2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #53.  Peak Period: 2019-23

New team.  Same Hill.  Tyreek Hill's former squad (kansas City) might have won a Super Bowl without him, but Hill remained an elite Wide Receiver, and last year's 1,710 Yards was a career-best.  Now in striking distance of 10,000 Yards, he has gone to the Pro Bowl in all seven of his seasons, and is a four-time All-Pro (though one was a Returner). Hill is over the MPA for AV/G, and has matched First Team All-Pros.  While his off-field issues can cause concern, that is washed away by one of the most dynamic performers of our day.  If he can keep the controversy at the door, he will get into the Hall of Fame.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #9, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #12, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #14.  Peak Period 2015-19

If we were to guess, we would assume that Julio Jones, a free agent, would not be able to find a spot in the NFL again. His last three seasons saw diminishing returns in Tennessee, Tampa, and Philadelphia, respectively, so his Hall of Fame case lies with what he accomplished in Atlanta. Fortunately for Jones, he accomplished a lot in the ATL.

Jones was chosen for the 2010s All-Decade Team, was a two-time Receiving Yards leader, and a seven-time Pro Bowler.  From 2014 to 2019, Jones never had less than 1,394 Yards, and was a three-time leader in Yards per Touch.  The only statistical issue is the lack of Touchdowns (66), but elite Receivers have gotten in with less.

Jones will enter the Hall of Fame, and the only question is what year.

2022 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #58, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #73.

How can so much production seem so quiet?  Last year, Mike Evans broke 10,000 Yards and 80 Touchdowns, and in the first nine seasons of his career, he has never failed to break the four-digit mark in Receiving Yards.  So, why so unassuming?   In four of those seasons, Evans did not reach 1,100 Yards, and in two of them he was less than 1,010.  Although Evans made the top ten in Touchdwon Receptions five times, he has only reacjed the top ten in Receiving Yards twice, and has never been a First Team All-Pro and only has one Second Team All-Pro.  Evans also has only appeared in four Pro Bowls.   Still, we have an outstanding compiler, who is a Super Bowl Champion.  If he ties Jerry Rice's 11 consecutive 1,000 Yard years, can we not look at him as Canton bound even if those 11 were inferior to Rice?

2023 Pre-Season Rank #20, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #44.  Peak Period: 2015-19

From 2017 to 2019, Hopkins was regarded as the best Wide Receiver in the game and will be honored by the Houston Texans one day.  As for now, the veteran is entering his. second season in Tennessee, the first of which saw Hopkins eclipse 1,000 Yards for the first time since 2020. 

Assuming that Julio Jones does not return this year, Hopkins enters 2024 as the league’s active leader in Receiving Yards (12,355), and if he stays healthy, there are many rungs he can climb in the all-time rank.  690 Yards this season places him in the top 20 all-time, and a top ten slot is not out of the question (he needs 1,991 Yards to overtake Reggie Wayne for 10^th).

2023 Pre-Season Rank #24, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #43, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #67, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #95.  Peak Period: 2018-22

Two years into his run in Las Vegas, Davante Adams has proven that he did not need Aaron Rodgers to be an elite Wide Receiver. 2022 was Adams' second 1,500-yard year while maintaining his Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro streaks, though those were broken in 2023 (though he still broke 1,000 Yards). Last year, Adams went over 10,000 Yards for his career, and he is only five Touchdowns away from 100. 

Currently, his 95 TDs places him atop the active leaders, and if he does get to 100 this year he will be in the top ten all-time.   The only players not in the Hall who is in the Hall are Larry Fitzgerald (not eligible yet) and Antonio Gates (who will get in soon).  That is a lovely group that he is closing in on.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #48, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #57, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #118.  Peak Period 2019-23

After five good years with Minnesota, many pundits wondered how Diggs would perform in Buffalo, but they need not have worried.  Diggs blended perfectly with Quarterback Josh Allen, winning his first Receiving Yards Title in his first season with the Bills.  Diggs was a Pro Bowl Selection in all four seasons in Western New York.

This year, he joins a loaded Houston Texans team and is five yards away from the magical 10,000 number.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #45, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #48, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #66, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #82.  Peak Period: 2017-21

Keenan Allen had 11 solid seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he accumulated over 10,000 Yards and was a six-time Pro Bowl Selection.  That is great, but he never made an AP All-Pro, and it is a struggle to say that he was among the top five wide receivers in the game any time.  The following five, sure, but it will take a lot more yards and TDs as the WR slot in the Hall has a significant backlog.

This year, he joins Chicago, and if he can stay healthy for a few more years, his overall output would have to put him in the hunt.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #46, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #38, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #41, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #49.  Peak Period: 2016-20

In 2019, Thomas made history as the first Wide Receiver (the first being Jerry Rice) to win the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Not only was he the NFL's WR1, but his future looked so bright that it involved a gold jacket. Since then, Thomas has dealt with ankle and foot issues, missed all of 2021, and only played in 20 Games from 2020 to 2023. 

He enters this season no longer as a Saint and is a Free Agent looking for work.  The Hall seems so far away now, but the Saints Hall of Fame is a lock for him.  Sadly, this is another case of injuries derailing what would have been phenomenal.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #62, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #67. Peak Period: 2019-23

Somebody would have the highest debut in 2022, pre-season rank, and better than that year’s offensive player of the year and Super Bowl MVP, Cooper Kupp, who shattered all of his personal bests.  Since then, Kupp has missed some games due to injury and is back to his pre-OPOY production.  Concurrently, Puca Nacua has emerged as the Rams WR1, and for Kupp to make a severe Hall run, he will need more than one phenomenal campaign and many good ones.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #101, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #130.  Peak Period: 2020-23*

Justin Jefferson has had an incredible career thus far.  His four seasons in the NFL (all with Minnesota) were punctuated by his consensus Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2022.  The wide receiver was considered the best at his position and could reclaim that in 2024, provided the injury bug does not bite him as it did last year.

Jefferson will have a downgrade at Quarterback in Sam Darnold but has the skills to make him look like a star.  Nobody has a better Receiving Yards per Game since Jefferson entered the NFL, and that could very well be the case next year.

*Jefferson has only played four years.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #71, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #81, 2021 Pre-Season #78, Rank 2020 Pre-Season Rank #84.  Peak Period: 2019-23

In 2023, Amari Cooper was chosen for his first Pro Bowl since 2019 (and fifth overall), and his 1,250 Receiving Yards and 17.4 Yards per Reception are his best to date.  Cooper did this without a full year of DeShaun Watson and lower-tier QBs for the rest.  Despite the Pro Bowl, it went undervalued through the NFL

This season, Cooper should break 10,000 Yards (514 to go) but needs a lot more to gain Hall of Fame traction.  A ten-TD season would also help.

2023 Pre-Season #77, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #77, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #71, Last Year’s Rank #62.  Peak Period: 2014-16/18-19.

OBJ’s three Pro Bowls were in his first three seasons, and while his last Pro Bowl was in 2016, Beckham Jr. did have 1,000-yard-plus campaigns in 2018 and 2019.  Since then, injuries have piled up, and he was not the same guy who made the most incredible regular season catch in history.  2021 was the agony and ecstasy for Beckham Jr, who seemed rejuvenated in a mid-season pickup by the Rams, where he helped them win the Super Bowl, though, in that game, he scored a Touchdown and tore his ACL.  

After sitting out the 2022 season to rehab, Beckham Jr. played a year in Baltimore with a respectable 565 Yards, and now he joins the potent Miami offense.

2023: Pre-Season Rank: #148. Peak Period: 2020-23*

Last year, we surmised that CeeDee Lamb had an excellent shot at being a first-team all-American in 2023, and he did just that with a league-leading 135 Receptions and a whopping 1,749 Yards. Lamb, who is on a three-year Pro Bowl streak, finished third in OPOY voting last year and could eventually join the elite group of Wide Receivers to win that specific accolade. 

*Lamb has only played four years.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #106, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #142, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #141.  Peak Period: 2019-23

Brown had a breakthrough year in 2020 on an explosive Tennessee offense but was not able to build on that in 2021. Tennessee surprisingly traded him to Philadelphia in the following off-season, and what we thought was an early crossroads for Brown would see the Wide Receiver take the correct fork in the road.  Brown added two Pro Bowls in his two years in Philadelphia, and as Jalen Hurts’ primary weapon, he should be able to add more honors to his trophy case. 

2023 Pre-Season Rank #80, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #78, 2021 Pre-Season-Rank #72, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #71.  Peak Period: 2015-19

Landry has been named to the Pro Bowl five years straight (2015-19) but in that half-decade, the Wide Receiver was never considered the top shelf of wideouts.  Regardless of that fact, Landry led the NFL in Receptions in 2017 (112), but the window of where he might be able to enter the top level may have passed him by.  Landry did not have a good year in 2022 with the Saints, and is currently seeking work, which he was unable to obtain in 2023.  This may be the body of work we have to use for the Hall, and the stats are overall good, but not good enough.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #113, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #116, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #124, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #137.  Peak Period: 2016-18/2020-21

If there were ever a WR2 Hall of Fame, would Adam Thielen make the first ballot?

Of course, there isn’t one, but you must be impressed with how Thielen keeps chugging along.  His last Pro Bowl was in 2018, a year that he had over 100 Receptions (113) and 1,000 Yards (1,373).  He never had a three-digit Reception/four-digit Receiving Yards year again until last season (103 Rec/1,014 Yards) last year in his first season in Carolina, where he was one of the few weapons they had. 

Thielen might not do that again, but this is a high-character player who would look good in the 10,000-Yard club (he currently has 7,696).

2023 Pre-Season Rank: #144, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #144. Peak Period: 2021-23*

A Pro Bowl in all three of his NFL seasons, Ja’Marr Chase was the 2021 Consensus Offensive Rookie of the Year and is a possible league WR1 going into 2024.  Chase might have to carry a more significant load with the departure of Running Back Joe Mixon, but Chase can set personal bests this year.  Many predict it.

*Chase has only played three years.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #141, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #136

Samuel is the most unique Wide Receiver in the National Football League, as there has not been a stud WR who was also given the ball ample time on the ground, so much so that he currently has the same amount of Rushing Touchdowns (19) as Receiving Touchdowns.  The inverse, Roger Craig, went to his first Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro in 2021 but has not done anything close since.

This is a key year for Samuel’s Hall of Fame resume.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #128, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #144, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #145.  Peak Period: 2019-23

Metcalf has emerged as the Seattle Seahawks' top offensive weapon. Thus far, Metcalf has broken 1,000 Yards three times in the air, going to the Pro Bowl twice.  He enters this season with over 5,000 Yards and 43 Touchdowns, and he is a considerable threat to add significant stats this year as the Seahawk’s top weapon.

2023: Pre-Season Rank: Unranked.  Peak Period: 2021-23*

Amon-Ra St. Brown has only been in the NFL for three years but has put forth an incredible run where he is the lead weapon of a potent Detroit Lions squad.  He was a First Team All-Pro last season and could be again in 2024.

*St. Brown has only played three seasons.