Wide receiver

The wide receiver (WR) position in American and Canadian football is the pass-catching specialist. Wide receivers are among the fastest and most agile players in the game, and they are frequent highlight-reel favorites.

The wide receiver position is among the most famous in American Football because they are often responsible for the biggest plays made on by the offensive team. However, they do not get all the credit for the plays they make because at least some credit will almost always go to the quarterback who throws the pass to them. Sometimes fans or sports writers will argue that a receiver only appears to be great when actually most of his success is really due to the quarterback. Other times, the situation is reversed. Fans or sports writers will argue that a quarterback is only successful because he has outstanding receiver(s) who can catch anything thrown in their general direction.

Role in football

First and foremost, the wide receiver's job is to catch passes from his quarterback. On passing plays, the receiver attempts to avoid, outmaneuver, or simply outrun defenders (typically cornerbacks or safeties) in the area of his pass route. If the receiver becomes open, or has an unobstructed path to the destination of a catch, he may then become the quarterback's target. Once a pass is thrown in his direction, the receiver's goal is to first catch the ball and then attempt to run downfield. Dropped passes are common when receivers plan the downfield run prior to catching the ball.

Receivers are particularly important when a team must conserve clock time. In addition to the ability to gain large amounts of yardage at once, receivers can position themselves to run out of bounds and stop the clock. In addition, a failed (incomplete) pass attempt will also stop the clock.

The receiver has two potential roles in running plays. Particularly in the case of draw plays, he may run a pass route with the intent of drawing off defenders. Alternately, he may block normally for the running back. Well-rounded receivers are also noted for blocking defensive backs, either downfield once another receiver has made a catch, or on running plays.

Sometimes wide receivers are used to run the ball. This can be effective because they are often faster than running backs and the defense usually does not expect them to be the ball carrier on running plays. One somewhat common running play for receivers is the end reverse. On this play, a running back takes a handoff or lateral from the quarterback and runs to the right or left as it was a normal running play. But before he crosses the line of scrimmage, he hands the ball off to a wide receiver going in the opposite direction, i.e. reverse of where the running back was going. If the defense was drawn to the side of the field the running back was running towards, the receiver can outrun the defense to the other side of the field and make a big gain. Although receivers are rarely used as ball carriers, running the ball with a receiver can be extremely successful. For example, in addition to holding nearly every National Football League receiving record, wide receiver Jerry Rice also rushed the ball 87 times for 645 yards and 10 touchdowns in his 20 NFL seasons.

In some even rarer cases, receivers are used to pass the ball. This most often occurs on the end reverse. To add another component of surprise to the play, the receiver may have option of passing the ball after he takes the handoff, similar to a halfback option play. Although this is one of the rarest things a receiver will ever do, some receivers have proven to be extremely good at it. One example of this is Randy Moss, a National Football League receiver who currently plays for the Oakland Raiders. In addition to being one of the top pass catchers in the NFL, Randy Moss has currently completed 4 out of 8 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, in his NFL career. Another receiver of note that has been used a passer, and can arguably be called the best passing wide receiver in the game after the 2005 NFL season, is the former Pittsburgh Steeler and now Washington Redskin, Antwaan Randle El (who played quarterback in college at Indiana). He threw a touchdown pass off of a fake reverse in Super Bowl XL to fellow receiver Hines Ward (who coincidentally was himself a part-time quarterback in college). He has currently completed 15 of 17 passes for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns (including the postseason).

Wide receivers also serve on special teams as return men on kickoffs and punts, or as part of the hands team during onside kicks.

Finally, on bad passes, receivers must frequently play a defensive role by attempting to prevent an interception. If a pass is intercepted, receivers must use their speed to chase down and tackle the ball carrier to prevent him from returning the ball for a long gain or a touchdown.

Importance to Team

It is an arguable point as to how valuable a wide receiver is to a football team. Some maintain that wide receivers are amongst the top 3, if not number 1, most valuable players to a professional team. These supporters point to Terrell Owens (in the NFL) or Arland Bruce (in the CFL) as "game changers," athletes who force an opposing team to double or triple team the coverage upon them, thus opening up offensive holes for other receivers and running backs. These persons claim a good wide receiver adds quick strike ability to an offense, enabling a quick, demoralizing score that can swing momentum. They also point to the fact that wide receivers score a majority of the points on a team, and place their health in the most danger, as a catch usually involves a hit that is unprotectable.

Others disagree, claiming the importance of wide receivers are vastly overblown by the media search for prototypical "Greek god"-looking athletes. Wide receivers are typically tall and physically impressive; additionally, many have been known to make controversial statements and highlight-reel impressive catches, which increases their exposure. These critics state a wide receiver is merely 1 of 2, 3, 4, or 5 possible receivers at any time, and their catches are merely a by product of the other receivers running the correct routes and the quarterback hitting them perfectly with a pass. These critics point to Randy Moss disappearing statistically once he left quarterback Daunte Culpepper and the Minnesota Vikings for the Oakland Raiders; and to the current Detroit Lions, who drafted three receivers in the first 3 rounds, all of whom are claimed to be excellent, and yet still are mired in the cellar. These critics claim wide receivers are on par with punters in terms of valuableness: a nice asset, but easily replaceable, and not as valuable as a running back, quarterback, or linebacker.

Specific terminology

While the general fanbase and most commentators use the generic term wide receiver for all such players, specific names exist for most receiver positions:

• Split end (X): A receiver on the line of scrimmage, necessary to meet the rule requiring seven such players at snap. Where applicable, this receiver is on the opposite side of the tight end. The split end is farthest from center on his side of the field.
• Flanker (Z): A receiver lining up behind the line of scrimmage, also known as a wide out. Frequently the team's featured receiver, the flanker uses the initial buffer between himself and a defender to avoid jamming, legal contact within five yards of the line of scrimmage. The flanker is generally on the same side of the formation as a tight end. As with the split end, this receiver is the farthest player from center on his side of the field.
• Slot receiver (SL): A less-formal name given to receivers in addition to split ends and flankers. These receivers line up between the split end / flanker and the linemen. If aligned with a flanker, the slot receiver is usually on the line of scrimmage, and if with a split end, off the line of scrimmage. As with the flanker position, a featured receiver often takes a slot position with a split end to avoid jamming.
• Slot back: A receiver lining up in the offensive back field. Canadian football and Arena football allow them to take a running start at the line. They are usually larger players as they need to make catches over the middle.