NFL wide receiver rankings: Find out who the top pass-catchers are throughout the 2022 season. These rankings can help with your fantasy football and daily fantasy teams as we dig deep with advanced stats and a whole lot more.
In a list that will be updated weekly throughout the 2022 season, we give you our NFL wide receiver rankings heading into Week 17.
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15. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Mike Evans stats (2022): 67 receptions, 917 yards, 3 TD, 58.3% catch rate, 4 drops (3.5%)
Evans has struggled more this season than at any point in his career. A lot of that has to do with the regression of Tom Brady under center in Tampa. But we must note that the record-breaking receiver has not caught a touchdown since back in Week 4. This should be some cause for alarm among fantasy owners heading into Week 17.
14. Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
- Brandon Aiyuk stats (2022): 65 receptions, 855 yards, 7 TD, 67.0% catch rate, 5 drops (5.2%)
Aiyuk has been absolutely brilliant in his third NFL season, especially with the ball in his hands. The former first-round pick is averaging an absurd 5.5 yards after the catch. San Francisco quarterbacks also boast a 114.4 QB rating when targeting the Arizona State product. This has Aiyuk making his first appearance in our NFL wide receiver rankings heading into Week 17.
13. Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
- Garrett Wilson stats (2022): 71 receptions, 996 yards, 4 TD, 59.7% catch rate, 4 drops (3.4%)
Another young receiver who has made a name for himself, Wilson continues to produce despite the Jets’ disastrous situation at quarterback. The rookie first-round pick from Ohio State has tallied three 100-yard games in his first NFL season. Over the course of the past five games, he’s totaled 27 receptions for 463 yrds while hauling in two scores. If this weren’t enough, Wilson has broken eight tackles on 71 catches.
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12. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
- Amon-Ra St. Brown stats (2022): 96 receptions, 1,050 yards, 6 TD, 72.7% catch rate, 3 drops (2.3%)
Over the course of his first 23 career games, St. Brown has hauled in 186 catches for 1,962 yards while catching 74% of his targets. This has him in some absolutely elite company. In fact, the USC product broke a league record by registering six consecutive games with at least eight catches and a touchdown spanning his rookie and sophomore campaigns. Most recently, he’s dominated to the tune of 57 catches for 651 yards over the Lions’ past seven games. That seems pretty good.
11. Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
- Terry McLaurin stats (2022): 72 receptions, 1,092 yards, 4 TD, 66.1% catch rate, 2 drops (1.8%)
Washington’s group of average quarterbacks boast a 107.3 QB rating when targeting this recently-extended star. He’s averaging 5.2 yards after the catch and has just two drops on 109 targets this season. As underrated as McLaurin might be from a league-wide perspective, Commanders fans know what they have in this team leader.
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10. Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
- Tee Higgins (2022): 73 receptions, 1,022 yards, 7 TD, 71.6% catch rate, 6 drops (5.9%)
There’s now a darn good chance that the 23-year-old Higgins will either cash in big time this offseason with an extension or become the top NFL free agent receiver in 2024. A star during his time at Clemson, Higgins is in the midst of a second consecutive 1,000-yard season catching passes from Joe Burrow. Sure Ja’Marr Chase might get most of the play in Cincinnati, but this kid is already among the top 10 in our NFL wide receiver rankings heading into Week 17.
9. DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
- DeAndre Hopkins stats (2022): 64 receptions, 717 yards, 3 TD, 66.7% catch rate, 5 drops (5.2%)
Hopkins was on pace for a seventh career 1,000-yard season earlier in the campaign despite serving a six-game suspension. Unfortunately, Kyler Murray’s injury has impacted the veteran receiver big time. He caught just one pass on four targets against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week and has topped his drop numbers from the previous two seasons combined with five. But from a micro perspective, he’s still an elite pass-catcher in the NFL.
8. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
- CeeDee Lamb stats (2022): 91 receptions, 1,207 yards, 8 TD, 67.4% catch rate, 4 drops (3.0%)
Lamb’s dominance over the past two games can’t go unnoticed. He’s caught 17-of-18 targets for 246 yards and two touchdowns as Dallas continues to look like one of the top Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. Dak Prescott boasts a 102.9 QB rating when targeting Lamb, too. This third-year receiver certainly has stepped into a WR1 role for the ‘Boys.
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7. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
- Jaylen Waddle stats (2022): 67 receptions, 1,260 yards, 8 TD, 62.6% catch rate, 7 drops (6.5%)
After struggles against the 49ers and Chargers over a two-game span earlier in December, Waddle has picked it up big time. He’s caught eight passes for a resounding 257 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games, continuing his elite-level play heading into Week 17. The only issue here is how Waddle will perform with Teddy Bridgewater tossing him the rock instead of Tua Tagovailoa over the final two games.
6. A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
- A.J. Brown stats (2022): 80 receptions, 1,304 yards, 10 TD, 63.5% catch rate, 5 drops (4.8%)
Brown ascends our NFL wide receiver rankings after putting up 27 catches for 473 yards and three touchdowns over the past four games. But his advanced stats are elite. He’s averaging nearly six yards after the catch with NFL MVP candidate Jalen Hurts boasting a 123.2 QB rating when targeting the wide receiver. Whew!
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5. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders
- Davante Adams stats (2022): 88 receptions, 1,290 yards, 12 TD, 55.0% catch rate, 5 drops (3.1%)
It’s crazy to think about just how brilliant Adams has been in his first season without catching passes from Aaron Rodgers despite the Raiders’ overall struggles. Unfortunately, the benching of Derek Carr coupled with Adams’ recent struggles (six catches for 43 yards the past two games) drops him a tad in our NFL wide receiver rankings heading into Week 17.
4. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
- Ja’Marr Chase stats (2022): 79 receptions, 960 yards, 8 TD, 65.3% catch rate, 9 drops (7.4%)
Despite missing four games to injury, Chase is still on pace to catch 94 passes for 1,134 yards. He’s also tallied 160 receptions for 2,415 yards and 21 touchdowns over the course of his first 28 NFL games. That’s elite.
3. Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
- Stefon Diggs stats (2022): 101 receptions, 1,325 yards, 10 TD, 70.1% catch rate, 7 drops (4.9%)
One of the best NFL receivers over the past several years, Diggs has picked it up again in 2022, finding himself on pace to catch 130 passes for 1,715 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’s also averaging a robust 4.1 yards after the catch with Josh Allen tallying a 119.1 QB rating when targeting him.
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2. Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
- Tyreek Hill stats (2022): 113 receptions, 1,632 yards, 7 TD, 71.5% catch rate, 8 drops (5.1%)
How good has the All-Pro been through 16 weeks with his new Dolphins team? Hill is now on pace for 128 receptions and 1,850 yards. He also has six 100-yard games and has seen Dolphins signal callers post a 106.3 QB rating when targeting him. This has Hill among our top players in Sportsnaut’s Week 17 NFL wide receiver rankings.
1. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
- Justin Jefferson stats (2022): 123 receptions, 1,756 yards, 8 TD, 70.7% catch rate, 5 drops (2.9%)
Insane. Simply sensational. Out of this world. That’s the best way to describe what we’ve seen from this third-year player in 2022. Jefferson has tallied 35 catches for 479 yards in the past three games alone. This has him on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season yards mark for a wide receiver. Yeah, there’s no comparison in the NFL today.