Explosive playmakers. Physical freaks. Aerial acrobats. Blazing speedsters. Wide receivers can fit any of those descriptions and more. They can come in many different shapes and sizes. They can win in a variety of different ways. There's no one-size-fits-all all. What is a universal truth, however, is that these are some of the most exciting players on the field.
The AFC East has plenty of firepower — both proven and unproven — to tantalize fans and strike fear in the heart of opposing defenses. Continuing our series of ranking the NY Jets versus the rest of the AFC East position groups we arrive at the wide receivers. We've previously looked at the AFC East QB and running back rooms.
As a refresher, while star power matters, so too does depth. Perhaps even more so here where three and four wideout sets are common, and injuries are a fact of life. To that end, let's dig in ranking from worst to first.
4. New England Patriots
The depth chart: Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Ja'Lynn Polk, JuJu Smith-Schuster, K.J. Osborn, and Javon Baker.
Over the last few seasons, the New England Patriots have fielded one of the weakest wide receiver groups in the league. This year is no exception, though there is some potential with rookies Ja'Lynn Polk (second round, pick 37) and Javon Baker (fourth round, pick 110) now in the fold.
New England hasn't had much luck with their receiver draft picks in recent years. 2019 first-round pick N'Keal Harry didn't even finish out his rookie contract with the team. 2022 second-round pick Tyquan Thornton has managed just 35 catches for 338 yards in two seasons, and is probably on the outside looking in for a roster spot in 2024.
On the flip side, 2023 sixth-round pick DeMario "Pop" Douglas was a bright spot, hauling in 49 passes for 561 yards, but no touchdowns. At 5-foot-8 and 192 pounds, he's a shifty slot receiver with good but not great speed. There's value here, but not enough to be the focal point of a passing attack.
The trio of Bourne, Osborn, and Smith-Schuster don't inspire much confidence either. The three are all capable third or fourth options on a good team, however, here they're all sliding a spot or two higher in the pecking order.
Bourne is the most well-regarded at this point, but he's coming off of a torn ACL that may limit him to start the season. Smith-Schuster looked like a budding star in a 2018 campaign that saw him catch 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns in his sophomore season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He'd never approach those heights again. Over the last four seasons, he's failed to record over 10 yards per reception in three of the four campaigns. 2023, his first year in New England, saw him limited by injuries and post the second-worst season of his career, with 29 catches, 260 yards, and one touchdown.
Osborn has been productive as a third or fourth option with at least 48 catches and at least 540 yards each of the last three seasons. That production, however, came with all-world receiver Justin Jefferson drawing most of the defense's attention in Minnesota.
Polk and Baker are the wild cards that could eventually confirm this ranking or vault New England higher up on the list. Polk doesn't have elite speed but has contested catch ability and deep ball-tracking skills.
Baker is similar both in size and speed, while also a good deep ball tracker. He doesn't always play through contact in contested catch scenarios like Polk. With both being rookies, the caveat of seeing them in real game action against NFL competition applies.
Overall, depending on how the rookies perform New England could vault up a spot or two, but for now, this is the weakest receiver room in the division.
3. Buffalo Bills
The depth chart: rookie Keon Coleman, third-year receiver Khalil Shakir, and veteran Curtis Samuel lead the way. Veterans Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chase Claypool, and Mack Hollins round out the depth chart.
The Buffalo Bills made shockwaves earlier in the offseason shipping off veteran All-Pro receiver Stefon Diggs to Houston. Losing veteran deep threat Gabe Davis doesn't help either. Instead, the Bills rely on youth and versatility to build their wide receiver corps.
Coleman, a 2024 second-round pick, is the biggest unknown and X-factor here. At 6-foot-3, 213 pounds, he profiles as a physical X receiver who can make plays on 50-50 balls. On the flip side, his 4.61 40-yard dash leaves questions as to whether or not he can separate enough at the NFL level.
Shakir is an intriguing young player who came alive during the second half of the season last year. After tallying just 10 catches for 161 yards as a rookie, he hauled in 39 balls for 611 yards in 2023. Shakir posted 31 of his 39 total catches and 536 of his 611 receiving yards from Week 8 on.
Samuel is a veteran slot/gadget receiver who had near league-worst QB play in Washington last season. Still, Samuel is a player who was well below average in average depth of target and YAC per reception in 2023. He's primarily a manufactured touch player, who didn't generate much production after getting the ball in his hands.
Valdes-Scantling and Claypool are similar players in that they are both bigger-bodied vertical receivers. Valdes-Scantling posted his worst year as a pro in 2023 with just 21 catches for 315 yards and one touchdown for a Kansas City team begging for wide receiver production.
Claypool exploded onto the scene as a rookie in 2020 and a sophomore in 2021 with over 59 catches and 860 yards each year. Since then, however, attitude and work ethic concerns have plagued the former second-round pick and he posted the worst season of his career in 2023 with just eight catches for 77 yards for both Chicago and Miami.
All of this leads to a lot of volatility in possible outcomes for the Bills receiver unit. The veterans aren't productive enough to be floor raisers and young players Coleman and Shakir have a ton of talent but haven't proven that they can be go-to wideouts on a contending team in their short careers.
They have the benefit of playing with an elite creator in QB Josh Allen, and if they realize their potential this could be a dangerous unit. However, it's just as likely they don't realize their potential and hold the perennial contenders in Buffalo back.
2. New York Jets
The depth chart: superstar third-year receiver Garrett Wilson leads the way with veteran deep threat Mike Williams and second-year man Xavier Gipson penciled in as the starters so far. Rookie receiver Malachi Corley, free agent bust Allen Lazard, and second-year man Jason Brownlee round out the room.
Despite winning the Offensive Rooke of the Year award in 2022, and repeating his stellar performance in 2023, Wilson is still slept on as an elite receiver outside of the Gang Green faithful. He tallied 83 catches for 1,103 yards in 2022 and 95 catches for 1,042 yards in 2023, all with putrid, league-worst QB play in that two-year stretch.
2023's performance was that much more impressive considering the rest of the receiver room was a black hole of talent. Pro Football Focus ranked Wilson the 14th-best receiver in the league, noting that his 22 broken tackles were second to only Deebo Samuel.
With Aaron Rogers back and Mike Williams as his running mate, expect Wilson to shoot up into the upper echelon of production.
Williams should excite fans for two reasons. One, he's an explosive playmaker downfield and in the contested catch game who is one of the best No. 2 receivers in the league. And two, his skillset is the perfect complement to Wilson's.
Williams' ability as a deep threat opens up the intermediate area of the field for Wilson, which is where the latter thrives with his Gumby-like ability to make cuts and bounce off defenders to breaking tackles and generating yards after the catch. His contested-catch ability offsets the only real weakness in Wilson's game.
Together, as long as Williams is and stays healthy, they can be a dynamic duo that's among the best in the NFL. Right now, the No. 3 wideout spot behind them is up for grabs, and the frontrunner may surprise you.
It's not highly-touted third-round pick Malachi Corley leading the way but rather second-year UDFA Xavier Gipson who's the current favorite to start in the slot. Gipson was a training camp darling on Hard Knocks last season and electrified Jets fans with a walk-off punt return touchdown to seal the victory on the bittersweet 2023 opener.
Gipson didn't maintain that magic though. He struggled at times as a returner, and as a receiver, he finished with just 21 catches for 229 yards and no touchdowns. The buzz this spring is that his route running has been sharper and he's been making plays, so he'll be one to follow during training camp.
Rookie Malachi Corley has some big fans in the organization. The Western Kentucky product is built like a running back and plays with violence not commonly seen at the receiver position. The "YAC King's" style could be the perfect fit in the offense.
There are some questions though. The vast majority of his targets in college came at or near the line of scrimmage so he'll have to prove he can actually run routes at the NFL level. He also played against inferior competition in college, making the jump to the NFL that much more difficult. As with all rookies, he's a relative unknown until the season actually starts.
Allen Lazard may go down as one of the biggest free agency busts in team history. His 2023 performance led to a couple of benchings and has some believing he can't even be counted on as reliable depth. The hope is that he returns to form with Rodgers, but the spring results have been mixed thus far.
Jason Brownlee rounds out the room as another former UDFA looking to carve out a career. He dazzled with numerous highlight real catches in training camp last season but only tallied five catches for 56 yards when called upon in the regular season.
He may be an important backup though, because at 6-foot-2 and with his potential as a contested-catch target he might be the primary Mike Williams insurance as the rest of the room is either too small (Gipson, Corley) or too inefficient (Lazard) to fill that role.
There are a lot of questions with this revamped group which makes it hard to raise them higher. If Williams is healthy and productive and the rest of the room meets or exceeds expectations this could end up being the best unit in the division. If not, it won't fall below second place simply because Wilson is just that good.
1. Miami Dolphins
The depth chart: all-world receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle lead the way. Veterans Odell Beckham Jr., River Cracraft, former Jets wideout Braxton Berrios, and rookie Malik Washington round out the unit.
Hill is a top-three receiver in the game today. His blazing speed makes him a threat to beat defenses in a variety of ways. He's posted back-to-back 1,700+ receiving yards seasons and last year led the league in touchdowns with 13. Simply put, his speed makes him a nightmare to cover and a threat to score every time he gets the ball in his hands.
Waddle is another speed demon who would be a No. 1 receiver on many teams. He's started his career with three straight 1,000+ receiving yard seasons and led the league in 2022 in yards per reception with 18.1. One wonders how much more productive he'd be if Hill wasn't taking on so much volume.
That duo might be the best in the league. They also play in a scheme that emphasizes yards after the catch which makes their speed that much more deadly.
Following them up is Odell Beckham Jr. No longer a true No. 1 receiver, Beckham still has enough juice to produce in a more limited role as long as he stays healthy. Last season with Baltimore he caught 35 balls for 565 yards which was good for 16.1 yards per catch proving he can still make plays downfield.
Former Jet Braxton Berrios serves as the fourth receiver. As Jets fans know, that's a role he's suited for where schemed touches and gadget plays can allow his shiftiness in the open field to shine. If forced into a bigger role, however, his limitations begin to show.
Cracraft is a typical depth receiver. Never tallying more than nine catches in a season and now soon to be 30 he's nothing to write home about.
The real X-factor is rookie Malik Washington. At just five-foot-8 he's in the third percentile for height among receivers, but his 42.5-inch vertical is in the 98th percentile. That corresponds with his Virginia tape where he often made contested catches that receivers his size have no business making.
With some decent speed and YAC ability, he fits nicely with what Miami wants to do with their passing attack. Again the normal rookie caveat applies, but he could rise up the depth chart and supplant Beckham, Berrios, and Cracraft in the pecking order.
Miami's receiver corps doesn't have the variety that of the Jets, but the talent and pure speed as well as picture-perfect scheme fit make them the clear preseason number one unit. That could change with injuries or ineffectiveness further down the depth chart, but for now, the receiver crown resides in Miami.
