Contested Catch Rate Leaders
Contested Catch Rate — 2025 NFL leaders, updated Oct 31, 2026. Puka Nacua (LAR) led the league in contested catch rate at 61.9%, ahead of 20 other qualifying players. Based on verified play-level charting from FTN Data via nflverse, regular season only. Through the 2025 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.
| # | Player | Cont Catch% | Catches | Cont | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puka Nacua | 61.9% | 13 | 21 | Read |
| 2 | A.J. Brown | 54.8% | 17 | 31 | Read |
| 3 | Trey McBride | 51.4% | 18 | 35 | Read |
| 4 | Chris Olave | 50.0% | 12 | 24 | Read |
| 5 | George Pickens | 50.0% | 11 | 22 | Read |
| 6 | Ja'Marr Chase | 50.0% | 16 | 32 | Read |
| 7 | Jakobi Meyers | 50.0% | 11 | 22 | Read |
| 8 | Juwan Johnson | 50.0% | 10 | 20 | Read |
| 9 | Nico Collins | 50.0% | 10 | 20 | Read |
| 10 | Jauan Jennings | 47.8% | 11 | 23 | Read |
| 11 | Alec Pierce | 42.3% | 11 | 26 | Read |
| 12 | Tee Higgins | 41.2% | 14 | 34 | Read |
| 13 | Courtland Sutton | 40.0% | 10 | 25 | Read |
| 14 | Elic Ayomanor | 40.0% | 8 | 20 | |
| 15 | Michael Wilson | 39.3% | 11 | 28 | Read |
| 16 | Keenan Allen | 38.5% | 10 | 26 | |
| 17 | Drake London | 34.5% | 10 | 29 | Read |
| 18 | Justin Jefferson | 34.5% | 10 | 29 | Read |
| 19 | Romeo Doubs | 33.3% | 7 | 21 | Read |
| 20 | Davante Adams | 29.6% | 8 | 27 | Read |
| 21 | Brian Thomas Jr. | 27.3% | 6 | 22 | Read |
Other seasons
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