Los Angeles Rams… Tampa Bay Buccaneers… Kansas City Chiefs… Almost every Super Bowl champion from the last decade has featured at least one elite wide receiver. From Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase in last year’s Super Bowl showdown between the Rams and the Chiefs. To Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans with the Chiefs and Buccaneers. All of this is to say that if you want to build a winning franchise in Madden NFL 23, you’ll need to recruit some of the best wide receivers the game has to offer.
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So, since Madden NFL 23 released its wide receiver ratings on July 18th, 2022, it’s time to break down some of the best wide receivers in the game.
Best Wide Receivers in Madden NFL 23
We’ve already reviewed the top wide receiver ratings and rankings previously. So, the following list takes a look at a variety of other important statistics for the WR position, aside from just the player’s overall rating. Including speed (SPD), acceleration (ACC), agility (AGI), catching (CTH), spectacular catch (SPC), catch in traffic (CIT), short route running (SRR), medium route running (MRR) and deep route running (DRR), just to name a few.
Related: Fastest NFL Players in Madden 23
Taking this into account, these are the best all-around wide receivers in Madden NFL 23:
- Davante Adams (99), Las Vegas Raiders – As the first official member of the exclusive 99 Club, it’s hard not to place Adams at the top of the list amongst wide receivers. He carries elite physical traits, including speed (90), acceleration (92), agility (95), jumping (96), and stamina (97). Although, most importantly, he’s nearly perfect in every catching category. With a 99 in catching, a 99 in spectacular catch, a 99 in catch in traffic, a 98 in short route running, a 97 in medium route running and a 95 in deep route running. Not to mention a 99 release off the line of scrimmage, making him nearly impossible to keep up with.
- Cooper Kupp (98), Los Angeles Rams – While perhaps not as quick as Tyreek Hill or as well-rounded as Davante Adams, Kupp is easily one of the more reliable pass-catchers and route runners in Madden NFL 23. He’s still got solid physical stats with a 89 in speed, a 96 in acceleration, a 95 in agility and a 99 in stamina. However, he also ranks among the best in the position in catching (99), spectacular catch (88), catch in traffic (88), ball carrying vision (96), short route running (99), medium route running (98), and deep route running (94).
- Tyreek Hill (97), Miami Dolphins – Tyreek Hill carries lower stats that the two aforementioned names when it comes to things like catching (88), catch in traffic (85), short route running (93) and medium route running (93). However, when you’ve got 99s across the board in categories like speed, acceleration, and conditioning, with a 98 in agility, a 92 in jumping, a 97 in ball carrying vision and a 96 in deep route running. It’s difficult to justify not ranking Hill this high up on our list. As he remains the most lethal deep threat in the game.
- Stefon Diggs (95), Buffalo Bills – Personally, I would love to place Hopkins ahead of Diggs, who carries a slightly lower overall rating. But Diggs checks off just about every single box you could want in a wide receiver in Madden NFL 23. His speed (92), acceleration (94), agility (92), jumping (91), stamina (95), and conditioning (95) shows how special of an athlete he is. However, he also ranks near the top in catching (98), ball-carrying vision (95), spectacular catch (94), catch in traffic (92), short route running (94), medium route running (95), and deep route running (92).
- DeAndre Hopkins (96), Arizona Cardinals – Even though D-Hop carries a worse rating than Diggs in categories like speed (90), acceleration (88), agility (89) and catching (96). He’s still arguably the best route runner in the game, with 97 in short route running, 96 in medium route running and 91 in deep route running. Hopkins also has some of the higher ratings in strength (79), jumping (99), ball-carrying vision (93), spectacular catch (99) and catch in traffic (97). Making him perfect for those 50/50 balls and gaining extra yards after the catch.
- Justin Jefferson (93), Minnesota Vikings – Next, we’ve got Justin Jefferson. Who kicks off our second tier of wide receivers in players that are still viable number one options but not quite as balanced or well-rounded as the names previously mentioned. Nevertheless, Jefferson has solid physicals with 90s across the board in speed (91), acceleration (91), agility (93), jumping (94), and conditioning (95). He’s also a reliable route runner, with a 92 in short route running, a 92 in medium route running and a 93 in deep route running. As well as a sound pass-catcher, with 94 catching, 94 spectacular catch and 88 catch in traffic.
- Terry McLaurin (91), Washington Commanders – While perhaps not as reliable a route runner as Keenan Allen or as solid of a pass-catcher as Mike Evans. Terry McLaurin actually ranks higher in various other very important categories. Including speed (94), acceleration (93), catching (97), and conditioning (89). Although, don’t get it twisted because he still ranks near the top of the league in things like spectacular catch (95), catch in traffic (90), and ball-carrying vision (89). With high 80s in short, medium and deep route running.
- Mike Evans (92), Tampa Bay Buccaneers – As previously mentioned, Mike Evans isn’t quite as talented of a route runner as Keenan Allen or even McLaurin, however, he more than makes up for it in other areas. Particularly with his spectacular catch rating (97), catch in traffic rating (98), jumping ability (96), and strength (78). While still carrying solid stats in areas like speed (90), acceleration (89), catching (91), and ball-carrying vision (89). Also, one important factor that doesn’t show up in the Madden ratings is height and weight, which contribute to helping receivers make big-time plays overtop of opposing defensive backs. And Mike Evans is 6’5”, 230-pounds, which makes him the biggest receiver on our list.
- Keenan Allen (91), Los Angeles Chargers – I have Keenan Allen ranked lower than Evans and McLaurin strictly because of his physicals. He’s 6’2”, 210-pounds and has considerably lower ratings in a few key areas. Such as speed (88), acceleration (89), agility (92), conditioning (88) and catching ability (90). That being said, he is technically a better pass-catcher and route runner than both Evans and McLaurin. With a spectacular catch and catch in traffic rating of 95 along with a short route running rating of 93, a medium route running rating of 94 and a deep route running rating of 88.
- Michael Thomas (90), New Orleans Saints – Finally, we’ve got Michael Thomas. Even though he’s dealt with injuries over the last year, this doesn’t show up in Madden NFL 23. Sure, he’s not as fast or agile as other receivers like Tyler Lockett or Chris Godwin, but he’s a slightly bigger receiver (6’3”, 215-pounds) that can get up and make plays. Particularly thanks to his catching (93), jumping (91), conditioning (89) and strength (77) ratings. Most importantly, he has some of the highest spectacular catch (96) and catch in traffic (96) ratings in the game. Along with short, medium and deep route running ratings all in the high 80s.
That’s everything you need to know about the best wide receivers in Madden NFL 23. Before you go, be sure to check out some of our other Madden content here at Gamer Journalist. Like the top 10 worst Madden NFL 23 ratings or everything included with each edition of Madden NFL 23.
