The Broncos don’t have the best receiving duo in the league. Not yet, anyway.
But the trade for Jaylen Waddle puts them in the conversation. That’s not opinion; that’s what the numbers say, evaluating the production of Waddle and Courtland Sutton last season and where they stacked up in 10 metrics among 78 wide receivers with at least 50 targets.
Those statistics:
Yards per reception
Yards per game
Yards after the catch per reception
Broken-tackle rate
Average depth of target
First-down rate
Success rate
Touchdown rate
Drop rate
Fumble rate
Three pairs were atop the NFL with average rankings in those categories of 27.7:
Arizona (Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr., a pair flattered by ball-security and per-catch-efficiency production, as Harrison missed five games)
Cincinnati (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins)
Dallas (CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens)
Next were Detroit (Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown, average ranking, 28.8) and the Los Angeles Rams (Puca Nacua and Davante Adams, average ranking 28.9).
Then you have the Broncos’ duo of Sutton and Waddle in sixth, average ranking 29.5.
They’re ahead of Philadelphia’s pair of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They’re well ahead of Seattle’s duo of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp; that partnership is weighed down by Kupp no longer being the elite force he was before; their average ranking is 37.8, nearly square in the middle of the 78-receiver sample size.
And they’re past of Minnesota’s pair, which includes four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson, along with Jordan Addison.
This, mind you, was with Waddle working with Tua Tagovailoa, who ranked third from the bottom in ESPN QBR last season. (Of course, mid-level quarterbacking didn’t prevent Harrison and Wilson from being the surprise standouts of this measurement.)
Standing alone in this exercise, Waddle ranked 16th of 78 receivers, with an average ranking of 28.5 in those categories. Sutton was 18th, at 30.4.
That makes the Broncos one of just four teams with two top-20 receivers in average ranking; the others are Dallas, the Rams and Arizona.
Bo Nix and Sean Payton have the wide-receiving weapons now. No excuses.
WHERE THE BRONCOS’ DUO STACKED UP:
Among 78 wide receivers with at least 50 targets in the regular season last year, here’s where Broncos wideouts Sutton and Waddle finished:
YARDS PER GAME: Sutton 18, Waddle 25
YARDS PER RECEPTION: Waddle 23, Sutton 27
FIRST-DOWN RATE: Waddle 13, Sutton 20
SUCCESS RATE: Waddle 17, Sutton 27
YARDS AFTER CATCH PER RECEPTION: Waddle 45, Sutton 57
AVERAGE DEPTH OF TARGET: Waddle 11, Sutton 22
BROKEN-TACKLE RATE: Waddle 25, Sutton 41
DROP RATE: Waddle 42, Sutton 65
FUMBLE RATE: Sutton T-1, Waddle 55
TOUCHDOWN RATE: Sutton 26, Waddle 29