This ranking of the best Wide Receivers in NFL history is made through the analysis of 9,000+ individual seasons from 1932 to 2021-2022. One man is behind the study, he’s a guy who usually posts content on Reddit.
Jerry Rice is hands down number one, in this ranking or any other ever made. Rice’s career is one of the most memorable for a wide receiver, 20 years playing, three Super Bowl rings, among many other awards.
Other well-known names appear in the rankings, one of them recently retired from the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald, and two others during the 21st century, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, among others.
Best NFL wide receivers of all time according to a math study
The study can be considered fair since after analyzing the nine thousand individual seasons, the rankings were made by a mathematical formula and not with the opinion of some ‘football analyst’. All the material is available on Reddit in the post made by u/gyman122. He posts a lot about football throughout the year.
The first two rankings are the only ones that we are going to show in this article, one shows the 10 best wide receivers of all time and the other ranking shows every franchise’s best wide receiver, the formula is based on what is known as Z-score.
| Rank | Name | Games Played | Career Best Total | Career Best Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Rice | 303 | 34.0231 | 1.7012 |
| 2 | Don Hutson | 116 | 31.9025 | 2.9002 |
| 3 | Randy Moss | 218 | 22.1162 | 1.5797 |
| 4 | Terrell Owens | 219 | 22.0715 | 1.4714 |
| 5 | Steve Largent | 200 | 19.9638 | 1.4260 |
| 6 | Larry Fitzgerald | 263 | 19.7273 | 1.1604 |
| 7 | Marvin Harrison | 190 | 19.0581 | 1.4660 |
| 8 | Cris Carter | 225 | 16.8047 | 1.1203 |
| 9 | Harold Jackson | 205 | 16.7051 | 1.1932 |
| 10 | James Lofton | 233 | 16.1319 | 1.0082 |
| Team | Player | Total Rank | Avg Rank | Best Total | Best Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFC North | |||||
| GNB | Don Hutson | 1 | 1 | 31.9025 | 2.9002 |
| MIN | Cris Carter | 6 | 71 | 16.0113 | 1.3343 |
| DET | Calvin Johnson | 7 | 19 | 15.5284 | 1.7254 |
| CHI | Harlon Hill | 129 | 303 | 6.0869 | .7609 |
| NFC East | |||||
| PHI | Harold Carmichael | 9 | 85 | 15.0769 | 1.2564 |
| WAS | Charley Taylor | 18 | 94 | 13.4983 | 1.2271 |
| DAL | Michael Irvin | 32 | 181 | 11.7531 | .9794 |
| NYG | Odell Beckham | 105 | 56 | 7.0662 | 1.4132 |
| NFC South | |||||
| ATL | Julio Jones | 11 | 44 | 14.6506 | 1.4651 |
| CAR | Steve Smith | 30 | 175 | 11.9030 | .9919 |
| TAM | Mike Evans | 21 | 24 | 13.2925 | 1.6616 |
| NOR | Marques Colston | 51 | 150 | 10.4159 | 1.0416 |
| NFC West | |||||
| SFO | Jerry Rice | 2 | 10 | 31.0539 | 1.9409 |
| SEA | Steve Largent | 3 | 51 | 19.9638 | 1.4260 |
| ARI | Larry Fitzgerald | 4 | 104 | 19.7273 | 1.1604 |
| STL | Torry Holt | 10 | 41 | 14.7823 | 1.4782 |
| AFC North | |||||
| PIT | Antonio Brown | 13 | 30 | 13.9727 | 1.5525 |
| CIN | Chad Johnson | 37 | 113 | 11.4235 | 1.1423 |
| BAL | Derrick Mason | 168 | 263 | 4.9329 | .8222 |
| CLE | Mac Speedie | 100 | 48 | 7.1535 | 1.4307 |
| AFC East | |||||
| BUF | Andre Reed | 20 | 230 | 13.3582 | .8905 |
| NWE | Stanley Morgan | 24 | 187 | 12.6631 | .9741 |
| MIA | Mark Clayton | 25 | 60 | 12.5983 | 1.3998 |
| NYJ | Don Maynard | 29 | 95 | 12.2406 | 1.2241 |
| AFC South | |||||
| IND | Marvin Harrison | 5 | 43 | 19.0581 | 1.4660 |
| HOU | Andre Johnson | 22 | 123 | 13.2644 | 1.1054 |
| JAX | Jimmy Smith | 26 | 83 | 12.5949 | 1.2595 |
| TEN | Ken Burrough | 55 | 216 | 10.0098 | .9100 |
| AFC West | |||||
| LAC | Lance Alworth | 8 | 22 | 15.2215 | 1.6913 |
| OAK | Fred Biletnikoff | 17 | 191 | 13.5101 | .9650 |
| KAN | Otis Taylor | 40 | 120 | 11.1624 | 1.1162 |
| DEN | Rod Smith | 47 | 226 | 10.7855 | .8988 |
The study is available at: https:\/\/www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/vf6lgs/oc_i_studied_over_9000_individual_seasons_and/
