The debate regarding the best receiver in the NFL has a number of worthy candidates. Arizona's DeAndre Hopkins leads the league with 1,324 yards and makes spectacular catches on the regular. D.K. Metcalf's insane physique has led to his rise as the de facto No. 1 receiver in Seattle. Tyreek Hill's blazing speed has led him to record-setting displays and a league-leading 15 receiving touchdowns. Davante Adams is a big part in Aaron Rodgers' MVP-caliber campaign, practically averaging 100 yards and a score throughout the season. And then there are names like Julio Jones and Michael Thomas, who have still argued their cases despite down years in 2020 due to injuries and other factors.
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In the latest, short-lived wide receiver debate that surfaced on Twitter, it was not Jones but his teammate at the center of the argument. Two NFC South receivers, Calvin Ridley and D.J. Moore, were selected just two picks apart from each other in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and will share that link throughout their entire careers. But who's better?
Fantasy football writer and podcast host argues that, based on some important stats and biological factors, it's Moore. And though there was an onslaught of responses telling him he ignored the scoring part of the equation, Freedman had more advanced stats to support his argument.
For reference, RACR refers to Receiver Air Convserion Ratio, which is simply receiving yards divided by air yards from the quarterback. Moore leads by a significant margin, showing that he may more proficient at getting open downfield and creating separation for longer plays. This would benefit an offense in obvious ways. WOPR, on the other hand, is more beneficial as a fantasy football stat than anything else, so we'll leave it be for now.
Apparently, though, Calvin Ridley doesn't care about all the fancy stats and metrics provided in the argument. It seems as though a lot of Falcons fans are rallying behind him, considering his response has more than ten times the likes of Freedman's post — though his huge following certainly helps.
"No." The simple yet effective approach... I like it. Of course, it's hard to completely evaluate wide receiver performance given different quarterbacks, game scripts, offensive systems and all that fun stuff. For what it's worth, Football Outsiders' attempt to objectively analyze wide receiver performance and adjust every wideout's situation to neutralize certain factors lists Ridley at No. 12 and Moore at No. 15.
With two weeks left to go and both teams out of the playoff race with 4-10 records, it'll be interesting to see if one talented receiver can surge ahead of the other and help us to reach a conclusion of this mini-debate.
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