We love duos. Whether it’s Batman and Robin, Spongebob and Patrick, or MJ and Pippen, folks love to see two forces come together and aim toward a common goal. And the NFL is no exception to that. Like every offseason, the league has seen a reshuffling of talent over the last few months, and, now that the cards have largely been dealt, some fascinating new quarterback-receiver duos have emerged.
For instance, we saw some superstar talent pack their bags to new NFL cities this spring, like Davante Adams heading back west to join the Los Angeles Rams, DK Metcalf was shipped to Pittsburgh, Deebo Samuel is now Jayden Daniels‘ newest weapon, and DeAndre Hopkins finds himself paired with Lamar Jackson. But it wasn’t just receivers changing uniforms that created some new pairings, either. The Minnesota Vikings‘ decision to elevate 2024 first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy set off a chain reaction that paved the way for the Seattle Seahawks to trade Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and then land Sam Darnold in free agency. That resulted in Darnold now pairing up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and McCarthy throwing to Justin Jefferson.
Below, we’re going to highlight and rank some of the newest quarterback-receiver duos in the NFL stemming from the events of this offseason.
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Ryan Wilson
The New Orleans Saints have been thrust into a new era under center with Derek Carr opting for retirement due to a shoulder injury, which now puts the spotlight on 2025 second-round pick Tyler Shough. The Saints do have Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener as other options to start, but you’d have to think that Shough, the 40th overall pick earlier this spring, will be given every opportunity to seize the job. While the Louisville product is an experienced prospect at 25 years old, there are a mountain of questions centered around his ability to take the reins out of the gate. That could create a lack of production from Chris Olave. On his own, he’s one of the more talented receivers in the league, but instability under center could lower his capabilities in 2025. The 24-year-old has also been limited due to concussions throughout his career, which does make his availability uncertain.
Right now, Mason Rudolph is penciled in as the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ starting quarterback for the 2025 season. Will that change with Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins before we get to Week 1? Who knows. But we have to judge the duos who are actually under contract with their respective teams. So, while the DK Metcalf trade gives the Steelers that true No. 1 option at receiver they’ve spent the past few years searching for, they currently don’t have a great option to get him the football. While Rudolph, who spent last season with the Titans and signed with Pittsburgh in March, has history with the organization and has started 13 games for them over his career, he’s not a starting-caliber quarterback. In five starts for Tennessee last year, Rudolph went 1-5 and had nine passing touchdowns with nine interceptions. They’ll need a higher level of player, either from Rudolph or the QB-to-be-named later, to get the most out of their offseason splash trade for Metcalf.
If we were ranking quarterback-tight end duos, the Las Vegas Raiders would be higher on this list. Brock Bowers is who this offense will flow through when Geno Smith drops back to pass, but Meyers has been a serviceable receiver throughout his career as well. The 28-year-old is coming off a career season where his 87 catches and 1,027 yards were both highs. Now, he can carry that momentum into 2025, where he’ll receive more experienced coaching from Pete Carroll and more stable quarterback play from Smith, who was traded to Las Vegas from Seattle. While Smith will turn 35 early next season, he’s still a really solid option under center, throwing for 4,300 yards for the Seahawks last season. He is also reunited with Carroll, who helped rejuvenate his career. In his two seasons together with Smith as the full-time starter, he averaged over 3,900 yards passing, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions per season. This duo of Smith and Meyers feels like the definition of high floor, low ceiling.
Tennessee deployed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Miami signal-caller Cam Ward. He heads to Nashville after leading FBS with 39 touchdown passes last season. That passing touchdown total, along with his 4,313 passing yards, also set a Miami single-season record. So, Ward certainly has skills. That question is how quickly he will be able to develop at the NFL level to turn that talent into wins for the Titans. To help him, the franchise does have wideout Calvin Ridley, whom they signed to a four-year, $92 million deal last offseason. Even as Tennessee struggled at quarterback last season, Ridley put together another 1,000-yard season. Ward should give the offense some more stability, thus giving this pairing with Ridley loads of upside. We just need to see it first before vaulting them any higher.
It’s been a forgetful few seasons in Foxborough, but Drake Maye does seem to be a beacon of hope for the organization. The former No. 3 overall pick flashed as a rookie, despite the lackluster talent around him. Fast forward to this offseason, and the Patriots did load up around their young quarterback, which included the addition of veteran receiver Stefon Diggs. If everything was firing on all cylinders, the Maye-Diggs duo probably would find its way higher up on these rankings. However, there are some questions. Maye is essentially in another rookie season as he’s being tasked with learning a new offense after the Patriots cleaned out the prior regime, hired Mike Vrabel as coach, and Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator. That could result in some growing pains in Year 2 as he molds into the new system.
As for Diggs, the 31-year-old has the reputation and résumé as one of the best receivers of his era. However, he is coming off a season-ending ACL injury he suffered in Week 8 of last season, which brings questions about his ability to return to form. There’s also the off-the-field questions that have recently sprouted up for the wideout, who is on his third team in as many seasons.
If everything falls into place, this duo could perform at an extremely high level, but there are currently questions if they’ll reach those heights.
It’s weird to call Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson a new duo because we’ve already seen them play together, albeit at the collegiate level. At Ohio State, Fields was Wilson’s primary quarterback for his first two seasons in Columbus before declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft. During the 2020 season, Wilson, a sophomore at the time, hauled in 43 passes from Fields for 723 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games played. With that history in mind, there is some built-in rapport now that they’ve reunited at the NFL level. Since coming into the league, Wilson has established himself as one of the brightest young pass catchers in the NFL, logging three-straight 1,000-yard seasons despite some shaky quarterback play. The 24-year-old is coming off a 2024 season where he notched career-high marks across the board. That’s a scary thought because the eye test showed that there was more meat on the bone.
The question for this duo falls mostly onto the shoulders of Fields, who has been prolific as a runner but inconstant as a passer during his pro career. That said, he did complete 65.8% of his passes in his limited showing with the Steelers last season and had a passer rating of 93.3. If he can find a rhythm through the air, Fields could become the latest veteran to enjoy a late bloom, which would result in him and Wilson becoming quite the QB/WR threat.
I mean, who isn’t excited to see Travis Hunter in 2025? Jacksonville pushed its chips in the middle of the pile and went all in to acquire the Heisman Trophy winner, making a blockbuster trade up to the No. 2 overall pick to select him. Of course, the question will be whether or not Hunter — who famously played both corner and receiver at Colorado — will be able to do so at the NFL level. It’s also a question of whether he’ll primarily be a wide receiver and moonlight as a corner or vice versa. Regardless, we’re going to see Hunter line up at receiver in some capacity, which means he’s the latest weapon for Trevor Lawrence.
During the pre-draft process, he’s drawn comparisons to Justin Jefferson. If that lofty comp is even close to accurate, the Jaguars will have a high-flying offense when also factoring Brian Thomas Jr. into the equation. As tantalizing as this pairing of Lawrence and Hunter may be, they don’t find themselves higher on this list due to the uncertainty of Lawrence. He’s been banged up due to injury in recent seasons and was limited to just 10 games last year. When he’s been on the field, Lawrence has also made some questionable decisions with the football and completed just 60.6% of his passes in his 10 games played in 2024. Again, the ceiling for this duo is sky-high, but the floor may be lower than some think as well.
The Green Bay Packers made an unprecedented selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, making Texas’ Matthew Golden the first wide receiver the franchise has selected in the first round since 2002. Needless to say, they think quite highly of the receiver to pick him where they did, and he now could prove to be the No. 1 option for Jordan Love. Golden has been billed as a smooth and speedy runner who can win with quickness and a diverse route tree. We’ve seen plenty of first-round receivers make an impact as a rookie, so while we’re projecting with Golden, he could be an immediate contributor for an offense that needs it. Meanwhile, Love again flashed his potential of being an upper-echelon quarterback. In his second season as the full-time starter, Love again enjoyed a second-half surge, throwing for 28 touchdowns and two interceptions from Week 11 to Week 18. If Golden’s arrival can help him play at a more consistent level, this could be a really fun pairing for the foreseeable future.
Russell Wilson was “meh” for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. Sure, he helped lead them to the playoffs, but he was 0-5 down the stretch and averaged just 193.6 passing yards per game in those five contests. Despite how uninspiring Wilson’s addition to New York may be, he’s better than what the Giants trotted out in 2024. As a team, New York finished the 2024 season with a 77.8 passer rating, while Wilson had a 95.6 rating in 11 games played for Pittsburgh during the regular season. That illustrates what should be a tremendous leap in production at quarterback for the Giants, even if the ceiling isn’t particularly high. For Malik Nabers, Wilson coming aboard is an exciting proposition. If the former LSU receiver can total 109 catches and roughly 1,200 yards with the likes of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito throwing him the football, Wilson’s arrival should bring even better production. That’s not even mentioning the natural development he’ll enjoy entering his second season in the league.
6. Lamar Jackson and DeAndre Hopkins
Even though he doesn’t have another MVP trophy sitting on his mantel, Lamar Jackson’s 2024 season was otherworldly. He became the first player in league history to throw for over 4,000 yards and rush for at least 900 yards in a single season. After all that, his offense gets even more dangerous thanks to the arrival of DeAndre Hopkins. While Hopkins isn’t at the peak of his powers like he was during his days with the Houston Texans, he can still produce. After being traded to the Chiefs midseason last year, Hopkins tallied 41 catches for 437 yards receiving and four touchdowns in his 10 regular-season games played. That puts him at a pace of 70-743-7 over a full season. With Zay Flowers as the No. 1 receiver and the rushing threat of Jackson and Derrick Henry, Hopkins should be freed up to excel, giving Baltimore a much-needed secondary receiver option, making us bullish on this duo for 2025.
5. J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson
We’re admittedly taking a bit of a leap of faith here by placing the Vikings duo of McCarthy and Jefferson this high within these rankings. After all, McCarthy has yet to take a meaningful NFL snap due to a knee injury, helping erase any shot of rivaling Darnold as QB1 in 2024. However, Minnesota cleared the deck for him this offseason, and McCarthy is set up nicely for success with Kevin O’Connell in his ear and, of course, Jefferson as his primary outlet. Jefferson has become arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL and should be able to produce no matter who is under center. For instance, back in 2023 when the Vikings started four different quarterbacks, Jefferson logged 68 catches for 1,074 yards and five touchdowns through 10 games played. Even if he has some growing pains, McCarthy should be solid and does have the benefit of sitting for a year and learning O’Connell’s offense. That, in theory, should allow him to hit the ground running and quickly build what could be a prolific rapport with Jefferson.
4. Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
I have my questions about how Darnold will translate to Seattle now that he’s been removed from the Cadillac-like offense of the Minnesota Vikings, but you can’t ignore his production either. Darnold enjoyed a late-career resurgence where he threw for 35 touchdowns, 4,319 yards, and finished with a passer rating of 102.5. If that’s who he is (or even somewhat below that) with Seattle, he and Jaxon Smith-Njigba should be box office. And we’ve already seen that Darnold can support a star receiver with Justin Jefferson logging 1,500 yards last season, and even Jordan Addison came in with a respectable 875 yards receiving.
Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba exploded as the No. 1 option in the Seahawks offense last season, logging 100 catches for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in Year 2. That breakout emboldened Seattle to move off of some of their stars at the position, like DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, which frees up even more targets. Combined, Metcalf and Lockett accounted for 182 targets last season. Some of that, of course, will go to free agent acquisition Cooper Kupp, but JSN should also see a bigger piece of the pie as well.
3. Jayden Daniels and Deebo Samuel
Daniels bursting onto the scene in his rookie season made the Washington Commanders the Cinderella story of 2024. This offseason, the organization did what any smart outfit does when it struck gold at a quarterback on his rookie deal, and surrounded him with talent. At the receiver position, Terry McLaurin remains the No. 1 option, but the club did go out and acquire former 49ers pass catcher Deebo Samuel, further bolstering the group. Samuel has been an All-Pro player during his career and is one of the more dynamic players, thanks to his ability to line up as a traditional receiver and work out of the backfield. If offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury keeps that versatile aspect of Samuel’s game intact as he joins the Commanders, it creates even more ways for him and Daniels to thrive and become a nightmare for opposing defenses.
The Cowboys made a post-NFL Draft splash by trading for former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout George Pickens, giving Dak Prescott a much-needed secondary weapon outside of CeeDee Lamb. Pickens, a 2024 second-round pick out of Georgia, has been prolific through his first three seasons and has shown big-play ability, averaging 16.3 yards per reception for his career. And that production has come despite some questionable quarterback play. In Pickens’ rookie year, Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky were his primary signal-callers. The following year was more of the same, sprinkled in with some Mason Rudolph. In 2024, it was a combination of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. So, going from that to Dak Prescott should be looked at as a rather sizable upgrade. That’s especially true if Prescott stays healthy and looks like his 2023 self, where he finished second in NFL MVP voting.
Both Stafford and Adams are a bit long in the tooth, but these two have plenty left in the tank. Stafford enjoyed a stellar 2024 campaign with his passer rating (93.7) clocking in as the second-best of his entire tenure with the Rams. He now links up with Davante Adams, who signed a two-year, $44 million deal with L.A. in free agency after he was released by the New York Jets. Even splitting time between two different organizations, Adams was still able to top 1,000 yards receiving last year, and went nuclear down the stretch as one of the lone bright spots of New York’s offense. In his final five games of the regular season, Adams caught 36 balls for 510 yards and five touchdowns. That’s a 122-1,734-17 pace over a full 17-game season. With Stafford, Adams clearly upgraded at quarterback, and with Puka Nacua lining up opposite of him within a Sean McVay-led offense, this pairing should take the league by storm in 2025.
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