Every Wednesday from now until preseason I’ll be going through each position group in the NFC South. I’ll rank them from worst to first. Here is a list of the positions already covered:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

We now take a look at the position that quarterbacks look to most often: wide receivers.

NFC South Wide Receivers

4. Carolina Panthers

Diontae Johnson

Xavier Legette

Adam Thielen

Jonathan Mingo

David Moore

Terrace Marshall Jr.

South Carolina WR Xavier Legette – Photo by: USA Today

The Panthers had inarguably the worst receiver room in the NFL last year. And while they have taken several steps to improve their abysmal group of pass-catchers, that group still has a long way to go to prove those changes have worked and get out of the cellar of the NFC South rankings.

Trading with the Steelers to acquire Diontae Johnson was a fantastic first step. Johnson is one of the best separators in the NFL. That was the biggest area of concern for the Panthers in 2023 as they subjected their rookie quarterback Bryce Young to having to throw contested catch after contested catch throughout the entire year. Johnson should allow for the young signal-caller to make some easier throws in 2024.

Johnson has had some drop issues and his recent trend of hauling in around 60% of his targets is 5-10% shy of what a team ideally wants out of its #1 receiver. But he is a good bet to be open while averaging 1.8-2.0 yards per route run, which is miles better than anything Carolina had last year.

Behind Johnson the Panthers traded up into the first-round and drafted Xavier Leggette. Legette is an after-catch playmaker who adds a level of dynamism the team lost when they traded away D.J. Moore ahead of the 2023 season. Legette was a one-year wonder, generating over 70% of his four-year career production in 2023.

Last year’s default top receiver, Adam Thielen will now move into a more appropriate quasi #2/#3 role. Thielen will be 34 when the season opens and is no longer a dynamic, play-making pass-catcher who can threaten at multiple levels of the field. But he is a very reliable pair of hands who had a bit of a renaissance in Carolina last year after being written off by the rest of the league.

3. Atlanta Falcons

Drake London

Darnell Mooney

Rondale Moore

KhaDarel Hodge

Ray-Ray McCloud

Casey Washington

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum and Falcons WR Drake London – Photo by: USA Today

After ranking first in both the quarterback and running back rankings, the Falcons make their first appearance in the lower half of the NFC South positional rankings.

London is something of a poor man’s Mike Evans. He is big, strong and faster than he looks. He’s also much better at creating separation than most might think at his size. He’s hovered around 900 yards per season with horrid quarterback play and an offense that relied on running way more than modern play would suggest. Despite those set backs London has still managed to keep his career yards per route run at almost 2.0. As he is set to get a big upgrade at the quarterback position he could be in-line for a breakout season.

The Falcons signed Darnell Mooney to act as a legitimate deep/homerun threat that should help take some of the attention off of London and tight end Kyle Pitts. That could free up those two to work better underneath while Mooney works to take the top off of defenses. Mooney had a successful season in 2021 acting as the Bears de facto #1 and going for over 1,000 yards but has fallen off considerably since. The Falcons got him for a flier and are hoping he can return to form.

Similar to Mooney, the Falcons are buying low on Moore. The diminutive former second rounder was acquired via trade and the Falcons are hoping to jump start a career that has stalled. Moore has less than 800 yards and 10 yards per catch over the past two seasons. He’s a shifty sot receiver who can work close to the line of scrimmage on screens, switches and shadow routes.

Khadarel Hodge has played six seasons for four teams and is still 136 yards shy of hitting 1,000 for his career. He’s a deep threat who has been used sparingly throughout his career averaging 15.2 yards per catch. Likewise, McCloud is working on team number four in year number six and is still 232 yards shy of 1,000. He’s more of an underneath option with a career average depth of target of 6.2

2. New Orleans Saints

Chris Olave

Rashid Shaheed

A.T. Perry

Cedrick Wilson Jr.

Equanimeous St. Brown

Bub Means

The Saints are as top-heavy as any team in the NFC South when it comes to the receiver position.

Saints WR-PR Rashid Shaheed – Photo by: USA Today

Chris Olave is quietly becoming a superstar. He’s a volume-driving receiver who can win at all levels of the field off the back of his tremendous route-running. He’s gone for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons while averaging over two yards per route run. The last component he needs to add to his game is becoming more of a scorer as he has not reached 10 touchdowns for his career yet. But it’s not unreasonable to say his is the 2nd best receiver in the division already.

Behind him the Saints are betting on small sample sizes. And that starts with Rashid Shaheed. Shaheed didn’t get on the field very often in 2022. But when he did, he made it count with 487 yards on just 188 routes run. The Saints leaned into him more in 2023 as his offensive playing time doubled. He responded with 719 yards and five touchdowns while showing himself to be a big-play guy averaging over 15 yards per catch.

A.T. Perry is currently listed as the team’s other starter. The former sixth-round pick was largely ineffective during his rookie season catching just 12 passes for 246 yards. But when he did make a catch, he made it count averaging over 20 yards per grab while 33% of his receptions went for touchdowns.

Cedrick Wilson Jr. had his best season in 2021 with Dallas when he caught 45 passes for 602 yards and six touchdowns. He parlayed that performance into a three-year contract with the Dolphins, but was unable to breakout in what became a crowded receiver room and logged less than 500 yards over the past two years. He may beat out Perry for the WR3 job as a more reliable target.

St. Brown is a big, strong receiver who will find his way into playing time because he is a strong, willing and effective blocker.

1. Tampa Bay Bucs

Mike Evans

Chris Godwin

Trey Palmer

Jalen McMillan

Rakim Jarrett

Deven Thompkins

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs top this list with the strongest duo at the top of the depth chart. Mike Evans is a future Hall of Famer coming off of a 1,250-yard, 13 touchdown season. Chris Godwin is coming off of his third consecutive thousand-yard season himself.  The two make a good complimentary pair as Evans wins at the intermediate-to-deep levels while Godwin is at his best short-to-intermediate. Both are extremely productive and efficient receivers with both averaging over 1.85 yards per route run.

Behind those two is a young, and largely unproven group of pass catchers. Trey Palmer had a promising rookie season considering his draft status but had a catch rate under 60%. And despite his track speed Palmer averaged less than 10 yards per catch. Palmer got open plenty throughout 2023, but in order for him to entrench himself as the Bucs third receiver he and quarterback Baker Mayfield will need to get into better sync on deep balls.

Jalen McMillan was drafted in the third round as another option who won deep in college at Washington. While he had an injury-plagued 2023 that held him under 350 yards, he caught 71 passes and eight touchdowns in 2022. Behind him are tow former undrafted free agents in Rakim Jarrett and Deven Thompkins. Jarrett seemed to be hitting his stride last year and ascending to the WR4 spot before he wound up on injured reserve in week 12. Thompkins has carved out a niche as return man who can be used sparingly as a gadget player.