Slot Receiver Nfl

The receivers on this list are viewed as primarily slot receivers and therefore excluded from yesterday’s outside wide receiver list. 10) Devin Duvernay, Baltimore Ravens Duvernay is the only rookie on the list because although there was massive wide receiver talent in this year’s draft, we have not yet seen any of them do it in the NFL. Slot receivers and tight ends fill two different roles. Slot receivers are usually more diminutive possession guys who specialize in having sure hands, running precise short routes, and having great lateral quickness/elusiveness etc. While TEs are normally big-bodied guys who can double as blockers. Player Team Age Total Value Avg./Year Total Guaranteed Fully Guaranteed Free Agency; DeAndre Hopkins: Cardinals: 28: $54,500,000: $27,250,000: $49,400,000: $42,750,000.

In the 2019 regular and postseason, per Pro Football Focus data, slot receivers regardless of position (receivers, running backs, and tight ends) accounted for 32% of all targets, 31.6% of all receptions, 32.3% of all receiving yardage, and 34.3% of all receiving touchdowns. In a league where the three-receiver set is by far the default formation (it happened on 69% of all snaps last season, per Sports Info Solutions), having a versatile and productive slot receiver is an absolute necessity in the modern passing game.

Moreover, there is no one kind of slot receiver in the modern NFL. It used to be that you wanted the shorter, smaller guy inside, and your bigger, more physical receivers on the outside. Then, offensive coaches started to realize that by putting bigger receivers and tight ends in the slot, you could create mismatches with slower linebackers and smaller slot cornerbacks. Teams countered this by acquiring linebackers built like safeties, eager to do more than just chase after run fits, and also by moving their best cornerbacks into the slot in certain situations.

Now that offensive and defensive coaches have worked hard to create as many schematic and personnel ties in the slot as possible, the best slot receivers are the ones who consistently show the ideal characteristics for the position. These receivers know how to exploit defenders who don’t have a boundary to help them — they’ll create inside and outside position to move the defender where they want him to go. They understand the value and precision of the option route, and how you can hang a defender out to dry with a simple “if this/then that” equation based on coverage rules. They know how to work in concert with their outside receivers to create route combinations which create impossible math problems for defenses. And they know how to get open in quick spaces.

But don’t automatically assume that slot receivers are just taking the dink-and-dunk routes — they’re actually tasked to catch everything from quick slants to vertical stuff down the seam and up the numbers. Last season, per PFF data, the NFL average for yards per completion for outside receivers was 11.28. For slot receivers, it was 11.63. So, over time and based on the play design and the makeup of the receivers, teams could find just that many more yards by throwing to their slot targets.

The best slot receivers in the game bring unique and highly valuable traits to the game, and here are the best among them.

More Top 11 lists: Slot defenders Outside cornerbacks Safeties Linebackers Edge defenders Interior defensive linemen Offensive tackles Offensive guards Centers Outside Receivers

Honorable Mentions

Had we dropped the qualifying floor to under 50% slot snaps, two guys would have easily made it — Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, and Baltimore’s Marquise Goodwin. Evans led all slot receivers with at least 25 targets with a passer rating when targeted of 151.3, and Brown was an absolute force against defenses in the slot — especially when he was using his speed in empty formations.

San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel, who was probably the MVP of the first half of Super Bowl LIV before things started to go backward for his team, would have received a mention as well — Samuel had just 33 targets, but caught 28 of them and helped his quarterback to a 135.3 rating when he was targeted in the slot. Kansas City speed receiver Mecole Hardman had just 23 a lot targets, but he was also highly efficient with them, helping his quarterbacks to a 133.9 rating. Though Danny Amendola was the only Lions receiver to make the 50% threshold, both Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay were highly efficient when tasked to move inside. Other former slot stars like Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs and Minnesota’s Adam Thielen saw their roles change more to the outside in 2019 from previous seasons.

Of the receivers who actually qualified, Nelson Agholor of the Eagles was quietly efficient and had just two drops in the slot last season — which would go against several memes on the subject. Buffalo’s Cole Beasley just missed the cut, through he was one of several receivers on the Bills’ roster who didn’t always get the accuracy and efficiency they deserved from quarterback Josh Allen. And though Randall Cobb was productive for the Cowboys last season and should be so for the Texans in 2020, his nine drops as a slot man… well, we can only have one guy with nine slot drops on this list. More on that in a minute.

Now, on to the top 11.

Willie Snead IV Julian Edelman Tyler Boyd Jared Cook Golden Tate Keenan Allen Larry Fitzgerald Allen Robinson Cooper Kupp Chris Godwin Tyler Lockett

Brian Flores came from an organization that pioneered the evolution of the slot position.

The New England Patriots spent more than decade developing shifty, smart and crafty slot receivers such as Wes Welker and Julian Edelman, weapons who routinely ran option routes and provided check-down, pass-friendly targets for their quarterback.

That is exactly what Miami’s offense has been missing during Flores’ tenure as head coach, though the teams appears to be working to address that void.

Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns shared the slot role last season, but they opted out of playing the 2020 season because of COVID-19.

Isaiah Ford began this season as Miami’s starting slot receiver, and his evolution helped him become one of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite targets. Then Miami traded Ford to the Patriots for a conditional late-round pick to create playing time for Malcolm Perry, the former Navy quarterback the Dolphins drafted in the seventh round with the vision of him becoming a receiver.

Unfortunately for the offense, Perry hasn’t been much of a factor in the five games he has played, catching seven passes for 62 yards before sustaining a rib injury in Sunday’s win over the New York Jets.

Perry practiced on a limited basis on Thursday, but if he’s held out of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals the Dolphins must get creative about who and how they fill that void.

Considering how many hints Flores and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey have dropped about DeVante Parker working on the inside this week, moving the 6-foot-3, 216-pound receiver inside appears to be something Miami might explore in the final five games.

It makes plenty of sense considering Parker has the best mastery of the offense out of all the receivers available, and because he’s a mismatch for most nickel cornerbacks, who are typically smaller.

It also could help Miami make the most out of Jakeem Grant, Mack Hollins, Antonio Callaway and Lynn Bowden Jr., the four receivers who are being asked to step up while Preston Williams is sidelined by his knee injury.

However, Flores doesn’t view the slot position as a necessity.

From his defensive-minded viewpoint it’s a “spot on the field, not necessarily a position.”

The “slot” is the area between the numbers, or hash marks. In the kicking game Flores points out it’s called the alleys.

On defense they call it the seam, Flores points out. And anyone — a tailback, a tight end, or a receiver — can do damage there.

“They call it the slot in the passing game,” Flores said. “I don’t necessarily see it as a position. I see it as a space on the field. I think that space can be filled by a number of different positions.”

Mike Gesicki, whom the Dolphins primarily use as a flex tight end, a pseudo H-back who works off the line of scrimmage, has routinely lined up as a seam weapon going back to last season.

But Gesicki doesn’t get nearly the volume of passes a dynamic slot receiver such Jarvis Landry or O.J. McDuffie got during their stellar time with the Dolphins.

The Dolphins are missing that type of weapon in the middle of the field because they make the game easier for the quarterback.

“They got option routes. Two-way goes, field is open on both sides of the field,” said Nik Needham, who has evolved into the Dolphins’ nickel cornerback this season, responsible for covering the slot receivers. “It’s a different route tree than what they can run on the outside.”

And often times each route isn’t defined because the slot’s job is to read the defense, make a decision on a route quickly, then get open — creating separation from the nickel cornerback. If he’s on the same page as the quarterback it usually produces a chain-moving reception.

What type of slot receiver gives Needham the most trouble?

“Quickness, speed,” Needham said. “Speed kills!”

The Dolphins have four receivers on the roster with that type of skill in Grant, Perry, Bowden Jr., and Callaway, but none of them have filled the void in the seam, slot, alley — whatever you want to call it — that afflicts this offense.

“I think that’s overstated just a little bit, that somebody is a slot receiver. I think good players can play in a lot of different places,” Gailey said. “I think that there are people better suited probably in the slot, but it’s what you ask them to do that’s the key.

“If you ask them to be that quick, short route, all of that kind of stuff, then it does take a certain person. If you’re talking about affecting zone coverage, getting into the deep creases and things like that, it’s a different kind of guy.”

Slot Receivers Nfl 2019

The Miami offense needs to figure out the answer to this riddle before it’s too late because at this point it seems the Dolphins need an infusion of new receivers.

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Slot Receiver Nfl

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