Jalen Coker Outranks JSN, George Pickens, Davante Adams in Crucial NFL Stat

After the Carolina Panthers lost in the playoffs, this wasn't really the case, but for a little while, Jalen Coker has been the best wide receiver in the NFL that no one talks about. He broke out with a huge game, but before then, no one really knew about him outside the Panthers.

The former undrafted rookie out of Holy Cross has dealt with some injuries in his first two seasons, but he has been incredible when on the field. His 17-game averages are almost 700 yards and four touchdowns, and that's been as a WR3 for most of the time.

Traditional stats don't always tell the whole story, and one analytic in particular posits Coker as one of the NFL's elite.

Jalen Coker beats a host of the NFL's best in one important stat

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) celebrates his score with fans during the second half | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Passer rating when targeted is a good way to determine how successful a quarterback is when throwing the ball to a certain player. There are a ton of factors, but ultimately, this is a good metric to know how well a receiver does for their quarterback.

When Bryce Young targets Jalen Coker, good things happen to the tune of a 117.8 passer rating. That ranks 38th among every single player to catch a pass in 2025, which is incredibly high.

It also outranks some of the NFL's best receivers:

Tee Higgins
Trey McBride
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
George Pickens
Stefon Diggs
Zay Flowers
Davante Adams
Brock Bowers
Christian McCaffrey
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Drake London
Tetairoa McMillan

The list obviously goes on. It would be easier to list the stars that aren't outranked here by Coker. Those include Colston Loveland, Puka Nacua, Sam LaPorta, and George Kittle. Coker is up with the best of the best.

He outranked 23 Pro Bowl players in this stat. Of course, some of them are running backs or returners, but still. Coker is clearly one of the better wide receivers in the NFL, and it's not as if he's boosted by an all-world QB.

Bryce Young is good, but his own passer rating this year was 87.8. He was much more successful than usual when he looked Coker's way.

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