Antonio Brown led the NFL in receiving in 2015, and he's a good bet to do it again this season.
With 23 different men posting over 1,000 yards last season though, trying to figure out who will ultimately end up with the most in the league is a true test of a handicapper's ability.
Odds to have the most receiving yards in 2015
Antonio Brown +500
Julio Jones +572
Demaryius Thomas +1000
Odell Beckham Jr. +924
Calvin Johnson +875
Dez Bryant +1105
T.Y. Hilton +1310
A.J. Green +1772
DeAndre Hopkins +1772
Randall Cobb +1616
Rob Gronkowski +2848
Alshon Jeffrey +1822
Mike Evans +3055
Golden Tate +8000
Keenan Allen +6000
DeSean Jackson +5500
Brandin Cooks +3468
Emmanuel Sanders +5000
Andre Johnson +4682
Jordan Matthews +4753
Sammy Watkins +6500
Vincent Jackson +10000
Roddy White +15000
Amari Cooper +4000
Anquan Boldin +15000
Jimmy Graham +7500
Nelson Agholor +7500
Torrey Smith +9000
Brandon Marshall +15000
Michael Floyd +12500
Larry Fitzgerald +10000
Jeremy Maclin +9439
Julian Edelman +7500
Greg Olsen +10000
Steve Smith +10000
Martavis Bryant +10000
Brown still makes all the sense in the world here as the favorite to win the receiving title in 2015. He had a whopping 182 targets last season, and we wouldn't bet against him having 200 this year, particularly with Ben Roethlisberger expected to once again have to put the ball in the air a ton. Brown isn't that explosive guy who will put together a ton of 70-yard touchdowns, but he is pure volume and is fantastic with the ball in his hands. With Le'Veon Bell suspended for the first two games of the season, a lot of those short passes which went to him might very well go to Brown instead, so if you're looking for a hot starter, Brown is your man.
Demaryius Thomas finished second in the league last year in receiving, and he remains Peyton Manning's only legit target. Gary Kubiak's offense turned Andre Johnson into a superstar for years and years in Houston, so the same could be said about Thomas in Denver. If Matt Schaub turned Johnson into a stud, even Peyton Manning at the end of his career could do the same for Thomas.
Julio Jones is the only other man who finished in the Top 5 last year who makes any sense to lead the league in receiving in 2015, knowing that Roddy White has slowed down a ton, and the Atlanta offense is going to throw the ball at least 550, if not 600 times in 2015.
Aside from that, you've got to look elsewhere for receivers who could be superstars.
Odell Beckham Jr. actually led the NFL in receiving yards per game in 2014 at over 108, and he could end up being a monster this year if Eli Manning keeps his head on straight. Getting to 2,000 yards isn't out of the realm of possibility, though teams will know exactly what to expect from him now that he has blossomed into a truly elite receiver with massive hands.
Randall Cobb becomes an interesting play after having 1,287 yards in 2014, especially now that Jordy Nelson's season is over thanks to a torn ACL. We wouldn't bet against Cobb posting 1,500+ yards in 2015, and that might be good enough to win the receiving title.
Our secret weapon play though, is DeAndre Hopkins. "Nuke" is going to be Houston's top receiver in 2015 by a country mile, and with the aforementioned Johnson now playing in Indianapolis, there are a lot more targets to be had for the wide outs. The quarterback situation certainly can't be any worse than it was last year for the Texans, and Brian Hoyer could be a marked improvement, too. Hopkins had 127 targets and only converted on 76 of them, but we know he can go off for 200+ yard games against anyone in the NFL. A few of those this year, and he'll be tough to tame as a top flight receiver.
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