Can Cheetah Lead the NFL in Receiving Yards Again?
Tyreek Hill Headlines 2024 NFL Receiving Leader Odds
Plenty of Young Pass Catchers Could Lead the NFL In Receiving Yards in 2024
Eight of the 12 players with the most receiving yards in the NFL during the 2023 regular season were 25 or younger, so perhaps the best is yet to come when it comes to the 2024 NFL receiving leader odds.
Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys, and Amon-Ra St. Brown all topped 1500 yards. However, tight end Travis Kelce was the leader for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and 28 players had more receiving yards than Kelce. All of those 28 players would gladly change places with Kelce.
Hill is second only behind San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey at +800 in the odds of winning the NFL Offensive Player of the Year odds. Next up are Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings and Lamb at +900 according to the NFL betting lines followed by Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase.
When looking at the NFL playoff odds, Kelce and the Chiefs lead the way at +550 in the odds of winning the Super Bowl. San Francisco could see Brandon Aiyuk have another huge season as he could be motivated by the contract issues. Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and the 49ers have +650 odds of winning the Super Bowl followed by the Baltimore Ravens at +950.
The 2024 regular season begins on Sept. 5 when the Baltimore Ravens are 2.5-point underdogs on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs. The first preseason game is on Aug. 1 as the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears meet in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
Hill Is Ready For An Encore
“The Cheetah” is looking to become the first player to lead the NFL in receiving yards in back-to-back seasons since Calvin Johnson accomplished the feat with 1681 yards in 2011 followed by an NFL single-season record 1,964 yards the following year.
But per the 2024 NFL receiving leader odds, there is a troubling trend for the player nicknamed after the world’s fastest mammal. The last time a player led the NFL in receiving yards and was at least 30 was in 2004 when Muhsin Muhammad topped all pass catchers in 1,405 yards. Hill signed a lucrative four-year contract extension so all the focus will be on the field.
Unlike some of the challengers, he will have the same quarterback throwing to him in Tua Tagovailoa.
Hill is the front-runner at +600 to have the most receiving yards. He is priced at -105 to exceed 9.5 receiving touchdowns and at -125 to go under the total. There are -115 odds for Hill to either go over or under 1375.5 receiving yards.
Lamb, Chase, Brown Can’t Be Overlooked
Like Hill, Lamb, Chase, and A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles will be working with the same QB in 2024.
Lamb (+700 in the 2024 NFL Receiving Leader Odds) is an elite pass catcher. However, the only other proven receiver on the Dallas roster is Brandin Cooks and he hasn’t topped 1000 yards since 2021.
Chase, who is at +800 to lead the NFL in receiving yards, will benefit from having Joe Burrow throw him the ball after Burrow was limited to 10 games in 2023.
The concern with Brown is that there are so many mouths to feed on the offense for the Eagles with running back Saquon Barkley signed in the offseason while DeVonta Smith and Parris Campbell as well as tight end Dallas Goedert could take targets away from Brown.
Jefferson could offer good value at +1000. However, quarterback Kirk Cousins is now with Atlanta leaving journeyman Sam Darnold and rookie J.J. McCarthy as the likely options to be the new starting quarterback.
Stefon Diggs, who is now with the Houston Texans could put up some big numbers with C.J. Stroud throwing him the ball after Diggs topped 100 catches in each of his four seasons with the Buffalo Bills. Diggs led the NFL with 1535 receiving yards in 2020.
A quick peek at the NFL football schedule shows that among the Week 1 games is a showdown of top receivers when Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and the Los Angeles Rams face Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
There were 18 receivers selected before the Rams made BYU’s Puka Nacua the 177th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Pacua finished in the top 10 in the NFL with 105 catches, 1486 receiving yards, and 160 targets.
He is seventh at +1200 to be the NFL leader in receiving yards.
Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets (+1400), Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons (+1600), Chris Olave of the New Orleans Saints (+2000), and rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. of the Arizona Cardinals (+2500) are young pass catchers to keep an eye on during the 2023 season.
Red zone targets can be limited with a running quarterback so it remains to be seen if Harrison’s touchdown total will be impacted with the elusive Kyler Murray returning as the QB for the Cardinals. There are even odds for Harrison to have at least seven touchdown catches as a rookie.
What About the Tight Ends?
It will take a while to find the last time a tight end led the NFL in receiving yards.
It seems unlikely to happen during the 2024 season even if there are plenty of dynamic pass catchers at the tight end position.
Kelce and Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions lead the way at +4000 to be the receiving yardage leader followed by Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts (+5000), Baltimore’s Mark Andrews (+6000), and Arizona’s Trey McBride (+7000).
There are -115 odds for Kelce to go over 875.5 receiving yards with LaPorta having the same odds to finish over 825.5 yards.
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