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Predicting the Top 15 Wide Receivers in five years

Predicting who will be the top 15 wide receivers in the NFL in five years. This can include current NFL stars, as well as college stars.
Predicting who will be the top 15 wide receivers in the NFL in five years. This can include current NFL stars, as well as college stars.

Predicting who will be the top 15 wide receivers in the NFL in five years. This can include current NFL stars, as well as college stars.

Wide receiver is quickly becoming the most important non quarterback position in football.  Few position groups in football possess more star power than wide receiver right now.  With the receivers entering the league in recent draft classes many of these stars will still be at the top of their game in five years.

There will also be wide receivers who haven’t even played a down of football in the NFL yet who will emerge as stars.

It’s hard to predict what the NFL will look like next year, much less in five years. However, it’s fun to project, so why not at least try?

Any ages listed are the players age for the 2027 season, so December 31, 2027.

Honorable Mentions

2021 draft or earlier

All of these wide receivers are very good receivers currently and are young enough right now to still be playing at a high level in five years and come in just outside of the top 15 of this list.

Those players include:

Brandon Aiyuk 29 49ers
Jerry Jeudy 28 Broncos
Michael Pittman Jr. 30 Colts
Terry McLaurin 32 Commanders
Deebo Samuel 31 49ers
Diontae Johnson 31 Steelers
D.K. Metcalf 30 Seahawks
Christian Kirk 31 Jaguars
D.J. Moore 30 Panthers
Tyreek Hill 33 Dolphins

2022 draft

Drake London 26 Falcons

Drake London was the eighth overall pick for the Falcons last season out of USC. London brings a unique skillset to the table as he is an exceptional contested catch receiver at 6-foot-4, 213 pounds, but also moves very well at his size as a route runner and with the ball in his hands.

He had a solid rookie season for the Falcons as he was third for rookies in receiving yards with 866 yards. He certainly has top 15 receiver in the league type of potential, but comes in just outside of the list.

Christian Watson 28 Packers

Christian Watson was a project coming out of North Dakota State as he had high-level physical traits, but was unpolished as a receiver. This showed up at the beginning of the season as he had issues with tracking the ball.

Watson stepped up in a big way in the second half of the season however. He had a four game stretch in weeks 10-13 with seven touchdowns and had two 100 plus yard performances in that span.

Watson doesn’t quite make the top 15 of this list, but with the progression he showed throughout the season it wouldn’t be a shock if he developed into a star.

2023 draft 

Quentin Johnston 26 TCU

Quentin Johnston is one of the top receivers in the the 2023 draft. I’m not quite as high on him as some analysts are, but I still think he’s a first round player.

Johnston brings a lot to the table as a receiver but his most notable trait is his size at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and his ability to leverage that size to his advantage. He’s someone that even if he doesn’t create much separation, he’s still a threat to come down with a jump ball.

Aside from his size I think the thing that makes him unique from other big receivers is how well he moves at that size. Watching his tape he’s certainly more elusive than you would expect.

He’s also someone whose shown he can win vertically and in intermediate areas. He doesn’t necessarily win with speed vertically but his ability to shield off defenders and come down with deep balls is impressive. He also won quite a bit in the intermediate area as he runs hitch, curl, and comeback type routes very well.

Jordan Addison 25 USC

Jordan Addison is amongst the best receivers in this draft class and is pretty much a lock to come off the board in round one.

Addison isn’t someone who necessarily blows you away from an athleticism standpoint as he has average size at 6-foot-0, 175 pounds and he has good, not great speed. He is however very good technically and as a route runner.

He’s also someone who can make tough catches as he adjusts to the ball well in the air. In his Biletnikoff winning season in 2021 he was quite effective on contested catches as he came down with 15 of his 27 targets in those situations.

With how complete of a wide receiver Addison is he has top 15 receiver potential.

Zay Flowers 27 Boston College

With how highly coveted speed is in today’s game Zay Flowers will likely hear his name called on night one. Out of all the receivers I watched so far Flowers certainly appears to be the fastest.

Flowers produced across four seasons for Boston College as he was the leader on the team in receiving yards in each of the last three seasons.

He not only can separate vertically with his speed but he also tracks the ball on deep balls. He’s someone who even when he doesn’t create too much separation downfield he’s still a threat to go up and make a great catch.

That speed not only helps him on deep routes but also short and intermediate routes. He provides a constant vertical threat which means DBs always have to make sure they’re not getting beat deep which allows him to win on other routes.

2024 draft and later

It’s very hard to project players to the NFL, so I only included three players from the 2024 draft or later to be top 15 receivers.  However, if you look at the NFL currently a lot of the most productive receivers in the league right now are still on their rookie contract.  

So, in five years the top 15 receivers will likely include many players that will be playing college or even high school football next year.

Those players include:

Emeka Egbuka 25 Ohio State (2024 draft)
Xavier Worthy 24 Texas (2024 draft)
Chris Marshall Ole Miss (2025 draft)
Evan Stewart Texas A&M (2025 draft)
Zach Branch USC (2026 draft)
Jeremiah Smith Ohio State (2027 draft)

Top 15 Receivers in Five Years

15. A.J. Brown 30 Eagles

A.J. Brown is one of the game’s best wide receivers at just 25 years old. He was a huge part of transforming the Eagles offense into one of the league’s best as he was fourth in the league in receiving yards with 1,496.

Brown will be 30 by the time the 2027 season rolls around, so he comes in at 15th on this list, but I still think he projects to be playing at a high level at this time.

14. George Pickens 26 Steelers

George Pickens was a second round pick by the Steelers in the 2022 draft. He showed a lot of promise in his rookie season as he was fourth for rookie receivers with 801 receiving yards.

Pickens has some of the best hands in the league as he’s a remarkable talent. Last season he had 19 contested catches on 28 targets, which is very impressive rate.

Him and fellow rookie Kenny Pickett showed a lot of chemistry, so I’m expecting that to be a connection that grows even more over time in Pittsburgh.

13. Zach Branch 2026 draft USC

If you look at the current landscape of receivers in the NFL, a lot of them are very young, so while it’s tough to project you have to have some young players on the list.

Zach Branch will come into USC as one of the top players in his high school class as he was the top ranked receiver and fourth ranked player in the 2023 class on 247 composite rankings.

12. Chris Olave 27 Saints

The Saints traded up to 11th overall to draft Chris Olave in the 2022 draft. So far that decision has paid off as Olave had a great rookie season. He was second for rookie and 17th in the NFL with 1,044 receiving yards.

After his rookie year, Olave is already on track to be high level for a long-time in the NFL.

11. Luther Burden 2025 draft Missouri

Luther Burden may not be a household name quite yet but he certainly could become one very soon. Burden was the top ranked receiver and number three player in the 2022 high school class on 247 composite rankings.

As just a freshman he played a role for Missouri’s offense as he had 46 catches for 398 yards and a team leading six touchdowns.

10. Jaxon Smith-Njigba 25 Ohio State

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has seen his stock dip after a hamstring injury held him from playing the majority of last season. However, I am still very high on Smith-Njigba and believe he has a bright future in the NFL.

The last time we saw him for a full season he set a Big Ten record for receiving yards with 1,595 on an offense which also featured Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave at receiver. The fact he outperformed two 1,000 yard rookie receivers, makes him project very well to the NFL

9. Tee Higgins 28 Bengals

Since entering the league in 2020 Tee Higgins has emerged as not just one of the best young receivers, but one of the best receivers in the league period. Any questions about his ability to be the number one receiver in an offense were put aside when he had two 100 plus yard performances with Ja’Marr Chase out.

Whether the Bengals are able to afford to keep him around or not, Higgins projects to be amongst the game’s best receivers in five years.

8. Amon-Ra St. Brown 28 Lions

The 2021 wide receiver class was seen as one of the best ever at the time and will likely go down as such as well. Amon-Ra St. Brown who the Lions selected in the fourth round of that draft is the first of four receivers from that class in the top eight of this list.

St. Brown had a very good rookie season with Detroit and in his second year he proved to be amongst the best receivers in the league. His 1,161 receiving yards were 10th amongst wide receivers in the NFL.

The future is very bright for St. Brown as he is still just 23 years old.

7. CeeDee Lamb 28 Cowboys

CeeDee Lamb had big expectations coming into the league as the Cowboys first round pick in 2020 and has more than lived up to them. He had good first and second seasons and reached another level in this third year as he had 1,359 receiving yards, which was sixth for receivers in the league.

6. DeVonta Smith 29 Eagles

Playing alongside A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith doesn’t quite get as much recognition as he deserves. The former Heisman winner at Alabama has already cemented himself amongst the best in the game as his 1,196 receiving yards were eighth in the league.

5. Jaylen Waddle 29 Dolphins

Much like Smith, Waddle is also playing alongside a superstar receiver in Tyreek Hill, thus doesn’t quite get as much credit as he should. Waddle in just his second season is one of the most electrifying players in football as he had 1,356 receiving yards last season.

4. Garrett Wilson 27 Jets

Garrett Wilson came into the league with a lot of promise and has already delivered as he was the offensive rookie of the year this season.

Wilson having this caliber of a season even dealing with a completely disastrous quarterback situation is quite remarkable. If the Jets can find a solution at quarterback, Wilson projects to be in store for a hall of fame type of career.

3. Marvin Harrison Jr. 25 Ohio State

Putting someone who still has a year of college football left to play on this list with all the great, young receivers in today’s game might seem crazy. However, with Marvin Harrison Jr.’s talent level this might actually not be high enough.

Harrison Jr. could be amongst the best wide receiver prospects to ever enter the league next year. There isn’t a box that he doesn’t check as at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds he’s ridiculously athletic, moves very fluidly as he can separate at any level of the field, and he can make contested/high difficulty catches as well as just about any receiver to come into the league recently.

2. Ja’Marr Chase 27 Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase reunited with Joe Burrow on the Bengals as one of the best receiver prospects of the decade in the 2021 draft. Chase has someone managed to already surpass expectations as he completely transformed the Bengals offense upon his arrival.

Chase set the rookie receiving yards record with 1,455 in 2021, which was fourth in the entire league. He hasn’t slowed down either in his second year as he still managed to eclipse 1,000 yards even though he only played 12 games in the regular season.

The way Chase has started his career, he’s on track to not just be a hall of famer, but he has the potential to go down as a top ten receiver to ever play the game.

1. Justin Jefferson 28 Vikings

Number one should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. At just 23 years old, Justin Jefferson is already one of the best players in football.

Jefferson has finished in the top three amongst wide receivers in receiving yards in each of his first three seasons in the league. His rookie season he was third with 1,400, his second season he was second with 1,616, and he won the offensive player of the year this season as he carried the Vikings offense with an absurd 1,809 receiving yards.

It’s going to be nearly impossible for anybody to surpass Jerry Rice as the GOAT wide receiver, but with Jefferson’s start to his career he is track to potentially go down as a top five receiver ever.

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