Prior to the 2021 NFL season, rookies will be counted on to contribute big numbers for the league’s most potent passing offenses. Four quarterbacks will be selected in the first round of the draft, which will be a record for the most QBs selected in a first round. This will be a season of stars for receivers, as many of them will break through and make big impacts on their teams. Here are 10 prospects who will be key players for their teams in a pivotal year.
It’s the first day of training camp and the 2019 season is only a couple months away. We thought it would be fun to look ahead to 2021 and see which wide receiver duos are entering the proving ground that is the upcoming NFL season.
Last year, the Baltimore Ravens signed both wide receivers John Brown and Willie Snead Jr. to earn a total of $10.6 million per year, the most paid to wide receiver duos in the NFL. Both Brown and Snead were third in total receiving yards, and Brown tied the most touchdowns on the team with Snead. Their combined production was 78 catches for 1,042 yards, which was second-most on the team behind the 74 catches and 1,083 yards that Michael Crabtree and Willie Snead Jr. had.. Read more about best wide receiver duos 2021 and let us know what you think.
Randy Moss is a well-known actor. Brown, Antonio Odell Beckham Jr. is a football player from the United States. While quarterbacks will always be the most visible players in the NFL, wide receivers are often close behind them, since the greatest wideouts radiate both skill and personality. What about their sidekicks, though? A great receiver can only do so much (maybe with the exception of Calvin Johnson), which is why a dynamic receiving tandem can often open the way to a really explosive attack.
It’s critical to acknowledge excellence in the midst of adversity. Let’s take a look at the top 10 wide receiver duos entering the next season, since we live in perhaps the most talented receiving generation in history:
10. Miami Dolphins’ Will Fuller V and Devante Parker
Despite the fact that both Will Fuller and Devante Parker have been plagued by injuries throughout their careers, there’s no doubting the quality they bring to the field. Parker’s lone 1,000-yard season came in 2019, when he had 72 catches for 1202 yards, but with Parker, Mike Gesicki, and the recently acquired Fuller, it’s hard to dispute that the Miami Dolphins have a more intriguing receiving corps in the NFL. If they stay healthy, Fuller and Parker have a chance to move up the list.
Allen has amassed at least 992 receiving yards and 97+ receptions in every season since 2017, while operating in Anthony Lynn’s run-centric system. There is probably no more dependable and consistent wideout in the NFL now than he is as the apex of modern-day route running.
Williams, on the other hand, had a 1,000-yard season only two seasons ago, en way to topping the league in yards per catch (20.4). Williams can stretch the field on downfield shot plays with the best of them, with to his 6’4 size, 4.54 40 yard sprint, and some of the finest ball skills in the game. Expect huge statistics from this combination, especially with record-breaking quarterback Justin Herbert poised to make the jump to fame.
It’s odd to see Boyd and a second-year player ahead of more intriguing names like Keenan Allen and Will Fuller, but Boyd and Higgins’ relative lack of fame is certainly not their fault.
Boyd has two 1,000-yard seasons in the past three years, with a 66.9% catch rate, and would have been three for three had Joe Burrow not had an ACL injury late in 2020. Higgins, the 33rd overall selection in the 2020 draft, exceeded expectations in his rookie seasons and can only get better from here. Despite being buried behind A.J. Green on the depth chart to begin the season, he recorded 908 receiving yards. He’s shown that he’s ready to take over as the team’s No. 1 receiver in 2021.
7. Cleveland Browns’ Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry
While the popular perception of OBJ and Jarvis Landry is that they are two older receivers who have seen their best days, a closer look at the statistics reveals a tandem that is still great. Landry has averaged 996 yards per season in his three seasons with Cleveland, while maintaining a PFF receiving grade above 80 in each of the past two seasons. Beckham has yet to finish with less than 1,000 receiving yards in a season in which he has played more than seven games, while Beckham has yet to finish with less than 1,000 receiving yards in a season in which he has played more than seven games.
Don’t be shocked if OBJ and Landry finally have a year when their connection and performance come together for big-time output after the Browns’ failed Freddie Kitchens experiment and a slew of skill-position injuries in 2020.
Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods are ranked sixth and sixth, respectively.
Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods have been as dependable a receiving combination as it comes over the past three seasons, despite their lack of silverware (no Pro Bowls!). Despite playing with a somewhat unexplosive quarterback in Jared Goff, the two combined for over 1,100 yards in 2019.
Now that former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has arrived in town, the two should be able to elevate their games and their statistics to new heights, since Stafford has a history of facilitating massive throwing numbers.
Kupp and Woods are two players that any team might use — tough, rugged players who excel at both run blocking and pass receiving.
5. Dallas Cowboys’ Amari Cooper and Ceedee Lamb
We’ve finally arrived at the meat of the list. The sky is the limit for Amari Cooper and Ceedee Lamb in 2021. Even with Dallas’ often-anemic offensive assault shouldering the burden after Dak Presott’s injury, Cooper and last year’s 17th overall selection combined for over 2,000 yards receiving last year.
Before Prescott’s horrific injury, he was on his way to breaking all kinds of passing records, so this could’ve been a combo for the ages. Everyone recognizes these two players’ tremendous skill; the only thing standing in the way of a wild year filled with absurd point totals will be their health.
4. Seattle Seahawks’ D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
When “let Russ cook” kicked off the 2020 season, it seemed as though Lockett and Metcalf were on their way to having one of the greatest WR tandem seasons in NFL history. Though the Seahawks offensive ultimately slowed and their statistics dropped, D.K. and Lockett’s figures at the conclusion of the season were nothing to laugh at. Each had at least 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns, with Metcalf leading the way with 1,300 yards in just his second season.
Metcalf, a big-bodied tank with amazing straight-line speed, and Lockett, an agile, dynamic playmaker who can create separation at whim, are a unique combination in that they have completely different skill sets yet can extend the field and smash the ball in at the goal line at the same time. Any improvement over last year’s performance should propel them into the top three.
3. Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen
Though Dalvin Cook’s system is built on rushing the ball, Jefferson and Thielen combined for 2,325 yards and 21 touchdowns last season. Jefferson set a rookie record with 1,400 receiving yards, indicating that he has the makings of a perennial Pro Bowl player.
Even in their first year together, Jefferson, Thielen, and Kirk Cousins showed a synergy marching down the field that is uncommon even among veteran colleagues. This duo’s physical talents are less apparent than their timing, precise route-running, and offensive schematics, but it doesn’t make them any less successful.
Evans and Godwin may be the best combination in terms of achievement and current skill, especially now that they have a ring under their belts. Evans has been in three Pro Bowls and has never had a season with less than 1,000 receiving yards, while Godwin has averaged over 83 yards per game the last two seasons.
No one can deny that these two make an exceptional combination with legendary quarterback Tom Brady – and with Antonio Brown set to return in 2021, the Bucs will be difficult to stop once again.
1. Tennessee Titans’ Julio Jones and A.J. Brown
The Titans now have the most freakishly athletic WR duo in a longggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg They also have the data to back it up.
Brown has put in straight 1,000-yard seasons to start his career, and he really has the type of potential to become a Jones-level receiver, with sub-4.5 speed and the power to dominate defenders in the slot. Julio, despite missing 9 games last season due to injury, was still on pace for 1,371 yards in a 16-game season. His 16-game pace was the slowest he’d had since 2013.
If that doesn’t persuade you that these two are by far the greatest receiving combo in the league, I don’t know what will. NFL, take note. The Titans are on line for a successful season.
The 2021 NFL season is set to be an exciting one for fans of the league, as it’s the first time the league has a 10-team playoff system. But, which players will make the cut? While some of the league’s best quarterbacks and defenders will have their moments, some of the most intriguing story lines involve the league’s top wide receivers.. Read more about best receivers in nfl 2021 and let us know what you think.
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