2026 season · Receivers and tight ends, 34 qualifiers

Contested Catch Rate Leaders

Through Week 3 (complete)

Contested Catch Rate — 2026 NFL leaders, updated Sep 29, 2026. Davante Adams (LAR) led the league in contested catch rate at 80.0%, ahead of 33 other qualifying players. Based on verified play-level charting from FTN Data via nflverse, regular season only. Through Week 3 of the 2026 season.

A contested target is one a charter judged to have a defender in position to play the ball. The catch rate on those is the closest thing receiving has to a measure of winning at the catch point, because it throws away the uncontested balls and leaves only the ones somebody had to take away from a defender. The samples are small by construction — contested targets are a minority of anyone's workload — so the top of this board describes a skill more reliably than it ranks one.

Contested Catch Rate, 2026 NFL season
#PlayerΔ WKGCont Catch%CatchesContListen
1Davante AdamsWR · LARUp 3 places, from 4380.0%45
2George PickensWR · DALFirst appearance on this board375.0%34
3Nico CollinsWR · HOUDown 2 places, from 1375.0%34
4Rome OdunzeWR · CHIDown 2 places, from 2375.0%34
5Garrett WilsonWR · NYJNo change369.2%913
6Tyler HigbeeTE · LARBack on this board366.7%46
7Tee HigginsWR · CINUp 3 places, from 10362.5%58
8Mike EvansWR · SFFirst appearance on this board360.0%35
9CeeDee LambWR · DALDown 6 places, from 3350.0%24
10Chris BellWR · MIAFirst appearance on this board350.0%36
11Chris OlaveWR · NODown 5 places, from 6350.0%36
12Trey McBrideTE · ARIUp 10 places, from 22350.0%36
13Jaxon Smith-NjigbaWR · SEADown 5 places, from 8342.9%37
14Terry McLaurinWR · WASFirst appearance on this board342.9%37
15Greg DulcichTE · MIAFirst appearance on this board340.0%25
16Ja'Marr ChaseWR · CINDown 9 places, from 7340.0%25
17Parker WashingtonWR · JAXDown 5 places, from 12340.0%25
18Keenan AllenWR · INDDown 9 places, from 9337.5%38
19Amon-Ra St. BrownWR · DETDown 6 places, from 13336.4%411
20Adonai MitchellWR · NYJDown 6 places, from 14333.3%26
21Brian Thomas Jr.WR · JAXDown 5 places, from 16333.3%26
22DK MetcalfWR · PITUp 1 place, from 23333.3%26
23Matthew GoldenWR · GBUp 2 places, from 25333.3%26
24Christian WatsonWR · GBDown 7 places, from 17330.0%310
25Jared WayneWR · HOUDown 7 places, from 18330.0%310
26Josh DownsWR · INDDown 15 places, from 11330.0%310
27Michael WilsonWR · ARIBack on this board328.6%27
28AJ BarnerTE · SEAFirst appearance on this board325.0%14
29Kevin Coleman Jr.WR · MIAFirst appearance on this board325.0%14
30Stefon DiggsWR · WASFirst appearance on this board325.0%14
31Ted Hurst IIIWR · TBDown 11 places, from 20325.0%14
32Xavier HutchinsonWR · HOUDown 8 places, from 24322.2%29
33Jaylen WaddleWR · DENFirst appearance on this board320.0%15
34Konata MumpfieldWR · LARFirst appearance on this board30.0%05

Contested targets are a small share of any receiver's season, so the qualifying bar here is low and the samples behind these rates are correspondingly thin. Read the volume column alongside the rate.

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