A lot has been said about the weapons that Tua Tagovailoa has been gifted with in this make-or-break season in Miami. Russell Wilson has of course moved from Seattle to Denver, but do his new Broncos wide receivers stack up to his former Seahawks teammates?
And for years we’ve been saying, “If only Allen Robinson had a quarterback.” Well, now he does, as well as a pretty good fellow wide receiver. What does it do for Robinson and the Rams’ chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions?
Allen Robinson and Cooper Kupp
For the Rams, the addition of Robinson gives them the single best pairing of wide receivers in the NFL, and it gives them a far better pairing than last year’s duo of Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr.
Consider that the Rams were second in the NFL in Real Passing Yds/Attempt before Beckham joined the Rams at 7.89 yards. After a half season of Beckham that statistic, provided by Cold, Hard Football Facts, actually showed regression, dropping to 7.28.
Adding Robinson who is just one year removed from 102 catches for 1,250 yards makes this the most dangerous pair of teammates in the NFL.
Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
It is not a coincidence that the other Super Bowl participants from a year ago are right behind Kupp and Robinson. Despite a relatively high number of interceptions and sacks, the Bengals and Joe Burrow won the AFC because of the incredible play of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
The two combined for 155 catches, 2,546 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 16.4 yards per catch. That is the highest ypc for any set of NFL teammates in 2021, and it’s a huge reason why the Bengals finished second in Offensive Passer Rating, as calculated by Cold, Hard Football Facts.
It’s worth noting that Cincinnati ranked first in the category before most of their offensive stars were rested in Week 18.
DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
The Seattle Seahawks finished the 2021 season ranked fourth in Cold, Hard Football Facts Offensive Passer Rating, in spite of Russell Wilson’s injury and the team having to play Geno Smith in four games.
The reason the Seahawks maintained an efficient passing game – they also finished top-10 in Real Quarterback Rating – is largely because of the consistent play of their two star wide receivers, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
In the four games that Smith played, Metcalf caught 19 passes for 295 yards and five touchdowns. Lockett caught 21 passes for 246 yards.
The average game for the pair when Geno Smith played was 10 catches for 135.2 yards. Their average game for the season was 8.7 catches for 126 yards.
The Seahawks won’t be as good with Wilson at quarterback, but Seattle’s two star wide receivers won’t miss a beat.
