There are four wide receivers who caught twice as many passes last year as anyone else on their own team. Cooper Kupp and Davante Adams, most notably, but also Michael Pittman and Brandin Cooks.
It would seem, when mapping things out, that these guys would be safe choices to play big roles on their teams. You can safely conclude that they at least won’t be ignored.
In general terms, of course. Things change. Adams has been traded to Las Vegas, making him an outlier who’s starting from scratch. With Cooks, there’s a chance he’s dealt and a stronger likelihood that the Texans regardless will be adding another high-level pass catcher in the draft.
Similarly in Indianapolis, I would think the Colts will add another starter-type receiver (and they’ve got a new quarterback). It’s a league of change.
But we can look at high-volume pass catchers, then measure how much those guys tend to get used the following season, getting a general sense of what tends to happen with these guys.
In the 32-team era, there have previously been 31 such wide receivers. In that group, all but seven put up top-30 PPR numbers the next season. And just over half (19 of 31) finished with top-20 numbers.
| "DOUBLE UP" RECEIVERS (the next season) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2002 | David Boston, Ariz. | 32 | 512 | 1 | 92.1 | 77 |
| 2002 | Rod Smith, Den. | 89 | 1027 | 5 | 222.6 | 18 |
| 2002 | Marty Booker, Chi. | 97 | 1189 | 6 | 258.1 | 9 |
| 2002 | Marvin Harrison, Ind. | 143 | 1722 | 11 | 384.2 | 1 |
| 2003 | Marvin Harrison, Ind. | 94 | 1272 | 10 | 281.5 | 5 |
| 2003 | Randy Moss, Min. | 111 | 1632 | 17 | 378.0 | 1 |
| 2004 | Derrick Mason, Ten. | 96 | 1168 | 7 | 254.5 | 11 |
| 2005 | Darrell Jackson, Sea. | 38 | 482 | 3 | 104.9 | 63 |
| 2006 | Rod Smith, Den. | 52 | 512 | 3 | 120.7 | 56 |
| 2006 | Muhsin Muhammad, Chi. | 60 | 863 | 5 | 176.3 | 30 |
| 2006 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 62 | 1057 | 7 | 210.6 | 21 |
| 2006 | Steve Smith Sr., Car. | 83 | 1166 | 9 | 259.7 | 7 |
| 2008 | Derrick Mason, Balt. | 80 | 1037 | 5 | 216.0 | 20 |
| 2008 | Brandon Marshall, Den. | 104 | 1265 | 6 | 266.1 | 5 |
| 2011 | Stevie Johnson, Buff. | 76 | 1004 | 7 | 218.4 | 16 |
| 2012 | Percy Harvin, Min. | 62 | 677 | 5 | 169.3 | 35 |
| 2013 | Michael Crabtree, S.F. | 19 | 284 | 1 | 53.4 | 111 |
| 2013 | Calvin Johnson, Det. | 84 | 1492 | 12 | 305.2 | 6 |
| 2013 | Brandon Marshall, Chi. | 100 | 1295 | 12 | 305.5 | 5 |
| 2014 | Pierre Garcon, Was. | 68 | 752 | 3 | 161.2 | 47 |
| 2014 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 85 | 936 | 3 | 196.6 | 28 |
| 2016 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 78 | 954 | 4 | 197.4 | 29 |
| 2016 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 94 | 1136 | 4 | 235.3 | 13 |
| 2016 | Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 106 | 1284 | 12 | 307.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz. | 69 | 734 | 6 | 186.0 | 26 |
| 2018 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 115 | 1572 | 11 | 337.5 | 1 |
| 2019 | Davante Adams, G.B. | 83 | 997 | 5 | 214.7 | 23 |
| 2019 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 104 | 1165 | 7 | 270.6 | 4 |
| 2020 | Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 79 | 841 | 4 | 192.8 | 30 |
| 2021 | DeAndre Hopkins, Ariz. | 42 | 572 | 8 | 147.2 | 46 |
| 2021 | Davante Adams, G.B. | 123 | 1553 | 11 | 344.3 | 2 |
| 2022 | Cooper Kupp, LAR | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2022 | Davante Adams, L.V. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2022 | Michael Pittman, Ind. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2022 | Brandin Cooks, Hou. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan