NFL 10,000 Yard Receivers: 2018-2024

This is part seven of a series profiling every player with at least 10,000 career receiving yards in the NFL and AFL. Previous posts:

Part one (Maynard, Alworth, H.Jackson, Joiner, Largent, Lofton, Morgan, Monk, Rice)
Part two (Ellard, Clark, Reed, Fryar, Irvin, Carter, T.Brown, Rison)
Part three (Bruce, J.Smith, Harrison, Sharpe, Owens, McCardell, R.Smith, R.Moss)
Part four (K.Johnson, Holt, Galloway, Muhammad, Gonzalez, Mason, Ward, Ch.Johnson, Wayne, S.Smith, Driver)
Part five (Fitzgerald, A.Johnson, Boldin, S.Moss, Witten, White, Gates, Megatron, Marshall)
Part six (Why aren't there more modern receivers with 10,000 yards?)

In this post, I'll cover the 10,000-yard receivers who hit the milestone in the last eight seasons.

Antonio Brown
Pittsburgh Steelers, 2010-18; New England Patriots, 2019; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2020-21
928 receptions, 12,291 yards, 13.2 avg, 607 first downs, 83 TD
10,000 yards in: 2018, Week 1
4 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-Pro, 7 Pro Bowls, 2010s All-Decade Team

Antonio Brown was much shorter (5'10") and lighter (180) than most 10,000-yard receivers. The only players in this series who were listed as lighter than him are Don Maynard, Harold Jackson, and Gary Clark — all of whom retired before Brown completed elementary school — and DeSean Jackson. There are other good receivers of this era who were undersized, the Wes Welker types, but Brown's degree of success, at his size, is without parallel in modern football.

Brown started off as a kick returner. He had a return touchdown in five of his first six seasons, amassing 1 kickoff return TD and 4 punt return TDs in his career. Brown only had six 1,000-yard receiving seasons, one of the lower totals among 10,000-yard receivers. But he gained at least 1,200 yards five times, and 1,500 yards three times. He led the NFL twice in yardage, and once each in first downs and TDs. Brown was the greatest route runner of the 2010s, and good at keeping his feet in on the boundary. With the ball in his hands, he read the field well and made sharp cuts to evade tacklers.

Unfortunately, in 2026 it is impossible to write about Antonio Brown without addressing a grim parade of on-field and off-field incidents that have soured his legacy. Following a Pro Bowl season in which Brown led the league in receiving TDs, the Steelers traded him for pennies — 3rd- and 5th-round draft choices — to the Raiders. He was so disruptive and unreliable in Oakland that the team cut him before the season. Brown signed with the Patriots, for whom he played one game before being waived again due to serious off-field allegations. Showing extreme bad judgement, the Buccaneers signed him, and he appeared in 18 games for the Bucs before they released him for refusing to play and leaving the field during a game. Brown still claims this was the right thing to do, that his only obligations are to himself.

Brown has also faced numerous allegations of reckless and violent behavior off the field, including battery, sexual assault, and attempted murder. Brown has claimed that CTE is responsible for his pattern of antisocial and violent actions, which [1] may be true, but which [2] he clearly used an excuse, without evidence, and [3] would partly explain, but never justify, his actions. Brown is one of the more repulsive people ever to have a great career in the NFL.

DeSean Jackson
Philadelphia Eagles, 2008-13, 2019-20; Washington, 2014-16; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2017-18; Los Angeles Rams, 2021; Las Vegas Raiders, 2021; Baltimore Ravens, 2022
641 receptions, 11,263 yards, 17.6 avg, 432 first downs, 58 TD
10,000 yards in: 2018, Week 6
1 AP All-Pro, 3 Pro Bowls

DeSean Jackson is the only player in this post who made his professional debut in the '00s. A second-round draft pick out of Cal, Jackson was a good receiver right away, gaining over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first four seasons, but he was also a dangerous return man, selected to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist in his second season. Jackson scored four punt return touchdowns in his first three seasons. However, he also had the worst punt return in NFL history:

The worst punt return I have ever seen (0:32)

Incredibly, that was only the second-dumbest play of Jackson's career.

This might be the third-dumbest play of Jackson's career:

Or it might be the time he forgot which hand he had the ball in.

And of course, we're just talking about his pro career. Jackson did impossibly stupid things at the NCAA level, too.

Jackson was pure lightning, one of the fastest players in the league — but he doesn't have as much sense as the squirrel playing in your back yard. The Eagles benched or suspended him multiple times for attitude problems and unreliability. Jackson has also posted antisemitic and misogynist nonsense on social media. Jackson is currently the head coach of the Delaware State football team. An institution of higher learning giving a job to DeSean Jackson strikes me about the same as if the ASPCA hired Michael Vick as their president.

Listed at 5-10, 175, Jackson was noticeably the smallest man on the field, almost every time he played. He might be 5'10" in his cleats, on tiptoes. But he had effortless speed, and he was one of the most dangerous deep threats of all time.

I once described Jackson as "dynamic, explosive, an 80-yard touchdown waiting to happen ... at least once a game, Jackson gets open downfield where an accurate throw would be a touchdown."

Jackson had five 1,000-yard receiving seasons, and he rushed for 463 yards and 4 touchdowns — among the highest totals ever for a WR — plus he added 1,315 yards and 4 TDs on punt returns. He led the NFL in receiving average four times, the most in history. The only other players to lead more than twice were Jimmy Orr, who gets an asterisk since in 1964, he led the NFL but trailed the AFL's Elbert Dubenion, and Stanley Morgan, every year from 1979-81. Highest yds/rec among 10,000-yard receivers:

Among 21st-century players, Jackson is unique. He has the fewest first downs and fewest touchdowns of any player with at least 10,000 receiving yards.

Julio Jones
Atlanta Falcons, 2011-20; Tennessee Titans, 2021; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2022; Philadelphia Eagles, 2023
914 receptions, 13,703 yards, 15.0 avg, 644 first downs, 66 TD
10,000 yards in: 2018, Week 9
2 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-Pro, 7 Pro Bowls, 2010s All-Decade Team

Did you notice that all three players profiled here spent a year or two with the Bucs near the end of their careers? D-Jax from 2017-18, Antonio Brown from 2020-21, and Julio Jones in '22. I don't know what Tampa was thinking in 2019, when 26-year-old Mike Evans was the oldest WR on the roster. I guess they couldn't talk Jordy Nelson out of retirement.

Quintorris Lopez Jones was the 6th overall pick in the 2011 draft. He was often injured, and only played 34 games in his first three seasons, though he showcased devastating potential. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Jones had the size and strength to create problems for defensive backs, but he also ran a 4.3. Other than Calvin Johnson, he was the most visually spectacular receiver of the 2010s, the one who made the most jaw-dropping plays.

Jones led the NFL in receiving yards twice, and he holds the single-season record for receiving first downs (93 in 2015). That 2015 season should have won Offensive Player of the Year. In addition to the first downs record, which still stands, Julio gained 1,871 yards, then the second-highest total in NFL history. He ranked 6th in AP OPOY voting, behind four QBs and Antonio Brown.

Jones had seven 1,000-yard seasons, but what's really impressive is that in six of them, he gained at least, 1,394 yards. I'm obviously cherry-picking the number, but Jerry Rice is the only other player with even five such seasons^[1] (Rice also had six).

There are some statistical curiosities that somewhat temper my evaluation of Jones' greatness. The obvious one is his low TD total. Henry Ellard is the only player within 1,000 yards of Jones' career total who had fewer receiving TDs. There's no obvious reason for his low TD rate. Football historian Bryan Frye suggested that "[Matt] Ryan just hasn’t targeted him as much as he probably should in the red zone; instead, Jones has been a decoy near the goal line for most of his career." I suppose that's right, but it's not a very satisfying explanation.

The 2016 Falcons had one of the highest-scoring offenses in history and nearly won Super Bowl LI, and Jones was a consensus All-Pro. That year, Julio tied for 3rd in touchdowns on his own team, behind two running backs and equal with Taylor Gabriel. Jones missed two games that season, and in those games, Ryan threw 5 TDs and no INTs, with a 134.7 rating and 9.4 NY/A, and the Falcons scored over 40 points both weeks. Jones also wasn't as consistent as most great receivers: he'd have a 250-yard, 2-TD game, then disappear for a couple weeks. He was the kind of player defenses game-plan around, and he surely created opportunities for teammates, but I wish his statistical impact had been steadier.

Jones is the only WR of this era whom I am confident will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. From 2014-19, he was in the conversation as the league's best wide receiver every year.

DeAndre Hopkins
Houston Texans, 2013-19; Arizona Cardinals, 2020-22; Tennessee Titans, 2023-24; Kansas City Chiefs, 2024; Baltimore Ravens, 2025
1,006 receptions, 13,295 yards, 13.2 avg, 693 first downs, 85 TD
10,000 yards in: 2020
1 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-Pro, 5 Pro Bowls

Darren Sproles was chosen to the 2010s All-Decade Team, as a punt returner and in the Flex position. DeAndre Hopkins did not make the All-Decade Team. It defies credibility that, in 2020, the voting panel selected five running backs and four wide receivers. Have these people watched a football game in the last 45 years? I think Hopkins was the most obvious snub for the Flex spot. During the 2010s, Sproles gained 2,665 rushing yards and 3,960 receiving yards — that's 6,625 yards from scrimmage — with 338 first downs and 40 offensive TDs. Hopkins, who was a rookie in 2013, gained 8,614 yards, 455 first downs, and 54 TDs.

Hopkins is the first active player in this series, though his career appears to be winding down. In the last two seasons combined, he had 940 yards, and there is speculation that he may retire.

Hopkins has seven 1,000-yard seasons, and three years each of 1,400 yards, 70 first downs, and double-digit TDs. He led all NFL receivers in TDs in 2017 and first downs in 2018. More than anything, Hopkins was a first down machine. He ranked among the top three in receiving first downs five times, and he is one of only three receivers (Antonio Brown and Michael Thomas) with multiple seasons of more than 80 first downs. Hopkins ranks 18th all-time in receiving yards, 11th in first downs, and tied for 19th in TDs.

Hopkins had probably the best hands of the post-Fitzgerald generation. He's listed at 6'1" and 210 pounds, but he played bigger than that, outpositioning and overpowering defensive backs to make tough catches in traffic. He timed his jumps perfectly, making him seem taller and more explosive.

Hopkins' achievements are all the more impressive because he spent much of his career with a shifting cast of decidedly subpar QBs. In 2015, for example, Hopkins had 111 receptions for 1,521 yards, 83 first downs, and 11 TDs. He produced this impressive stat line with four different starting quarterbacks: Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden. Hopkins had more catches, more yards, more first downs, and more TDs than his next three teammates combined. The support in many of his other seasons wasn't much better.

Hopkins has the most receiving yards and first downs of any active player. Davante Adams has the most TDs.

A.J. Green
Cincinnati Bengals, 2011-20; Arizona Cardinals, 2021-22
727 receptions, 10,514 yards, 14.5 avg, 493 first downs, 70 TD
10,000 yards in: 2021
2 AP All-Pro, 7 Pro Bowls

Adriel Jeremiah Green was the 50th player to reach 10,000 career receiving yards. Green was the 4th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and he contributed immediately, gaining 1,057 yards and becoming the first rookie WR in nearly a decade to make the Pro Bowl (Anquan Boldin, 2003).

Over Green's first five seasons, he gained 1,000 yards every year, made the Pro Bowl every year, and the Bengals made the playoffs every year — though they went 0-5 in those games. In his sixth season, Green was on pace for a career high, with 964 yards through nine games, including three 150-yard performances. In Week 11, he got hurt on the third play from scrimmage and missed the rest of the season, coming up 36 yards shy of a sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. The following year, he topped 1,000 again, and made his seventh straight Pro Bowl.

The rest of his career was limited by injuries, adding just 2,301 yards and 13 TDs.

At 6'4" and 210 pounds, Green wasn't a size-and-strength monster like Andre Johnson, but he was a head taller than some of the defenders assigned to cover him. He made a lot of contested catches in traffic, and he could put a move on defenders. Green had good hands, and he was good at keeping his feet in on the sidelines.

Many of Green's best performances came against the division rival Baltimore Ravens. In his first 11 games against Baltimore, the Bengals went 7-4 and Green had 910 yards and 9 TDs. That includes 131 yards and a TD in the 2014 season opener, 151 yards and a TD the year before, 69 yards and 3 TDs in 2018, when Green was nearing the end of the line, and 227 yards and 2 TDs in Baltimore in September 2015. At one point, Cincinnati won five in a row against their rivals, and Green earned the nickname Ravens Killer. "One of these days, we'll figure out how to cover A.J. Green," said Ravens coach John Harbaugh. "It'd be nice if we did it one time before he retires."

Green had six 1,000-yard seasons and three years of double-digit TDs. He never led the NFL in a major stat, was never first-team All-Pro, and did not have a long career, but he made seven Pro Bowls and was among the best WRs in the league for most of the 2010s.

Mike Evans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2014-25
866 receptions, 13,052 yards, 15.1 avg, 661 first downs, 108 TD
10,000 yards in: 2022, Week 12
2 AP All-Pro, 6 Pro Bowls