Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Below is the percentage of games within each season when a wide receiver produced Top 20 fantasy points for that week. The total is the three-year average. This is a measurement of how often a wide receiver delivers worthy of a fantasy start.
Percentage Top 20 Games
| Wide Receivers | Average | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odell Beckham Jr | 72% | 75% | 69% | 73% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 66% | 87% | 44% | 69% |
| Antonio Brown | 65% | 64% | 73% | 56% |
| Julio Jones | 55% | 31% | 64% | 69% |
| Michael Thomas | 55% | 63% | 47% | – |
| Jarvis Landry | 48% | 63% | 38% | 44% |
| Mike Evans | 48% | 40% | 63% | 40% |
| Allen Robinson | 47% | – | 31% | 63% |
| A.J. Green | 46% | 44% | 50% | 44% |
| Demaryius Thomas | 46% | 38% | 38% | 63% |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 46% | 38% | 44% | 56% |
| Jordy Nelson | 42% | 21% | 63% | – |
| Michael Crabtree | 40% | 46% | 44% | 31% |
| Julian Edelman | 40% | – | 25% | 56% |
| Brandin Cooks | 40% | 44% | 33% | 44% |
| Cooper Kupp | 40% | 40% | – | – |
| Golden Tate | 40% | 56% | 31% | 31% |
| Tyreek Hill | 39% | 53% | 25% | – |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 38% | 38% | – | – |
| Dez Bryant | 38% | 38% | 54% | 22% |
| Keenan Allen | 38% | 50% | 0% | 63% |
| T.Y. Hilton | 38% | 31% | 50% | 31% |
| Stefon Diggs | 37% | 43% | 38% | 31% |
| Davante Adams | 36% | 57% | 44% | 8% |
| Doug Baldwin | 35% | 38% | 25% | 44% |
| Alshon Jeffery | 34% | 31% | 25% | 44% |
| Amari Cooper | 32% | 29% | 31% | 38% |
| Will Fuller V | 30% | 30% | – | – |
| Kelvin Benjamin | 30% | 29% | 31% | – |
| Robby Anderson | 29% | 38% | 21% | – |
| Rishard Matthews | 27% | 29% | 25% | 27% |
Given that there are over 100 wideouts with a catch each week, any Top-20 performance is notable and yields an advantage. Even the twenty-best overall only averaged about 40% to 50% of their games in the Top 20.
Total Top 5 Games
| Wide Receiver | Total | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Brown | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
| Julio Jones | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Doug Baldwin | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Keenan Allen | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| A.J. Green | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Brandin Cooks | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Michael Thomas | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Odell Beckham Jr | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Davante Adams | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
The names are all familiar but Odell Beckham may be best at turning in Top-20 games but not as good with Top 5. Antonio Brown is clearly the master of the big game (6) while DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, and Larry Fitzgerald all managed four in 2017.
