5. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Fitzgerald was obviously one of the NFL’s best outside receivers early in his career, and he was also one of the league’s first marquee wideouts to switch to the slot more often as his career evolved under former Arizona head coach Bruce Arians. When Fitzgerald did so, he presented impossible matchups for linebackers (who weren’t generally quick enough to keep up with him) and defensive backs (who were going to lose physical battles).
They said Larry was washed until Bruce put him in the slot and he dropped 1215 yards and 9 TDs at 32 years old.
Don't be surprised when AJ Green slides inside a bit more. 6'5" Go-Go Gadget Arms too long for slot corners & too fast for safeties. pic.twitter.com/wHRjyVYzJF
— JetPack Galileo (@JetPackGalileo) July 24, 2020
In 2019, Fitzgerald worked in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense, where there were four receivers on the field on 227 of the Cardinals’ passing snaps. To put that into perspective, the Jaguars finished second in that category with 82 four-wide passing snaps. So, the slot position was kind of important, and Fitzgerald helped rookie quarterback Kyler Murray in all kinds of ways — especially on broken plays where the receiver’s acumen and persistence is the only difference between success and disaster.
Here's the ageless Larry Fitzgerald giving his annual class in How To Create A Touchdown Out Of Absolutely Nothing. pic.twitter.com/kzsGPVDtrf
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 23, 2020
Fitzgerald caught 60 slot passes on 86 targets for 668 yards, three touchdowns last season. As long as he wants to do it, you can expect more from the future first-ballot Hall of Famer.