There’s been a changing of the guard in the NFC East quarterback hierarchy, and a major part of Jalen Hurts passing Dak Prescott centers around his dynamic duo at wide receiver.
The NFL’s most competitive division has elite talent at the wide receiver spot, with every team except the Giants have a bonafide trio of players to rely on.
With training camp quickly approaching for all 32 NFL teams, we’re ranking the best wide receivers in the NFC East from top to bottom.
14. Wandale Robinson, Giants
2022 stats: 23 catches 227 yards 1 touchdown
13. Isaiah Hodgins, Giants
2022 stats: 37 catches 392 yards 4 touchdowns
Drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 2021 NFL Draft, Hodgins had a solid 2022 season.
In eight games, he racked up 33 receptions for 351 yards and four touchdowns.
12. Paris Campbell, Giants
Campbell spent four seasons with the Colts and finally had a breakout season, posting career highs in both receptions (63) and yards (623).
11. Quez Watkins, Eagles
2022 stats: 33 catches, 354 yards, 3 touchdowns
Last season Watkins regressed with the arrival of A.J. Brown, getting 51 total targets for 33 catches, 354 yards, and three touchdowns.
Watkins had far fewer explosive plays in 2022 and was responsible for a Jalen Hurts interception in Week 15 against the Chicago Bears and two of Gardner Minshew’s interceptions in a Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Philadelphia is stacked at the skill position groups, and it’ll be hard for Watkins to duplicate his 2021 stat line of 43 catches for 647 yards. The hope is that Watkins can return to averaging 15.7 yards per catch after a career-low 10.7 yards per catch in 2022.
10. Michael Gallup, Cowboys
2022 stats: 39 catches, 424 yards 4 touchdowns
Michael Gallup should be more explosive another year removed from ACL surgery.
9. Olamide Zaccheaus, Eagles
2022 stats: 40 catches, 533 yards 3 touchdowns
Zaccheaus averaged 4.8 yards after the catch last season, the 20th-best in the league.
He offers versatility as a route runner and can separate in the short and intermediate areas. The Eagles can utilize his speed to challenge defensive coverage on vertical routes.
8. Curtis Samuel, Commanders
2022 stats: 64 catches, 656 yards, four touchdowns
Samuel caught nearly 70% of his targets for ten yards per reception and had an overall PFF grade and a receiving grade over 70. Samuel is a solid slot receiver to mix into the offense with Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson.
7. Darius Slayton, Giants
2022 stats: 46 catches, 724 yards, 2 touchdowns
Slayton has three seasons of over 700 receiving yards in his young four-year career.
6. Jahan Dotson, Commanders
2022 stats: 35 catches, 523 yards, 7 touchdowns
The former Penn State star only played in twelve games but put up over 500 yards and a whopping seven touchdowns. A dynamic threat in the open field, Dotson also averages almost 15 yards a reception.
5. Brandin Cook, Cowboys
2022 stats: 57 catches, 699 yards, 3 touchdowns
Cooks will be moving on to his fifth team in the NFL when he joins the Cowboys, and he’s produced at every stop. Cooks has posted 1,000-yard seasons for each of the four franchises he’s played for, including three different organizations over three years.
Cooks is a savvy route runner and will help CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott out tremendously.
4. DeVonta Smith, Eagles
2022 stats: 95 catches, 1196 yards, seven touchdowns
A.J. Brown‘s arrival provided a trickle-down impact for everyone on the Eagles’ offense. DeVonta Smith improved in almost every receiving metric, including yards per route run, and passes thrown his way generated a 114.1 passer rating in the regular season.
Smith broke Philadelphia’s record for catches in a season by a wide receiver.
3. CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys
2022 stats: 107 catches, 1359 yards, 9 touchdowns
Lamb’s production should rise with Brandin Cooks on the roster to keep defenses honest. Last season, with no Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup returning from injury, Lamb set career highs in targets, catches, yards, touchdowns, and yards per route run. He posted the lowest drop rate of his career.
2. Terry McLaurin, Commanders
2022 stats: 77 catches, 1191 yards, five touchdowns
Last year McLaurin had a career-high 1,191 yards on 15.5 yards per catch with five touchdowns and a PFF receiving grade of 83.
Since coming into the league, McLaurin has racked up more than 4,200 yards and 460 targets in four seasons with an ugly list of quarterbacks throwing him 21 touchdowns. He has a PFF receiving a grade of at least 77.1 in each season. The passes thrown his way have generated a 101.2 passer rating, significantly higher than the baseline of those quarterbacks he’s played with.
1. A.J. Brown, Eagles
2022: 88 catches, 1496 yards, 11 touchdowns
Brown lived up to his new $100 million deal, missing out on a 1,500-yard season by just four yards. Brown was an All-Pro, averaging 17 yards per reception and scoring 11 touchdowns. As the physical receiver, his drop percentage was 3.4, and Jalen Hurts had a rating of 112.3 when targeting him.
Brown averaged 2.59 yards per route run, and passes thrown his way generated a 118.8 passer rating.
