Ranking the NFL’s 5 best deep-ball wide receivers

Which NFL wide receivers are the top deep-ball catchers in the NFL?

Last season alone, 288 receptions of 40+ yards were hauled in by NFL pass-catchers. The “deep-ball” is one of the exciting aspects of the game and seemingly has been since the inception of football. Of those 288 deep-catches, 37 percent resulted in touchdowns for the receiver and quarterback. That is probably why deep receptions are so rip-roaringly exciting; they are flashy, serve as pivotal moments in respective games, and are fantasy football points galore.

Just as passing the football as a whole has increased, so have deep balls. In the year 2000, 230 catches of 40+ yards were hauled in by receivers. Compared to 2019, that is a 25 percent spike. The NFL appears to champion this pass-happy trend as many rules have been altered to enhance player safety, throwing the football, and offense in general.

Several personal attributes can enable a player to excel in deep-ball receiving acumen: speed, route-running, height, jumping ability, and hands are some of the keynote skills needed to thrive.

This analysis has a specific set of “rules,” so to speak, in defining deep-ball success. A yardage threshold of 40 yards is implemented to designated a deep reception. These catches of 40 yards or more are then divided by the number of targets the player is allotted. A “target” is classified as a play in which the quarterback throws the football in the receiver’s direction. The deep-ball reception versus the target creates a ratio of deep-receptions-to-target, and a percentage is assigned.

Honorable mentions to this list of five receivers are Tennessee Titans receiver A.J. Brown and Green Bay Packers wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling. A 100-reception minimum was set to establish a baseline for deep-ball catching consistency. Had this minimum reception total been smaller, Brown and Valdes-Scantling would have placed in the top five.

The following five wide receivers are the best in the NFL since 2017 in snatching deep-catches and are ranked in a least-to-most order.

Note: All stats are courtesy of Pro Football Reference.