Analysis
7/19/23
7 min read
Ranking NFL’s 9 Best Route Runners Entering 2023
Friendly disclaimer: You’re going to find flaws in this list. It’s impossible not to. Route running means too many different things to different people. Even if we could all agree on what we’re seeing, there are differences in what people value.
Routes are run in various systems out of various formations and against various defensive looks. It can be hard to tell when they’re run poorly. A receiver might make a beautiful cut at 12 yards, but the pass to him gets intercepted because he was supposed to cut at 14 yards. Or because the route runner next to him was supposed to release outside of the hook defender, not inside.
This raises another issue with assessing route runners: Some of the best work is performed by untargeted receivers. Most NFL offenses deploy route combinations. Receiver A runs a brilliant route to create a targeted pass for Receiver B. How often are outsiders crediting Receiver A in that scenario?
Advanced statistical metrics have done a lot for football, but it’s difficult to get on board with them regarding route running. The differences in zone and man coverage rules alone render the stat null. Separation is not an end-all; some route runners are superb because they know how to get closer to defenders in certain areas.
We could go on and on about the flaws of this list. But let’s just agree to take it with a grain of salt and examine nine of the league’s best route runners.
>> READ: NFL's 9 Best Deep Ball Throwers
NFL’s 9 Best Route Runners
9. Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Diontae Johnson is a little different than Pittsburgh’s last prolific wide receiver, Antonio Brown, but he shares an important attribute: quickness and acceleration in and out of his breaks, which is just as important as a receiver’s ability to accelerate is an ability to decelerate. Few players hit the brakes on intermediate routes as well as Johnson.
8. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Ja’Marr Chase has a great feel for outbreakers and comebackers, which is critical for a receiver who can get on top of defenders. While we don’t think of those pure go balls as a product of great route running, with Chase, they often are, with him winning on his release off the snap. A route runner’s release is sort of like a golfer’s putting: It’s rarely what first comes to mind, but without it, the rest of his game doesn’t matter.
7. Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers
Keenan Allen has a keen understanding of how to use his routes to occupy zone defenders and create opportunities for other receivers. But what really puts him on this list is his 12-20-yard in-cuts proficiency. He has long been among the league’s very best here, stemming his vertical pushes outside and knowing how to sink his hips.
6. DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
DeVonta Smith simply has all the major traits: stop-start control, change-of-direction ability, quickness, acceleration, tempo command and, notably for a 170-pounder, a willingness to apply said traits inside. With longer strides giving Smith higher-end speed, he’s a true No. 1 … even if he probably is, technically, the No. 2 receiver on his team.
5. Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
Quick, controlled feet set Stefon Diggs apart. We can see them on shorter routes, which Diggs is great at running. But they also show on his downfield patterns, even on some of the pure verticals. Diggs’ impure verticals are even more impressive. He masterfully boosts them with subtle, double-move elements. Diggs also has a keen sense for setting up rubs, and not just when they pertain to pivots and crossers but also on downfield routes.
4. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders
With maybe the exception of Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams’ top 10 route-running highlights are more impressive than anyone’s. That’s not to say that his Nos. 11 through however many hundred other route-running highlights are unimpressive. The command and control he has over his tempo is superb. His flexibility and explosiveness in his hips can be unbelievable in space.
The Raiders do a nice job of motioning Adams and aligning him in different locations to create those opportunities in space, including on downfield shots against post-safeties. While we think of Adams’ teammate Hunter Renfrow when envisioning whip and pivot routes, Adams himself is great on these. That’s extremely rare for someone who, at his core, is still an X receiver.
3. Travis Kelce, Kansas Chiefs
Most players can give a head fake or a shoulder roll to carry out a fake. Travis Kelce can turn his entire body. No one is more deceptive from the hips up, particularly in the shoulders, which Kelce masterfully rolls to influence defenders on a variety of routes. He’s so lethal here that he can make himself look like one zone defender’s responsibility when, in fact, his route is attacking another zone defender.
Simply put: Kelce can cover a lot of ground in the misdirection parts of his routes and make himself look like he’s about to cover even more. The only other tight end who has this trait is Mark Andrews, and it’s to a much smaller degree. Andrews is great at rolling his cuts to distort zone defenders’ responsibilities when executing 15-plus-yard routes (mainly crossers). Kelce can do it on any route that is over two yards.
2. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
Mentally, few players have a scholarly understanding of how a defense’s coverage concept and matchup rules relate to the overall design of the play. Physically, few players are as nuanced with body lean as Cooper Kupp – especially on short and intermediate routes. And while Kupp certainly can separate from defenders dramatically, he’s arguably at his most unguardable when aiming to separate just enough.
Some of his best “contested catches” are a product of subtle, supremely timed route-running excellence. At the top of his routes, he’s peerless when it comes to friendlily presenting himself to the quarterback.
1. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Justin Jefferson is in this spot because he makes cuts without slowing down or shortening his stride. Few – if any – players in history have had such an ability. It’s an incredible physical gift that Jefferson amplifies with smooth and fluid hips, twitchy joints and, therefore, supreme body control.
His 2022 league-leading 1,809 receiving yards would have been well north of 2,000 if he’d been more consistently targeted when open (especially early in the season). And so much of Jefferson’s “open” is wide open. What’s more, everything we’ve touched on here applies to Jefferson whether he’s aligning at X receiver outside, off the ball as a Z receiver or in the slot as an F receiver.
Andy Benoit worked for Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff from 2020 through 2022. Before that, he was a football analyst, writer and content producer for Peter King’s MMQB at Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and The New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter @Andy_Benoit.
