Best Slot Receivers Nfl 2019

Landry was near the top of ever category for slot receivers in 2016, and is clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to the position in today's NFL. Julian Edelman, New England Patriots. Here’s the name many fans associate with slot receivers in the NFL. The 2019 position rankings series continues with wide receivers, including our top 10 ranking, what makes a great receiver, breakout candidates for 2019, the Chiefs without Tyreek Hill and much more. In fact, entering his 17th NFL season, he is still one of the league’s very best in the slot. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar ranked the top 11 slot receivers in the NFL and he still comes in. DeAndre Hopkins is perennially in the conversation for the league’s best receiver, and rightly so. However, Deshaun Watson is lucky enough to have Will Fuller available opposite Hopkins as a viable deep threat with breakneck speed, while second-year slot receiver Keke Coutee has real potential on the inside.

A healthy Dante Pettis put on a show during his rookie season. Injuries limited him to only 12 games, but his time on the field was impressive enough to land him at No. 8 on Doug Farrar’s list of the 11 best NFL slot receivers.

Pettis’ ability to work out of the slot and outside is part of why he’s so valuable in an offense that requires a diverse skill set from receivers. He caught 27 balls for 467 yards and five touchdowns overall last season, but his work from the slot stood out to Farrar:

Especially in the slot, Pettis had some impressive moments, and he projects well as a primary receiver in multiple roles. In 2018, he caught 12 passes on 16 targets from the slot for 234 yards and two touchdowns. So, you have to project optimal production when it comes to Pettis, but it’s easy to do.

While he won’t line up a ton in the slot in 2019 with a few other receivers on the roster capable of filling that role, his high-level production in that area of the field point to all the things that make him a good receiver. His ability to quickly separate at the line of scrimmage make him deadly in the confined spaces a slot receiver works in, and he has enough speed to run away from defenders and turn short throws into big plays.

It stands to reason that Pettis notches a 1,000 yards in Year 2 as long as he stays on the field. A pair of knee injuries last year are the biggest red flag for the 23-year-old. On the other hand, he admittedly took awhile to get in the flow of the offense, and his productivity between Weeks 8 and 12 are a sign that he’s only going to get better. He hauled in 20 balls for 359 yards and four touchdowns in that four week stretch.

Best Slot Receivers Nfl 2019 Draft Picks

With the arrow pointing up on the former second-round pick, it’s not an inconceivable notion that Pettis winds up among the NFL’s best receivers overall after 2019, and not just out of the slot.