Good at catching footballs, in the event his team throws one
As a result, the 1,210 yards DeAndre Hopkins gained in 2014 is a lot better than it sounds. Houston threw for just 3,460 yards last year (excluding sacks), which means Hopkins gained 35% of all Texans receiving yards. Antonio Brown led the NFL with 1,698 receiving yards, but even that was just 34% of all Steelers receiving yards.
The table below shows the top 53 leaders in percentage of team receiving yards:
| Rk | Player | Tm | Age | Rec | Yds | TD | Perc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | 22 | 76 | 1210 | 6 | 35% |
| 2 | Jordy Nelson* | GNB | 29 | 98 | 1519 | 13 | 34.2% |
| 3 | Antonio Brown*+ | PIT | 26 | 129 | 1698 | 13 | 34% |
| 4 | Demaryius Thomas* | DEN | 27 | 111 | 1619 | 11 | 33.9% |
| 5 | Julio Jones* | ATL | 25 | 104 | 1593 | 6 | 33.5% |
| 6 | Dez Bryant*+ | DAL | 26 | 88 | 1320 | 16 | 32.9% |
| 7 | Anquan Boldin | SFO | 34 | 83 | 1062 | 5 | 31.2% |
| 8 | Golden Tate* | DET | 26 | 99 | 1331 | 4 | 31.1% |
| 9 | Eric Decker | NYJ | 27 | 74 | 962 | 5 | 30% |
| 10 | Emmanuel Sanders* | DEN | 27 | 101 | 1404 | 9 | 29.4% |
| 11 | A.J. Green* | CIN | 26 | 69 | 1041 | 6 | 29.3% |
| 12 | Odell Beckham* | NYG | 22 | 91 | 1305 | 12 | 29.2% |
| 13 | Mike Evans | TAM | 21 | 68 | 1051 | 12 | 29% |
| 14 | Randall Cobb* | GNB | 24 | 91 | 1287 | 12 | 28.9% |
| 15 | Jeremy Maclin | PHI | 26 | 85 | 1318 | 10 | 28.8% |
| 16 | Alshon Jeffery | CHI | 24 | 85 | 1133 | 10 | 28.1% |
| 17 | Vincent Jackson | TAM | 31 | 70 | 1002 | 2 | 27.7% |
| 18 | Andre Johnson | HOU | 33 | 85 | 936 | 3 | 27.1% |
| 19 | Steve Smith | BAL | 35 | 79 | 1065 | 6 | 26.7% |
| 20 | T.Y. Hilton* | IND | 25 | 82 | 1345 | 7 | 26.6% |
| 22 | Kelvin Benjamin | CAR | 23 | 73 | 1008 | 9 | 26.3% |
| 21 | Greg Olsen* | CAR | 29 | 84 | 1008 | 6 | 26.3% |
| 23 | DeSean Jackson | WAS | 28 | 56 | 1169 | 6 | 26.2% |
| 24 | Rob Gronkowski*+ | NWE | 25 | 82 | 1124 | 12 | 26.2% |
| 25 | Sammy Watkins | BUF | 21 | 65 | 982 | 6 | 25.5% |
| 26 | Travis Kelce | KAN | 25 | 67 | 862 | 5 | 25.1% |
| 27 | Calvin Johnson* | DET | 29 | 71 | 1077 | 8 | 25.1% |
| 28 | Delanie Walker | TEN | 30 | 63 | 890 | 4 | 23.8% |
| 29 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | 26 | 66 | 825 | 3 | 23.6% |
| 30 | Martellus Bennett* | CHI | 27 | 90 | 916 | 6 | 22.7% |
| 31 | Julian Edelman | NWE | 28 | 92 | 972 | 4 | 22.7% |
| 32 | Andrew Hawkins | CLE | 28 | 63 | 824 | 2 | 22.4% |
| 33 | Mohamed Sanu | CIN | 25 | 56 | 790 | 5 | 22.2% |
| 34 | Brandon LaFell | NWE | 28 | 74 | 953 | 7 | 22.2% |
| 35 | Dwayne Bowe | KAN | 30 | 60 | 754 | 0 | 22% |
| 36 | Mike Wallace | MIA | 28 | 67 | 862 | 10 | 21.2% |
| 37 | Michael Floyd | ARI | 25 | 47 | 841 | 6 | 21.1% |
| 38 | Rueben Randle | NYG | 23 | 71 | 938 | 3 | 21% |
| 39 | Greg Jennings | MIN | 31 | 59 | 742 | 6 | 20.8% |
| 40 | Michael Crabtree | SFO | 27 | 68 | 698 | 4 | 20.5% |
| 41 | Kenny Britt | STL | 26 | 48 | 748 | 3 | 20.2% |
| 42 | Andre Holmes | OAK | 26 | 47 | 693 | 4 | 20.1% |
| 43 | Matt Forte | CHI | 29 | 102 | 808 | 4 | 20% |
| 44 | Malcom Floyd | SDG | 33 | 52 | 856 | 6 | 19.9% |
| 45 | Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | 31 | 63 | 784 | 2 | 19.6% |
| 46 | Allen Hurns | JAX | 23 | 51 | 677 | 6 | 19.6% |
| 47 | Roddy White | ATL | 33 | 80 | 921 | 7 | 19.4% |
| 48 | James Jones | OAK | 30 | 73 | 666 | 6 | 19.3% |
| 49 | Torrey Smith | BAL | 25 | 49 | 767 | 11 | 19.2% |
| 50 | Kendall Wright | TEN | 25 | 57 | 715 | 6 | 19.1% |
| 51 | Antonio Gates | SDG | 34 | 69 | 821 | 12 | 19.1% |
| 52 | Jordan Matthews | PHI | 22 | 67 | 872 | 8 | 19% |
| 53 | Kenny Stills | NOR | 22 | 63 | 931 | 3 | 18.8% |
- Why the top 53? Because that’s how far down you need to go to get to Kenny Stills, the Saints leader in team receiving yards. New Orleans was one of just three teams (Jacksonville, San Diego) that failed to have a single player pick up at least 20% of the team’s receiving yards. The Saints really spread the ball around — Stills had 931 yards, Marques Colston 902, and Jimmy Graham 889. Go to a per-game basis to include Brandin Cooks, and New Orleans had four players who gained between 55 and 62.1 receiving yards per game.
- On the other side is a team like Denver, where two receivers cracked the top ten. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders each gained hit the 1,400 receiving yards mark, while no other Bronco gained even 500 receiving yards. The duo became just the fourth pair of teammates to gain 1400 yards in a season, joining Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (2005), Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce (2000), and Herman Moore and Brett Perriman (1995).
- Overshadowed by all the drama in San Francisco, Anquan Boldin had another strong year. The 2014 49ers were not short on receiving talent, but Boldin still finished with 31.2% of all San Francisco receiving yards.
- Finally, both A.J. Green and Odell Beckham both gained over 29% of their team’s receiving yards despite each a quarter of the season. Beckham missed New York’s first four games, while a toe injury sidelined Green for all but 6 snaps against the Falcons in week 2 and then three full games in October.