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Factoid

Franchise receivers

Will crowding hurt Hopkins in Arizona?

We started poking around yesterday at the idea of looking at secondary receivers on teams. Are we better off picking somebody like Davante Adams, who is definitely the clear, unquestioned No. 1 wide receiver on his team? Or do things get easier when there’s a quality No. 2 on the other side? Think Julio Jones (Calvin Ridley), Tyler Lockett (DK Metcalf) or Amari Cooper (Michael Gallup).

I went back in, pulled out some new numbers, and will present them in a different way.

Last time, I looked at the best wide receivers who were a lot better than anybody else on their team, then looked at how they fared. I think Davante Adams is in that group, and I expect he’ll be very good this year.

This time, on the same topic, I’m pulling out the top 100 wide receivers of the last 20 years (about five per year). Then we’ll look at what kind of production those teams got out of their 2nd-best receiver.

The 100 such receivers are listed below, and I’ve got them listed in order of their fantasy points. To save space, I’m not listing their actually PPR points, just their rank in said season. That is, Antonio Brown has had the top 2 seasons of the last 20 years. He’s in the top 2 spots, and you can see the next-best receivers from those teams listed next to him. Martavis Bryant was the 39th-best receiver in 2015, and Markus Wheaton was the 59th-best receiver in 2014.

For the 100 best receivers, 34 of them played on teams that didn’t have another receiver in the top 50. About a third. This is the kind of group you’re shooting for if you pick Adams. He had one of these lone wolf seasons in 2018 (No. 24 on the list), when MVS was the season’s 66th-best wide receiver.

Of the 100 best receivers, 41 (34 plus an additional 7) didn’t have another top-40 wide receiver on the road.

Slightly more than half (53) of these 100 receivers were achieved by players on teams that didn’t have another top-30 receiver.

With about half of these receivers, however, there was another good pass catcher. Almost 1 in 5 (19) had two top-10 receivers. With these kind of teams, you’re talking about kick-ass offenses that are really lighting things up. Green Bay definitely won’t be in that group.

Slightly over a third of these teams (35) had not only a very good receiver, but also a second receiver ranking in the top 20 – that’s the 19 top-10 receivers, plus another 16. I’m putting black dots next to these names, to make them stand out.

That leaves 12 of the No. 2 receivers unaccounted for, and they ranked in the 20s – not really great or awful.

TOP 100 WIDE RECEIVERS OF LAST 20 YEARS (and their sidekicks)
YearTmNo. 1 WRNo-Yds-TDRkNo. 2 WRNo-Yds-TDRk
2015Pitt.Antonio Brown136-1834-111Martavis Bryant50-765-739
2014Pitt.Antonio Brown129-1698-141Markus Wheaton53-644-259
2007N.E.Randy Moss98-1493-231• Wes Welker112-1175-810
2002Ind.Marvin Harrison143-1722-111Reggie Wayne49-716-451
2003Min.Randy Moss111-1632-171Kelly Campbell25-522-463
2015Atl.Julio Jones136-1871-92Roddy White43-506-173
2019N.O.Michael Thomas149-1725-91Ted Ginn30-421-281
2011Det.Calvin Johnson96-1681-161Nate Burleson73-757-332
2003St.L.Torry Holt117-1696-122• Isaac Bruce69-981-518
2001Ind.Marvin Harrison109-1524-151Terrence Wilkins34-332-173
2012Det.Calvin Johnson122-1964-51Titus Young33-383-474
2015NYJBrandon Marshall109-1502-143• Eric Decker80-1027-1213
2014Den.Demaryius Thomas111-1619-112• Emmanuel Sanders101-1404-95
2005Car.Steve Smith Sr.103-1563-131Ricky Proehl25-441-472
2002Pitt.Hines Ward112-1329-122• Plaxico Burress78-1325-711
2018Hou.DeAndre Hopkins115-1572-111Will Fuller32-503-469
2011N.E.Wes Welker122-1569-92Deion Branch51-702-544
2012Chi.Brandon Marshall118-1508-112Alshon Jeffery24-367-383
2018K.C.Tyreek Hill87-1479-142Sammy Watkins40-519-364
2001S.F.Terrell Owens93-1412-162J.J. Stokes54-585-738
2015Hou.DeAndre Hopkins111-1521-114Nate Washington47-658-449
2004Car.Muhsin Muhammad93-1405-161Keary Colbert47-754-541
2018Atl.Julio Jones113-1677-83• Calvin Ridley64-821-1020
2018G.B.Davante Adams111-1386-134Marquez Valdes-Scantling38-581-266
2014G.B.Jordy Nelson98-1519-133• Randall Cobb91-1287-127
2000Ind.Marvin Harrison102-1413-141Jerome Pathon50-646-351
2000Den.Rod Smith100-1602-92• Ed McCaffrey101-1317-96
2018Pitt.Antonio Brown104-1297-155• JuJu Smith-Schuster111-1426-78
2000S.F.Terrell Owens97-1451-133Jerry Rice75-805-723
2008Hou.Andre Johnson115-1575-81Kevin Walter60-899-823
2002S.F.Terrell Owens100-1300-143Tai Streets72-756-531
2018N.O.Michael Thomas125-1405-96Tre'Quan Smith28-427-573
2015NYGOdell Beckham96-1450-135Rueben Randle57-797-833
2013Den.Demaryius Thomas92-1430-141• Eric Decker87-1288-119
2010Atl.Roddy White115-1389-101Michael Jenkins41-505-270
2001Den.Rod Smith113-1343-113Eddie Kennison31-491-165
2014Dall.Dez Bryant88-1320-164Terrance Williams37-621-852
2007Ind.Reggie Wayne104-1510-102Anthony Gonzalez37-576-366
2013Pitt.Antonio Brown110-1499-92Emmanuel Sanders67-740-632
2009Hou.Andre Johnson101-1569-91Kevin Walter53-611-255
2013Cle.Josh Gordon87-1646-93Greg Little41-465-273
2000Min.Randy Moss77-1437-154• Cris Carter96-1274-99
2017Hou.DeAndre Hopkins96-1378-131Will Fuller28-423-761
2008Ariz.Larry Fitzgerald96-1431-122• Anquan Boldin89-1038-116
2017Pitt.Antonio Brown101-1533-92• JuJu Smith-Schuster58-917-820
2001Ariz.David Boston98-1598-84Frank Sanders41-618-254
2018Min.Adam Thielen113-1373-97• Stefon Diggs102-1021-910
2005Ariz.Larry Fitzgerald103-1409-102• Anquan Boldin102-1402-74
2016Pitt.Antonio Brown106-1284-121Eli Rogers48-594-364
2007Dall.Terrell Owens81-1355-153Patrick Crayton50-697-736
2016G.B.Jordy Nelson97-1257-142• Davante Adams75-997-129
2013Cin.A.J. Green98-1426-114Marvin Jones51-712-1029
2013Chi.Brandon Marshall100-1295-125• Alshon Jeffery89-1421-78
2013Det.Calvin Johnson84-1492-126Kris Durham38-490-274
2007Cle.Braylon Edwards80-1289-164Joe Jurevicius50-614-355
2016T.B.Mike Evans96-1321-123Adam Humphries55-622-259
2015Jac.Allen Robinson80-1400-146• Allen Hurns64-1031-1019
2012Dall.Dez Bryant92-1382-123Miles Austin66-943-623
2006Ind.Marvin Harrison95-1366-121• Reggie Wayne86-1310-93
2004N.O.Joe Horn94-1399-112Donte Stallworth58-767-533
2012Cin.A.J. Green97-1350-114Andrew Hawkins51-533-458
2007Ariz.Larry Fitzgerald100-1409-105• Anquan Boldin71-853-919
2007Cin.T.J. Houshmandzadeh112-1143-126• Chad Johnson93-1440-87
2014Atl.Julio Jones104-1593-66Roddy White80-921-721
2004G.B.Javon Walker89-1382-123• Donald Driver84-1208-910
2016NYGOdell Beckham101-1367-104Sterling Shepard65-683-836
2005Cin.Chad Johnson97-1432-93• T.J. Houshmandzadeh78-956-814
2012Den.Demaryius Thomas94-1434-105• Eric Decker85-1064-139
2014NYGOdell Beckham91-1305-128Rueben Randle71-938-332
2001Jac.Jimmy Smith112-1373-85• Keenan McCardell93-1110-615
2012Hou.Andre Johnson112-1598-46Kevin Walter41-518-270
2013Dall.Dez Bryant93-1233-137Terrance Williams44-736-545
2002Min.Randy Moss106-1347-74D'Wayne Bates50-689-452
2018T.B.Mike Evans86-1524-99Adam Humphries76-816-524
2012N.E.Wes Welker118-1354-67Brandon Lloyd74-911-525
2004St.L.Torry Holt94-1372-104• Isaac Bruce89-1292-612
2003Ariz.Anquan Boldin101-1377-83Bryant Johnson35-438-182
2011NYGVictor Cruz82-1536-93• Hakeem Nicks76-1192-712
2002Buff.Eric Moulds100-1292-105• Peerless Price94-1252-96
2009N.E.Randy Moss83-1264-132• Wes Welker123-1348-44
2005St.L.Torry Holt102-1331-95Kevin Curtis60-801-730
2000St.L.Isaac Bruce87-1471-95• Torry Holt82-1635-67
2004Ind.Marvin Harrison86-1113-155• Reggie Wayne77-1210-129
2009Ind.Reggie Wayne100-1264-103Austin Collie60-676-729
2005Was.Santana Moss84-1483-96David Patten22-217-0104
2010Den.Brandon Lloyd77-1448-112Jabar Gaffney65-875-237
2003Cin.Chad Johnson90-1355-104• Peter Warrick79-819-816
2008Det.Calvin Johnson78-1331-123Shaun McDonald35-332-183
2015Ariz.Larry Fitzgerald109-1215-97John Brown65-1003-725
2011G.B.Jordy Nelson68-1263-154• Greg Jennings67-949-918
2007N.O.Marques Colston98-1202-118David Patten54-792-343
2017LACKeenan Allen102-1393-73Tyrell Williams43-728-443
2009Ariz.Larry Fitzgerald97-1092-135• Anquan Boldin84-1024-518
2006Dall.Terrell Owens85-1180-132• Terry Glenn70-1047-620
2010Ind.Reggie Wayne111-1355-63Pierre Garcon67-784-629
2007Den.Brandon Marshall102-1325-79Brandon Stokley40-635-553
2000K.C.Derrick Alexander78-1391-108Sylvester Morris48-678-349
2003Ind.Marvin Harrison94-1272-105Reggie Wayne68-838-721
2004Phil.Terrell Owens77-1200-146Todd Pinkston36-676-157
2004Cin.Chad Johnson95-1274-97T.J. Houshmandzadeh73-978-428

All of which means what, exactly? Well, I guess receivers can come in all shapes and sizes, and from different teams. But put me down as one vote that says Adams is going to be a lot better than guys like DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper and the pair of receivers in Tampa Bay.

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index