Ranking the NFL’s 15 Best Skill-Position Groups

With most of the top free agents now signed, here’s a look at the teams with the best collections of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.

Last week, while writing about the Bears’ offseason, I said GM Ryan Poles had assembled one of the 10 best skill-position groups in the NFL. Danny Parkins, who hosts the afternoon drive show on Chicago’s 670 The Score, had me on to talk about the piece and, because he’s one of the best in the business, he challenged me on my assertion.

We started rattling off receivers, running backs and tight ends. At the risk of losing his entire audience hearing me talk, Parkins and crew wisely pivoted. But that kept me wondering. Who does have the best skill-position unit in the NFL? Was I overhyping DJ Moore, Cole Kmet, Darnell Mooney, D’Onta Foreman and Travis Homer? Could it be that a sports columnist—gasp—was prone to a bit of hyperbole?

So, I took the liberty of making a top-15 ranking here (you’ll see why in a moment), which is a fun process after free agency and, I hope, a useful exercise in humility.

These are, in my opinion, the best units (quarterbacks not included) in the NFL. I’ve also listed the players I felt were their biggest contributors, factored in age and weighted the overall attributes of the running backs (Can they catch? Are they old? Do they get injured a lot?) so as not to dismiss the position entirely and become too wide receiver dependent.

I think the Bears belong on that list, even if they ultimately fell short of my original top-10 assertion. Can that still change? Absolutely. 

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Samuel and Kittle are two of the best run-after-catch threats in the league, part of what makes the 49ers’ offense so explosive :: Darren Yamashita/USA TODAY Sports

1

49ers (Christian McCaffrey, RB; Deebo Samuel, WR; George Kittle, TE; Brandon Aiyuk, WR)

I will stand by my thought that this is the greatest collection of skill-position players on one team since the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf. As we wrote a few months back, their ability to pulverize defenses by gaining tough yards after the catch, along with their positional versatility, makes them the most moldable unit of talented players in the league. It certainly helps that these pieces are under the thumb of Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco’s offense has been elevating its quarterback play, and not the other way around, for a few years now.

2

Eagles (A.J. Brown, WR; DeVonta Smith, WR; Dallas Goedert, TE; Quez Watkins, WR)

While I am eagerly awaiting the post–Shane Steichen offense to materialize, it’s not difficult to reason that great players make a great offense. To me, the most special part of this unit was seen in how the Eagles were able to adapt to game plans based on Jalen Hurts’s own development or, late in the season, based on what he may have struggled to do because of injury. This group is fast, they can all run routes extraordinarily well, Brown is a punisher and Goedert is one of the few tight ends in the league who is equally adept at blocking as he is flashing in the secondary and catching a pass. 

3

Bengals (Ja’Marr Chase, WR; Tee Higgins, WR; Tyler Boyd, WR; Joe Mixon, RB)

Zac Taylor goes into games knowing one thing for certain: If his receivers win off the line, the Bengals are going to destroy their opponent. And, in case you have forgotten, his receivers are quite skilled at winning off the line. While I know Mixon is listed here, and he may not play for the Bengals this year, he was (before 2022) an efficient power back with a moderate to significant volume of receptions. The Bengals could easily go in a different direction this spring and summer, but it’s difficult not to have the confidence in their scouting staff to find another player like that. Between ’21 and ’22, Chase and Higgins both logged more than two yards per route run, and were both running more than 580 routes per season. In ’21, Chase was one of the most efficient receivers in football. 

4

Dolphins (Tyreek Hill, WR; Jaylen Waddle, WR; Raheem Mostert, RB; Jeff Wilson Jr., RB)

My good friend, football savant Gary Gramling, nailed this observation about Hill on an old episode of The MMQB Podcast. All of the straight-line sprinting the Dolphins depended on him doing in the backfield to set up a play eventually took its toll. If Miami can find a way to limit the pounding on his legs and keep him fresh, it will have one of the greatest singular weapons in modern NFL times, and will be a lock for another trip to the playoffs this year. Hill logged more than three yards per route run, and his volume was significant. He was also gaining more than four yards after each catch. Combined with Waddle, who doesn’t get open as well as Hill but may be more skilled after the catch, they are maddening, especially early in the season. 

5

Vikings (Justin Jefferson, WR; Dalvin Cook, RB; T.J. Hockenson, TE; K.J. Osborn, WR)

I have the Vikings slightly behind the Dolphins because, while they have possibly the greatest singular skill-position player in the NFL in Jefferson, they lack the depth across the board. This isn’t a slight against Hockenson, who I thought had a pretty underrated 2022, in which he was traded midseason from the Lions. His catch percentage above expectation was better than that of Mark Andrews and equal to that of George Kittle. Kittle got open more frequently, but works in a scheme that has the best set of weapons in the NFL. 

6

Raiders (Davante Adams, WR; Josh Jacobs, RB; Hunter Renfrow, WR; Jakobi Meyers, WR)

I would guess that if you surveyed coaches and receivers across the board as to who is the best overall receiver in the NFL, Adams would be No. 1. While Jefferson has better traits and more of an alpha mentality when the ball is in the air, Adams’s ability to plan for every contingency on a route is something of modern legend. I’m also optimistic that Renfrow will return to form after disappearing this past year. In both 2020 and ’21, Renfrow gained two or more yards per route run. Last year, he still got open at a pretty steady clip despite logging only about 3.5 catches per game. Outside of peak Derrick Henry (which we may not see much more of), Jacobs might be the best pure rusher in the NFL. He also doesn’t fumble a lot, even with a 340-carry load like he shouldered last year. 

7

Jaguars (Calvin Ridley, WR; Christian Kirk, WR; Evan Engram, TE; Travis Etienne, RB; Zay Jones, WR)

I’ve written this a few times this offseason, but I’m incredibly bullish on the Ridley trade. I think it was a brilliant move to buy low on a receiver who had to take time off for a completely ridiculous gambling suspension that says nothing about his character. In 2020, Ridley was at 2.7 yards per route run, which, for comparison, would have been the best mark (or tied for the best) of any receiver on the Texans, Raiders, Panthers, Patriots, Lions, Jets, Jaguars, Giants, Cowboys, Commanders, Colts, Chargers, Cardinals, Browns, Bengals or Bears over the last three seasons. Kirk was obviously a bigger loss for the Cardinals than we initially thought. He’s a monster in contested-catch situations and had a better catch rate over expectation than Justin Jefferson last year. Engram, meanwhile, had his highest career catch rate last year. This team is dangerous, and while we are meant to keep the quarterbacks out of this, imagine how this group will grow alongside Trevor Lawrence. 

8

Chiefs (Travis Kelce, TE; Isiah Pacheco, RB; Skyy Moore, WR; Kadarius Toney, WR; Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR)

As a grouping of skill-position players, the Chiefs are elevated by the fact that Kelce may be on his way to becoming the greatest tight end in NFL history. Despite being a tight end, Kelce gets open with the same regularity as the fastest receivers in football, he catches way more footballs than he should and he’s a more-than-adequate blocker. The rest of the Chiefs’ core of skill-position players, to me, makes up the requisite pieces of whatever you would need to design an effective offense around Patrick Mahomes. Pacheco was the final piece to that puzzle, adding a back who, while fumble prone, gains about an extra three yards after first contact on average. 

9

Bills (Stefon Diggs, WR; Gabe Davis, WR; Dawson Knox, TE; James Cook, RB)

Of the best receivers in FiveThirtyEight’s compelling pass-catcher project, Diggs ranked No. 1 for his 2020 season (actually the best season any receiver has had over the past three years) and his ’22 was still third best in the league this past year. Around him, the product must improve. Davis is a fine 1A, though his catch percentage dropped amid his largest target share season. This will be a season in which we can find out, somewhat definitively, whether he is merely a product of a quarterback who can extend plays in the backfield and hurl a rope downfield, or the offense is elevated with Davis on the field. According to NFL GSIS statistics, Davis is about a net neutral in the passing game, in that the Bills’ average passing play is the same with or without him in the lineup. Buffalo is a markedly better rushing team with him in the lineup, though. 

10

Seahawks (Tyler Lockett, WR; Kenneth Walker III, RB; DK Metcalf, WR)

Lockett’s season last year stacks up as one of the best among players at the position over the past few years. There are not many heavily targeted receivers in the NFL who catch the ball with as much regularity and reliability as Lockett, who has had at least 107 targets each year since 2019 and at least a 70% catch rate in each of those years. Last year, he was asked to be more of an intermediate option, as his average depth of target shrunk, as did his yards before catch marks. This did not dramatically change his production. Walker, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, had 623 rushing yards before first contact and finished the season with 1,050 total rushing yards. He also had a decent level of responsibility in the passing game and caught nearly 80% of his targets.

11

Saints (Chris Olave, WR; Michael Thomas, WR; Alvin Kamara, RB)

If Thomas has a bounce-back season this year, which he’s certainly capable of doing, I could see this being an elite, top-three skill-position unit. Olave, specifically, has carried the load of New Orleans’s future prospects on his shoulders. Last year, he was among the best receivers in the NFL period, and logged more than 2.5 yards per route run. He simply gets open. Derek Carr will love Olave, and, assuming they have Kamara for some portion of the season (pending a possible suspension), this offense should be able to contend with most umbrella defenses they’ll see throughout the year. 

12

Falcons (Drake London, WR; Kyle Pitts, TE; Tyler Allgeier, RB)

This is my dark-horse candidate for a unit that will end up in the top five on this list a year from now. Over his final five games of the season last year, London had weeks of 95, 96 and 120 receiving yards. In two of those games, his quarterback’s rating when targeting him was more than 110. Pitts’s credentials at this point are established, even though he played in only seven games last year. Allgeier is so underrated, with the same efficiency rate (the manner in which he gets upfield without extraneous movement) as Nick Chubb last year, with Chubb obviously being the gold standard for nonreceiving backs. 

13

Buccaneers (Mike Evans, WR; Chris Godwin, WR; Rachaad White, RB)

I think age plays a factor in Tampa Bay’s being outside of the top 10. No offense to Evans, but he has had more than 120 targets in all but three of his nine straight 1,000-yard seasons. He may be entering only his age-30 season, but he has played a high-speed power forward type position in the NFL for almost a decade. That isn’t easy. Godwin is a major bounce-back candidate this year. While he had one of his best overall seasons, the offense condensed so much last year due to the bad combination of a 45-year-old Tom Brady and an offensive line that leaked regularly. Godwin’s average depth of target was 5.7 yards last year, which was less than half of what it was during his rookie season in 2017. With a pair of younger quarterbacks dueling for snaps in ’23, we could see a more downfield Godwin. White, who had only one 100-yard rushing performance last year, is going to see a major role increase. His fluidity in the backfield last year was notable, as was his dependability when the notoriously picky Brady had him on the field in critical situations. He can turn a lot of backfield catches (because of where Brady was targeting him, for example, White was starting negative-18 yards in the hole) into first downs. 

14

Bears (DJ Moore, WR; Darnell Mooney, WR; Cole Kmet, TE; Chase Claypool, WR; D’Onta Foreman, RB)

So here’s where I landed with the Bears. Moore has had some really good seasons, despite existing in a bit of a quarterback graveyard in Carolina. His ability to get open, according to FiveThirtyEight, was rated on the same level as Cooper Kupp a year ago and, over the past two years, just a hair below Justin Jefferson. Mooney, too, is great in space and should be a more heavily utilized security blanket once Justin Fields develops some more comfort in the offense and can start punishing defenses on timing routes. I also think that the Bears will be able to utilize Claypool’s linear speed more as a special-project type receiver than a legitimate No. 2, now that Moore is there to carry the burden of a defense-setter. 

15

Packers (Christian Watson, WR; Aaron Jones, RB; AJ Dillon, RB; Romeo Doubs, WR)

I love the potential of this receiving corps and, realistically, the Packers have never been barren at the position despite the subtle protests of Aaron Rodgers over the years. How good was Watson once the two established something of a connection? Doubs, I thought, was the best at acclimating to certain sight adjustments, though I’m eager to see how good he’ll be with Jordan Love, who may be more of an on-schedule thrower based on the rules of the offense. Dillon and Jones are still, in my eyes, one of the best running back tandems in the NFL, even if it took a while for Dillon to find his locomotive mode last season. Despite an almost identical volume, his broken tackle total went from 17 in 2021 to six in ’22.