JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some NFL receivers are naturally better or worse fits to run particular routes. There are those who are quite specialized, while others are more of the jack of all trades, master of none types.
Let’s review which receivers created the most separation at each respective route in the NFL last season.
Average Separation Score is a statistic created by Fantasy Points to indicate how open a receiver is on average. Route Win % is another statistic used to determine which receiver gets open the most, regardless of just how “open.”
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Overall
It’s hard to overstate just how good of a route-runner Brandon Aiyuk is, even in an injury-shortened season. It’s not surprising that he leads the way for the NFL’s best separators.
Mike Evans, Dontayvion Wicks, Rashod Bateman, Zay Flowers, and Christian Watson closely follow.
However, it’s rookie Adonai Mitchell who surprises with the NFL’s seventh best separation score. Unfortunately, the Colts struggled to provide him with catchable targets. Just 41.9% of Mitchell’s targets were deemed catchable last season, dead last in the NFL.
Slants
The NFL’s leading separator on slants? That would be none other than the Jacksonville Jaguars’ very own Brian Thomas Jr. Thomas also won an impressive 44.4% of his slant routes, third among qualifying WRs. Despite this, the Jaguars ranked 27th in their use of the route.
Dontayvion Wicks and Mike Evans appear on the list again, as well as Romeo Doubs who ranked fourth in average separation. Fellow rookies Xavier Worthy and Ladd McConkey round out the top-10 at ninth and tenth respectively.
Outs
Brandon Aiyuk leads the way in average separation on out routes, followed by ex-Jaguar Christian Kirk and the Rams’ Puka Nacua. Kirk actually ranked fifth among WRs in average separation on horizontal breaking routes as a whole, boasting a 29.5% route win rate.
Adonai Mitchell finds himself inside the top-five once again, despite his low production. Mike Evans and Tank Dell both reappear, however, DeVonta Smith’s crafty footwork and route-running places him ninth in average separation on out routes.
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In / Dig
In and Dig routes likely produced the most interesting and diverse results. The Rams’ Jordan Whittingham led the list, followed by Chris Olave and George Pickens. Brandon Aiyuk and the Ravens duo of Flowers and Bateman star once again.
In the back half, the list features the Patriots’ Kendrick Bourne and Ja’Lynn Polk, in addition to KJ Osborn. Amon-Ra St.Brown and the Detroit Lions’ love for digs led Brown to top the NFL with 352 yards, 92 more than second place.
Hitch
One of the more commonly run routes due to their nature to open things up for the offense around them, Brandon Aiyuk once again tops the list for hitch routes. Jameson Williams closely follows, likely thanks to the threat of his elite speed After Williams, it’s a catalog of some of the league’s best route-runners, including AJ Brown, Nacua, Evans, Tyreek Hill, Tank Dell, and Garrett Wilson. Nacua led the NFL in yards per hitch route run, averaging over five yards per route.
Corner
Despite leading the NFL in average separation on corner routes, Luke McCaffrey was actually never targeted on his 16 routes run. Dontayvion Wicks was second, however, he wasn’t targeted on any of his routes either.
Many of the top performers on corner routes happened to be tight ends, but Keon Coleman led the way in production on corners. Coleman averaged over four yards per route run, despite a modest separation score on the route.
Post
While Noah Brown and Rashid Shaheed lead the way, it’s Brian Thomas Jr who once again steals the show here. Pro Football Focus actually listed Thomas as their highest ranked receiver on post routes and it’s easy to see why. Thomas ranked third in average separation and his 226 yards ranked second at the position.
Chris Olave, Malik Nabers, Calvin Ridley, and Christian Kirk are also among the best separators on the route. Ridley actually led the NFL with a total of 273 yards off of post routes. It’s interesting seeing three current or former Jaguars players on the list.
Go
Christian Watson stars at the top of the list to no surprise as Jordan Love led the NFL with the highest explosive pass % in the NFL. Watson’s ability to facilitate the deep ball through his vertical separation is a huge asset for the Packers.
The AFC South duo of Nico Collins and Brian Thomas Jr show up again, slotting in at third and seventh respectively. Both provide their quarterbacks and offenses with insane deep ball potential. There are no specialists better at getting open on go routes than the Broncos’ Troy Franklin. It continues to be his bread and butter, ranking 10th.
Crossers
Kalif Raymond leads the way on crossers, followed by some familiar names from the Ravens (Flowers, Bateman) and Packers (Watson, Wicks). Chris Olave and CeeDee Lamb notably also perform quite well on crossers.
Watson and Nacua lead the way in terms of production, both averaging well over five yards per route. Jameson Williams’ ability to create after the catch, however, is what led to him leading the NFL in receiving yards (278) off of crossers. Williams averaged an insane 16.2 YAC/R
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