• The unstoppable Tyreek Hill: Over the full season, Hill racked up 1,861 yards from 500 routes run.
• The Nico Collins breakout: After averaging less than 1.70 yards per route run in 2021 (1.24) and 2022 (1.68), the former Michigan wide receiver was one of just two players at the position to average at least 3.00 yards per route run last year.
• Get a head start on fantasy football: Use PFF’s fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations to prepare for your live draft!
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Yardage or reception totals don’t always paint the full picture of a player’s productivity in a given season. In order to get a clearer picture and highlight players who perhaps deserve more snaps, we need to look at how productive a player was on a per-snap basis.
PFF’s yards per route run metric divides a player’s receiving yards total by the number of routes they ran, providing a better indicator of production than yards per reception or even yards per target.
Here are the top 10 wide receivers in yards per route run from the 2023 regular season.
1. Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins (3.72)
Hill was the league’s most dominant receiver by a significant margin in 2023. And at one point, he even looked set to break the NFL’s single-season receiving yardage record. Over the full season, Hill racked up 1,861 yards from 500 routes run.
2. Nico Collins, Houston Texans (3.11)
One of the breakout players of the 2023 NFL season, Collins enjoyed the best year of his career (so far), becoming C.J. Stroud’s favorite target right away. After averaging less than 1.70 yards per route run in 2021 (1.24) and 2022 (1.68), the former Michigan wide receiver was one of just two players at the position to average at least 3.00 yards per route run last year.
3. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (2.91)
Jefferson played just 10 games last season due to injury, yet he was still able to break the 1,000-yard mark. He was able to dominate even without Kirk Cousins at quarterback, ranking second in the NFL in receiving yards between Weeks 14 and 18 (503) with the combination of Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens throwing passes to him.
4. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams (2.75)
Dominant as a rookie, the Rams’ fifth-round pick out of BYU saw an incredible 163 targets across the regular season and playoffs last year, turning those targets into 114 receptions for 1,667 yards.
5. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (2.69)
Coming off his best season in the NFL to date, Lamb has firmly established himself in the conversation as one of the best receivers in football. His 197 targets in the regular season and playoffs last year were more than any other player in the NFL, with Tyreek Hill the only player to produce more receiving yards than Lamb’s 1,859.
6. Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (2.65)
While questions about his future in San Francisco remain, Aiyuk has continued to improve every season since entering the NFL. Last season was the first year he averaged more than 2.00 yards per route run, with the former Arizona State standout picking up 1,491 yards from 563 receiving snaps in his fourth season in the league.
7. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (2.59)
The Lions’ fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has developed into a top-10 receiver in the league and enjoyed a career year in 2023. On the field for 691 receiving snaps (including the playoffs), he picked up 1,789 yards to trail only Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb.
8. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins (2.52)
The Dolphins were the only NFL team last season with two players who each saw 50 or more targets and averaged over 2.50 yards per route run. Waddle racked up 1,045 yards from 415 snaps as a receiver in 2023.
8. A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles (2.52)
The second half of the 2023 season was a bit more up and down for Brown, but he was utterly dominant for a six-game stretch in the first half of the year. Between Weeks 3 and 8, he led the league with 831 receiving yards, with his 3.54 yards per route run trailing only Tyreek Hill in that span.
10. Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers (2.36)
The only player on this list who won’t be on their 2023 team in 2024, Allen heads to the Chicago Bears coming off one of his best seasons in the NFL. His 2.36 yards per route run average was the best he has managed in a season since 2017.