2022 season · Receivers and tight ends, 21 qualifiers

Contested Catch Rate Leaders

Contested Catch Rate — 2022 NFL leaders, updated Aug 13, 2026. Gerald Everett (LAC) led the league in contested catch rate at 71.4%, ahead of 20 other qualifying players. Based on verified 2022 play-by-play data (nflverse); Half-PPR scoring. Through the 2022 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, 2022 NFL season
#PlayerCont Catch%CatchesCont
1Gerald EverettTE · LAC71.4%1521
2Brandon AiyukWR · SF69.6%1623
3A.J. BrownWR · PHI69.2%1826
4Justin JeffersonWR · MIN69.0%2029
5CeeDee LambWR · DAL67.9%1928
6Amon-Ra St. BrownWR · DET65.5%1929
7D.J. CharkWR · DET65.0%1320
8Josh PalmerWR · LAC65.0%1320
9Tyreek HillWR · MIA63.6%1422
10T.J. HockensonTE · MIN63.2%2438
11Marquise BrownWR · ARI61.9%1321
12Michael PittmanWR · IND61.3%1931
13Mike WilliamsWR · LAC59.3%1627
14Allen LazardWR · GB58.3%1424
15Noah BrownWR · DAL55.0%1120
16Keenan AllenWR · LAC53.6%1528
17Travis KelceTE · KC52.2%1223
18DK MetcalfWR · SEA51.1%2345
19Davante AdamsWR · LV50.0%1836
20Alec PierceWR · IND47.8%1123
21Michael GallupWR · DAL46.7%1430

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.

New to this stat? What contested catch rate means.

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