Though the slot receiver position has grown in prominence over the last decade, it’s pretty tough to put together a credible and consistent passing game without an outside receiver who can keep the opponent’s best cornerback busy and create explosive plays out of the playbook.
The receivers on this list have varied skill sets, but they all have one thing in common: They are problems for every defensive coordinator, and however they’re deployed, they can light up a scoreboard and a stat sheet at any moment.
11. Tyler Lockett | 10. Tyreek Hill | 9. Mike Evans | 8. Davante Adams | 7. Stefon Diggs | 6. T.Y. Hilton | 5. Odell Beckham Jr. | 4. Antonio Brown | 3. Michael Thomas | 2. Julio Jones | 1. DeAndre Hopkins
Here are the NFL’s 11 best outside receivers heading into the 2019 season.
Other Top 11 lists: Slot receivers | Tight ends | Centers | Guards | Offensive tackles | Edge defenders | Interior defensive linemen | Linebackers | Safeties | Outside cornerbacks | Slot defenders
11. Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
In 2018, Lockett put up an absolutely crazy statistic: When targeted by Russell Wilson, he was good for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Basically, when Lockett was Wilson’s read, Seattle’s passing offense was as good as it could be. And this wasn’t just a bunch of short, easy passes, either — Lockett was targeted on 22 passes of 20 air yards or more, catching 17 for 638 yards and seven touchdowns. With Doug Baldwin’s retirement, Lockett will become Seattle’s primary receiver, which means he’ll have to maintain his efficiency and capacity for big plays. Even in Seattle’s conservative offense, that will require more than 57 catches on 70 targets.
Lockett is still getting the hang of more complex stop/start, angular and option routes, but there are few more dangerous receivers in a straight line on vertical concepts. He has a great feel for the holes in deep coverage and defensive mismatches. More will be expected of him in 2019, and Lockett seems ready for that challenge.
10. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
As dynamic as Hill is in the slot — he demolished interior defenders for 43 passes on 71 targets for a league-leading 913 yards and a league-leading nine touchdowns at that position — he’s also very dangerous when deployed outside. That’s where he can really use his speed to take the top off a defense. Last season, he led the league with 21 receptions on passes traveling 20 or more yards in the air for 796 yards and seven touchdowns, and even with all those deep targets, Hill gave Patrick Mahomes a 113.4 passer rating when thrown to, making them a perfect combination of explosiveness and efficiency.
As is the case when he’s running past interior defenders from the slot, Hill makes things very difficult for outside cornerbacks as well because of his natural speed, but it’s his acceleration downfield that really sets him apart. Just when you think you have a bead on Hill downfield, he’ll kick it into another gear and make the big play.
9. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Is Evans the most underrated big receiver of the decade? There’s an argument to be made. He’s managed to exceed 1,000 receiving yards in every season of his five-year career, despite monumental quarterback inconsistency. Last season, he finished fourth in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted season-long efficiency metrics, alternating between average performances from Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick. If there’s one receiver on this list who could make the argument that he’s transcended his offenses, it’s Evans, and it will be extremely interesting to see how he benefits from Bruce Arians’ favorable concepts — especially if Arians can use his “Quarterback Whisperer” mojo to take Winston to the proverbial next level.
At 6 feet 5 and 231 pounds, Evans has the size and physicality to win any contested-catch battle. And if you put a smaller cornerback on him in press coverage, the play is basically over before it begins.
8. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
Very few Packers players benefited from Mike McCarthy’s final season in Titletown, which proved to be the nadir in the era of one of the NFL’s most maddeningly generic and obstinate game-planners. But within all that mess, Adams managed a career year with 111 catches on 169 targets for 1,386 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was especially reliable for Aaron Rodgers on deep isolation routes in which the receiver is tasked to win physical one-on-one battles with the cornerback with little to no schematic help (an unfortunate McCarthy specialty). From short to intermediate to deep, Adams somehow made the most of a passing game that, were it not for Rodgers’ improvisational gifts, should have been locked in a shed somewhere.
Well … not quite top-five talent on this list, since he ranks eighth. But it’s tremendously impressive how Adams has taken to the subtleties of the position through his five-year NFL career. He’s become a rare scheme-transcendent receiver because he’s developed all the tools to master overage, and it will be fascinating to see what advantages new head coach and offensive play designer Matt LaFleur brings him.
7. Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings
Diggs and Adam Thielen comprise one of the NFL’s most productive and hard-to-stop receiver duos in the NFL today, and that’s despite a list of quarterbacks who either had the talent but couldn’t stay healthy (Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater) or are subject to their own limitations (Case Keenum, Kirk Cousins). That’s limited Diggs’ production over the last four seasons, especially when it comes to his potential as a deep receiver — in 2018, with Cousins as his quarterback, Diggs had six catchable deep passes in 23 targets, and he caught all six for 231 yards and three touchdowns.
Limited in his particular skill set by quarterback circumstance as he may be Diggs is still able to create big plays on every kind of pass with his speed, agility, and ability to win vertical battles at the catch point.
6. T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts
One of the league’s most esteemed deep threats since he was taken in the third round of the 2012 draft out of Florida International, Hilton has taken the top off defenses even when Andrew Luck was injured. Last season, with Luck playing at a Comeback Player of the Year level after missing the entire 2017 campaign, Hilton caught 76 passes on 120 targets for 1,270 yards and six touchdowns. And as a deep threat, he was just about impossible to stop, with 16 catches on 17 catchable deep balls for 602 yards and two touchdowns.
Hilton has great downfield speed and separation ability, but it’s his footwork at the line of scrimmage, and understanding of subtle route adjustments, that make him more than just another downfield speed guy.
5. Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns
Last season, Beckham caught just 77 passes on 124 targets for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. Missing time with a quadriceps injury didn’t help his totals, and neither did having Eli Manning at quarterback. Manning frequently proved unable to use Beckham’s downfield speed on deep balls, or connect with him on the timing of simple slants and drags. Basically, Beckham’s talent went to waste in Big Blue’s offense in 2018. What does it mean now that he’s been traded to the Browns and Baker Mayfield is his quarterback? Per Pro Football Focus, Beckham had nine catchable opportunities on 23 deep passes, and he caught them all. The ones he didn’t catch were often balloons that allowed defenders to easily converge at the catch point.
In addition to his obvious speed, agility and acrobatic tendencies when it comes to difficult-to-catch balls, Beckham also has an impressive toughness in traffic which makes him a very well-rounded receiver. It will be quite exciting to see what he does with Mayfield throwing him those deep passes in 2019.
4. Antonio Brown, Oakland Raiders
The Steelers certainly won’t miss the drama that ultimately led general manager Kevin Colbert to trade Brown to the Raiders, but there’s no way Ben Roethlisberger won’t look at his targets in the 2019 season and wonder if something could have been worked out. Yes, JuJu Smith-Schuster is an enviable No. 2 receiver with some No. 1 potential, and third-round receiver Diontae Johnson does have some of Brown’s characteristics in a nebulous sense, but replacing Brown entirely really isn’t possible. Conversely, Oakland quarterback Derek Carr has to be counting his blessings.
Will Brown miss Roethlisberger as much? Carr isn’t the deep thrower or natural improviser that Roethlisberger is, and Oakland’s system is ostensibly a bit more structured, but Brown can make it work in any system. There is no better route runner in the NFL, and Brown’s ability to break off route concepts to adjust for the quarterback has been leaving cornerbacks in his dust for years.
3. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
You knew that Thomas had the talent to succeed in a high-volume passing offense like the one Sean Payton brilliantly designed and Drew Brees runs to perfection in New Orleans, but what the Ohio State alum has brought to the equation has transformed the Saints’ passing game as much as anybody Brees has thrown to since he showed up in 2006. Brees has had a ton of talented targets, and he’s elevated every one of them, but he’s never had anybody with Thomas’ ridiculous combination of consistency, efficiency and nose for the big play. Thomas led the NFL in 2018 with 125 catches, amassing 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns, and over his three-year career, he’s developed his skill set to the point where he’s just about impossible to cover on a snap-to-snap basis.
Thomas’ get-up speed is absolutely ridiculous — God help you if you leave him a hole in zone coverage — and he has the instincts to beat tighter coverage concepts with quick cuts and leans into the open field. Add in his physical nature and contested catch ability, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Thomas was at the top of a list like this in a year or two.
2. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons
When assessing the characteristics that define a No. 1 receiver, it’s relatively easy to identify relative weakness in any player’s profile. This receiver may be a big guy and estimable red-zone target, but he doesn’t have the speed that allows downfield separation. That receiver may be able to blow the top off intermediate and deep coverage, but he struggles with contested catches. Then there’s Jones, who now has eight NFL seasons without one clear liability. The guy who can do everything had yet another tremendous season in 2018, leading the NFL with 1,677 receiving yards, and catching 113 passes on 170 targets for eight touchdowns.
Standing 6-3 and weighing 220 pounds, Jones can beat coverage with physical dominance just as easily as he can win with track speed downfield. And he’s developed a great sense of the subtleties of the position, as well as an unparalleled awareness of small openings in coverage. The only people able to stop him in the red zone are various Falcons coaches who prefer to use him as a decoy in scoring situations.
1. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
Why is Hopkins the best receiver in the NFL today, regardless of position? Well, he’s as physically gifted and productive as any star receiver, but when you look at the guys throwing passes to him since he came into the league in 2013 … yikes.
Only Antonio Brown has more targets than Hopkins’ 898 through that span, and Brown benefited just a bit from Ben Roethlisberger’s presence. Only four receivers caught more passes than Hopkins’ 528. Only Brown and Julio Jones amassed more receiving yards than Hopkins’ 7,437, and only Brown had more touchdown catches than Hopkins’ 47. Imagining Hopkins with a competent quarterback throughout his career (and even in Watson’s case, imagining a great quarterback who isn’t pressured on half of his snaps due to a horrid offensive line) is to imagine an NFL in which there is Hopkins as the league’s dominant receiver, and everybody else in second place.
Hopkins makes everything look easy on the field. He’s not regarded as a downfield burner, but watch him press a cornerback in off coverage and move right by him down the boundary, and you’ll see that he has all the speed he needs. Hopkins also brings a highly effective ability to adjust to the ball while he’s tracking it in the air without losing his bearings; this makes him a credible deep threat with a crazy catch radius no matter how the ball is thrown. And if you want consistency … well, Hopkins didn’t drop a single pass in the 2018 season. There are a lot of great outside receivers in the NFL, but at this point, Hopkins does more with less than anybody else.
And if that didn’t convince you of Hopkins’ place in the receiver universe, how about this?
