting the run more difficult for defenses, helping Josh Jacobs run away with the rushing title (so far) this season. At the bottom of the depth chart, Watkins, Hightower and J.J. Arcega-Whitesid might be in a battle. I also think hes not especially physical and will have trouble against press coverage. Here are the pre-free agency wide receiver rankings for the NFC North. . March 1, 2023 6:03 am USAToday PanthersWire. However, he has a limited route tree and doesnt show much subtlety in terms of using fakes, counters, leverage, body-positioning, or physicality to get open. The $20 million receiver barely squeezes past Washington Football Team's 2nd year star receiver Terry McLaurin. He then changes direction uphill so suddenly that Lewis overshoots him on the tackle attempt. He has a PhD in Experimental Particle Physics and has spent several years doing research with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, and now does R&D work as a US government contractor. However, this makes him a poor matchup on physical CBs like Josh Norman who can shove back harder. That number drops to only 21.9 for wide receivers in the 30-34 bracket. NFL Wide Receivers 2021 : For a division that is considered one of the weakest in the history of the NFL, the NFC East boasts one of the best receiving groups in the whole league. NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. CB #21 (Ronald Darby) looked fast enough to run with Slayton and almost caught him at the end. He does an excellent job locating and tracking the ball in the air and adjusting his routes to match the balls trajectory (which was important, because he was often so fast that he got underthrown on deep routes). HONORABLE MENTION: Terry McLaurin, Commanders; Tee Higgins, Bengals; Garrett Wilson, Jets; Chris Olave, Saints. This play highlights Coopers ability to make tough catches, as well as the awareness and body control to keep both feet in bounds for the reception. 1. But the NFC East likely has the next four best players, and has greater depth. ApplePodcasts|Google Play|Spotify|Stitcher|Art19|Watch on YouTube. [9:35] Gilmore again lines up opposite Slayton at the top of the screen. He is also still an excellent route runner, running crisp routes with a tremendous sense of timing and anticipation of the balls arrival. Despite the emergence of Isaiah Hodgins, who re-signed with Big Blue last week, the Giants are likely to. The Packers' offense has faltered for most of the season without Adams to create explosive plays. The on-field portion of the NFL Combine begins on Thursday, marking the start of the testing circuit that propels some prospects into the stratosphere while ruining the stock of others. [5:16] Cooper lines up outside and fakes a break outside, causing Jalen Mills to bite hard on the fake, and leaving Cooper wide open when he redirects inside. Once Reagor has passed the CB he shows great acceleration getting down the field quickly and showing good use of inside leverage, keeping himself between the CB and the QB so the QB has a clear path to throw to him inside. St. Brown has been a revelation for the Lions -- and his impact has played a big role in the teams opportunity to end its five-year playoff drought. The Eagles belong at the bottom of this list but that doesnt mean there isnt potential. . Despite this, Jeffery turns on a dime and immediately locates the ball in the air, leaping up to get the catch and first down. The only reason I put him below elite is that he rarely faced double teams, but was neutralized by them when he did. [2:21] Cooper (bottom of screen) runs forward to act as a blocker, but whiffs on his initial attempted block and cant really get push on anyone. Reagor has weaknesses though. Reagor dealt with some poorly thrown balls and did an amazing job adjusting to them as shown earlier, but he also had too many easy misses and drops like the one shown here. First, as much as Jim Schwartzs defense makes life difficult for the CBs, Doug Pedersons offense makes like easier for the WRs. This play also shows off his acceleration and route running. However, he fared better against those CBs than Amari Cooper. One minor difference in his game from last year is that I think Cooper has visibly improved in run blocking. Jeffery rewarded Cutlers trust with two 1000-yard seasons in his first 3 years in the NFL, though he hasnt been able to replicate that production since, due to repeated nagging injuries he seems to suffer every year. He will put that analytical brain to work this off-season helping to analyze some of the top players in the NFC East. Derek Barnett has a very similar skillset to Brandon Graham. Darius Slayton was not only an All-Region receiver out of high school, but also a state sprint champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Unfortunately, Kupps season was cut short by injury. [2:13] McLaurin takes off deep again, almost immediately beating the CB, and the CB knows it. Your login session has expired. You could make a case for what the Dallas Cowboys are building in the NFC East, with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. That top three of Cooper, Gallup and Lamb might be the best trio in the NFL. He talked about position groups that Bills fans should look at here in In. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside does an excellent job using his size, strength, and body positioning to box out CBs and make contested catches (making him a big red zone threat). When you pair those two together with Slayton, Shepard and another former first-rounder in Ross, all of a sudden, this is a great receiving corps. 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