The NFL's most prolific receivers are leading with condensed formations

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00:00In the 2025 season, the NFL's three leading receivers in terms of catches, Puka Nakua of

00:05the Rams, Amon Ross St. Brian of the Detroit Lions, and Kup's new best buddy Jackson Smith

00:10and Jigba have all done a lot out of condensed formations, and their efficiency and explosiveness

00:15have gone up dramatically. In 2024, Nakua caught eight passes on 11 targets in condensed formations

00:21for 137 yards, one touchdown, a 72.7% catch rate, and a 50% explosive catch rate. This season so

00:29far, Nakua has seven catches on eight condensed targets for 111 yards, one touchdown, an 87.5%

00:36catch rate, and a 57.1% explosive catch rate. In 2024, St. Brown caught 27 passes on 34 condensed

00:44targets for 331 yards, two touchdowns, a 79.4% catch rate, and a 37.0% explosive catch rate.

00:52This season, St. Brown has nine catches on 10 targets for 133 yards, a 90% catch rate, and

00:59a 44.4% explosive catch rate. In 2024, Smith and Jigba caught six passes on seven condensed

01:06targets for 45 yards, a touchdown, an 85.7% catch rate, and a 16.7% explosive catch rate.

01:13This season, wow, Smith and Jigba already has 12 catches on 15 condensed targets for 249 yards,

01:20a touchdown, an 80% catch rate, and a 50% explosive catch rate. Smith and Jigba's massive uptick in

01:26productivity in these formations should come as no surprise given that Clint Kubiak has called

01:30condensed formations on 56% of Seattle's offensive plays, which ties Seattle with the San Francisco

01:3549ers for the league's highest rate. St. Brown's Lions have lined up condensed on 53% of their snaps,

01:41right behind Seattle and San Francisco, and Nakua's Rams have done so 43% of the time,

01:46which is actually a pretty significant decrease from the Rams' NFL high 60% in 2024.

01:51There will still be great receivers beating cornerbacks in one-on-one matchups in these

01:56spread-out formations, but the condensed formation revolution is here, and it's not going away

02:00anytime soon, because it's better to scheme your way into greatness with different types of number

02:05one receivers than to hope you can acquire one of those old-school athletic marvels and fail if you

02:11can't.