In Week 8, the tight ends got most of the attention from broadcasters and media on National Tight Ends Day, but the wide receiver position is never one to ignore. We saw Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua look good in their first game back from injury, while Tua Tagovailoa’s return lifted the value of the entire Miami offense, providing hope that Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will return to the past versions of themselves.

There has been plenty of sweet and sour in 2024, as injuries have ruined plenty of our favorite WR’s seasons. But there is still a lot of football to be played, and reasons to be optimistic will always remain if we are willing to look for them.

Before we get into the latest information available in the Advanced Stats Explorer, just a few quick reminders about the article.

• Leading up to the season, I looked at the five years of data available in the Advanced Stats Explorer and broke it down into four separate articles: Routes and Targets, Intended Air Yards, Yards After the Catch and Evasion, and Catchable Targets, Drops, First Downs, and Touchdowns.
• When working through the five-year sample, we found that the 90th percentile and above generally included most of the top-24 wide receivers for each metric in any given season. The 75th percentile and above included the top 55 to 60 WRs in any given metric per season. Given that these two cohorts easily apply to a normal 12-team fantasy league, they will be referenced often throughout the article.

In Week 8, the total number of players who earned at least one target during the 2024 season grew to 195 after our Week 7 sample included 190 players.