A total of 18 players went for 1,000 or more receiving yards in the 2020 NFL season. 16 of those players were wide receivers, including perennial top-tier threats DeAndre Hopkins and Tyreek Hill, rising stars Justin Jefferson and Terry McLaurin, and the receiving leader from last year Stefon Diggs.
The other two were tight ends, Travis Kelce and Darren Waller, whose playing styles represent that of a wide receiver more than anything else.
The 2019 season saw 11 more players achieve the 1,000-yard feat, including running back Christian McCaffrey.
To make it easier to visualize the statistical trend of the frequency of a 1,000-yard receiver, here's a list of each of the past 10 seasons, and how many players were able to reach that threshold.
2020: 18
2019: 29
2018: 21
2017: 15
2016: 25
2015: 26
2014: 23
2013: 24
2012: 20
2011: 19
It appears that the low-to-mid-20s is the sweet spot for this figure, based on recent trends. So it may come as a surprise to hear that Yahoo! Sports' fantasy football projections features not 18 players, or 22 players, or 26 players that they see as 1,000-yard receivers. Instead, these projections have 55 players going over 1,000 yards.
Yahoo! Sports' rankings came to light thanks to a Reddit post, showing that Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was projected for 1,062 yards on 141 targets, both of which were higher than fellow rookie Ja'Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was an interesting projection, so I decided to join a draft lobby and see all of the projections for myself.
It's worth noting that there are a few things that probably factor into these projections. One is that they probably don't account for injuries. If every player had a full season, there would probably be a lot more 1,000-yard campaigns each year. Another is this is a 17-game season, so figures from past years may seem a little bit low once everyone in the 900-yard range gets that extra game to push them over 1,000.
But 54 1,000-yard pass-catchers?
If that's the case, we're going to be looking at a whole lot of offense in 2021... and not everyone would necessarily opposed to that!
Here are all the players, sorted by position:
Wide receiver (49):
- Tyreek Hill - Kansas City Chiefs
- Stefon Diggs - Buffalo Bills
- D.K. Metcalf - Seattle Seahawks
- DeAndre Hopkins - Arizona Cardinals
- Calvin Ridley - Atlanta Falcons
- Terry McLaurin - Washington Football Team
- Davante Adams - Green Bay Packers
- A.J. Brown - Tennessee Titans
- Justin Jefferson - Minnesota Vikings
- Chris Godwin - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- D.J. Moore - Carolina Panthers
- Keenan Allen - Los Angeles Chargers
- Allen Robinson II - Chicago Bears
- Corey Davis - New York Jets
- Tyler Lockett - Seattle Seahawks
- Cooper Kupp - Los Angeles Rams
- Robby Anderson - Carolina Panthers
- Mike Evans - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- CeeDee Lamb - Dallas Cowboys
- Odell Beckham Jr. - Cleveland Browns
- Amari Cooper - Dallas Cowboys
- Jerry Jeudy - Denver Broncos
- Julio Jones - Tennessee Titans
- Robert Woods - Los Angeles Rams
- Diontae Johnson - Pittsburgh Steelers
- Brandin Cooks - Houston Texans
- D.J. Chark Jr. - Jacksonville Jaguars
- Jakobi Meyers - New England Patriots
- Adam Thielen - Minnesota Vikings
- Courtland Sutton - Denver Broncos
- Jarvis Landry - Cleveland Browns
- Mike Williams - Los Angeles Chargers
- Jamison Crowder - New York Jets
- T.Y. Hilton - Indianapolis Colts
- JuJu Smith-Schuster - Pittsburgh Steelers
- Amon-Ra St. Brown - Detroit Lions
- Sterling Shepard - New York Giants
- Kenny Golladay - New York Giants
- Mecole Hardman - Kansas City Chiefs
- Jaylen Waddle - Miami Dolphins
- Michael Pittman Jr. - Indianapolis Colts
- Tee Higgins - Cincinnati Bengals
- Brandon Aiyuk - San Francisco 49ers
- Ja'Marr Chase - Cincinnati Bengals
- Nelson Agholor - New England Patriots
- Chase Claypool - Pittsburgh Steelers
- Jalen Reagor - Philadelphia Eagles
- Deebo Samuel - San Francisco 49ers
- Will Fuller V - Miami Dolphins
Tight end (5):
- Travis Kelce - Kansas City Chiefs
- Darren Waller - Las Vegas Raiders
- George Kittle - San Francisco 49ers
- T.J. Hockenson - Detroit Lions
- Noah Fant - Denver Broncos
Running back (1):
- Christian McCaffrey - Carolina Panthers
Perhaps we'll see more 1,000-yard receivers than ever before in 2021. If that's the case, there's a pretty important entry on this list that was mentioned earlier this week...
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