The ideal way to build a WR room in 2026

About this episode

<p>We have long understood wide receiver as a premium position in the NFL, but the natural evolution of offenses and schemes has influenced everything—including the way you want to build out and balance your wide receiver corps. So what's the ideal way to put the pieces together in today's NFL? Matt Harmon from Yahoo Sports joins Robert Mays to fit it all into place on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.</p><br><p>0:00 Welcome to the show</p><p>4:09 What should your receiver group look like?</p><p>9:43 First piece of a receiver room</p><p>13:53 Building around a WR1</p><p>25:51 Impact on offense as a whole</p><p>32:31 What to surround a WR1 with</p><p>43:12 Impact of heavy personnel</p><p>48:35 Ideal skill sets for receivers in heavy personnel</p><p>56:09 Underrated skill sets for receivers</p><p>59:45 How to project a WR success in NFL</p><p>1:03:07 Changing landscape of slot receivers</p><p>1:07:43 Examples of properly-built receiver groups</p><p>1:11:42 Deploying pure speed</p><br><p>Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow</p><br><p>Host: Robert Mays</p><p>Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman</p><p>Executive Producer: Michael Beller</p><p>Senior Producer: Katy Duffy</p><p>Social Producer: Scott Krinch</p><br><p>Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social</p><p>Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social</p><p>Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social</p><p>Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays</p><p>Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_</p><br><p>Theme song: Haunted</p><p>Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs</p><p>Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>