I’m not a big fan of receivers who are heavily dependent on catching long passes. Those kind of plays are hard to execute, so it’s difficult to going into any game with much confidence they’ll actually occur. I tend to be more partial to receivers who maybe don’t score as many long touchdowns but can be counted on to catch more passes.
Particularly in PPR scoring, the best receivers on each team tend to be the same ones who catch the most passes. In the last 10 years, for example, only 33 teams (out of 320) were led in receiving by a wide receiver who didn’t also lead the team in catches. That’s looking only at wide receivers (ignoring tight ends) and using PPR scoring.
And only six of those wide receivers also put up top-20 numbers among wide receivers.
| TEAM LEADERS WHO DIDN'T LEAD TEAM IN CATCHES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2010 | Jacoby Ford, Oak. | 25 | 470 | 18.8 | 7 | 129.5 | 56 |
| 2010 | Mohamed Massaquoi, Cle. | 36 | 483 | 13.4 | 2 | 101.5 | 73 |
| 2011 | Pierre Garcon, Ind. | 70 | 947 | 13.5 | 6 | 203.5 | 22 |
| 2011 | DeSean Jackson, Phil. | 58 | 961 | 16.6 | 4 | 182.2 | 29 |
| 2011 | Torrey Smith, Balt. | 50 | 841 | 16.8 | 7 | 180.0 | 30 |
| 2012 | Mike Wallace, Pitt. | 64 | 836 | 13.1 | 8 | 196.3 | 24 |
| 2012 | Cecil Shorts, Jac. | 55 | 979 | 17.8 | 7 | 194.5 | 26 |
| 2012 | Torrey Smith, Balt. | 49 | 855 | 17.5 | 8 | 183.4 | 31 |
| 2012 | Josh Gordon, Cle. | 50 | 805 | 16.1 | 5 | 160.5 | 41 |
| 2012 | Santana Moss, Was. | 41 | 573 | 14.0 | 8 | 147.7 | 48 |
| 2014 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 68 | 1,051 | 15.5 | 12 | 245.1 | 13 |
| 2014 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 76 | 1,210 | 15.9 | 6 | 233.0 | 14 |
| 2014 | Mike Wallace, Mia. | 67 | 862 | 12.9 | 10 | 214.8 | 20 |
| 2014 | DeSean Jackson, Was. | 56 | 1,169 | 20.9 | 6 | 209.6 | 23 |
| 2014 | Eddie Royal, S.D. | 62 | 778 | 12.6 | 7 | 183.2 | 31 |
| 2014 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 59 | 902 | 15.3 | 5 | 179.2 | 37 |
| 2014 | Michael Floyd, Ariz. | 47 | 841 | 17.9 | 6 | 167.3 | 44 |
| 2014 | Allen Hurns, Jac. | 51 | 677 | 13.3 | 6 | 154.7 | 49 |
| 2015 | Calvin Johnson, Det. | 88 | 1,214 | 13.8 | 9 | 263.4 | 12 |
| 2015 | Julian Edelman, N.E. | 61 | 692 | 11.3 | 7 | 174.5 | 35 |
| 2015 | Dorial Green-Beckham, Ten. | 32 | 549 | 17.2 | 4 | 112.9 | 59 |
| 2016 | Adam Thielen, Min. | 69 | 967 | 14.0 | 5 | 197.2 | 30 |
| 2016 | Quincy Enunwa, NYJ | 58 | 857 | 14.8 | 4 | 168.9 | 45 |
| 2017 | Robby Anderson, NYJ | 63 | 941 | 14.9 | 7 | 200.0 | 18 |
| 2017 | Alshon Jeffery, Phil. | 57 | 789 | 13.8 | 9 | 195.9 | 21 |
| 2017 | Rishard Matthews, Ten. | 53 | 795 | 15.0 | 4 | 156.2 | 37 |
| 2018 | Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 104 | 1,297 | 12.5 | 15 | 323.7 | 5 |
| 2018 | Allen Robinson, Chi. | 55 | 754 | 13.7 | 4 | 155.3 | 40 |
| 2018 | John Brown, Balt. | 42 | 715 | 17.0 | 5 | 143.9 | 45 |
| 2018 | Kenny Stills, Mia. | 37 | 553 | 15.0 | 6 | 134.5 | 52 |
| 2019 | Darius Slayton, NYG | 48 | 740 | 15.4 | 8 | 170.0 | 37 |
| 2019 | Tyrell Williams, Oak. | 42 | 651 | 15.5 | 6 | 143.1 | 47 |
| 2019 | Zach Pascal, Ind. | 41 | 607 | 14.8 | 5 | 135.3 | 53 |
For the 2019 season, this would contribute to me not being particularly high on DeSean Jackson (pictured) and Henry Ruggs. With Ruggs, I don’t have much confidence he’ll be better than teammate Hunter Renfrow. Similarly, with the Bucs receivers, I like Chris Godwin more than Mike Evans. With the Jets, I’ll take Jamison Crowder over Breshad Perriman. And with the Panthers, I’ll go with DJ Moore over Robby Anderson.
With the Chargers, Mike Williams has been relegated to serving mainly as a deep threat. Only if he can bust out of that role will he have a chance of maybe overtaking Keenan Allen.
—Ian Allan