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Best bets to lead NFL in receiving yards: DJ Moore, A.J. Brown have elite upside

Grant Halverson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

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With just one week until the NFL season begins, we're running through our best bets to lead the league in key statistical categories. Today, we'll discuss the league's top receivers, with record-setting wideout Michael Thomas leading the pack. Here are our best values in a crowded field:

PLAYER ODDS
Michael Thomas +500
Julio Jones +900
Davante Adams +1400
Chris Godwin +1400
Tyreek Hill +1400
Mike Evans +1600
DeAndre Hopkins +1800
Kenny Golladay +2000
JuJu Smith-Schuster +2000
Travis Kelce +2200
Courtland Sutton +2200
Terry McLaurin +2500
Adam Thielen +2500
Odell Beckham Jr. +2800
Amari Cooper +2800
T.Y. Hilton +2800
George Kittle +2800
Cooper Kupp +2800
DJ Moore +2800
Calvin Ridley +2800
Allen Robinson +2800
Robert Woods +2800
DeVante Parker +3000
Keenan Allen +3300
A.J. Brown +3300
D.J. Chark +3300
Tyler Lockett +3300
A.J. Green +3300
Stefon Diggs +4000
Brandin Cooks +5000
Michael Gallup +5000
Jarvis Landry +5000
Mark Andrews +6000
Tyler Boyd +6000
Marvin Jones +6000
D.K. Metcalf +6000
Darren Waller +6600
Jamison Crowder +7000
Zach Ertz +7000
Marquise Brown +8000
Julian Edelman +8000
Austin Ekeler +10000
Evan Engram +10000
DeSean Jackson +10000
Jerry Jeudy +10000
CeeDee Lamb +10000
Christian McCaffrey +10000
Henry Ruggs +10000
Deebo Samuel +10000
Sterling Shepard +10000
Darius Slayton +10000
Golden Tate +12500
Justin Jefferson +15000

Julio Jones (+900)

Any list of potential receiving champions has to include Jones, who led the league in receiving yards twice (2015, 2018) with at least 1,650 yards in both seasons. His 9,388 receiving yards since 2014 are more than 1,500 yards higher than any other receiver, and he's tallied at least 1,400 in five of those six seasons.

He finished second in yards behind Thomas a year ago with a disappointing mark by his standards (1,394 yards), as the Falcons' horrendous pass-blocking hindered Matt Ryan's ability to find his top receiver. With some further development from a pair of first-round linemen the team drafted in 2019, the offense should be able to funnel enough volume Jones' way to cash at reasonable odds.

DJ Moore (+2800)

Few players have started their career with as much promise as Moore. He finished ninth last year with 1,175 receiving yards, and his yards per game would have ranked fourth if not for an injury early in Week 16. It was a historic campaign nonetheless - his receiving yardage was the 14th-highest in a season in NFL history for a player before their 23rd birthday, cracking a list littered with current and future Hall of Famers.

The injury prematurely ended a torrid stretch for Moore, who'd amassed 711 receiving yards over his previous seven games - good for a ridiculous 1,625-yard pace. He did that despite unstable quarterback play, so his upside is even higher with Teddy Bridgewater manning Joe Brady's offense in Carolina. This might be the best price he sees for his entire career.

A.J. Brown (+3300)

A market like this only rewards elite upside, and Brown certainly has that. In 2019, he became only the 15th rookie to record at least 1,050 receiving yards and posted the fourth-best catch rate (61.9%) among those players. He was also incredibly efficient getting there - his 12.51 yards per target ranked third in NFL history (min. 75 targets) by any player since the stat was introduced in 1992.

The Titans' rising star averaged 100.8 yards over his final six games with Ryan Tannehill at the helm. That's a 1,613-yard pace over a full year, which would have led the league in two of the last four seasons. Sure, it won't come that easy over 16 games, but the potential is there for Brown to explode as a long shot.

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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