Emeka Egbuka turned 7 targets into 163 receiving yards and became the first rookie of 2025 to take down the weekly receiving leader.
Surprisingly, three of the five weeks the receiving leader has had single-digit targets and managed solid efficiency on deep passes compared to two weeks of volume compilers.
It should be no surprise that we saw an uptick in 100-yard receiving games as overall passing increased.
13 players reached the century receiving mark in Week 5, with several more less than a handful of yards away.
The top-10 receiving leaders were all wide receivers, but Dalton Kincaid became the first tight end in three weeks to hit triple digit receiving yards.
In Week 4, running backs had a season high in positional target rate.
In Week 5, tight ends hit a positional high mark at 23.1% of all targets.
Wide receivers climbed a slight amount as running back targets dipped.
In Week 5, wide receivers had 55.4% of all targets, which is still lower than last season's average of 57.4%.
NFL Weekly Receiving Leaders, 2025:
| Week | Wide Receiver | Receiving Yards | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zay Flowers | 140 | Buffalo Bills |
| 2 | Malik Nabers | 167 | Dallas Cowboys |
| 3 | Tre Tucker | 145 | Washington Commanders |
| 4 | Puka Nacua | 170 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 5 | Emeka Egbuka | 163 | Seattle Seahawks |
Most Week 6 Receiving Yards Prediction (Sunday): Brian Thomas Jr. (+2500)
The obvious selection from this game is Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and there is no pushback from me on that.
However, I’m buying Brian Thomas Jr. as his stock is at its lowest.
Early in the season, Thomas appeared to have some wrist issues and caught 28% of his targets in the first three weeks.
Over the last two weeks, he has caught 69% of his targets.
Thomas has had an increase in his air yards per target compared to last season, which increases some volatility.
However, that is the exact recipe Egbuka had to lead all receivers last week.
The Seahawks secondary is decimated with injuries, providing Thomas with a great chance to build on the past couple of weeks in which he has had 39.5% of the Jaguars' air yards on 23.6% of the team's targets.
Brenton Strange has been placed on the injured reserve, removing the Jaguars' reception leader from the target tree.
He will be replaced by Hunter Long, who is a better blocking tight end.
As with Trevor Lawrence in this matchup at home against a West Coast team traveling to play in the early window, this is an if not now then when moment for Brian Thomas Jr.
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Week 6 Receiving Yards Longshot Bet: David Njoku Ladders
- Over 35.5 Receiving Yards (-110)
- Over 3.5 Receptions (-147)
- 6+ Receptions (+277)
- 7+ Receptions (+552)
Njoku is coming off a 9-target game in which he had 28.1% of the Browns' targets from Dillon Gabriel.
Last season, Njoku was targeted on 25.7% of his routes, which dropped to 15.4% with Joe Flacco in the opening four weeks of this season.
Despite the addition of Harold Fannin Jr, Njoku has a higher rate of routes per team dropback in 2025 compared to 2024.
Gabriel will continue to get the ball out quickly on shorter targets, which favors Njoku.