NFL wide receiver rankings: Find out who the top wide receivers around the NFL are, including a new top target for Derek Carr in Las Vegas who has struggled this season. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is also off to an historic start to his tenure with the team.
In a list that will be updated weekly throughout the 2022 season, we give you our third NFL wide receiver rankings of the regular season heading into Week 5.
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15. Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos (last week: unranked)
- Courtland Sutton stats (2022): 24 receptions, 343 yards, 1 TD, 68.6% catch rate, 2 drops (5.7%)
Fresh of an injury-plagued 2019 season and down 2020 campaign, it finally seems as if Sutton has returned to Pro Bowl form with Russell Wilson tossing him the rock in Denver.
Sutton, 26, is on pace for 102 catches and nearly 1,500 yards. He’s certainly picked up the slack with fellow wide receiver Jerry Jeudy struggling to an extent in Mile High.
14. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (last week: 13)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown stats (2022): 23 receptions, 953 yards, 3 TD, 69.7% catch rate, 2 drops
With a 116-yard performance in a win over the Washington Commanders in Week 2, St. Brown is in the NFL record books. The sophomore pass-catcher became tied the record for the most consecutive games with eight-plus catches. This USC product has been on an absolute tear since the Lions made him a fourth-round pick back in 2021.
Over the course of his first 20 career games, St. Brown has caught 113 passes for 1,165 yards and eight touchdowns while hauling in 74.3% of his targets. Let’s just hope a recent ankle injury doesn’t keep him out for too long after he missed last week.
13. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (last week: 14)
- CeeDee Lamb stats (2022): 23 receptions, 288 yards, 2 TD, 54.8% catch rate, 3 drops (7.1%)
In Dallas’ ugly season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lamb was among the most-disappointing players. He caught just two passes for 29 yards, averaging an ugly 2.6 yards per target.
Lamb has since turned it around, ascending our NFL wide receiver rankings in the process. Over the past three games, he’s caught 21-of-31 targets for 259 yards and two touchdowns, including an absurd one-handed grab against the New York Giants in Week 3. Yeah, Lamb is back.
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12. Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers (last week: 11)
- Keenan Allen stats (2022): 4 receptions, 66 yards, 0 TD, 100% catch rate
Speaking of consistency. This is what has Allen in the top 10 of our NFL wide receiver rankings heading into his 10th season with the Chargers. Here’s a dude who has tallied north of 1,000 yards all but once since the end of the 2016 season. That came back in 2020 when Allen put up 992 yards while catching 68% of his passes in 14 games.
Fresh off earning his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance, Allen is set to work with stud young quarterback Justin Herbert once again in 2022. He put up a career-high 106 receptions in catching passes from Herbert a season ago. Unfortunately, Allen pulled up lame with a hamstring injury in Week 1 and is currently sidelined. That impacts him some in our most-recent NFL wide receiver rankings. Though, Allen should be back for Week 5.
11. DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals (last week: 10)
Suspended for the first six games of the 2022 season, Hopkins has not produced at the same level in Arizona as we saw with the Houston Texans earlier in his career. He put up just 572 yards in 10 games a season ago while dealing with a plethora of injuries. However, this doesn’t discount what he did with the Cardinals in his first season with the team back in 2020 (115 receptions, 1,507 yards, 72% catch rate).
Still locked in with Kyler Murray in the desert, there’s no reason to believe that Hopkins can’t emerge as one of the game’s best playmakers once he does return from suspension. During a six-year span from 2015-20, he averaged 103 receptions or 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s simply remarkable.
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10. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (last week: 12)
- Mike Evans stats (2022): 16 receptions, 235 yards, 2 TD, 76.2% catch rate, 0 drops
How consistently good has Evans been throughout his eight-year career? He’s put up north of 1,000 yards each season, making him the first player NFL history to reach that plateau in eight consecutive years to open his career. It’s been even better for the 29-year-old Texas A&M product since Tom Brady joined the Bucs back in 2020.
- Mike Evans stats (2020-21): 144 receptions, 2,041 yards, 27 TD 65% catch rate
It’s the catch rate that stands out the most. In Jameis Winston’s final season with Tampa Bay, Evans caught just 57% of his targets. In fact, his catch rate stood at 60-plus percent just once in his first six seasons. He’s simply become a more well-rounded receiver in recent years. After Evans was suspended for Week 3, he returned to catch 8-of-10 targets for 103 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
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9. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (last week: 8)
- Ja’Marr Chase stats (2022): 25 receptions, 293 yards, 2 TD, 61% catch rate, 4 drops (9.8%)
Chase continues to drop down in our NFL wide receiver rankings after putting up a stellar rookie season for Cincinnati. Back in Week 3, the former LSU standout put up just 29 receiving yards on 10 targets. While he did rebound to an extent in a Week 4 win over the Miami Dolphins, there’s some major issues with consistency here.
More troubling here is the fact the Chase has already let four ball slip through his hands, equating to a bloated 9.8% drop rate. Concerns some had over his hands leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft are suddenly coming to fruition.
8. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders (last week: 7)
- Davante Adams stats (2022): 26 receptions, 290 yards, 3 TD, 55.3% catch rate, 1 drop (2.1%)
No, Adams was not a product of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Sure it helps having one of the best quarterbacks of all-time. But Adams is also one of the reasons why Rodgers is coming off his second consecutive MVP season. Simply put, the Fresno State product is among the most dominating receivers of the modern era.
Over the course of the past two seasons, Adams has caught 238 passes for 2,927 yards and 29 touchdowns while hauling in 75% of his targets. That very same span has seen Adams drop just four passes. Unfortunately, Adams has not been able to make sweet music for former Fresno State teammate Derek Carr this season. After a solid Week 1 outing, Adams caught all of seven passes for 48 yards on 17 targets over the next two games. He did, however, respond to catch 9-of-13 targets for 101 yards in a Week 4 win over the division-rival Denver Broncos.
7. Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers (last week: 9)
- Deebo Samuel stats (2022): 18 receptions, 246 yards, 1 TD, 64.3% catch rate, 2 drops (7.1%), 113 rushing yards, 1 TD
The 26-year-old Samuel is coming off one of the best all-around seasons for a playmaker in modern NFL history. It led to him signing a lucrative extension with San Francisco after initially requesting a trade early in the offseason. For San Francisco, Samuel’s return was seen as a huge thing given the presence of young quarterback Trey Lance under center.
Deebo Samuel stats (2021): 77 receptions, 1,405 receiving yards, 365 rushing yards, 14 TD
Two things keeping Samuel from being higher in our NFL wide receiver rankings is the fact that he’s done it for just one season and the 10 drops he put up for San Francisco in 2021. After some initial struggles this season, Samuel broke out big time against the defending champion Los Angeles Rams in Week 4, including an absurd touchdown catch. He appears to back big time with Jimmy Garoppolo tossing the rock for the injured Lance.
6. A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles (last week: 6)
- A.J. Brown stats (2022): 25 receptions, 404 yards, 1 TD, 65.7% catch rate, 0 drops
Acquired from the Tennessee Titans in a blockbuster NFL Draft deal, Brown now joins DeVonta Smith as another elite-level weapon for Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. Brown joined his former Mississippi teammate in DK Metcalf in proving skeptics wrong after being selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. What he’s done since is remarkable.
That’s been taken to a whole new level in 2022 after Brown was acquired from the Tennessee Titans in an off-season trade. Brown has put up 69 yards or more in all three games catching passes from Jalen Hurts. He’s also averaging a robust 10.0 yards per target while having yet to drop a single pass on 38 targets after letting eight balls slip through his hands last season in Nashville.
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5. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins (last week: 3)
- Jaylen Waddle stats (2022): 21 receptions, 381 yards, 3 TD, 60% catch rate, 2 drops (5.7%)
A first-round pick of the Dolphins back in 2021, Jaylen Waddle was electric in South Beach as a rookie. That included him hauling in an absurd 104 passes for 1,015 yards while catching six touchdowns. The former Alabama star also caught a resounding 74% of the passes thrown in his direction with a 5.7% drop rate.
Waddle has been even better as a sophomore, providing improved quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with another electric target. A total of 18 of his 21 receptions in 2022 have gone for a first down while Tua boasts a 121.8 QB rating when targeting the young stud. That’s just absurd.
4. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (last week: 4)
- Justin Jefferson stats (2022): 28 receptions, 393 yards, 2 TD, 66.7% catch rate, 0 drops
Some thought that Justin Jefferson was more a product of Joe Burrow during his time with the LSU Tigers. Boy, were those skeptics wrong. In just two seasons with the Vikings, Jefferson is already in the record books. That includes putting up the most receiving yards for a wide receiver in NFL history through his first two seasons.
The 2022 season has been more of a mixed bag, and it shows in our updated NFL wide receiver rankings. After a brilliant 184-yard performance against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, Jefferson caught 9-of-18 targets for 62 yards over the next two games. Heading across the pond to England in Week 4, he changed that big time. Jefferson hauled in 10 passes for 147 yards in Minnesota’s win over the New Orleans Saints.
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3. Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins (last week: 5)
- Tyreek Hill stats (2022): 31 receptions, 477 yards, 2 TD, 72.1% catch rate, 2 drops (4.7%)
Dynamic. Electric. Whatever way we want to describe Hill and what he’s done since entering the NFL back in 2016, the wide receiver is simply “him.” Dude can take it to the house at any given time, is one of the top deep threats in the game and is a transcendent playmaker.
Last season with Patrick Mahomes tossing him th rock in Kansas City, Hill brought in 70% of his targets. He also put up a mere 4.4% drop rate on 159 targets. He’s been even better in South Beach to open the 2022 campaign, including a 190-yard Week 2 performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Hill then nearly topped that with 10 catches for 160 yards in Week 4. The dude is now on pace to record 132 catches for 2,028 yards. That seems pretty good.
2. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams (last week: 2)
- Cooper Kupp stats (2022): 42 receptions, 402 yards, 3 TD, 77.8% catch rate, 1 drop (1.9%)
The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP, Kupp opens the 2022 season No. 1 in Sportsnaut’s NFL wide receiver rankings. For good reason. The former third-round pick from Eastern Washington led the league in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns a season ago. He was simply dominating in every possible way.
- Cooper Kupp stats (2021): 145 receptions, 1,947 yards, 16 TD, 76% catch rate
Talk about an epic performance catching passes from Matthew Stafford. There’s also no reason to believe that the 29-year-old Kupp is going to slow down any time soon. Without many other options in the passing game, Stafford has targeted Kupp 54 times in four games with one drop. He’s also coming off a career-best 14-catch performance in a loss to the 49ers.
1. Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills (last week: 1)
- Stefon Diggs stats (2022): 31 receptions, 406 yards, 4 TD, 75.6% catch rate, 1 drop (2.4%)
Several years after the fact, and it’s still surprising that Diggs fell to the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Pretty much from the get, he proved to be among the best pass-catchers in the game. That’s been taken to a whole new level in two seasons catching passes from Josh Allen with the Bills after he was surprisingly traded by Minnesota.
Back in 2020 with Buffalo, Diggs led the NFL in receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,535) while hauling in an otherworldly 77% of his targets and dropping a mere five passes. Diggs picked up where he left off with brilliant performances to open the 2022 season, including a three-touchdown outing against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2.
NFL wide receiver rankings: Top five that missed the cut
- Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals: 30 receptions, 339 yards, 2 TD, 66.7% catch rate, 0 drops
- Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints: 21 receptions, 335 yards, 1 TD, 58.3% catch rate, 1 drop (2.8%)
- Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars: 20 receptions, 327 yards, 3 TD, 55.6% catch rate, 2 drops (5.6%)
- Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders: 14 receptions, 250 yards, 1 TD, 51.9% catch rate, 2 drops (7.4%)
- Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals: 20 receptions, 315 yards, 2 TD, 71.4% catch rate, 1 drop (3.6%)
Let us know what you think about Sportsnaut’s NFL wide receiver rankings in the comments below.
This article was originally published on Sportsnaut.com and is republished here with permission.
