Third down was made for wide receivers. Unless there are only a few yards to gain for a first down, chances are the first read for every quarterback is his most reliable wide receiver. They make money catching touchdowns, but their impact on third down is even more important. This listing considers the 49 wide receivers with at least 13 third-down catches.
Third-down rushes were excluded since there were only 17 by a wideout and one by a tight end. The only receivers with more multiple third-down runs were Amon-Ray St. Brown (3), CeeDee Lamb (2), and Kadarius Toney (2).
Catching the occasional deep pass has value and racking up yards and scores wins games. But the wideout that can extend drives with a third-down catch is the most valuable. Plays resulting in touchdowns on third down were counted as a first down since they were the most successful conclusion to a play. Targets were not included since incompletions could happen for reasons not related to the wideout.
Third-down receptions
His second season was just as effective for Justin Jefferson, who led all NFL wideouts with 36 catches on third down. The busiest wideouts were either slot receivers which short-yardage receptions like Hunter Renfrow, Jaylen Waddle, and Diontae Johnson. Or the elite primary wideouts like Jefferson, Cooper Kupp. Keenan Allen. Davante Adams, and Tyreek Hill.
2021 was expected to be a great year for rookie wideouts and it’s more than a little impressive on the first-year production for Jaylen Waddle (31), Ja’Marr Chase (24), and Amon-Ra St. Brown (24 plus three rushes). Michael Pittman, Brandin Cooks, and D.J. Moore were heavily relied on while playing for teams that didn’t pass all that well.
Third-down yards-per-catch
Many of those wideouts with the highest yards-per-catch also didn’t total that many, so it is even more impressive when a high-volume receiver also does the most with their catches while being the primary focus of the secondary. Ja’Marr Chase (18.8), Justin Jefferson (17.4), Cooper Kupp (16.3) and Brandin Cooks (15.8) shined on third down with plenty of yards.
Tyreek Hill (14.3) was surprisingly low in this metric, given his tremendous speed. A.J. Green (27.4), Tyler Lockett (23.5), Mike Williams (19.9), and Quez Watkins (19.8) were all so effective that it’s a surprise that they didn’t record more third-down receptions.
Third-down success rate
There were only 23 running backs that were successful at least half of their third-down attempts but 47 wide receivers topped the mark. There’s no arguing that wideouts were the most relied upon for getting third-down conversions.
It’s a but surprising that there were five wideouts that gained a first down on every third-down catch, but only Mike Evans was the top wide receiver for his team. Marvin Jones, Mike Williams, Brandon Aiyuk, and A.J. Green were not the biggest weapons for their respective offenses and yet each time they caught a pass on third down – it mattered.
The elite wideouts were well represented in the metric, but the surprises were Robert Woods (85%), Allen Robinson (82%), Cedrick Wilson (81% replacing Michael Gallup), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (79%), and Quez Watkins (75%). Their impact was higher than their annual production may suggest.
The success rate tended to be lower for most of those with a higher volume of catches in offenses that didn’t throw as well. But there is a story to tell on each of these wide receivers.
