Kenny Golladay has seen a ton of hype entering the 2020 NFL season, and it’s clear the Detroit Lions pass catcher is going to roll into the year with a ton of excitement.
Recently, Pro Football Focus and a band of analysts posed a question. Should Golladay be considered the best wideout in the NFC North division? Would they select him as their first pick if they were given a chance to have first pick of wideouts from the division? The answer was yes from at least a pair of the analysts.
Is Kenny Golladay the best WR in the NFC North?
Not everyone was completely sold on Golladay as the top wideout in the division. The name of Golladay’s Detroit teammate Marvin Jones came up, as did Adam Thielen of the Minnesota Vikings and Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers. Clearly, though, Golladay has a name that is going to continue to come up in these conversations well into the future.
He might have the numbers to dominate this discussion for years to come.
Kenny Golladay NFL’s Deep Ball King
Golladay has turned into one of the best deep ball pros in the entire league in short order. In fact, as Pro Football Focus explained, just last season, Golladay had the most catches on targets 20 yards downfield or more in the NFL. Golladay had 16, while his bigger name competition in Amari Cooper and Stefon Diggs had 15.
Most catches on targets 20+ yards downfield in 2019
Kenny Golladay – 16
Stefon Diggs – 15
Amari Cooper – 15
Few would figure Golladay to be king of this list, but he sits atop it. It’s fair to remember the wideout did all of this with only a half season of his go-to quarterback Matthew Stafford. Golladay has burst on the scene in a big way after coming to the Lions in the 2017 NFL Draft and has quickly become one of the top wideouts in the game. For some reason, he’s still overlooked. Stats like this prove those days could be coming to an end soon.
With a healthy Stafford in 2020, there is no reason Golladay can’t continue to open eyes with what he is able to do on the field.
Kenny Golladay Pegged for Huge 2020 Season
After a few solid seasons since being drafted into the league, Golladay appeared to grow by leaps and bounds in 2019. All of that only sets the stage for what could be to come this year. According to Pro Football Focus, Golladay is going to be one of the most productive wideouts in the game this coming season, racking up 1,405 receiving yards. That would represent a top 3 total in the league.
Most projected receiving yards
1. Michael Thomas – 1,525
2. Julio Jones – 1,457
3. Kenny Golladay – 1,405
4. Chris Godwin – 1,331
Golladay is a player the Lions need to build around for the future, and his ability to make huge plays in the passing game is a major reason why. He’s developed well since the Lions drafted him and Golladay is a home grown talent in the truest sense.
A season like this might just propel the Lions forward in the biggest and best possible ways offensively.
Kenny Golladay’s 2019 Stats
From nearly the start of the season until the finish, Golladay had an excellent year catching the ball. So far, he’s put up 1,190 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s had some huge games last season, and four times Golladay has gone well over 100 yards in a game catching the ball for the Lions. His ball skills are a big reason why.
In total, Golladay has enjoyed arguably the best start to a career of any wideout in his 2017 draft class not named JuJu Smith-Schuster. With 2,730 yards and 19 touchdowns thus far in his career coming into the 2020 season on the field, Golladay looks like an obvious top dog in Detroit for the foreseeable future with Matthew Stafford tossing him the rock. That’s good news for the Lions, who have long pondered how to find production at the wideout position minus Calvin Johnson. Not an issue anymore with Golladay taking over.
It’s possible just a handful of years after losing Johnson, the Lions have the next top receiver in the division in Golladay.
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Lions’ Kenny Golladay Hyped as Potential Best Wideout in NFC North