We ran an item recently highlighting the underutilized wide receivers in Kansas City. The other three teams playing today skew the other way, with their 6 main wideouts among the busiest players in the league at the position.
The Eagles traded for A.J. Brown, but the other five main wideouts on those teams -- DeVonta Smith, JaMarr Chase, Tee Higgins, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel -- were all selected with early draft picks. And all six of them finished in the top 25 in the league last year in yards per game (minimum of 12 games).
(For Samuel, I took the liberty of adding his 18 rushing yards per game to his 48 receiving yards per game. Whether on receptions or runs, a huge part of the offense when healthy.)
WIDE RECEIVERS, YARDS PER GAME | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/G |
Justin Jefferson | 17 | 184 | 128 | 1809 | 8 | 106.4 |
Tyreek Hill | 17 | 170 | 119 | 1710 | 7 | 100.6 |
Stefon Diggs | 16 | 154 | 108 | 1429 | 11 | 89.3 |
Davante Adams | 17 | 180 | 100 | 1516 | 14 | 89.2 |
A.J. Brown | 17 | 145 | 88 | 1496 | 11 | 88.0 |
Ja'Marr Chase | 12 | 134 | 87 | 1046 | 9 | 87.2 |
CeeDee Lamb | 17 | 156 | 107 | 1359 | 9 | 79.9 |
Jaylen Waddle | 17 | 117 | 75 | 1356 | 8 | 79.8 |
Mike Evans | 15 | 127 | 77 | 1124 | 6 | 74.9 |
Amon-Ra St. Brown | 16 | 146 | 106 | 1161 | 6 | 72.6 |
DeVonta Smith | 17 | 136 | 95 | 1196 | 7 | 70.4 |
Terry McLaurin | 17 | 120 | 77 | 1191 | 5 | 70.1 |
Chris Olave | 15 | 119 | 72 | 1042 | 4 | 69.5 |
Mike Williams | 13 | 93 | 63 | 895 | 4 | 68.8 |
Amari Cooper | 17 | 132 | 78 | 1160 | 9 | 68.2 |
Chris Godwin | 15 | 142 | 104 | 1023 | 3 | 68.2 |
Deebo Samuel | 13 | 94 | 56 | 632 | 2 | 66.4 |
Christian Kirk | 17 | 133 | 84 | 1108 | 8 | 65.2 |
Garrett Wilson | 17 | 147 | 83 | 1103 | 4 | 64.9 |
Jerry Jeudy | 15 | 100 | 67 | 972 | 6 | 64.8 |
Tyler Lockett | 16 | 117 | 84 | 1033 | 9 | 64.6 |
Tee Higgins | 16 | 109 | 74 | 1029 | 7 | 64.3 |
D.K. Metcalf | 17 | 141 | 90 | 1048 | 6 | 61.6 |
Brandon Aiyuk | 17 | 114 | 78 | 1015 | 8 | 59.7 |
Marquise Brown | 12 | 107 | 67 | 709 | 3 | 59.1 |
Some will recall Cincinnati getting some heat for selecting Chase when they could have drafted a top offensive tackle instead. Not many people saying that now.
While Aiyuk has been a nice player he hasn't really been a difference maker. But in general, these teams can credit wide receiver play for some of why they're still playing. Kansas City has got there without those guys doing much. The other three final four teams have used those players a lot.
--Andy Richardson