Despite being one of just four players at the position with a $100 million tag, Brown is just fifth on the list of highest-paid wide receivers. Lastly, he is more physical than one might expect from an undersized WR and never gives up on a play, so he will often drag a tackler for several yards and excels at improvising after a play breaks down to get open when other players thought the play was dead. 28 Feb 2023 13:06:39 Richardson is very much a team player, and will always do his part in a play, even if the ball isnt going his way. Before we dive in, though, a note on our methodology: To help create quantifiable rankings, we have devised a formula that yields a Next Gen Stats percentile score, which measures how a player is performing relative to his peers. 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). Watching tape of Tate really reinforced what a YAC monster he is. 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. Where do Eagles' receivers rank among NFC East. Odds & lines subject to change. Washington Football Team v Dallas Cowboys. Paul Richardson Jr was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL draft. Vikings top "player team report card," and . He is also still an excellent route runner, running crisp routes with a tremendous sense of timing and anticipation of the balls arrival. He does an excellent job locating and tracking the ball in the air and adjusting his routes to match the balls trajectory (which was important, because he was often so fast that he got underthrown on deep routes). Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 28, 2023. NFC East Positional overview. Ross has been a disappointment in the NFL but anything the Giants get out of him will simply be a bonus. Oh, and adding CeeDee Lamb to the mix certainly does not hurt. Watching him play, Slayton seems like a great athletic prospect who still needs a lot of refinement. NFL+ gives you the freedom to watch LIVE out-of-market preseason games, LIVE local and primetime regular season and postseason games on your phone or tablet, the best NFL programming on-demand, and MORE! He will break down film of some of the top receivers in the division: Click here to read the 2019 review of wide receivers which includes Golden Tate, Alshon Jeffrey and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside as well as last years look at Cooper and McLaurin. Indeed, the only games where he had less than a 50% catch rate were against the Patriots and Lions, where he was shadowed by Stephon Gilmore and Darius Slay respectively. 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. To say a wide receiver is a great Route Runner means a lot of different things and there are a wide variety of routes that are run, some of which accentuate different skill sets. Although he is a bit undersized for a boundary WR at 60 and 208 lbs, he has good agility (7.01s 3-cone), good quickness (4.15s 20 yard shuttle), and elite deep speed (4.35s 40 yd dash), as well as impressive strength (18 BP reps). NFL Week 15 underdogs: Can Dolphins halt slide against Bills? Also, Coopers ability to keep both feet inbounds as he secures a catch right on the edge of the sideline showcases his body positioning and control. 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. 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. However, JJ has tremendous ability to stay open even when covered, using his big body, long arms, and good hands-catching ability to reach out and grab the ball out of the CBs reach, even with very little separation. Meanwhile, the veteran wideout has scored a league-high eight touchdowns on deep targets for his new team, two more than any other player. It could happen, but it requires a lot of things to go right for Washington that didnt go right in 2018. 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. This play also shows off his acceleration and route running. 1 receiver out of the gate. One of the first things a receiver needs to do at the NFL level is to win against outstanding press man coverage. [6:10] Tate lines up outside and runs an out route, changing direction uphill immediately after the catch so quickly that Stroman whiffs on his tackle and Tate gets tons of YAC. Washington Football Team running back Antonio Gibson has emerged as a very efficient catcher out the backfield, if he can raise his yardage he can transform into an all round running back. Lattimore is so fast that he closes in for a tackle as soon as the ball arrives, but Cooper does a great job making the catch through contact and keeping his feet in bounds for the reception. Slay held Cooper to 3 catches on 8 attempts for 38 yards (a 38% catch rate). NFL passing games want quick-hitting routes rather than long developing ones downfield. The Dallas Cowboys are the only team that has all the same faces. St. Brown has also provided a safety blanket for Goff when teams blitz (which they often do). He has NFL bloodlines as his father, Paul Richardson, played several years as an NFL wide receiver as well. Richardsons injury history served as prologue to his time in the NFL. Jose Joaquin (JJ) Arcega-Whiteside was born in Spain, the child of two professional basketball players. The crew gets a bit motley after that, with some late-round draft picks and NFL veterans. It depends on whether you favor production or efficiency on who wins out. Here are the current preseason depth charts at wide receiver for teams in the NFC East & NFC South. Dealt from Chicago to Baltimore, Roquan Smith was one of the biggest names to change teams before the NFL trade deadline. [5:06] The Eagles had no answer for Slayton in this game and it may point to why they prioritized adding speed to their defense in the offseason. Thats insane. Try and press Jefferson to disrupt his route? Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper edges out the competition to place as the NFC East's best receiver. Sometimes he would make an incredible contested catch, then in the same game have the ball hit him in the hands and bounce into a nearby DB for an interception. He loses close to the line of scrimmage to CBs like Josh Norman who are even more physical than he is. Not all the players listed will make the team, and I might easily miss especially for the Redskins division rivals players who will make the Week 1 roster, but this list should give some idea of the relative depth of the four positional groups. The wide receiver landscape in the NFC East has changed dramatically over the past couple of seasons. Gambling problem? NFC East. Updated Jan 5, 2023 at 10:27pm. Look at the difference in cushion the Eagles give him vs the other boundary WR at the top of the screen! He got off to a strong start to the season thanks to his dominance in the short game, as his 457 receiving yards on passes of fewer than 10 air yards from Weeks 1 to 9 were 68 more than any other player recorded in that span. McLaurin seems to try to fake outside, but Slay doesnt bite, instead following McLaurin as he releases inside. Ron Rivera's culture revolution in Washington has provided the foundation for Logan Thomas to emerge as a respectable pass catcher in this league. As a result, Slay does not get fooled when Cooper stops and turns around to catch the ball on a comeback. Of the players I reviewed last year for the Ranking the NFCE series, my opinion on Cooper is that he is among the least changed. It is well known in the scouting community that when watching tape of college wide receiver prospects, it is imperative to analyze every snap against press man coverage. He shows enough effort and skill in route running that I think he will develop into a capable NFL starter under good coaching, but I think his immediate value will be on special teams, where he already has the ability to make an impact. Here are the pre-free agency wide receiver rankings for the NFC North. Justin Jefferson can lay claim to the title of being the best receiver in the NFL. In addition to football, in high school he was all-state in basketball and placed highly in track. I just needed a place to publish some GIFs that I want to embed elsewhere. Will Jaguars prevail over Cowboys. Of course, no position group consists of just one or two players. To prepare, we at Chargers Wire are previewing players from every position. Undersized at 510 and 199 lbs, Tate doesnt quite have the measurables of a WR1, but excels as a WR2. Other than that, he is good to elite in all the traits of a WR. This ability combined with the fact that less athletic DBs give him plenty of cushion to guard against deep routes makes Cooper very good at getting open on high-completion crossing, out, and curl routes. This week, we've assembled a list of the top 10 wide receivers heading into Week 15. He will put that analytical brain to work this off-season helping to analyze some of the top players in the NFC East. Though hes only 511, Reagors leaping ability allows him to go up pretty high to make a catch. If you look at all the players at this position that have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you might be shocked that a good percentage of them are not elite speedsters. [4:48] This time McLaurin (bottom of screen) is matched up with Ronald Darby 1-on-1. Unlike many other speedy WRs, McLaurin is tough and physical enough to support the run game. However, starting QB Shawn Robinson decided to transfer to Missouri after the 2018 season, leaving the Horned Frogs scrambling for a replacement. See where he lands in the Next Gen Stats analytics team's ranking of the top 10 slot receivers right now. Commanders Reacts Survey: Do you want to see the Washington Commanders on Hard Knocks in 2023. Where does Jets rookie Sauce Gardner land? You cant teach speed. PFF's George Chahrouri said on a July episode of the "PFF Forecast" podcast that McLaurin was the most valuable receiver in the division based on his 0.6 Win Above Replacement (WAR), which is the best among all NFC East receivers. Sterling Shepard, the Giants 2016 second-round pick, has probably not yet lived up to the high expectations that surrounded him when he was drafted, but he went for 872 yards and 4 TDs in 2018. The Washington Football Team stands at 72.6 inches, or 6'1". It would have made more sense for Darby to press Slayton at the line, disrupt his route, then run with him and have the other DB start further back to act as insurance if Darby gets beat. In 2018 tape I thought he was severely lacking as a run blocker, sometimes just phoning it in or getting brushed aside by a DB, but in 2019 he looked much improved in both effort and technique. Good luck. This is an example of the trouble Cooper has when facing off against top CBs who are as athletically gifted as he is and arent afraid of getting beat deep. But the problem is when the book is written that a wideout cant get off the jam, the opponent knows this as well. Such questionable play at the QB spot led me to wonder how the dependent receivers are fairing under such unsteady conditions. Despite pass interference from the CB (and what looks like an uncalled facemask penalty), McLaurin fights through the contact to make a tough catch and get the first down. Here, well take a look at the top of the depth chart for each team the pool of players from which the ones on the final 53 seem likely to be chosen. Although he suffered from poor QB play in 2019 (40.2% of passes thrown his way were uncatchable, 3rd worst in this years draft class), he also had a terrible 9.8% drop rate, one of the highest in this years draft class. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. However, note that this play seems designed explicitly to get the ball to Cooper. 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. This ends up being a running play for Adrian Peterson, who breaks his run to McLaurins side of the field. It should be noted that Reagor was listed with a 195 pound playing weight at TCU and the extra weight at the Combine may have slowed him down. Los Angeles' running backs are in . He primarily uses a combination of route running, short-area quickness, and savvy (with fakes/misdirection and ability to find the soft spot in zones) to get open and make plays. As miserable as that 2020 season was for the Cowboys, he still had 92/1,114/5. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. Buy Chargers Tickets. The "Cheetah" has put up historic efficiency numbers this season, gaining 3.7 yards for every route run. The CB starts to close the distance, but cant stop JJ, who does a great job locating and tracking the ball in the air and catching it. Up next in the divisional depth chart review is the NFC East wide receivers. NFC North. Fulgham is a huge question mark but we know hes talented. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Although the ball is placed right on his hands, he makes an ugly drop and misses out on a big play. That good deep speed coupled with elite agility and acceleration shows up on tape as well. The Next Gen Stats analytics team reveals its ranking of the 10 best edge rushers entering Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season, with the Browns' Myles Garrett leading a list of star defenders. This play shows Tates nuanced route running, elite change-of-direction ability, elite quickness, and ability to shake tackles to get YAC. Tate only has good speed, but has elite quickness, and plays like this highlight his ability to get separation quickly when in tight coverage if the DB doesnt maintain constant eyes and leverage on Tate. Tate is rarely asked to block in the run game, but is a willing and physical blocker when put in that role. Waddle has reached 20+ mph on four offensive touches this season, tied for the third-most among all wide receivers (behind Christian Watson and teammate Tyreek Hill). Alshon Jeffery doesnt have elite quickness, but uses his physicality to get open on short routes like this instead of relying on quickness and change-of-direction ability. We will lean on this formula to inform our rankings when applicable. He discussed areas where this year's draft class looks strong . 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. Get the comprehensive list of every Wide Receiver for each NFL pro football team. This play shows what happens when Slayton is matched up against a CB who is just as fast and quick as he is and allowed to play close. Commanders; Cowboys; Eagles; Giants; . Another WR on the same boundary runs vertically to clear out the DB there, leaving Reagor with a lot of open grass in front of him as he receives the short pass. Building on his success earlier in the game, Cooper fakes another deep route down the sideline, then stutter-steps inside on a slant route. In an unusual season that, due to global pandemic, may turn out to be unlike any other, the wide receiver position seems to offer an interesting and potentially exciting year to fans of the NFC East. 1 receiver. And, sure, Reagor had a disappointing rookie season in 2020 but its way to early to write him off, especially with a new offensive scheme coming to town. Slayton then quickly runs away from the FS Rodney McLeod, easily outpacing him to the endzone. Dallas Goedert was likened to Zach Ertz even before the draft. Washington Commanders. [2:21] Cooper (bottom of screen) runs forward to act as a blocker, but whiffs on his initial attempted block and cant really get push on anyone. The New York Giants have a desperate need at the wide receiver position this offseason. 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