What Are Intended Air Yards?
Intended air yards measures the total air yards on all targets thrown to a player.
Intended Air Yards | NFL Advanced Stats
| Player | Team | Position | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew GoldenQuestionable: ShoulderPractice: Limited ParticipationWeek 8 report · updated Oct 28 |  | WR | 1165 | 183 | 551 | 749 | - | 694 | 471 |
| 2 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba |  | WR | 937 | 124 | 424 | 589 | - | 482 | 455 |
| 3 | Michael Wilson |  | WR | 921 | 240 | 402 | 626 | - | 227 | 694 |
| 4 | CeeDee Lamb |  | WR | 907 | 52 | 381 | 596 | - | 329 | 578 |
| 5 | Christian Watson | | WR | 882 | 130 | 376 | 578 | - | 545 | 337 |
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Who has the most intended air yards (IAY) in the NFL in 2026?
The top player in IAY is Matthew Golden of Green Bay, at 1,165 through games played November 3, 2026. Jaxon Smith-Njigba of Seattle ranks second at 937, with Michael Wilson of Arizona third at 921. Golden's IAY total puts him 228 yards clear of second place & 595 ahead of the 25th-ranked player.
Brock Bowers of Las Vegas is the highest-ranked tight end on the board at 608 yards, 23rd overall. CeeDee Lamb of Dallas ranks fourth at 907, with Christian Watson of Green Bay fifth at 882, Chris Olave of New Orleans sixth at 871, Tee Higgins of Cincinnati seventh at 831, Malik Nabers of the New York Giants eighth at 811, DK Metcalf of Pittsburgh ninth at 809 & Denzel Boston of Cleveland tenth at 801.
Forty-two yards separate tenth from 11th, the widest single step anywhere below the top four. Davante Adams of the Los Angeles Rams ranks 11th at 759, with George Pickens of Dallas 12th at 722, Tetairoa McMillan of Carolina 13th at 693, Jameson Williams of Detroit 14th at 657, Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets 15th at 653, Rome Odunze of Chicago 16th at 652 & Carnell Tate of Tennessee 17th at 646.
Eight players sit inside 35 yards of each other from 15th to 22nd, the tightest stretch of the ranking. Tre Tucker of Las Vegas ranks 18th at 643, with Amon-Ra St. Brown of Detroit 19th at 640, Ja'Marr Chase of Cincinnati 20th at 635, Drake London of Atlanta 21st at 619, Parker Washington of Jacksonville 22nd at 618, Brock Bowers of Las Vegas 23rd at 608, Mike Evans of San Francisco 24th at 571 & Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams 25th at 570. Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Green Bay, Las Vegas & the Los Angeles Rams are the only teams with two players in the top 25. Twenty-four of the 25 are wide receivers; the only tight end is Bowers 23rd.
How this ranking is measured
476 NFL players are ranked for the 2026 regular season. The top 25 appear above. Intended air yards measures the total air yards on all targets thrown to a player. Intended air yards figures are as of November 3, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.
