Giants' Golden Tate named one of NFL's best slot receivers. Share this article 121 shares share tweet text email link Dan Benton. July 1, 2019 9:00 am. Shortly after the New York Giants shipped. Landry was near the top of ever category for slot receivers in 2016, and is clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to the position in today's NFL. Julian Edelman, New England Patriots. Here’s the name many fans associate with slot receivers in the NFL.

Cooper Kupp has far outperformed his draft slot after being a third-round pick in 2017. In three seasons, he’s already caught 196 passes for 2,596 yards and 21 touchdowns. He’s one of 11 players in the NFL with at least 190 catches, 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in that span, and that’s with missing nine games.

Kupp stayed healthy for all 16 games this season, putting together the best year of his young career thus far. He caught 94 of the 134 passes thrown his way, gaining 1,161 yards receiving with 10 touchdown catches.

He primarily lines up in the slot, but not all of his production came from that position. With the way the Rams offense moves its receivers around, he lined up all over the formation. That being said, most of yards came inside.

There wasn’t a single receiver in the NFL with more yards from the slot this season, making Kupp the most productive in football

The peak of Kupp’s season came in Week 8 when he torched the Bengals for 220 yards on seven catches. He beat man and zone coverage in that game, pushing himself into the conversation as one of the best receivers in the league.

Since then, Kupp never reached 100 yards again and only caught 36 passes for 369 yards in his final eight games. Had he posted a similar second half as his first eight games (58 catches, 792 yards), he would’ve had a good chance to make the Pro Bowl.

Unfortunately, he cooled off and faded down the stretch as the Rams limited his playing time and went with more heavy packages on offense. That’s not to take away from the season he had, but it could’ve been even more special for the third-year receiver.

A healthy Dante Pettis put on a show during his rookie season. Injuries limited him to only 12 games, but his time on the field was impressive enough to land him at No. 8 on Doug Farrar’s list of the 11 best NFL slot receivers.

Pettis’ ability to work out of the slot and outside is part of why he’s so valuable in an offense that requires a diverse skill set from receivers. He caught 27 balls for 467 yards and five touchdowns overall last season, but his work from the slot stood out to Farrar:

Especially in the slot, Pettis had some impressive moments, and he projects well as a primary receiver in multiple roles. In 2018, he caught 12 passes on 16 targets from the slot for 234 yards and two touchdowns. So, you have to project optimal production when it comes to Pettis, but it’s easy to do.

While he won’t line up a ton in the slot in 2019 with a few other receivers on the roster capable of filling that role, his high-level production in that area of the field point to all the things that make him a good receiver. His ability to quickly separate at the line of scrimmage make him deadly in the confined spaces a slot receiver works in, and he has enough speed to run away from defenders and turn short throws into big plays.

It stands to reason that Pettis notches a 1,000 yards in Year 2 as long as he stays on the field. A pair of knee injuries last year are the biggest red flag for the 23-year-old. On the other hand, he admittedly took awhile to get in the flow of the offense, and his productivity between Weeks 8 and 12 are a sign that he’s only going to get better. He hauled in 20 balls for 359 yards and four touchdowns in that four week stretch.

Best Slot Receivers Nfl 2019 Picks

With the arrow pointing up on the former second-round pick, it’s not an inconceivable notion that Pettis winds up among the NFL’s best receivers overall after 2019, and not just out of the slot.