Wide receiver is one of the most important positions in the game of football these days. In most cases, these are the players NFL teams value very highly. Last year, the wide receiver market was completely reset as nine of the new top 10 highest-paid wideouts received deals in the offseason. There are many star receivers in the NFL, but which are the best of the best?
Here at CBS Sports, we are going to attempt to rank the top 10 wide receivers entering the 2023 season. So, what went into this list? It wasn’t just one thing. We created our top 10 based on skill, recent production and then a projection for this upcoming season. As you will see, we leaned toward younger players in constructing this list. For example, Mike Evans and DeAndre Hopkins are modern-day NFL legends, but are they top 10 wide receivers entering 2023?
Let’s jump in.
Tyreek Hill headlines Miami’s passing attack, but that doesn’t mean we can overlook Jaylen Waddle. Despite catching just 75 passes in 2022, Waddle ranked No. 7 in receiving yards with 1,356. He ranked No. 9 in receiving yards per game (79.8), and led the entire league in yards per reception (18.1) despite his starting quarterback missing four games.
Waddle is a home-run hitter who knows how to get major separation in the secondary. If you don’t think he’s top 10 just yet, you will soon.
Versatility is appreciated no matter what position you play in football. Running backs are called upon to run, catch and block, quarterbacks become different kinds of beasts if they are dangerous with their legs and wide receivers can’t be one-dimensional. One of the most versatile playmakers in the NFL is Deebo Samuel.
With the 49ers, Samuel has evolved into a running back/wide receiver hybrid. In 2021, he caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 18.2 yards per reception (best in the league), and rushed for 365 yards on 59 carries while averaging 6.2 yards per attempt. Naturally, he was named a First Team All-Pro. However, Samuel’s 2022 season was, in his own words, “awful” and “sluggish.” He recorded 864 yards from scrimmage and five total touchdowns while missing four games due to injuries, and attributed the setback to how the offseason went with contract negotiations. He also vowed to never put anything like that on tape again. Just 27, Samuel is one of the most interesting weapons in the game.
Lamb is another one of these third-year wideouts that continue to get better. He set career numbers across the board in 2022 with 107 catches (T-No. 5 in the NFL) for 1,359 yards (No. 6 in the NFL) and nine touchdowns (T-No. 6 in the NFL). Lamb accounted for 30 percent of the Cowboys’ receptions, which was the second-highest rate in the NFL. With that mark, he became the first Cowboy to record 30 percent of Dallas’ catches in a single season since Michael Irvin did so in 1995.
I’d venture to guess his best playing days are ahead of him. The fact that this slot weapon just turned 24 is frightening.
For three years, A.J. Brown carried the Tennessee Titans‘ passing game. When he was traded to a more explosive offense, we witnessed a different kind of fireworks show. Brown set career highs across the board with 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns. He accounted for 34.3 percent of his team’s receiving yards, which was good for the fifth-highest rate in the NFL last season. His 1,496 receiving yards set a franchise record, and ranked No. 4 in the NFL. He became the first Eagles receiver to finish in the top five in receiving yards since Irving Fryar did so in 1997.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old is one of the most dangerous outside threats in the NFL. Not only is Brown a powerful athlete, but a home-run hitter in the receiving game as well.
Kupp played in just nine games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury, but he still caught 75 passes for 812 yards and six touchdowns. His 90.2 receiving yards per game ranked third in the NFL. Kupp’s 2021 campaign was legendary, as he caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns en route to a Super Bowl victory. He became just the fourth player in the Super Bowl era to capture the “triple crown” for wide receivers, joining Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992) and Steve Smith (2005). Leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, receptions per game and receiving yards per game is ridiculous.
No one knows what the Rams are going to look like in 2023, but Kupp is going to be their main weapon on offense. He’s more than capable of shouldering the load.
Diggs has long been one of the best wide receivers in the game. He had his second-best NFL campaign in 2022 at the age of 29 as he earned All Pro honors with 108 catches for 1,429 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns. He recorded 29 percent of the Bills’ receptions, which was tied for the third-highest rate in the NFL last year, and was top five in the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
In his five seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Diggs never made a Pro Bowl. Since joining the Bills in 2020, he’s made the Pro Bowl every season. Diggs has played in 49 games for Buffalo. He already ranks No. 8 in franchise history in receiving yards (4,189), and T-No. 6 in receiving touchdowns (29).
Chase missed four games in the middle of last season due to a hip injury, but he still led all Bengals wideouts in every statistical category with 87 catches for 1,046 yards and nine touchdowns. Looking back at 2021, Chase had arguably the best season for a rookie wideout in NFL history. He caught 81 passes for 1,455 and 13 touchdowns while averaging 18 yards per catch. Chase finished No. 4 in receiving yards, No. 3 in receiving touchdowns and No. 2 in yards per catch. The 279 receiving yards he recorded in the playoffs were the most by a rookie in NFL postseason history, and his 1,741 combined receiving yards in the regular season and postseason were the most by any rookie in league history.
Chase just turned 23, and has a great quarterback in Joe Burrow. The 2022 season was a down year, and the best is yet to come.
As you can tell, we’ve been staying away from the “older” players when it comes to ranking the top 10 wide receivers entering 2023, but the 30-year-old Davante Adams didn’t miss a beat in 2022 despite not having Aaron Rodgers and playing for a team that wasn’t a playoff squad. The Raiders decided to move on from Derek Carr this offseason, but Adams still averaged a career-high 14.7 yards per touch in 2022.
Last season, Adams ranked No. 9 in catches (100), No. 3 in receiving yards (1,516) and No. 1 in receiving touchdowns (14). You could say it was the third-best season of Adams’ career. Say what you will about Pro Bowls, but Adams has made six straight — which is tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the NFL. If you take running backs out of the mix, Adams has scored the most touchdowns over the past two seasons (25). It remains to be seen what he can accomplish with Jimmy Garoppolo, but Adams is still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
If there was any doubt about how Hill would fare outside of Andy Reid’s system, that doubt has been erased. In 2022, Hill caught a career-high 119 passes for a career-high 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranked second in the NFL in receptions and yards behind our No. 1 wideout. Hill also set an NFL record for most receiving yards recorded by a player in his first season with a new team. He was a big reason why quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a career year, and accounted for the highest percentage of a team’s receptions (32%).
At 29 years old, Hill is just as fast and dynamic as ever. In his second season with Miami, I’m expecting even more fireworks with Mike McDaniel.
He just keeps getting better. Last year, Jefferson caught a league-leading 128 passes for a league-leading 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns. Those receptions and receiving yards numbers set Vikings franchise records. Jefferson won Offensive Player of the Year, and passed Randy Moss in recording the most receiving yards in a player’s first three seasons in NFL history with 4,825. Jefferson has played in 50 career regular-season games. He’s gone over 100 receiving yards in 24 of them.
No matter what route he’s running, Jefferson is incredibly dangerous. He accounted for the highest percentage of a team’s receiving yards last year (37.5%), and came in fourth in the NFL in scrimmage yards — behind three running backs. Jefferson also had maybe the catch of the century on a fourth-and-18 vs. the Bills.
I asked Jefferson last June what his goal was entering his third NFL season. He responded by saying, “Become the best receiver in the league. If that’s not already the case.” I think he’s done just that.
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Author: Jordan Dajani
June 21, 2023 | 9:32 am
