Where does Kenny Golladay rank among the NFL’s elite wide receivers?

Is Kenny Golladay of the Detroit Lions among the best 10 wideouts in the NFL?

The Detroit Lions undoubtedly have a rising star in wide receiver Kenny Golladay. But there’s been some recent questions about exactly where Golladay ranks at his position. And whether or not he should be considered one of the NFL’s top ten wideouts or not.

There are three wide receivers that I’d rather have than Golladay on my roster. The New Orleans Saints’ Michael Thomas, the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones, and the Arizona Cardinals’ Deandre Hopkins are all cornerstone players on their respective teams that I’d rank higher.

The Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen, the Buffalo Bills’ Stefon Diggs, and the Tampa Buccaneers’ duo of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin could also be considered better than Golladay right now. Even wideouts like the New England Patriots’ Julian Edelman, Los Angeles Chargers’ Keenan Allen, and the L.A. Rams’ Cooper Kupp could find themselves ahead of the 26-year old Golladay on a top-10 list.

Still, Detroit’s fourth-year receiver does have a strong case to be considered top-10 worthy. Last season, Golladay caught 65 passes for 1,190 yards with a league-leading 11 receiving touchdowns.

Golladay’s reception yards were the seventh-most among wide receivers in 2019. And he averaged the second-most yards per catch with 18.3 for wideouts with 50 receptions or more. In his three-year career so far, he’s caught 163 passes for 2,730 yards and19 touchdowns while averaging 16.7 yards per reception.

One thing that could hold Golladay off of top-10 lists is his catch percentage. In his career, he’s been targeted 283 times catching only 57.6% of balls thrown his way. In 2019, he was thrown to 116 times but only caught 56% of those passes. Last season, guys like Thomas, Kupp, and Godwin all caught over 70% of their targets.

In the end, I think Kenny Golladay is a fringe top 10 wide receiver in the NFL right now. But entering his fourth season as a member of the Detroit Lions, it appears Golladay is destined to rise up the ranks once again.