Week 15 is in the books, and the NFL playoff picture hasn’t gotten much clearer. There’s competition for both top seeds, and multiple teams are still fighting to earn a playoff berth in both conferences. In order to win their respective races, teams will need top performances from wide receivers up and down their rosters. To find players performing at that level, let’s use the Offensive Value Metric, a grading system created by the (Bx) Movement to measure how much value a player is providing to their offenses, to rank the top 10 WRs from Week 15.
Top 10 Wide Receivers of Week 15 | 1-4
1) Laviska Shenault Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars: 49.69 (43 YDS, 0 TD)
This fact might come as a surprise to many readers, but Shenault is no stranger to having the highest OVM grade among wide receivers. We weren’t creating these lists at the time, but Shenault accomplished this feat in both Weeks 4 and 5.
Unfortunately, injuries and poor play by the Jaguars offense prevented him from receiving a grade for much of the season. However, he makes his triumphant return to form in Week 15.
On Sunday, Shenault averaged four yards of separation when targeted. He accomplished that despite being given 3.9 yards of separation at the time of the snap. Those statistics make him the only qualifying wide receiver in Week 15 to average more yards of separation than the amount of cushion he was given. Shenault also caught 83.33% of his targets and averaged 6.9 yards after the catch, both above average for the week.
2) Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams: 48.96 (39 YDS, 0 TD)
The Rams were on the wrong side of the New York Jets’ first victory of the season. That result was arguably disastrous for both teams. The Jets might lose out on the chance to draft Trevor Lawrence.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles is now a game behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West. However, despite how nightmarish Sunday was for the Rams overall, Kupp quietly had himself a highly efficient performance.
He caught 100% of his targets, the only qualifying wide receiver to do so in Week 15. He also averaged 4.1 yards of separation when targeted, the sixth-highest among wide receivers. That statistic appears even more impressive when taking into account the fact that Kupp was given 5.4 yards of cushion, resulting in a relatively low differential.
3) Emmanuel Sanders, New Orleans Saints: 44.11 (76 YDS, 0 TD)
New Orleans couldn’t quite pull off a victory in Drew Brees’ first game back from injury. However, Sanders had one of his best days of the season by multiple standards. In terms of his traditional statistics, Sanders had his third-most receiving yards in a game this year. As for his OVM grade, it was his highest of the season and his third-highest in four years of OVM data.
Sanders was given just 3.5 of cushion by defenders, the second-lowest average among qualifying WRs in Week 15. Despite that, he was still able to maintain 2.8 yards of separation when targeted. In addition, he averaged 7.1 yards after the catch, which was tied for ninth. He also caught a relatively high 80% of his targets.
4) D.K. Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks: 41.3 (43 YDS, 0 TD)
According to his box score statistics, Metcalf’s performance on Sunday against the Washington Football Team was one of his least successful games. Those 43 yards certainly don’t jump off the page. However, it was also one of the most efficient games that Metcalf has played all season, earning him an OVM grade above 40 for the first time since Week 4.
In Week 15, Metcalf caught 83.33% of his targets, his highest percentage of the season. That number was well above average this week, although it is somewhat low for a season-high. Metcalf also did a decent job of creating separation, at 3.2 yards on average when targeted, despite getting a relatively low amount of cushion, at 5.1 yards.
Top 10 WRs Week 15 | 5-7
5) Allen Lazard, Green Bay Packers: 40.98 (56 YDS, 0 TD)
The Packers continued their string of victories against teams with sub-.500 records on Sunday. Lazard was excellent in the win, receiving his third grade above 40 this season. That’s rather impressive, given that he has only qualified for a weekly grade four times. He might not be the focal point of Green Bay’s offense, but he has been effective whenever the need has arisen.
Last weekend, Lazard was among the best in the NFL at getting open. His 5.4 average yards of separation when targeted was the second-highest in the NFL. Lazard also caught a relatively high 83.33% of his targets and averaged eight yards after the catch, which ranked fifth among qualifying wide receivers.
6) Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 40.63 (110 YDS, 0 TD)
Evans is generally regarded as one of the NFL’s top-tier wide receivers. However, he rarely finds himself with a high OVM grade. That is primarily because, like Metcalf, his catch percentage tends to be relatively low. Going into Week 15, he had only caught more than three-quarters of his targets in a game twice this season, and in one of those games, he was only targeted twice.
That changed in Week 15 when Metcalf caught 85.71% of his targets, tied for the third-highest percentage among qualifying WRs. Evans also did well after the catch. His average of 7.2 yards ranked eighth in that group.
7) DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals: 40.42 (169 YDS, 1 TD)
The Cardinals kept their playoff hopes alive on Sunday by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles. Hopkins was, as usual, a crucial factor in their victory. He was Week 15’s most successful wide receiver in terms of his traditional statistics, and his OVM grade indicates that he gained those statistics in a highly efficient manner.
Against Philadelphia, Hopkins had an above-average six yards after the catch per reception. That number was 4.2 yards higher than expected, the third-highest differential among qualifying wide receivers. Additionally, Hopkins’ catch percentage of 81.82%, while lower than most of the other players on this list, was still above the league average last week.
Top 10 Wide Receivers of Week 15 | 8-10
8) Darnell Mooney, Chicago Bears: 40.13 (49 YDS, 1 TD)
On Sunday, the Bears simultaneously eliminated the Minnesota Vikings from playoff contention and kept their own hopes, however slim they might be, from sinking. Mooney, a fifth-round rookie, contributed more than his fair share to the victory, earning the highest OVM grade of his young career.
Mooney’s 4.9 yards of separation ranked fourth among qualifying WRs in Week 15. He also averaged 7.7 yards after the catch, which ranked sixth. He only fails to place higher on this list because of his mediocre 70% catch percentage.
9) Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots: 39.48 (111 YDS, 0 TD)
The Patriots were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, snapping a streak going back to the 2008 season. Their passing game has been much-maligned this year, and not without reason. Cam Newton looks like a shell of his former self, and the receiving core is among the weakest in the NFL.
That said, Meyers wasn’t the problem in Week 15. Most of his statistics were not particularly impressive, at least when compared to the standards set by the other receivers on this list. However, he averaged 3.5 yards of separation when targeted while being given 4.6 yards of cushion, both statistics that rank highly.
10) CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys: 39.4 (85 YDS, 0 TD)
Lamb’s debut season in Dallas has been relatively successful, with his 827 receiving yards rank second among rookie wide receivers. He was drafted in the first round, so in some ways, his success isn’t all that surprising. Still, one has to wonder how his statistics would look with Prescott at the helm for a full season.
Despite his overall success, though, Lamb’s OVM grades have been inconsistent. His grade of 2.8 in Week 7 ranks as the third-worst weekly grade by a wide receiver so far this season. In Week 15, however, he earned his second-best grade of the year.
Like several of the other wide receivers on this week’s list, his success is in large part derived from his ability to get open. He had an above-average 3.5 yards of separation when targeted, despite being given a relatively low five yards of cushion by defenders.
Lucas Ellinas is a writer for Pro Football Network. You can follow him on Twitter @Lucas_Ellinas.
