Can you believe it? We’re officially only a few days away from the kickoff of the 2019 Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. This is always my favorite weekend of the playoffs with us getting to watch the divisional leaders take on the scrappy wild card weekend winners. This year’s regular-season bout left us the divisional kings with the top seeds of the 49ers, Chiefs, Packers, and Ravens. Each of these teams have their own storylines and standouts but today I’m going to focus on the wide receivers of the divisional round. I wanted to take a look at each team’s starting receiver pair and see who has the nastiest couple according to the Pro Football Network Offensive Share Metric.
San Francisco 49ers
Combined WR OSM: 36.02
Deebo Samuel: 38.63
Emmanuel Sanders: 33.41
The San Francisco 49ers have the highest combined OSM grade of any of the four divisional top-seeded teams playing this weekend. This is largely due to the stellar second-half of the regular season performance of rookie Deebo Samuel. Samuel has the highest grade of all the starting receivers in this article and is less than a point and a half away from an Elite overall OSM grade for the season.
Baltimore Ravens
Combined WR OSM: 35.44
Marquise Brown 34.55
Willie Snead 36.33
The Ravens bring in the most consistent pair of wide receivers for their AFC Divisional Roud matchup. Brown and Snead have the narrowest spread of the two receivers with less than a two-point difference between them. And they have Lamar Jackson throwing them the ball? It doesn’t seem fair. Willie Snead has the second-highest OSM grade of the wide receivers in the divisional round. The Ravens had the highest winning percentage this season and are a favorite to win the AFC Championship game and make it all the way to the season finale.
Kansas City Chiefs
Combined WR OSM: 33.65
Tyreek Hill: 35.44
Sammy Watkins: 31.86
Their combined OSM grade of the starting wide receiver pair is still considered Very Good on the grading scale but just by a few points. Tyreek Hill has one of the highest grades of the six receivers featured in this article, so expect him to be a favorite target for Patrick Mahomes. But the spread between Hill and Sammy Watkins is a little wide. Watkins’ overall OSM is the second-lowest here with a grade of 31.86.
Green Bay Packers
Combined WR OSM: 31.16
Davante Adams: 35.13
Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 27.18
The Packers have the lowest combined OSM grade for their starting wide receivers of all the divisional front runners. This pair features the only starting WR of the four teams with an OSM grade below the Very Good threshold on the OSM grading scale with Valdes-Scantling bringing in an overall grade of 27.18. Interesting side note, Allen Lazard (who’s not listed as a starter) has a higher OSM grade than four of the starting wide receivers of the divisional round featured in this article.
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