Wide receiver

A forward pass-catching specialist, the wide receiver is one of the fastest players on the field alongside cornerbacks and running backs.

Through 2022 only four wide receivers, Jerry Rice (in 1987 and 1993), Michael Thomas (in 2019), Cooper Kupp (in 2021), and Justin Jefferson (in 2022), have won Offensive Player of the Year.

On passing plays, the receiver attempts to avoid, outmaneuver, or simply outrun the cornerbacks or safeties typically defending them.

[2][3] Occasionally wide receivers are used to run the ball, usually in plays seeking to surprise the defense, as in an end-around or reverse.

Five-time All-Pro and ten-time Pro Bowl member Matthew Slater was a gunner for the New England Patriots who was likewise listed as a wide receiver, however he had only one reception in his career.

By the 1930s, some teams were experimenting with spreading the field by moving one end far out near the sideline, drawing the defense away from running plays and leaving them more open on passing ones.

Don Hutson, who played college football at Alabama and professionally with the Green Bay Packers, was the first player to exploit the potential of the split end position.

As the passing game evolved, a second de facto wide receiver was added by employing a running back in a pass-catching role rather than splitting out the "blind-side" end, who was typically retained as a blocker to protect the left side of right-handed quarterbacks.

Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch is one of the earliest players to successfully exploit the potential of the flanker position as a member of the Los Angeles Rams during the 1950s.

[6] The designation for a receiver separated from the main offensive formation varies depending on how far they are removed from it and whether they begin on or off the line of scrimmage.

These roles include: Wide receivers are involved in various offensive strategies designed to exploit mismatches and create scoring opportunities.