Every NFL team will rely on at least two, and usually three, wide receivers each game, so logging any of the best eight performances allowed by a secondary is a significant feat. Being the top performer versus a secondary for the year is being the best of the dozens and dozens of wideouts they would have covered over 17 games.
Below will show how often a player logged the best game allowed by a secondary (WR1), one of the four-best performances allowed (top-4), and one of the eight-best performances (top-8). With 17 games played, a top-8 game is “above average” among the best wideouts from each opponent.
Better than average
Quarterbacks | Running backs | Tight ends
Bottom line: This is a true measurement of how effective wideouts were when schedule influences are removed. It compares them to other wideouts who faced that same defense. If a player rates higher here than they did with 2024 fantasy points, it means they were limited by a schedule and are better than their last year’s stats suggest.
Ja’Marr Chase‘s magical season shows up as a ridiculous advantage against all other wideouts last year. He logged the top ranks in all three categories, was one of only two with at least half of their games as a top-8, and almost doubled the top-4 performances of any other receiver.
What is dramatic here are the rookies. Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers were both in the top six for the position, and that was while playing with shaky quarterback situations on otherwise terrible teams. It helped that either were the only real weapons for their offenses, but for a first year player to step despite their situation spells high expectations for both in 2025.
Other pleasant surprises were Terry McLaurin with a real quarterback, Jerry Jeudy on a new team, Jauan Jennings earning a starting role this year, and Marvin Mims ending the year on a high note connecting with his rookie quarterback.
There were 2,089 instances of a wideout playing in a game. That’s an average of 65 receivers that a defense will face over the season. Any instance of being the top performance allowed by a defense by a wide receiver is vary rare air. Doing such twice or even three times is the mark of a truly elite player. Malik Nabers could be scary good if the Giants ever get an elite quarterback who has time to throw passes.
Mims? He caught a break facing the Chiefs in Week 18, but his season-best effort was the previous week at the Bengals.
