Top 10 wide receiver trios heading into 2024 NFL season
Top 10 wide receiver trios heading into 2024 NFL season
Major shakeups at the wide receiver position have fans excited to see what new-look offenses will look like heading into the 2024 NFL season.
Players like Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen and Diontae Johnson ended up traded this offseason. The likes of Hollywood Brown, Calvin Ridley and Mike Williams signed with new teams. A major infusion of high-end draft picks like Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze has shaken up the wide receiver market, too.
With all these moves changing the way teams’ wide receiver rooms, it begs the question: who has the best wide receiver trio in the NFL?
This isn’t the ranking of the best tandems in the game, nor is it the best top-to-bottom rooms in the league. Rather, this is meant to look at the best groups of three wide receivers the NFL has to offer. Last year, 26 of the 32 teams in the league had 11 personnel rates of above 50%, and 23 of them used it at a 60% rate or higher. Chances are, if you’re lining up for an offensive play in today’s NFL, you have three wide receivers on the field.
To look at the best of the best, I’ve decided to rank my top 10 wide receiver trios heading into the 2024 NFL season.
Honorable mentions: Titans (Hopkins, Ridley, Burks), Browns (Cooper, Jeudy, Moore), Chiefs (Rice, Brown, Worthy), Packers (Watson, Reed, Doubs)
The Packers might genuinely have the deepest 5-man receiver room in the NFL, but they lack the high-end star power to crack the list. Inconsistency with Brown and Rice’s seemingly inevitable suspension knock Kansas City just outside of the top, but the ceiling with the group is sky high. Cooper is still a bonafide WR1, and though both Jeudy and Moore have fallen short of their expectations heading into the league, they’re still solid enough starters.
Tennessee is probably my No. 11 group, as Hopkins is still a star performer manning the WR1 role. Ridley had a quietly great 2023 campaign, topping 1,000 receiving yards and tallying 76 receptions. My concern comes with Burks, a third-year former first-round pick who hasn’t topped 450 yards in a single season and only has one NFL touchdown to his name. I wouldn’t be stunned if the Titans crack the list by the end of the year, but a lot rides on Burks avoiding the “bust” label in Year 3.
10. Indianapolis Colts: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Adonai Mitchell
The Colts’ group might honestly be my sleeper of the bunch. Downs had a strong rookie year, Pittman has averaged 1,000 yards over the last three years, and Mitchell offers a very high ceiling, especially as a second-round pick.
They rank lower in the top 10 because of the respective sample sizes of WR2 and WR3. However, the upside with this group is very high, and if Colts head coach Shane Steichen can maximize Anthony Richardson the way he maximized Gardner Minshew last year, the ceiling is very high for this group.
9. Minnesota Vikings: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Brandon Powell
Jefferson’s resume and abilities speak for themselves. He is, for my money, the best wide receiver in the NFL today. With 392 catches and 5,899 yards in his first four seasons in the league, it’s safe to say he’s a bonafide difference-maker, even after missing 7 games in 2023. His absence opened up big-time opportunities for rookie Jordan Addison, who had 70 catches, 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. With a full NFL offseason, he could realistically crack 1,000 yards and then some, even with JJeff’s return.
The only reason the Vikings don’t rank higher is because of their WR situation. KJ Osborn, their WR3 last year, departed for New England in free agency. Now, their third wide receiver is Brandon Powell. He had a career year in 2023, but that career year consisted of not even 325 receiving yards. He has a lot to prove this coming season. Granted, this shouldn’t hurt Minnesota given their starting tight end is T.J. Hockenson, but unfortunately for them, we’re not including tight ends in the mix here.
8. Cincinnati Bengals: Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Trenton Irwin
If the Bengals trade Higgins, this group would realistically fall down these rankings quite a bit. Even in a down year for him, he’s one of the top WR2s in the league and should be in for a massive payday, no matter who gives it to him. Chase holds down the fort as a high-end No. 1 target with 268 receptions, 3,717 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first two seasons in the league.
Cincinnati didn’t re-sign long-term starter Tyler Boyd, opening up a Boyd-shaped void in their receiver room. Irwin was the next-most-targeted receiver still on the roster, giving him the WR3 mantle for the time being. Younger options like 2023 draft pick Andrei Iosivas and rookie Jermaine Burton are talented weapons who could push him for that spot, but as of now, there isn’t a proven starting-caliber player in the role yet.
7. Los Angeles Rams: Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Tutu Atwell
This ranking is a bit tricky due to some of the questions surrounding this group. Can Nacua replicate the magic of his stellar rookie year? Is Kupp on the decline, and if so, will that continue in 2024? How much stock do you put in Atwell’s tremendous first three games of the 2023 season, as opposed to the rest of his young career?
Regardless, there’s still plenty of talent in the Rams’ wide receiver room. Nacua was a second-team All-Pro as a fifth-round rookie, shattering nearly every rookie receiving record in the book. Kupp was the Offensive Player of the Year in 2021 and was on pace to break 1,500 yards in 2022 before getting hurt. And as for how inconsistent the beginning of Atwell’s career has been, there’s clearly some untapped potential there.
6. San Francisco 49ers: Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall
The trade rumors surrounding both Aiyuk and Samuel are hard to ignore, making them a potential team to drop down this list. That said, the 49ers still have one of the top receiver duos for the time being with an intriguing first-round rookie
Aiyuk has taken over as San Francisco’s de facto WR1 with his performances the last two years. He has combined for 153 catches, 2,357 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in the last couple seasons and is a safer bet to stay healthy than Deebo, who has missed 6 games in that span and has seen his efficiency drop in the passing game considerably. That said, he’s still a tantalizing size-speed threat with 17 combined touchdowns from scrimmage the last two years. Throw in Pearsall, an athletic, tough and coordinated receiver with a high football IQ, and a dangerous 49ers offense just got even better.
5. Philadelphia Eagles: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, DeVante Parker
A strong argument could be made that the Eagles have the best wide receiver duo in the league. Brown and Smith have both easily surpassed 1,000 receiving yards each of the two years they’ve played together, and Brown is just one of two wide receivers to place in the top-5 in receiving yards each of the last two seasons.
Philadelphia hasn’t desperately needed a great WR3, as tight end Dallas Goedert serves as a quality third option for them in the passing game. However, it has been a noticeable hole on what has otherwise been a stacked roster. Quez Watkins was a decent enough option, but he missed time with hamstring injuries in 2023 and has since left for Pittsburgh. Parker is a decent enough option, though he’s a far cry from his 1,202-yard campaign with the Dolphins in 2019. Their tandem gets the Eagles into the top 5, and if this was just a wide receiver tandem list, they might be No. 1. They’ll need consistent WR3 play for their trio to rank any higher, though.
4. Seattle Seahawks: D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba
The Seahawks did a good job of factoring JSN in with their existing starting tandem in 2023, as all three of them surpassed 90 targets in the passing game. Metcalf is the clear WR1, as a two-time Pro Bowler who has had over 900 receiving yards in all five seasons he’s played in the league and surpassed 1,000 yards in three of them.
Despite having his second-highest target total of his career, Lockett failed to reach 1,000 yards for the first time since 2018. His 52.6 yards per game last year was his lowest total since he started becoming a full-time starter at receiver in that aforementioned 2018 campaign. He’s still clearly one of the best WR2 options in the NFL, but a decline might require attention. While Lockett had a down year in 2023, JSN’s best football might still be ahead of him. He showcased some serious flashes as a rookie, and while he wasn’t always a huge priority for the Seahawks’ passing game, he had a handful of impressive games last year and figures to play a bigger role in Year 2.
3. Miami Dolphins: Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr.
If the Eagles don’t have the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL, that honor surely goes to the Dolphins. Miami surely has the fastest duo in the game, with Hill and Waddle providing game-breaking speed that makes the offense very tough to stop. Hill is the other receiver beside A.J. Brown to finish in the top-5 in receiving yards in the last two years, placing second and first in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Waddle has topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three years in the NFL, even after missing three games in 2023. He’s a safe bet to pick up big plays through the air, and at 25 years old, there should still be several more years of elite play from him. The Dolphins just signed OBJ to their roster, which should be an upgrade over the inconsistency they’ve had at their WR3 spot the last few years. His days as a Pro Bowl-caliber player are long gone, and he’s more of a recognizable name than an impact player at this stage of his career. That said, he’s still good for a decent 40 yards per game, and with the tandem Miami has in front of him, that’s still pretty damn acceptable.
2. Chicago Bears: DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze
The inspiration for this article, the Chicago Bears’ new wide receiver trio is arguably the best group the franchise has ever seen on paper. Moore and Allen placed 6th and 11th in the NFL in receiving yards, respectively, making Chicago the only team in the league with two top-12 receivers heading into the 2024 season.
Moore exploded for a career year as the Bears’ WR1 in his first year with the team, truly cementing himself into elite status despite what had already been a great career before that point. The Bears also acquired Allen, who has averaged 1,130 yards over the last 7 seasons and placed fourth in the NFL in yards per game, only missing out of the top 10 in receiving yards due to missing four games to injury.
Chicago topped it all off by drafting Odunze with the No. 9 overall pick. The rookie had 167 catches, 2,785 receiving yards and 20 receiving touchdowns in his last two years at Washington, and he was a consensus All-American in 2023. He’s a big, fast, coordinated, physical, intelligent receiver with legitimate WR1 upside. For all the wonders new Bears offensive coordinator did with Seattle’s trio last year, I think he has an even better group on his hands at his new job in 2024.
As is the case with all rookies, though, you have to temper Odunze’s Year 1 expectations a tiny bit until he proves himself at the NFL level. His collegiate tape and his potential, along with the proven value of two genuine WR1s in Moore and Allen, gives the Bears my top wide receiver trio in the NFC by a comfortable margin. I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you had them in the top spot in the league already. However, I don’t have them as No. 1 quite yet…
1. Houston Texans: Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell
I love what the Texans did this offseason. Coming off the heels of an unexpected AFC South crown and a win in the Wild Card round, they went all-out in surrounding Pro Bowl rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud with talent in Year 2. They signed star pass-rusher Danielle Hunter to pair with Will Anderson Jr., they added Denico Autry to the defensive line after an 11.5-sack season, and they brought in Azeez Al-Shaair at linebacker, who placed fifth in the NFL in tackles for the Titans in 2023.
Perhaps no move, though, was as surprising as trading for Diggs.
Hell, if they hadn’t traded for him, the Texans would probably still be in the top-10 somewhere. Collins exploded in Year 3 with 1,297 receiving yards, which was good enough to placed him 8th in the NFL last year. Dell was well on his way to a 1,000-yard rookie season before a season-ending fractured fibula. Houston even has a great WR4 in Noah Brown, who placed fourth in the league with 17.2 yards per reception.
It’s almost no fair to add in Diggs, who is a four-time consecutive Pro Bowler with six 1,000-yard seasons in a row and 100 receptions in five of his last six seasons. His yards per game slipped from 89.3 in 2022 to 69.6 in 2023, but his ability to stay healthy over the years has allowed him to maximize his usage. The Texans even extended tight end Dalton Schultz and traded for running back Joe Mixon on top of that. Not only does Houston have arguably the best wide receiver trio in the league, but they might have the most stacked offense in the league on paper, period.