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Don Wright/Associated Press

Football is the most interdependent sport, as the success of one player rests more on those around him than in any other athletic endeavor. Within that, receivers are as dependent on the forces around them as any players on the gridiron.

Say you come out of college and you have all the tools to succeed. You're a height/weight/speed guy. A scout's dream. In the right offense, you have Rookie of the Year potential. Now, imagine the following two scenarios.

In the first you're drafted by a team with a brilliant head coach, a staff of bright offensive minds, a stellar quarterback and an established group of receivers who will help you stay open by demanding more coverage.

In the second you're taken by a team with a head coach and offensive staff who rely on isolation routes and have a playbook that hasn't changed since 1973. Your quarterback is in the bottom quarter of the league and is getting sacked all the time because the offensive line stinks. The receivers around you are so bad, you're getting double-teams from day one.

It's easy to understand how, beyond raw talent, certain receivers succeed and others don't. The same player in a different situation can lead to an entirely different career arc. Each of the NFL's best receivers can amplify and at times transcend their offenses. But you can also argue that if you switched, say, Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins halfway through the season—when Brown was benefiting from an improving Ben Roethlisberger and Hopkins was somehow dominating despite quarterbacks who were turning 50/50 balls into catches that favored the defense—Hopkins might be considered the NFL's best receiver.

NFL1000 scouts Marcus Mosher and Joe Goodberry have been watching every NFL wideout through the season, and in deference to the league's changing schemes, they split those players into outside and slot receivers based on the percentage of snaps played. If a player lined up more than 50 percent of the time in the slot, he'll be on that list, which will go live January 16.

For outside receivers, in addition to gauging and adjusting for a player's personnel circumstances, Joe and Marcus based their grades on the following criteria:

Route Running: 30 points. Does this receiver run a full route tree? Can he beat cornerbacks on everything from angular routes in the slot to straight vertical routes up the boundary? How well does he fake and juke his way out of tight coverage? Does he make things easier for his quarterback by breaking to the ball at a friendly angle, or is he a step late? How well does he coordinate with his quarterback on option routes?

Hands: 25 points. Can this player make things easier for his quarterback by expanding his catch radius and bringing in badly thrown balls? Does he catch the ball away from his body and turn quickly to run, or does he bring it into his body and exhibit subpar technique? How well does he rip the ball away from defenders on contested catches?

YAC: 20 points. Once he makes a reception, how well can a player run out of coverage to gain yards after the catch? Regardless of his size, is he both agile and physical enough to get away from tacklers?

Blocking: 15 points. On both running and passing plays, how well does the player block for his teammates? Is he intent on making every play work, or does he tend to disappear if he's not the target?

Position Value: 8 points. This takes into account positional importance when comparing scores to other spots on the gridiron. Wide receivers are given 8/10 points across the board, leaving them with a maximum score of 98/100.

Note: In the case of a tie among players, NFL1000 scouts Joe Goodberry and Marcus Mosher ranked players by personal preference.

Make sure to check out all of the NFL1000 rankings from the 2017 season.