A few years back, when I asked Doug Baldwin—one of the preeminent slot receivers of the last decade—about the importance of the position, he summed it up pretty well.
“The slot receiver’s kind of the quarterback of the receivers,” he said in 2015. “More so because the slot receiver has more responsibilities in terms of reading coverages and different adjustments based on what coverages you’re seeing. It’s a lot more complicated… you have to know a lot more. You have to stay within the confines and the framework of the offense—you have a lot of freedom because you have a little bit more space, but at the same time, your job is usually to get someone else open, or to get open on a crucial down where it’s one-on-one. You have to be versatile, and you have to understand how your route goes into the concept, based on the different coverages you can see.”
It was an apt description in 2015, and though Baldwin has retired, the role of the slot receiver is quite similar to what it was then—and in 2019, one could argue that it’s even more important now. Three- and four-receiver sets are now the norm in the NFL, which means that teams will have double slot packages in which big and small receivers work together. And there’s no shame to the position—it’s not just for the Wes Welkers of the world, anymore. Guys who can win outside just fine find themselves in the slot quite frequently, and you’ll find a few names that will rank highly on our upcoming list of outside receivers on this list as well.
Other Top 11 lists: Tight ends | Centers | Guards | Offensive tackles | Edge defenders | Interior defensive linemen | Linebackers | Safeties | Outside cornerbacks | Slot defenders
So, here are the 11 best slot receivers in the NFL as we head into the 2019 season.
11. Dede Westbrook, Jacksonville Jaguars
When watching Jacksonville’s 2018 passing offense, two things are abundantly clear—Jaguars receivers had one heck of a time with consistent production with Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler throwing the ball all over the place, and the acquisition of Nick Foles was a necessity to give those receivers any chance of improvement. Among those receivers, Westbrook may have the most potential, as he was able to bring in 59 slot receptions on 83 targets for 646 yards and five touchdowns. Not bad for a second-year receiver who’s never had a lot of help from his quarterbacks at the NFL level.
When Westbrook does get the ball in his remote vicinity, he uses nimble feet and an impressive catch radius to make contested catches, and he has a good knack for getting open in zones. His drop rate was a problem at times, but with a credible quarterback at the helm, Westbrook could be a rising star in a big hurry.
10. Adam Humphries, Tennessee Titans
The Titans signed Humphries, the former Buccaneers slot star, to a four-year, $36 million contract in March, which may seem like a surprising amount if you haven’t watched Tampa Bay’s offense over the last couple seasons. But last season alone, Humphries caught 59 slot passes on 81 targets for 666 yards and three touchdowns. This moves Chris Godwin up the Bucs’ pecking order with new head coach and offensive play-designer Bruce Arians, but Humphries will be missed—and he gives the Titans a consistent weapon inside.
Humphries isn’t a downfield burner—that’s not his game—but he’s very adept with quick slants and pivot routes that get him open away from tight coverage. And he’s physical enough, despite his 5’11”, 195-pound frame, to fight aggressive cornerbacks through the route. He’s also very good at adjusting his routes in scramble drills, something that will serve Marcus Mariota very well.
9. Golden Tate, New York Giants
After trading Odell Beckham, Jr. to the Browns, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman tried a little damage control by signing Tate to a four-year, $37.5 million contract with $22.95 million guaranteed. Tate doesn’t have Beckham’s mercurial explosiveness, but he’s been one of the more prolific slot receivers of his era, and he’s especially effective after the catch. Tate played for the Lions and Eagles last season, and though it took him a while to find his schematic fit in Philly, he still managed 74 catches for 795 yards and four touchdowns. Expect a lot more than that in a Giants offense that has little to recommend in the quarterback department—Tate is an easy first-read dump-off target if we’ve ever seen one.
As you’d expect from a YAC monster throughout his career, Tate is a very physical player. Built like a running back, he challenges cornerbacks with his upper-body strength at the line of scrimmage, and he’s eager to a fault when it comes to giving press coverage back within the first five yards of a route. He’s also learned to work option routes at all areas of the field, and though he won’t make anyone forget Beckham, he brings a lot to the table in a favorable offense.
8. Dante Pettis, San Francisco 49ers
Pettis didn’t put up mind-blowing numbers in his rookie season, but the Washington alum’s tape has more than its share of eye-popping moments—and one could blame San Francisco’s inconsistent quarterback situation after Jimmy Garoppolo’s season-ending injury for Pettis’ relative lack of production as much as anything else. Especially in the slot, Pettis had some impressive moments, and he projects well as a primary receiver in multiple roles. In 2018, he caught 12 passes on 16 targets from the slot for 234 yards and two touchdowns. So, you have to project optimal production when it comes to Pettis, but it’s easy to do.
Whether in the slot or outside, Pettis leads with his footwork and ability to create positional leverage against a cornerback—his lean allows him to make crossover moves that would make any NBA point guard envious. He’s getting the hang of advanced option routes, and he has the downfield speed and quickness to not only burn a deep safety, but also to ruin underneath coverage with an understanding of how to find the open field. The arrow is pointing up here.
7. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
When Kupp went down with a torn ACL in early November, a pretty big part of the Rams’ passing offense went down with it. Jared Goff’s late-season regression had its roots in a few things—like opposing defenses refusing to bite on Sean McVay’s backfield motion anymore—but losing Kupp forced Goff to go through his progressions without an easy first-read target in ways he wasn’t quite ready for. Kupp’s numbers were impressive enough, especially as a slot receiver, where he caught 32 passes on 40 targets for 417 yards and five touchdowns in an abbreviated season, but the importance of his role in McVay’s offense proved to be tremendous—both with his presence and in his absence.
Why does Kupp make such a difference? He’s one of the most route-correct receivers in the game, and he perfectly fits McVay’s paradigm of running tight formations and spreading the field post-snap with his ability to get open on quick outs and boundary stuff. He’s also very dangerous in mesh concepts…
…and he’s pretty flawless when it comes to getting open at any area of the field. If Kupp is ready to go Week 1 of the 2019 season, McVay’s offense should pick up where it left off–at least in the passing game.
6. Jarvis Landry, Cleveland Browns
Over the last five seasons, only Antonio Brown and Julio Jones have more receptions than Landry’s 481. That’s he’s gained 5,014 yards and scored 26 touchdowns on such a high catch rate indicates to some that Landry is just a stat collector as opposed to a top-level receiver, which is to misunderstand what Landry’s role has been throughout his career. Last season—his first with the Browns after four years in Miami—Landry proved once again to be one of the NFL’s best slot targets.
In the second half of the 2018 season, once Freddie Kitchens replaced Hue Jackson as the Browns’ primary offensive play-caller and Baker Mayfield could do what he’s capable of, Landry added a lot to the offense by getting open under coverage, using downfield speed to pry open deep defensive concepts, and working defenders with option routes on scramble drills. With Odell Beckham, Jr. joining this offense, expect more turns in the slot for Landry—and possibly even more production.
5. Julian Edelman, New England Patriots
The Patriots know how to utilize slot targets as well as any NFL team, and they demand as much or more from their inside receivers as any team in the league. Throughout his time in Foxboro, Bill Belichick’s offensive playbooks have had all kinds of option route concepts, and the slot guys must execute them to perfection. More than anything, that’s what’s made Edelman so valuable to the team in his prime seasons, and 2018 was no exception. Only Minnesota’s Adam Thielen had more slot receptions last season than Edelman’s 64, and he added 799 yards and four touchdowns on those receptions.
Much tougher than you’d expect for a 5’11”, 200-pound receiver, Edelman has no issue with the contested catch over the middle, and he seems to live for catching the ball in traffic. Edelman was the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl LIII in part because he absolutely riddled the Rams’ tough defense with quick underneath routes he’d work for yards after the catch. That’s his primary modus operandi, though Edelman does have the downfield speed to present credibly as an outside receiver in certain packages.
4. Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
In April, the Vikings signed Thielen to a four-year, $64 million extension with $33 million guaranteed, and that was a well-deserved bump for an undrafted guy in the 2013 draft out of Minnesota State Mankato who’s become one of the league’s most prolific receivers, regardless of role. Paired with Stefon Diggs as one of the NFL’s better receiver duos, Thielen makes Kirk Cousins’ life a lot easier especially when he lines up in the slot and works his understanding of coverages and option routes into easy openings.
Last season, Thielen caught 68 passes on 86 slot targets for 712 yards and seven touchdowns—only Tyreek Hill outdid him in slot scoring. And as an outside receiver, he has the speed and savvy to join with Diggs on all kinds of vertical concepts. But as a slot man, he befuddles defenses with quick, angular moves, and like all great inside receivers, he’s just as good with moving his routes to adjust scramble drills as he is working defensive leverage with option routes.
3. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers
With Antonio Brown traded to the Raiders, it’s now on Smith-Schuster’s shoulders to handle the job of No. 1 receiver for the Steelers. It’s a big job replacing Brown, but the USC alum had a monster second season with some virtuoso performances down the stretch. That was especially true in the slot, where Smith-Schuster has become quite comfortable—in 2018, he caught 63 passes from the slot on 92 targets for 814 yards and four touchdowns.
Smith-Schuster’s acceleration and second-level speed serve him especially well on slants and drags where he can blow past defenders to the boundary. And his knack for options and short-area angles makes him a quality opponent in red-zone plays, where he easily leverages cornerbacks to take the play where he wants it to go. Smith-Schuster has the tools to be a more than credible outside receiver, but the Steelers would be wise to keep him in the slot whenever possible.
2. Antonio Brown, Oakland Raiders
Brown is obviously one of the best outside receivers and overall route-runners of his generation, but his explosiveness in the slot makes him an especially dangerous double threat. No matter where he lines up on the field, it’s very difficult to cover him straight from the line of scrimmage through any route, and those difficulties seem to multiply when he moves inside. Last season for the Steelers, he caught 33 passes from the slot on 44 targets for 315 yards and five touchdowns, and he didn’t drop a single pass.
Brown’s route-running acumen becomes even more clear when he’s playing in the slot—when he runs a simple option route or tw0-way go, it’s the rare cornerback who can keep up with him. And when he’s pressing a linebacker in the red zone to get open on a quick slant, a touchdown is just about automatic. The Raiders would be wise to feature Brown as a slot weapon in Jon Gruden’s offense; there’s no comparable inside receiver on that roster, or just about any other.
1. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
It’s unknown what will happen with Tyreek Hill—either with the Chiefs or with any NFL team. The star receiver recently met with the NFL regarding his past, and while a suspension is likely forthcoming, it’s a mystery as to what it will be. Projecting Hill as a 12- to 8-game player in Kansas City’s offense still brings up big numbers, and certainly explains why the Chiefs are standing by the player when they wouldn’t if he were less remarkable. Hill was nearly uncoverable last season no matter where he lined up, but he was especially dangerous in the slot, catching 43 passes on 71 targets for a league-leading 913 yards and a league-leading nine touchdowns.
More than any other slot receiver in the league, Hill forces enemy defenses to carry at least one safety upfield at all times; any other option leaves that defense open for major big plays. Hill can also take a simple screen off a jet sweep all the way home, and when he’s testing your secondary up the seam or on a deep slot post, you have to play everything perfectly, or it’s all over. Hill’s off-field history is packed with red flags, but his on-field pedigree is what’s keeping him entrenched.
