Scouting wide receivers using PFF+

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  • Luther Burden III stands out: The Missouri receiver is one of three receivers in this class who finished above the college average for rookie receivers who earned 800 receiving yards in the NFL.
  • Tre Harris excels in yards per route run: The Ole Miss receiver’s 5.15 mark was almost two full yards ahead of the second-placed receiver in this class.
  • 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.

Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

If you become a PFF+ subscriber, you instantly have the work of the largest scouting department in history (in the form of the PFF Data Collection Team) at your fingertips. PFF+ subscribers have access to some of the same information used by all 32 NFL front offices. The data is there for you to access to find trends and important points for your evaluations to determine what will lead to a player being able to succeed in the NFL. You can use PFF’s premium stats to assist in scouting players for the NFL draft or finding rookies for your fantasy team.

In the last seven draft classes, 27 wide receivers have produced 800 receiving yards during their rookie season. Follow along as I use PFF premium stats to try and find some common denominators between these productive rookies by looking at their production from their last year of college. For this article, we will focus on PFF receiving grade, yards after the catch per reception and yards per route run.

Below are the 27 wide receivers with 800 receiving yards as rookies in the last seven draft classes and their statistics from their final year in college.

  • Ladd McConkey – PFF 81.3, YAC/REC 6.3, Y/RR 3.26
  • Brian Thomas Jr. – PFF 75.1, YAC/REC 5.7, Y/RR 2.61
  • Malik Nabers – PFF 93.1, YAC/REC 6.6, Y/RR 3.64
  • Marvin Harrison Jr. – PFF 89.6, YAC/REC 6.4, Y/RR 3.44
  • Puka Nacua – PFF 90.1, YAC/REC 7.4, Y/RR 3.53
  • Rashee Rice – PFF 85.6, YAC/REC 6.2, Y/RR 3.05
  • Zay Flowers – PFF 76.6, YAC/REC 6.4, Y/RR 2.22
  • Jordan Addison – PFF 82.4, YAC/REC 7.0, Y/RR 2.78
  • Jayden Reed – PFF 71.2, YAC/REC 4.0, Y/RR 1.83
  • Garrett Wilson – PFF 84.5, YAC/REC 6.0, Y/RR 3.00
  • Chris Olave – PFF 79.9, YAC/REC 4.2, Y/RR 2.29
  • Drake London – PFF 91.8, YAC/REC 5.2, Y/RR 3.52
  • George Pickens – PFF 72.9, YAC/REC 2.8, Y/RR 3.34
  • Ja’Marr Chase – PFF 91.3, YAC/REC 8.1, Y/RR 3.52
  • Jaylen Waddle – PFF 84.7, YAC/REC 10.1, Y/RR 4.38
  • DeVonta Smith – PFF 95.6, YAC/REC 8.1, Y/RR 4.39
  • Amon-Ra St. Brown – PFF 73.0, YAC/REC 4.0, Y/RR 1.85
  • Justin Jefferson – PFF 86.7, YAC 6.4, Y/RR 2.64
  • CeeDee Lamb – PFF 90.3, YAC 11.0, Y/RR 3.99
  • Chase Claypool – PFF 82.3, YAC 5.4, Y/RR 2.48
  • Tee Higgins – PFF 89.8, YAC 5.8, Y/RR 3.67
  • Jerry Jeudy – PFF 86.8, YAC 7.8, Y/RR 3.30
  • D.K. Metcalf – PFF 73.8, YAC 9.7, Y/RR 2.83
  • A.J. Brown – PFF 80.4, YAC 7.1, Y/RR 3.01
  • Deebo Samuel – PFF 82.3, YAC 9.5, Y/RR 2.46
  • Terry McLaurin – PFF 72.3, YAC 5.7, Y/RR 2.19
  • Calvin Ridley– PFF 79.2, YAC/REC 6.3, Y/RR 2.78

Editor’s note: PFF is PFF receiving grade while YAC/REC is yards after the catch per reception and Y/RR means yards per route run

After examining the PFF premium stats for the college wide receivers that went on to achieve success as NFL rookies over the past seven seasons, we are left with the following averages:

  • PFF receiving grade: 86.25
  • Yards after the catch per reception: 6.89
  • Yards per route run: 3.16 yards per route run

There isn’t a singular statistic that one can point to in an effort to determine who will become a successful rookie wide receiver in the NFL, so looking at three key numbers gives us a broader range to look for players. While college production isn’t a mirror of what a player will do in the NFL, it is the best place to look for data points to project success in the NFL. 

PFF receiving grade 

PFF receiving grade is an indicator of how the wide receiver was graded solely as a pass-catcher, so a player would earn positive grades for making plays that move the chains, score points or force tacklers to miss. The grade isn’t an indicator of how a player will be at the NFL level, it is solely based on how the player produced that season. The player with the highest PFF receiving grade in his last year in college among the 800-yard rookie wide receivers was DeVonta Smith with a 95.6 grade. 

Six of the 27 receivers earned a PFF grade above 90.0, Smith (95.6), Malik Nabers (93.1), Drake London (91.8), Ja’Marr Chase (91.3), Justin Jefferson (90.5) and Puka Nacua (90.1). The average PFF receiving grade for these players was 86.25. Only two of the 800-yard rookie wide receivers had PFF receiving grades under 72.0, Jayden Reed (71.2) and Calvin Ridley (70.5). 

The following 11 receivers in the draft class have a PFF receiving grade above 82.0:

Yards after catch per reception

Yards after catch per reception is just as it sounds, how many yards is the wide receiver netting after making the catch and before being tackled. Yards after the catch can be skewed by screens or by the velocity and separation created by the wide receiver before the ball arrives but at the end of the day, you don’t want a wide receiver who just catches contested passes and doesn’t gain any additional yardage.

The high mark among the players who generated 800 receiving yards as rookies is CeeDee Lamb’s 11.0 yards after catch per reception, which came as a result of Lamb’s ability to make tacklers miss, as he totaled 26 forced missed tackles that season. The average number of yards after the catch per reception is 6.89 and only four of the 27 receivers had a YAC under 5.0 yards; Chris Olave (4.2), Jayden Reed (4.0), Amon-Ra St. Brown (4.0) and George Pickens (2.8). 

The 2025 WR class had the following players finish with a yards after the catch per reception at 6.5-plus (minimum 50 receptions):

Yards per route run

PFF’s yards per route run (Y/RR) metric divides a player’s receiving yards total by the number of routes they ran, providing a better indicator of production than yards per reception or even yards per target.

Of the 27 rookie wide receivers to earn 800 receiving yards, 15 had Y/RR over 3.0 while the average was 3.16. Eight players finished with Y/RR over 3.5, and four finished over 3.7 Y/RR in Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and CeeDee Lamb. Only two players had a Y/RR under 2.0 and that was Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jayden Reed.

The 2025 WR class had the following players with a yards per route run at 2.6-plus (minimum 50 receptions):

The findings

Six wide receivers in the 2025 class were above the average of the 800-yard rookie wide receivers in one of the three categories:

Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

McMillan is the top wide receiver on the PFF big board and the No. 3 overall player. McMillan’s PFF receiving grade dipped to 85.8 in 2024, but it was 89.1 in 2023, so he makes the list. Also, his yards per route run (2.87) is just below the average for the 800-yard rookies.

Jayden Higgins, Iowa State

Higgins is the No. 57 prospect on the PFF big board. Higgins had the highest PFF receiving grade in the class at 90.5. He also had an impressive 2.6 yards per route run. 

Nick Nash, San Jose State

Nash is the No. 160 prospect on the PFF big board. Nash’s 86.9 receiving grade ranked No. 6 in the draft class, and his 2.71 yards per route run was tied for eighth in the class. 

Andrew Armstrong, Arkansas

Armstrong’s 89.4 PFF receiving grade ranks No. 3 in the draft class, and his 2.81 yards per route run was just slightly below the average of the 800-yard rookie receivers. 

Kyle Williams, Washington State

Williams is the No. 152 prospect on the PFF big board. Williams’ impressive 8.4 yards after the catch per reception ranked him No. 1 in the draft class, and his 2.71 yards per route run was tied for eighth in the class.

Dante Wright, Temple

Dante Wright’s numbers were solid across the board. Wright had an 82.0 PFF receiving grade while his 6.5 yards after the catch per reception was just under the average for the 800-yard rookie receivers. His 3.22 yards per route run ranked No.3 in the class. 

Two wide receivers in the 2025 draft class were above the average for the 800-yard rookie wide receivers in two of the three categories:

Tez Johnson, Oregon

Johnson is the No. 88 overall prospect on the PFF big board. Johnson’s 87.0 PFF receiving grade was above the average of the 800-yard rookie wide receivers and No. 5 in the draft class. Johnson’s 7.4 yards after the catch was also above the average for the 800-yard rookie wide receivers and ranks No. 6 in the draft class. Johnson’s 2.60 yards per route run ranked No. 13 in the class.

Tre Harris, Mississippi

Harris is the No. 90 overall prospect on the PFF big board, and his yards per route run and yards after the catch both came in above the average for the 800-yard rookie receivers. Harris’s 5.15 yards per route run leads the draft class and is more than a yard and a half more than the next player. Harris’s 7.7 yards after the catch ranks No. 4 in the draft class.

Only two players (three with an exception) in the 2025 draft class had numbers above the averages for the 800-yard rookie receivers in PFF receiving grade, yards after the catch and yards per route run:

Coleman Owen, Ohio

Owen spent his first five years at Northern Arizona in the FCS but then went into the transfer portal and spent his last year of eligibility at Ohio. Owen had a huge year in 2025, catching 78 passes for 1,246 yards and eight touchdowns. Owen ran 95.8% of his routes out of the slot in 2025, which is where he will play in the NFL. Owens’ 90.3 PFF receiving grade ranked No. 2 in the class. He had 6.9 yards after the catch per reception and forced 18 missed tackles. Owen’s 3.21 yards per route run ranked No. 4 in the draft class. Owen also had 17 punt returns including one for a touchdown.

Jamaal Pritchett, South Alabama

Pritchett’s 88.1 PFF receiving grade ranked No. 4 in the draft class. Pritchett is a shorter slot receiver who was frequently used on quick screens or shovel passes, so he used his elusiveness to force 29 missed tackle attempts on his way to 8.3 yards after the catch per reception, which ranked No. 2 in the class. Pritchett’s 3.34 yards per route run also ranked No. 2 in the class. Pritchett also had 12 punt returns in 2024, including one for a touchdown.

Luther Burden III, Missouri

Luther Burden III, the No. 10 prospect on the PFF big board, didn’t hit these numbers during his final college season of 2024, but he did surpass the averages in all three categories during his 2023 season, finishing with a 91.0 PFF receiving grade, 8.4 yards after the catch, 3.29 yards per route run.

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