The Detroit Lions have wrapped up the 2019 season. Over the next two weeks, MLive will hand out reviews for each of the team’s position groups. Previously: Quarterbacks | Running backs

Wide receivers

Starters: Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Danny Amendola

Backups: Marvin Hall, Chris Lacy, Travis Fulgham

Key stats: Golladay led the NFL with 11 touchdown catches; his 1,190 yards were the most by a Lions player since Calvin Johnson’s final season in 2015; his 18.3 yards per catch ranked third in the league; Jones added nine touchdown catches in 13 games; Amendola’s 678 yards were 11 short of a career high; Hall averaged 37.3 yards on seven catches

Kyle’s grade: A-

Breakdown: The Lions spent all last offseason talking about how they were building a defense and running game capable of taking the ball out of Matthew Stafford’s hands. In the end, their defense flopped and the running game didn’t get going until their postseason hopes had already faded. Which left that passing game still standing as Detroit’s biggest strength.

The Lions were a top-10 passing team despite playing half the season with backup quarterbacks, and they were top three with Stafford under center. He was terrific this season, no doubt about it, and he deserves credit for it. But so do his receivers, and none more so than Kenny Golladay. You see breakout players fade all the time because the tape gets around on them, but Golladay was able to follow up his 1,000-yard campaign in 2018 with another 1,190 yards this past season. That ranked seventh in the league, while his 11 touchdown catches were No. 1. Not even Calvin Johnson led the league in touchdown catches. Considering Golladay did while playing half the year with folks named Driskel and Blough, that’s outstanding stuff.

For a team devoid of positive developments in the last couple years, Golladay stands out as Detroit’s best home-grown success story. He was a third-round pick in 2017, and there were a whole lot of analysts who thought Detroit reached for him there. Instead, he showed flashes of dominance as a rookie, broke out in 2018 and cemented his place as one of the league’s emerging stars in 2019. He could be about to get paid like it too, considering his contract is up after next season. And with Detroit still very much a passing team, it can’t afford to lose its undisputed WR1.

But it wasn’t just Golladay getting the job done. Marvin Jones put a forgettable 2018 behind him with a nice bounce-back in 2019, including snagging nine touchdown catches. That was fourth in the league despite playing in just 13 games because of injury. He finished with 61 catches for 779 yards overall.

Golladay and Jones have been a nice 1-2 punch for years now, but the new kid on the block made some noise too. Danny Amendola drew some scoffs when he reported to Detroit saying he was in the best shape of his career, because 33-year-old receivers typically aren’t in the best shape of their careers. But Amendola ran laps around Allen Park his first day on the job and never slowed down. Not for a single day. I’ve covered this team since 2013, and I’ve never seen a receiver work like that, every rep, every single day. People around Allen Park will tell you that elevated the performances of the guys around him, because it’s hard to slouch when the 33-year-old guy is diving for balls against air, you know? So it’s little wonder Amendola was voted team captain before ever playing a down for Detroit, nor that Golladay had a career season, nor that Jones bounced back in a big way.

The Amendola Effect wasn’t just intangible either. He also chipped in 62 catches for 678 yards, just 11 shy of his career high (set all the way back in 2010). He was terrific in the slot for Detroit and is a good candidate for another short-term contract. Or if he’s out, Detroit will have a massive void to fill, leadership and otherwise.

That trio wasn’t the best in the NFL, but it was certainly among 'em. They were explosive downfield -- Stafford was leading the league in 20-yard passes at the time of his injury -- while remaining consistent. They combined to drop just 13 passes on 297 targets. Considering they were working half the season with Jeff Driskel and David Blough, again, that’s very good work. Even Marvin Hall, the fourth receiver, made a difference by averaging 37.3 yards on his seven catches.

Those efforts helped the passing game remain Detroit’s strength despite the chaos everywhere else. And with Golladay and Jones under contract for another year, plus Stafford returning from injury, that should remain the case. It’ll be fascinating to see how the offense evolves in Year 2 under Darrell Bevell, because the initial results were outstanding.