2026
2026 season · WR · #17 · 6th season
Jaylen Waddle
Age 27 · 5'10" · 182 lb · Alabama · Pick 6 overall (2021). Listed WR1 on the 3WR 1TE depth chart. Snap share 64% across 8 games.
- How goodWaddle's +4.3 EPA is 69th of 99 wide receivers.
- Where it comes fromThe biggest share comes after the catch (+12.9, 41st percentile per target).
- Fantasy6.2 standard points a game, WR42 of 171.8.0 half-PPR points a game, WR44 of 171.9.9 PPR points a game, WR42 of 171.
- How he's usedHe lives outside the numbers: only 8% of his targets come over the middle (league 21%).
- LatelyTargets are steady: 6.7 a game over his last three against 6.4 for the season.
- This weekA tough matchup: the Panthers rank 10th vs WR, allowing +0.13 EPA per target to wide receivers.
How good is hehis line against the league at his position
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target shareof team targets | 23% | 23rd of 99 | 77th | |
| Depth of targetair yards per target | 9.8 | 72nd of 99 | 28th | |
| After the catchyards per reception | 3.3 | 63rd of 99 | 37th | |
| Catch ratereceptions per target | 57% | 68th of 99 | 32nd | |
| EPA per target | +0.08 | 75th of 99 | 25th |
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First downsper target | 25% | 90th of 99 | 10th | |
| Drop ratedrops per target, lower is better | 4% | 48th of 99 | 52nd | |
| Yards per game | 39.4 | 58th of 99 | 42nd | |
| Success rate | 35% | 94th of 99 | 6th | |
| Total EPA | +4.3 | 69th of 99 | 31st |
How this is measured
Each bar is the league at his position; the marker is him. Right is better, the dashed line is the median. Ranks are out of the qualifying pool, ties shown as T-, and move every week as the pool changes.
Waddle scores 6.2 standard points a game, WR42 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 2.6 and 10.9; 1 boom week (12+) and 5 busts (under 5). Next up, in Week 9, the Panthers allow the 9th-fewest standard points to WRs, 18.0 a game.
Waddle scores 8.0 half-PPR points a game, WR44 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 4.0 and 12.8; 1 boom week (16+) and 4 busts (under 6.5). Next up, in Week 9, the Panthers allow the 14th-fewest half-PPR points to WRs, 24.1 a game.
Waddle scores 9.9 PPR points a game, WR42 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 5.4 and 14.7; 1 boom week (20+) and 4 busts (under 8). Next up, in Week 9, the Panthers allow the 16th-fewest PPR points to WRs, 30.2 a game.
How this is measured
Fantasy points are nflverse's standard and full-PPR scoring (6 points for a rushing or receiving touchdown, 4 for a passing touchdown, minus 2 for an interception or a lost fumble); half PPR is the average of the two. Ranks are points a game among players at his position with at least half the most games played. Most weeks is his 20th to 80th percentile game. Bars are green on a boom week and red on a bust; the dashed line is the starter line, the points a game of the WR24 in a 12-team league. The format you pick is remembered on this device.
How he's usedhis fingerprint, where the ball finds him and when
He lives outside the numbers: only 8% of his targets come over the middle (league 21%). His share of the team's targets is 23%: on third down it holds at 24%; inside the 20 it holds at 22%.
How this is measured
Every trait is a share of his own targets, so volume does not move it. The marker is him among the league's qualifying wide receivers; the dashed line is the median. Styles are not grades: a high or low percentile is a description, not a verdict. Play action, screen, RPO, motion and blitz flags come from FTN charting and read low in a week it has not published.
Waddle's +4.3 EPA is 69th of 99 wide receivers. The biggest share comes after the catch (+12.9, 41st percentile per target). Incompletions cost him more than most (-21.3, 18th percentile).
career +0.40 over 2021–2025 · the lowest of his 6 seasons
How this is measured
Every target this season, split by what happened. Catches divide at the catch: the yards in the air and what came after. The percentile is him among the qualifying wide receivers, higher is better, so a cost smaller than most ranks high. The parts add up to the totals above; the career strip counts seasons with at least 15 targets.
He is targeted deep right 2.0× as often as the league (10% of his targets against 5%) and gains +0.34 EPA a target there.
How this is measured
Every target with a charted depth and direction this season; sacks and throws with no charted direction are left out. Left and right are as the offense sees the field. Cells with fewer than three targets show no EPA.
On the field
By depth of target
Who he works withthe connection, and the rest of the huddle
By depth
Week by weekthe shape of his season, the game log and the defenses behind it
The game
at PanthersBank of America Stadium
DEN −3 · O/U 43.5
The defense vs WR
a tough matchup
His history
First meeting this season
His status
A tough matchup: the Panthers rank 10th vs WR, allowing +0.13 EPA per target to wide receivers. He has averaged 19 yards a game against top-10 defenses this season.
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Snap | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at KC L 10-312nd D | 2nd vs WR | 75% | 3 | 1 | 2 | -4.3 | |
| 2 | vs JAX W 20-1320th D | 20th vs WR | 61% | 10 | 8 | 138 | +8.7 | |
| 3 | vs LA W 30-266th D | 6th vs WR | 73% | 7 | 2 | 10 | -2.9 | |
| 4 | at SF L 14-2417th D | 17th vs WR | 68% | 6 | 5 | 35 | 1 | +0.7 |
| 5 | at LAC W 23-1714th D | 14th vs WR | 65% | 5 | 2 | 19 | +0.5 | |
| 6 | vs SEA W 17-143rd D | 3rd vs WR | 65% | 7 | 4 | 24 | -2.2 | |
| 7 | at ARI W 30-1632nd D | 32nd vs WR | 56% | 7 | 4 | 48 | +1.6 | |
| 8 | vs KC W 28-242nd D | 2nd vs WR | 45% | 6 | 3 | 39 | 1 | +2.2 |
| 9 | at CARSun Nov 8 · next up | |||||||
| 10 | Bye week | |||||||
| 11 | vs LVSun Nov 22 | |||||||
| 12 | at PITFri Nov 27 | |||||||
| 13 | vs MIASun Dec 6 | |||||||
| 14 | at NYJSun Dec 13 | |||||||
| 15 | at LVSun Dec 20 | |||||||
| 16 | vs BUFFri Dec 25 | |||||||
| 17 | at NESun Jan 3 | |||||||
| 18 | vs LACSun Jan 10 | |||||||
| 8 games | 64% | 51 | 29 | 315 | 2 | +4.3 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Tgt share | Air share | aDOT | YAC | EPA/tgt | 1D | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at KC L 10-312nd D | 2nd vs WR | 11% | 14% | 4.3 | 0 | -1.43 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | vs JAX W 20-1320th D | 20th vs WR | 34% | 57% | 15.3 | 35 | +0.87 | 6 | |
| 3 | vs LA W 30-266th D | 6th vs WR | 23% | 44% | 11.6 | 3 | -0.42 | 1 | |
| 4 | at SF L 14-2417th D | 17th vs WR | 16% | 16% | 5.0 | 23 | +0.12 | 1 | |
| 5 | at LAC W 23-1714th D | 14th vs WR | 23% | 20% | 4.6 | 7 | +0.09 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | vs SEA W 17-143rd D | 3rd vs WR | 29% | 61% | 7.0 | 9 | -0.31 | 0 | |
| 7 | at ARI W 30-1632nd D | 32nd vs WR | 28% | 32% | 14.9 | 4 | +0.22 | 2 | |
| 8 | vs KC W 28-242nd D | 2nd vs WR | 21% | 51% | 8.0 | 15 | +0.37 | 2 | |
| 9 | at CARSun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||||
| 10 | Bye week | ||||||||
| 11 | vs LVSun Nov 22 | ||||||||
| 12 | at PITFri Nov 27 | ||||||||
| 13 | vs MIASun Dec 6 | ||||||||
| 14 | at NYJSun Dec 13 | ||||||||
| 15 | at LVSun Dec 20 | ||||||||
| 16 | vs BUFFri Dec 25 | ||||||||
| 17 | at NESun Jan 3 | ||||||||
| 18 | vs LACSun Jan 10 | ||||||||
| 8 games | 23% | 37% | 9.8 | 96 | +0.08 | 13 | 2 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | at KC L 10-312nd D | 2nd vs WR | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | ||
| 2 | vs JAX W 20-1320th D | 20th vs WR | 8 | 138 | 17.3 | 3 | |
| 3 | vs LA W 30-266th D | 6th vs WR | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | ||
| 4 | at SF L 14-2417th D | 17th vs WR | 5 | 35 | 7.0 | 1 | |
| 5 | at LAC W 23-1714th D | 14th vs WR | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | ||
| 6 | vs SEA W 17-143rd D | 3rd vs WR | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | ||
| 7 | at ARI W 30-1632nd D | 32nd vs WR | 4 | 48 | 12.0 | 1 | |
| 8 | vs KC W 28-242nd D | 2nd vs WR | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | at CARSun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||
| 10 | Bye week | ||||||
| 11 | vs LVSun Nov 22 | ||||||
| 12 | at PITFri Nov 27 | ||||||
| 13 | vs MIASun Dec 6 | ||||||
| 14 | at NYJSun Dec 13 | ||||||
| 15 | at LVSun Dec 20 | ||||||
| 16 | vs BUFFri Dec 25 | ||||||
| 17 | at NESun Jan 3 | ||||||
| 18 | vs LACSun Jan 10 | ||||||
| 8 games | 29 | 315 | 10.9 | 2 | 5 |
Targets are steady: 6.7 a game over his last three against 6.4 for the season. 3 straight games above a starter's median in targets.
How this is measured
Bars are his week. The shaded band is the league's middle half at his position, every qualifying player-game this season, and the dashed line is its median. The solid line is his trailing three games. An × on the baseline is a game his team played without him; a dotted tick is the bye.
He has faced the 2nd-toughest slate vs WR: his opponents rank 12.0 of 32 on average (league middle 16.4). Ahead: 2 of his next 9 are top-10 vs WR and 5 are bottom-10, starting with the Panthers (10th, away) in Week 9.
The slate · played solid, ahead dashed
His line by defense faced
| Defenses | G | Tgt/g | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ranked 1 to 10Top-10 defenses | 4 | 5.8 | 19 | -0.31 |
| 11 to 22Middle | 3 | 7.0 | 64 | +0.47 |
| 23 to 32Bottom-10 | 1 | 7.0 | 48 | +0.22 |
| All games | 8 | 6.4 | 39 | +0.08 |
Yards against the rank of the defense
How this is measured
His yards climb as the defense gets softer (r = 0.50): the schedule has been doing some of the work.
Careerseason by season, back to his rookie year
His best year was 2022, 1,356 receiving yards in 17 games with MIA. This season's 39.4 a game puts him on pace for 669 over 17, short of it.
| Season | Team | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/R | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | MIA | 16 | 140 | 104 | 1,015 | 6 | 9.8 | 63.4 | +0.14 |
| 2022 | MIA | 17 | 117 | 75 | 1,356 | 8 | 18.1 | 79.8 | +0.65 |
| 2023 | MIA | 14 | 104 | 72 | 1,014 | 4 | 14.1 | 72.4 | +0.44 |
| 2024 | MIA | 15 | 83 | 58 | 744 | 2 | 12.8 | 49.6 | +0.48 |
| 2025 | MIA | 16 | 100 | 64 | 910 | 6 | 14.2 | 56.9 | +0.34 |
| 2026 | DEN | 8 | 51 | 29 | 315 | 2 | 10.9 | 39.4 | +0.08 |
| Career | 2 tm | 86 | 595 | 402 | 5,354 | 28 | 13.3 | 62.3 | +0.37 |
How this is measured
Regular season only, from nflverse weekly stats back to 1999. This season is partial and drawn hollow; the pace is his per-game rate over 17 games. Bold cells are career highs.
Intel & playsthe report, his best snaps, his teammates
- Depth chart
- WR1 · 3WR 1TE
- Injury report
- Chest, questionable
- Red zone touches
- …
- Third down
- …
- Explosive plays
- …
- Drops
- 2 on 51 targets
- Broken tackles
- 1
- Passer rating when targeted
- 75.0
- Play action
- …
- Contested
- …
| Player | Touches | Yds | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|
 J.K. DobbinsRB | 103 | 333 · 3 TD | -20.5 |
 RJ HarveyRB | 52 | 304 · 2 TD | +5.3 |
 Jonah ColemanRB | 40 | 231 · 2 TD | +6.9 |
 Courtland SuttonWR | 37 | 221 · 1 TD | -5.4 |
 Bo NixQB | 32 | 114 · 2 TD | -2.1 |
 Evan EngramTE | 25 | 136 · 1 TD | -2.0 |
 Marvin Mims Jr.WR | 18 | 117 | +0.6 |
 Pat BryantWR | 13 | 149 · 1 TD | +13.3 |