Highest-graded wide receivers by route type: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Puka Nacua and more

• Amon-Ra St. Brown takes the cake on multiple routes: The Detroit Lions wideout led the league in PFF grade on slants and hitches.

• A rookie season for the record books: Puka Nacua paced the NFL in PFF receiving grade on crossing routes, another highlight in his historic first season.

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Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

PFF’s vast database includes route data for all receivers, and we can thus identify the NFL's top wide receivers from 2023 on each route.

Here, we dig into the top-graded receivers on eight key routes. A minimum of 10 targets for each route is required, except comeback routes, where we lowered the minimum to five due to the low number of targets league-wide.

Screen: Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs (94.5 PFF receiving grade)

The then-rookie wide receiver averaged 3.54 yards per route run on screens in 2023, including the playoffs, turning 27 targets into 25 receptions for 184 yards and a touchdown.

Slant: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (97.3)

St. Brown’s three touchdown receptions on slants in 2023 trailed only Jakobi Meyers. He averaged 5.78 yards per route run, turning 15 targets into 11 receptions for 185 yards.

Hitch: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (97.1)

St. Brown was the league’s highest-graded receiver on hitch routes, too, recording 24 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown.

Out: Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (96.0)

Aiyuk averaged 3.47 yards per route on out routes last season, with 19 receptions for 229 yards, though he didn’t find the end zone on such plays.

In: Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers (98.3)

Aiyuk’s 49ers teammate was the best in the league on in routes, averaging 5.36 yards per route run. He finished with 224 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions from 14 targets.

Crossing: Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams (98.5)

The Rams rookie led the way on crossing routes, with his 441 yards including the playoffs coming in 180 yards more than the next-best receiver.

Go: Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins (99.9)

Seeing the league’s top deep threat pace the league on go routes should come as no surprise. Hill’s 465 receiving yards were 222 more than any other receiver, and his eight touchdowns were double that of the next-best player at the position.

Corner: Justin Watson, Kansas City Chiefs (97.5)

Watson’s 157 yards on corner routes trailed only George Pickens of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular season and playoffs, while his six receptions were tied with Mike Evans for the most in the league.

Post: Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (97.5)

Aiyuk’s 213 yards on post routes trailed only Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins. Two of his eight receptions on such routes resulted in a touchdown.

Comeback: Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars (90.4)

Ridley was one of just two receivers to see five targets on comeback routes, turning them into a league-leading 41 receiving yards.