The formula uses each individual's percentile score across a series of key metrics to create one composite score, indicating which players at that position performed best. These traits were evident in his game tape as well; he plays more fast than quick, and uses physicality or deep speed to get open more often than agility. It depends on whether you favor production or efficiency on who wins out. Get the comprehensive list of every Wide Receiver for each NFL pro football team. Justin Jefferson is arguably the best wide receiver in the league. March 1, 2023 2:19 pm PT. [7:17] Cooper, in the slot, runs a slant route, blowing by Fabian Moreau to get open and secure the catch; he then does a good job redirecting outside to break Moreaus poor tackle and run free. Well, they are often doing battle with excellent man coverage cornerbacks. However, Richardson is also a good route runner and is quick and nuanced enough to operate well on all routes in the route tree. Although its an offense that deflates WR stats by distributing the ball a lot, its a cleverly designed offense that gets WRs open. Right now Slayton is relying almost entirely on his athletic traits to find success, which is enough to get him pretty far against some teams, but limits his versatility and allows him to be shut down by the more athletic CBs in the NFL. . He was traded to the Cowboys in the middle of last season (the 4th year of his rookie contract) for a 1st round pick in 2019 draft, and Cooper had an immediate impact, seemingly jump-starting the Cowboys offense and helping them to a division championship. Hard to tell. McLaurin gets a poor angle on the block because of the DBs speed, but nevertheless uses his strength to hold his man in place and eventually follow him to the ground, forcing the defender to reach out for an attempted shoestring tackle. Complimenting his speed, Reagor shows good ball-tracking ability and ability to adjust to the ball once its in the air. The only reason I put him below elite is that he rarely faced double teams, but was neutralized by them when he did. The NFC East is STACKED at receiver. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Its difficult to overthrow Alshon Jeffery, he can often jump over a DB to make the catch. Fulgham is a huge question mark but we know hes talented. Wide Receiver: Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders, CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys, and A.J. Building on his success earlier in the game, Cooper fakes another deep route down the sideline, then stutter-steps inside on a slant route. The NFC East has three new head coaches and a young group of quarterbacks; its probably no surprise that it has more young and promising receivers than older established veteran receivers. CD Lamb is the best Wide Receiver in the NFC East . To prepare, we at Chargers Wire are previewing players from every position. Slayton started out slow in 2019, riding the bench in weeks 1 and 2 and playing less than 50% of snaps in weeks 3 & 4. Whenever defenses left him 1-on-1 against non-elite CBs, he was able to get open for a big play, though he was often missed by inaccurate Redskins QBs early in the season. Playing on a loaded Ohio State offense, McLaurin only caught 35 passes in 2018, but did a lot with his opportunities (20.0 YPR average). Justin Jefferson gained 190 of his 223 yards against press coverage in Week 14, the most in a game since Julio Jones in Week 4, 2016 (254 yards).Most Yards vs Press Coverage (since 2020): Jefferson: 1,889 Davante Adams: 1,416 Diontae Johnson: 1,168#MINvsDET | #Skol pic.twitter.com/YyD7Q94fIU. As we enter 2019, the Eagles may feature the most recognizable names with fans across the NFL with 32-year-old Desean Jackson, coming back for a second run in Philly, Alshon Jeffrey, who first built his reputation in Chicago, and Nelson Aghlor, who experienced a breakout season a year ago being joined by 2nd round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Eagles: DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, Greg Ward, Travis Fulgham, Quez Watkins, John Hightower. However, starting QB Shawn Robinson decided to transfer to Missouri after the 2018 season, leaving the Horned Frogs scrambling for a replacement. Running a sub-4.4 40 time himself, Slay isnt afraid of getting beat deep, and keeps his eyes moving between Cooper and Dak the entire time he runs with Cooper. You could make a case for what the Dallas Cowboys are building in the NFC East, with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. [7:50] Cooper again lines up top of screen opposite Mike Hughes. That number drops to only 21.9 for wide receivers in the 30-34 bracket. The NFC East was a historically bad division in 2020, which is why all four teams were in the race deep into the season. This steep drop-off is no surprise, but it does influence the total number of age 30+ wide receivers who hit 100 targets in a season. Here, the CB decides to take the flag on pass interference rather than risk Jeffery getting loose behind the secondary. Hes not moving to the slot; the ball gets snapped while hes in the process of transitioning, allowing him to catch the ball in the backfield while the other two WRs act as blockers for him. The Hill-Waddle duo has been a handful for defenses all season long, and as a result, Miami has a chance to earn its first playoff berth since 2016. He is also an ace gunner on special teams and the Skins reportedly had him ranked as the number 1 ranked special teams player in the draft. Zach Ertz was once the NFC East's undisputed best TE but injuries and the declining play of his quarterback has seen him fall off the radar the last two seasons. The Giants are expected to add wide receivers in the draft and free agency, given their current depth chart at the position. At the bottom of the depth chart, Watkins, Hightower and J.J. Arcega-Whitesid might be in a battle. [7:19] Slayton lines up on the boundary top of screen opposite Stephon Gilmore. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. St. Brown has also provided a safety blanket for Goff when teams blitz (which they often do). Richardson also has good hands, and I think his somewhat low career catch percentage (58.7%) is more a function of running deep routes than any lack of pass catching ability. McLaurin again does a good job catching the ball away from his body (and away from Slay), keeping it safe. Wide receiver Kenny Golladay's time with the Giants is reportedly coming to an end.Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Giants will cut Golladay when the new league year begins on March 15. It's really impressive. He suffered a 2nd torn ACL in 2014, and, in the 5 years he has been in the NFL, he has only played 16 games once (2017, his contract year with Seattle). Except for those teams with the transcendent signal-callers like Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady. The QB play in particular has been cause for concern, with 3 of the 4 teams in the division entering the offseason with questions around the position. This was a poorly placed ball it should have been lower and inside to make it harder to intercept and easier to catch but Reagor did a great job tracking the ball and adjusting (leaping) to the high throw to bail out his QB. NFL passing games want quick-hitting routes rather than long developing ones downfield. Diggs went from good to great following his trade from Minnesota to Buffalo in 2020. If the Redskins are going to make any noise in the division, they will need at least two of their mostly young and unheralded receivers to hit big in 2019, and they will need a quarterback either veteran Case Keenum or rookie Dwayne Haskins to be throwing the ball effectively. 4. The team is left with newly-signed the veteran free agent, 30-year-old Golden Tate (who, for the record, I wanted the Redskins to sign in free agency this year) as the apparent top receiver on the roster. Tate also does a good job maintaining awareness of the QB and tracking the ball almost the entire time its in the air. He is a smart, high-effort player and among the best in the NFL at his position. As an aside, I think this play also highlights problems with how the Eagles scheme up their secondary. Having both DBs start in the same position but not allowing them to press doesnt give them any advantage. While gaining separation through great route running is fantastic, there are some great receivers like DeAndre Hopkins that just win time and time again at the catch point despite not gaining a lot of separation. When you pair those two together with Slayton, Shepard and another former first-rounder in Ross, all of a sudden, this is a great receiving corps. Dak breaks to his right (Coopers side) almost immediately after the snap despite little pressure and is looking for Cooper the whole time. Our daily series examining the NFC East from a positional perspective with the help of league personnel sources moves on to the position in which the Eagles spent the most time on in the offseason . He looks, to me, a lot like a poor mans Julio Jones. Dallas Cowboys. This play shows good awareness by Richardson to read the defense and split the defenders, as well good speed (notice how quickly he runs by them) and good ability to locate the ball and adjust to it. However, he also ended this play with a mistake I saw him make a few other times too by slipping and falling without contact. He has enough speed to get open deep, but also the physicality and jump ball ability to make himself open in contested short-yardage plays. NFC East Positional overview. I wanted to include this play for 2 reasons. Evan Engram is the best TE. . Hes still only an average run blocker, but thats a step up from what he was and traditionally means a lot to the Cowboys offense. McLaurin runs to the DBs outside shoulder, knowing that this will give him outside leverage when he eventually breaks out on his route. Jose Joaquin (JJ) Arcega-Whiteside was born in Spain, the child of two professional basketball players. East Carolina: R: NAME: TEAM: COLLEGE: Doug Pederson trusts Alshon more than any other WR to be his TD threat in the red zone. Lamb leads the way here and is also the youngest of the three, while . 0 Comment. The second-year wideout has been the Lions focal point in high-leverage situations, gaining a first down on 15.2 percent of his routes on third and fourth down this season (third-highest rate, min. His only real weakness to me is that he depends on physicality to get open quickly, as he lacks the short area quickness to get open purely based on acceleration. I still think New York should target the position, even if the team has to reach a . Having a terrific big muscular body for the position and running a great 40-yard dash time are wonderful attributes, but it doesnt always translate to success in the league. Jeffery plays with more speed than JJ, but JJ plays with more strength and has less of an injury history. Jefferson caught 128 passes for . Where do Eagles' receivers rank among NFC East. Former Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall made a plea to the Packers star via Instagram on Tuesday, during which he implored Rodgers to drift on into retirement. NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah joined Chris Brown and Steve Tasker on One Bills Live from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 15: Building the AFC Pro Bowl Games roster on offense, NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 15: Building the NFC Pro Bowl Games roster on offense, RB Index, Week 15: Three fresh-legged running backs who could impact the NFL playoff picture, NFL rookie rankings at quarter pole of 2022 season: Jets duo holds top spots; Lions lead with three reps, NFL QB Index, Week 15: San Francisco 49ers rookie Brock Purdy soars into top half of rankings. Hogs Haven looks at all four teams in the division in an effort to identify the best and the weakest of the NFC East. Brown recently said he feels like he "won" the trade that sent him from Tennessee to Philadelphia during the 2022 NFL Draft, and it's hard to argue with him, based on the results. Opposing defenses either shadowed him with their best CB or shaded coverage in his direction to account for him. Washington Football Team Terry McLaurin has solidified himself as one of the best young receivers in the NFL. I expect him to have just as much utility in the screen game as he does stretching the field. Thats insane. McLaurin also breaks his route at around the first down line, ensuring that he has a good chance of getting the first down if he makes the catch. His only obvious weakness is as a blocker in run support, where he doesnt quite have the strength and physicality to excel. He committed to Stanford, and although red shirted in his freshman year, became an increasingly important part of the offense after that, catching 63 passes for 1,059 yards in 2018 (top 5 in the nation). Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. The Next Gen Stats analytics team uses its newly launched Expected Return Yards model to identify the top 10 returners of the 2022 regular season. 2022 NFL season's top 10 wide receivers: Justin Jefferson reels in No. St. Brown has been a revelation for the Lions -- and his impact has played a big role in the teams opportunity to end its five-year playoff drought. In the end, if a wide receiver has everything else you want at the position but cant consistently bring the ball in and gain yardage, he isnt much good to his team. Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 28, 2023. Slay held Cooper to 3 catches on 8 attempts for 38 yards (a 38% catch rate). Basically everything about this matchup is tilted in McLaurins favor, and I think its the type of matchup he isnt likely to receive now that teams have had a look at him. He grew in almost all of those areas as a WR in his first year, putting to bed my concerns about how he would translate to the NFL. 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