Welcome back, fantasy football diehards. Last week, I shared a column with 23 facts about running backs. Today I’ve got a fresh fact set for the wide receiver position, which you’ll want to know if you’re doing best ball or other early fantasy drafts. Not drafting now? Then keep them in the back of your mind for drafts later this summer.
You can access all of my 2026 fantasy football content here.
The wide receiver position is in many ways the engine of fantasy football. It’s the deepest position by
a wide margin, and while fantasy league formats and lineup requirements vary, a typical starting lineup includes at least three receivers. Most fantasy teams end up getting more total points from the receiver position than any other.
In my running backs column, I discussed how most of the biggest names at that position have been able to stay on the field across the last two seasons. That hasn’t been the case for receivers. Thankfully, it’s a position with a lot of depth and one where you can often find help on the waiver wire.
Elite running backs have reasserted themselves in the last two seasons and have crept back up to the top of draft boards. But the top tiers of receivers are putting up some eye-popping numbers too. Active players account for eight of the 16 highest receiving yardage seasons in NFL history, and five of the nine highest career receiving yards per game averages.
Let’s get to it. Here are 21 fantasy facts you need to know at the wide receiver position.
- Puka Nacua is averaging 95.3 receiving yards per game across his three-year career. That’s the most in NFL history
- Nacua led all receivers in multiple statistics in 2025, including yards after the catch (666), first downs (80), and yards per route run (3.70).
- College teammates Justin Jefferson (90.1) and Ja’Marr Chase (87.7) are second and third all-time in career receiving yards per game.
- Amon Ra St. Brown has bucked the injury trend, playing in 83 of a possible 85 games during his five-year career.
- St. Brown is the safest first round pick in fantasy football. In each of the last four seasons, he topped 140 targets, 100 catches, and 1,150 yards. And in each of the last three seasons he amassed double-digit TDs and finished as the WR3 in Full-point PPR.
- St. Brown is second all-time among receivers in percentage of targets caught (73.7%), trailing only Michael Thomas, and he’s seen the second most targets in the NFL across the last five seasons (742 total targets, trailing only Chase’s 767 in that span).
- Chase led the NFL in targets in each of the last two seasons, and the 360 targets he amassed across 2024 and 2025 is the most in a two-year span in fifteen years (Calvin Johnson).
- Tee Higgins has 21 TDs on 132 catches across the last two seasons, in just 27 games played. That’s a 16% TD catch rate.
- Seven receivers had a 30% or greater team target share in 2025 (for their games played), led by Jaxson Smith-Njigba at 35.8%. The other six, in order of highest percentage: Garrett Wilson, Chase, St. Brown, Drake London, Nacua, and Jefferson.
- Across his four-year career, Christian Watson has caught 20 TD passes and has amassed 97 first downs on receptions, on just 133 catches. That’s a 15% TD catch rate and a 73% first down catch rate.
- Six Ohio State receivers are slotted in as their team’s clear #1 WR in 2026: Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison, Jr., and Emeka Egbuka. Titans’ rookie Carnell Tate could join this list early in the season, as well.
- Nico Collins’s ranking in yards per route run over the last three seasons: Tenth, second, and second.
- Justin Jefferson had fewer receiving yards in 2025 (while playing in all 17 games) than he did in 2023, when he only played in ten games.
- Last season, Egbuka became the 9th player all-time to surpass 400 receiving yards in his first five NFL games.
- Alec Pierce led the NFL in yards per catch in each of the last two seasons (22.3, 21.3). Across those two seasons, he has 13 TDs on just 84 receptions. That’s a 15% TD catch rate.
- In his fourth NFL season, but first with Dallas, George Pickens set career highs in targets, receptions, touchdown catches, first downs, and catch rate.
- Wan’Dale Robinson was targeted 140 times in each of the last two seasons, and Brian Daboll was his head coach for most of that time. Robinson is now a Titan, and Daboll is the new offensive coordinator in Tennessee.
- Malik Nabers is averaging just shy of 11 targets per game across 19 career games, and that’s the highest average in the NFL across the last two seasons.
- The Miami Dolphins do not have a receiver on their roster with more than 105 catches at the NFL level.
- Garrett Wilson led the Jets with 395 receiving yards in 2025 (he only appeared in seven games).
- Zay Flowers has tallied between 108-118 targets, 74-86 receptions, 4-5 touchdowns, and 44-48 first downs in each of his three seasons. Consistency!
That’s it for today. Keep it here for more offseason fantasy content. And once again, Let’s Go Knicks!
