NFL 2016: The NFL's Elite Receivers

NFL 2016: The NFL's Elite Receivers

The rise of pass-oriented NFL offenses has led to an abundance of elite talent at wide receiver. And there are some great ones. Here's the best wide receivers in the NFL today, heading into the regular season

NFL 2016 Top 20 Receiving Leaders

Last season, four wide receivers -- Julio Jones (1,871) of the Atlanta Falcons, Antonio Brown (1,834) of the Pittsburgh Steelers, De Andre Hopkins (1,521) of the Houston Texans, and Brandon Marshall (1,502) of the New York Jets -- recorded at least 1,500 receiving yards, tied for the most such players in a season in NFL history (1995, 2014).

A look at the three seasons which featured four players with at least 1,500 receiving yards:

Four players with at least 1,500 receiving yards

2015			2014			1995
Player	Team	Yards	Player	Team	Yards	Player	Team	Yards
Source: NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer*
Julio Jones	Atl.	1,871	Antonio Brown	Pit.	1,698	Jerry Rice*	SF	1,848
Antonio Brown	Pit.	1,834	Demaryius Thomas	Den.	1,619	Isaac Bruce	StL	1,781
DeAndre Hopkins	Hou.	1,521	Julio Jones	Atl.	1,593	Herman Moore	Det.	1,686
Brandon Marshall	NYJ	1,502	Jordy Nelson	GB	1,519	Michael Irvin*	Dal.	1,603

Check out the NFL's Best:
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Seven players caught at least 100 passes in 2015, the second-most players with 100+ receptions in a single season:

Most players with 100+ receptions in a single season

Season	Players
Source: NFL
1995	9
2015	7
2012	6
2009	6
2007	6
2001	6

The seven players with at least 100 catches in 2015:

Players with at least 100 catches

Player	Team	Catches
Source: NFL
Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh	136
Julio Jones	Atlanta	136
DeAndre Hopkins	Houston	111
Jarvis Landry	Miami	110
Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona	109
Brandon Marshall	New York Jets	109
Demaryius Thomas	Denver	105

The 136 receptions by Antonio Brown and Julio Jones last season were the second-most in a single season in NFL history (Marvin Harrison, 143 in 2002). The players with the most catches in a single season:

All-Time Single Season Reception Leaders

Player	Team	Season	Receptions	Yards	Average	TD
Source: NFL
Marvin Harrison	Indianapolis	2002	143	1,722	12.0	11
Julio Jones	Atlanta	2015	136	1,871	13.8	8
Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh	2015	136	1,834	13.5	10
Herman Moore	Detroit	1995	123	1,686	13.7	14
Wes Welker	New England	2009	123	1,348	11.0	4

The NFL's Most Targeted Receivers

Elite wide receivers earn plenty of attention from opposing defensive backs, but they still get plenty of it from their quarterbacks, too.

Last season, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones was targeted 203 times to lead all receivers. Only Calvin Johnson (204 in 2012) and Marvin Harrison (205 in 2002) have had more targets in a season in the past 15 years.

Jones puts much of the credit on the shoulders of his quarterback, MATT RYAN.

"Matt has all the faith in the world in me and I have the same in him," says Jones. "We're a team. When my number is called, I've got to step up and make those plays. Matt is just going to keep being Matt Ryan, throwing great balls and we'll see the outcome."

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was targeted 193 times. After setting franchise records for receptions and receiving yards in 2014, he topped both those numbers with 136 receptions and 1,834 receiving yards in 2015.

Since 2013, Brown has been targeted a league-high 540 times and leads the NFL in receptions (375) and receiving yards (5,031) over that span as well.

Most Targeted Receivers in 2015

Player	Team	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Average
Source: NFL
Julio Jones	Atlanta	203	136	1,871	13.8
Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh	193	136	1,834	13.5
DeAndre Hopkins	Houston	192	111	1,521	13.7
Demaryius Thomas	Denver	177	105	1,304	12.4
Brandon Marshall	New York Jets	173	109	1,502	13.8

Most Targeted Receivers Since 2013

Player	Team(s)	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Average
Source: NFL
Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh	540	375	5,031	13.4
Demaryius Thomas	Denver	503	308	4,353	14.1
Brandon Marshall	Chicago, Jets	442	270	3,518	13.0
Calvin Johnson	Detroit	434	243	3,783	15.6
A.J. Green	Cincinnati	426	253	3,764	14.9
Julio Jones	Atlanta	426	281	4,044	14.4

Reaching 1,000 Career Receptions

Last season, three players -- wide receiver Anquan Boldin (with San Francisco), wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona) and tight end Jason Witten (Dallas) -- reached the 1,000-reception mark for their careers. It marked the first time in NFL history that three players recorded their 1,000th career catch in the same season.

Boldin, Fitzgerald and Witten joined nine other players -- including Pro Football Hall of Famers Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter and Tim Brown -- as the only players in NFL history to record at least 1,000 career catches.

"To me, the highest honor you can have is when people say you played the game at a high level and you played it at a high level for a long time," says Witten, who joined TONY GONZALEZ as the only tight ends in NFL history to reach 1,000 career receptions. "To reach a milestone like this, that is consistency. I can't even put into words what an honor it is."

The players with 1,000 career receptions:

NFL All-Time Career Reception Leaders

Player	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Source: NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer*
Jerry Rice*	1,549	22,895	197
Tony Gonzalez	1,325	15,127	111
Marvin Harrison*	1,102	14,580	128
Cris Carter*	1,101	13,899	130
Tim Brown*	1,094	14,934	100
Terrell Owens	1,078	15,934	153
Reggie Wayne	1,070	14,345	82
Andre Johnson	1,053	14,100	68
Isaac Bruce	1,024	15,208	91
Jason Witten	1,020	11,215	60
Larry Fitzgerald	1,018	13,366	98
Anquan Boldin	1,009	13,195	74