Top 5 Wide Receivers of 2019-2020

Top 5 Wide Receivers of 2019-2020

In order to be considered one of the best at what you do in my opinion you have to be top five with the numbers to back it up. Today we are looking to see the players that are the best at the wide receiver position in the NFL. We are looking strictly at the 2019-2020 season, meaning we bring in no baggage from the previous years. It's a clean slate for all of the receivers on this list and will praise them on how good of a season they had, not how much weight their name carries. I broke it down into many different categories statistics wise and will explain them as the list goes on because you can't determine the best receivers based on how many yards they had that year or how many receptions they had, although they do play a role. Also a minimum of 10 games had to be played this year in order to be considered for this list since you have to be healthy to produce. That's enough talking though let's get into the numbers and the rankings. 

5.Amari Cooper (Dallas Cowboys)

Coming in at number five we have Amari Cooper of the Cowboys. Amari had 1,189 yards on the season with 8 touchdowns and 79 receptions. Amari was also targeted 119 times which translated to a 66.4 catch percentage. He also had the fourth most drops out of the receivers on this list sitting at 5, meaning he dropped the ball 4.2% of the times a catchable ball was thrown to him. These numbers were good enough to land him a pro bowl selection this year making it his fourth. This number five slot could have gone to a couple other receivers that either had a higher catch percentage or a lower drop rate but Amari’s numbers were more consistent across the board and he was able to produce at a high level as a reliable receiver. 

4.DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans)

This is around the time where I put emphasis on the fact that what you did in previous years will not correlate to what you did in the 2019-2020 season. DeAndre is still an elite wide receiver and there is no doubt about that, there were just better receivers than him this year. DeAndre was traded to the Arizona Cardinals this off season but played all year in a Texans jersey that's why I am affiliating him with them.  DeAndre had 1,165 yards on the season with 150 targets which was fifth in the league and 104 receptions which was second in the league giving him a 69.3% catch percentage. He also had 7 touchdowns on the season. He also only had 4 drops on the season giving him a 2.7% drop percentage which is not too far from the top five in the league. Deandre is very crafty and has the ability to catch the ball over a defender or grab a poorly thrown ball.

3.Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons)

Julio is another player that had a drop in production this year. Even with that drop in production and the poor season put together by the Falcons, Julio still put up top three numbers on the season. Julio had the second most targets in the league at 157 and the fifth most receptions in the league at 99 catching the ball 63.1% of the time. Those 99 receptions translated to 1,394 yards on the season which was the second most. Per game he averaged 6.6 receptions per game and 92.9 yards per game which were fourth and third respectively. Julio pulled in 6 touchdowns on the season as well. Julio is a big receiver with incredible athleticism which allowed him to jump over defenders and bring the ball down with him. He only had 4 drops on the season and had a 2.5% drop percentage which was the fifth best in the league. While DeAndre caught more balls with fewer targets, Julio was able to turn the balls he did catch into many more yards dropping the ball on a lesser percentage. You are splitting hairs when comparing the two this year but give me the production in yards over catching more balls every time. 

2.Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Chris Godwin had a serious breakout year putting up insane numbers and productivity. I know people are looking at his name and think I don't know what I am talking about but when you see the numbers there is no way you can disagree with me. Godwin had 121 targets and caught 86 of them giving him a 71.1% catch percentage which was the third best in the league. Godwin was also able to turn those 86 receptions into 1,333 yards, the third most in the league. That means he turned 18 less receptions into 168 more yards than DeAndre catching it at a higher percentage than both Julio and DeAndre. To add to that he had 9 touchdowns on the season which was tied for third most in the league. Godwin had the second most yards per game at 95.2 and the fourth most yards per target at 11. He also had the  second most yards after catch with 577 of them. Godwin also had the best ability to catch a contested ball than anybody on the list percentage wise. He had 25 contested throws and caught 16 of them meaning he pulled it down with him 64% of the time. If you need anymore convincing on the matter I saved the best stat for last. Godwin only dropped 1 ball all season. This means on his 121 targets he dropped the ball 0.8% of the time. Godwin clearly had a better season than both Julio and DeAndre with a QB that threw 30 interceptions on the season. 

1.Michael Thomas (New Orleans Saints)

When you break a season record you automatically had the best season out of anybody in your position. Michael Thomas did just that and dominated in every aspect proving to be the ultimate reliable receiver. Michael had the most targets in the league at 185 and had a record breaking 149 receptions in a season beating out Marvin Harrison by 6. Michael also had 1,725 yards on the season which was the seventh most of all time. Even with those massive amounts of targets and receptions he led the league in catch percentage catching the ball 80.5% of the time. He led the league in receptions per game with 9.3 and in yards per game with 107.8. All of those targets and yards gave Thomas 9 touchdowns on the season which was tied for third most in the league. Michael was also deadly when he caught the ball with 583 yards after the catch, also leading the league. He had 6 drops on the season which is the most on the list dropping it 3.2% of the time but that's not enough to drop him at all on this list. He was also top 5 in the league with contested catch percentage. He had 30 contested targets and caught 19 of them giving him a 63.3% catch percentage. Michael Thomas is another big receiver with big hands so he is a problem to guard.