Over the past five years, three wide receivers have gone over 40 yards on more than 8 percent of their receptions. Two of those guys are at new addresses, and the other switched teams last year.
DeSean Jackson is the king of this arena, with 36 receptions of 40-plus yards since 2010 – 8 more than anyone else. Jackson has consistently gotten downfield and made big plays, and he’s done it without working with a franchise-type quarterback.
Torrey Smith has had some success as a long-ball guy, but he’s now in a new offense. He’s spent his entire career with Baltimore but signed with the 49ers.
Mike Wallace has also had success on deep routes, but most of that was early in his career, in Pittsburgh. He wasn’t as successful in Miami, and now he’s been traded to Minnesota. With Norv Turner as their offensive coordinator, the Vikings would like to get the ball downfield, but Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t shown much ability yet on those kind of throws.
Below is the list of the 46 receivers who’ve caught at least 200 passes in the last five years. Guys with the highest percentage of long receptions are near the top. The guys at the bottom (who don’t tend to have many 40-yard receptions) are all slot-type receivers.
| CATCHING LONG PASSES (last five years) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wide receiver | No | Yards | Avg | 40+ | Pct |
| DeSean Jackson | 288 | 5,218 | 18.1 | 36 | 12.5% |
| Torrey Smith | 213 | 3,591 | 16.9 | 19 | 8.9% |
| Mike Wallace | 336 | 5,078 | 15.1 | 28 | 8.3% |
| T.Y. Hilton | 214 | 3,289 | 15.4 | 17 | 7.9% |
| A.J. Green | 329 | 4,874 | 14.8 | 26 | 7.9% |
| Jordy Nelson | 345 | 5,423 | 15.7 | 23 | 6.7% |
| Julio Jones | 278 | 4,330 | 15.6 | 18 | 6.5% |
| Vincent Jackson | 280 | 4,716 | 16.8 | 18 | 6.4% |
| Nate Washington | 260 | 4,022 | 15.5 | 16 | 6.2% |
| Victor Cruz | 264 | 3,963 | 15.0 | 16 | 6.1% |
| Jeremy Maclin | 287 | 3,998 | 13.9 | 17 | 5.9% |
| Calvin Johnson | 450 | 7,334 | 16.3 | 26 | 5.8% |
| Demaryius Thomas | 351 | 5,317 | 15.1 | 20 | 5.7% |
| Golden Tate | 264 | 3,526 | 13.4 | 14 | 5.3% |
| Dez Bryant | 381 | 5,424 | 14.2 | 20 | 5.2% |
| Brandon Lloyd | 216 | 3,336 | 15.4 | 11 | 5.1% |
| Eric Decker | 290 | 3,926 | 13.5 | 14 | 4.8% |
| Mike Williams | 215 | 2,947 | 13.7 | 9 | 4.2% |
| Steve Smith | 389 | 5,461 | 14.0 | 16 | 4.1% |
| Greg Jennings | 270 | 3,760 | 13.9 | 11 | 4.1% |
| Antonio Brown | 374 | 5,092 | 13.6 | 15 | 4.0% |
| Hakeem Nicks | 302 | 4,237 | 14.0 | 12 | 4.0% |
| James Jones | 284 | 3,581 | 12.6 | 11 | 3.9% |
| Andre Johnson | 425 | 5,649 | 13.3 | 16 | 3.8% |
| Pierre Garcon | 362 | 4,462 | 12.3 | 13 | 3.6% |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 386 | 5,084 | 13.2 | 13 | 3.4% |
| Brandon Marshall | 446 | 5,752 | 12.9 | 15 | 3.4% |
| Brandon LaFell | 241 | 3,338 | 13.9 | 8 | 3.3% |
| Michael Crabtree | 299 | 3,702 | 12.4 | 9 | 3.0% |
| Lance Moore | 234 | 3,086 | 13.2 | 7 | 3.0% |
| Percy Harvin | 250 | 2,879 | 11.5 | 7 | 2.8% |
| Steve Johnson | 324 | 4,155 | 12.8 | 9 | 2.8% |
| Andre Roberts | 218 | 2,576 | 11.8 | 6 | 2.8% |
| Dwayne Bowe | 329 | 4,549 | 13.8 | 9 | 2.7% |
| Reggie Wayne | 394 | 4,952 | 12.6 | 9 | 2.3% |
| Brian Hartline | 267 | 3,737 | 14.0 | 6 | 2.2% |
| Randall Cobb | 227 | 3,049 | 13.4 | 5 | 2.2% |
| Anquan Boldin | 354 | 4,886 | 13.8 | 7 | 2.0% |
| Roddy White | 450 | 5,668 | 12.6 | 8 | 1.8% |
| Miles Austin | 249 | 3,375 | 13.6 | 4 | 1.6% |
| Marques Colston | 381 | 5,165 | 13.6 | 6 | 1.6% |
| Wes Welker | 448 | 5,013 | 11.2 | 6 | 1.3% |
| Danny Amendola | 229 | 2,188 | 9.6 | 3 | 1.3% |
| Kendall Wright | 215 | 2,420 | 11.3 | 2 | 0.9% |
| Jason Avant | 207 | 2,499 | 12.1 | 1 | 0.5% |
| Davone Bess | 233 | 2,497 | 10.7 | 1 | 0.4% |
—Ian Allan