The NFL Has a New Most Valuable Position: Receiver

On to 2022! Over many decades now, the quality of a team’s wide receivers has been vital to winning games. As we enter the decade of the 2020‘s, this is more true than ever. But instead of teams’ possessing a whole stable of talented pass catchers, we are now experiencing many teams that possess just one dominating receiver – and that seem to be enough.

I’ll take a look at the teams whose offenses largely rely on one nearly undefendable receiver – and if they are lucky, sometimes two. A dominating receiver of course requires a solid, disciplined, and accurate QB, though not necessarily a top-tier thrower. Teams with dominant receivers also need to be guided and prepared by smart coaching staffs, so I’ve also included that factor in the discussion.

I’ve listed such receivers roughly in order of dominance. It’s remarkable how fast some of these younger receivers have established dominance in the league.

Most Dominant Current Pass Receivers

Rams – Cooper Kupp (145 catches, 1,947 yards, 16 TDs) – Matthew Stafford – Sean McVay

Packers – Davante Adams (123, 1,553, 9 TDs) – Aaron Rodgers – Matt LaFleur

Chiefs – Tyreek Hill (111, 1,239, 11), Travis Kelce (92, 1,125, 9) – Patrick Mahomes – Andy Reed

Bengals – Ja’Marr Chase (81, 1,455, 13) – Joe Burrow – Zac Taylor

Forty-Niners – Deebo Samuel (77, 1,405, 6), George Kittle (71, 910, 6) – Jimmy Garoppolo – Kyle Shanahan

Honorable Mentions

Buccaneers – Mike Evans (74, 1,035, 14), Chris Godwin (98, 1,103, 5), Rob Gronkowski (55, 802, 6) – Tom Brady – Bruce Arians

Vikings – Justin Jefferson (88, 1,400, 7) – Kirk Cousins – Kevin O’Connell (replacing Mike Zimmer)

Ravens – Mark Andrews (107, 1,361, 9), Marquise Brown (91, 1,008, 6) – Lamar Jackson – John Harbaugh

Bills – Stefon Diggs (103, 1,225, 10) – Josh Allen – Sean McDermott

Seahawks – Tyler Lockett (73, 1,175, 8), D.K. Metcalf (75, 967, 12) – Russell Wilson – Pete Carroll

Cowboys – CeeDee Lamb (79, 1,102, 6) – Dak Prescott – Mike McCarthy

Comments

I view dominance as meaning the hardest receiver to defend. On that basis, these ratings stand up well, with Kupp, Adams, Samuel, and Chase causing nightmares to defenders. Tyreek Hill is mostly a speed merchant. Kupp lasted until the third round of the 2017 draft in part because he went to Eastern Washington, and even though he was phenomenal in both high school and college. Also, his dash time was 4.62.

By the playoffs, I believe Cupp, Adams, and Samuel were being accorded double coverage, and especially so as these games neared their finishes. Just think of the career Kupp would be having if he’d been thrown to by Stafford rather than Jared Goff for his first four years. I think Stafford has been seriously underrated despite having been in the league for

Only Kupp, Jefferson, and Metcalf started all 17 games; Kelce, Adams, Hill, Evans, Lockett, and Brown started 16 games; Godwin started 14; Lamb 13, Gronk 12, and Andrews only 9.

Andrews zoomed into prominence in 2021 – in his three prior years, he had never started more than 4 games, and his top yardage was 852 in 2019. Jefferson followed up his great rookie season (1,400 receiving yards) with an even better showing last season. The new phenom is Ja’Marr Chase, who just recorded the fourth most receiving yards as a rookie. Justin and La’Marr look to be perennial All-Pros for years to come. CeeDee Lamb, another youngster who’s only 22, made the Pro Bowl in just his second season.

Age is creeping up on a number of these superstars. Tight ends Kelce and Gronk are 32; Adams and Lockett are 29; Kupp, Kittle, Evans, and Diggs are 28.

Aaron Rodgers should be one hot trading commodity in 2022. The last two winning Super Bowl quarterbacks were in their first years with their new teams.

Almost all these receivers were being thrown to by top notch quarterbacks. I’d say that Samuel was the primary exception, though Justin Jefferson was probably also held back somewhat by Cousins. The Buccaneers will have to regroup next season due to Brady announcing his retirement. As usual Rodgers remains a beautiful mystery. Wilson had an uncharacteristically down year, as did Metcalf.

Almost everyone on my list also played on well-coached teams, which is surely not a coincidence. Viking fans are hoping that O’Connell will be an upgrade over Zimmer. The Bengals’ Zac Taylor, who became a head coach in 2019, the same year as LaFleur almost went all the way in his third season. Unlike LaFleur, however, his first two years resulted in a total of only 6 wins.

A number of veteran coaches also continued to do well at utilizing their star receivers, including Bruce Arians, Andy Reid, and you could include Sean McVay, who’s led the Rams for the five years now. McCarthy and Carroll’s teams underperformed.

Superstar tight end George Kittle has been injury-prone of late – he’s missed 13 games over the past three seasons. Though he’s now 32, Kelce has avoided serious injuries, and has now racked up six consecutive 1,000 receiving yard seasons.

There shouldn’t be much debate: at this moment, Davante Adams is the second best receiver in the NFL. And just as certain, Cooper Kupp is the best. He’s achieved that status through tireless effort, and despite being an average athlete – in fact he looks a bit frail out there on the gridiron.

He is also a role model and the essence of humility and team play. I put Cooper Kupp right up there with Bart Starr, Reggie White, and Jordy Nelson as being among the finest people, on and off the football field, I’ve had the pleasure of watching over a bunch of decades. What a player, and what a feel-good story – I can’t wait until the movie comes out.