NFL route analysis: The most and least effective routes over the last five years

• Hitch routes are the most targeted: While curls can limit ability after they catch, they rightfully operate as a safe throw and catch.

• Crossers are a double-edged sword: The intermediate route has produced not only the most touchdowns, but also the most interceptions since 2021.

• Puka Nacua is dominant on in routes: Nacua set a PFF record by producing 439 receiving yards on dig routes during the 2025 season.

The complexity of an NFL route tree extends far beyond the individual routes in isolation. One of the first lessons of football is that routes are only as valuable as the concepts they are paired with, combining to manipulate defenders and create space on the field.

PFF has tracked every route run in the NFL for several years, but to keep the numbers representative of today’s NFL, we’ll focus on every qualifying passing play from the 2021 through 2025 seasons.

The league’s most-targeted route during that span is, unsurprisingly, the hitch route. Also referred to as the curl route, the hitch gives quarterbacks a stationary target by asking the receiver to stop, turn and present his numbers to the passer.

The simplicity of the hitch comes with an obvious drawback, though. Because receivers almost always catch the football while facing back toward the quarterback, they rarely have an opportunity to create after the catch. Hitch receptions have averaged just 2.8 yards after the catch over the last five seasons.

The second-most popular route, the out route, paints a similar picture. By design, they lead receivers toward the sideline, naturally limiting the amount of open grass available after the reception. Receivers have averaged only 2.3 yards after the catch on out routes, with only back-shoulder go balls, comebacks and end-zone fades producing less.

The trade-off here is a consistent, low-risk opportunity to gain yards. Running away from the formation keeps the ball out of harm’s way, and gives receivers more time to locate the football, resulting in a league-wide drop rate of only 4.8%. Compare that to slant routes, where the bang-bang nature of the route forces receivers to secure the catch almost immediately after turning their heads. Slants have produced a drop rate of 9.6% — double that of out routes.

The highest drop figure belongs to the backfield wheel route. Much of that can be explained by both the difficulty of the catch and the player typically running it. Running backs account for 83% of all wheel targets since 2021 and 100% of all drops.

Despite the drops, the wheel remains one of football’s most explosive route concepts when completed. Just 43.0% of wheel targets are caught, making it one of the league’s lowest-percentage throws. Only a collection of difficult double moves, such as out-and-ups, post-corners and slant-and-gos (or sluggos), have produced lower completion rates.

However, no route embodies the risk-reward balance of the passing game better than the go route. Go balls have been completed only 29.4% of the time over the last five seasons, yet those completions have averaged 33.9 yards. Only the much rarer post-corner and corner-post routes have generated more yards per completion.

More than a quarter of all completed go routes have ended in touchdowns, illustrating just how valuable successful vertical shots can be. At the same time, receivers have dropped 9.5% of catchable go balls, making it one of the league’s least forgiving targets.

Given that cornerbacks generally dislike defending passes while sprinting at full speed with their backs to the quarterback, it’s no surprise that go routes heavily reward receivers capable of winning in contested situations. Wideouts have secured 36.4% of contested targets on go routes. This may seem low, but it’s actually the third-highest rate of any route in football behind only back-shoulder throws and end-zone fades, two concepts that truly live up to the “50-50 ball” label.

Among routes that regularly generate contested opportunities, crossers have been easily the least favorable for receivers. The congestion over the middle of the field leaves little margin for error as receivers work horizontally through defenders’ zones. When targeted in contested situations, these receivers come down with the football just 15.8% of the time. 

Despite this problem, crossing routes have accounted for 483 receiving touchdowns since 2021 — that’s 130 more than any other route. Officially, 11.6% of every passing touchdown thrown over the last half-decade has come on a crosser. Crossers have also generated a league-leading 299 interceptions over that time frame, making them arguably the NFL’s highest-variance route. Few concepts produce more explosive plays, but none punishes mistakes more severely.

At the opposite end of the spectrum sits the comeback route, which Madden players may assume is a staple of every passing attack. In reality, NFL offenses call it surprisingly infrequently. With only 471 targets over the last five seasons, the comeback ranks just 24th among all tracked routes, and with good reason. 

Like the hitch, comeback routes generate virtually no production after the catch. Unlike the hitch, however, receivers must locate the football while working back downhill toward the quarterback, giving them less time to track the throw. The route also demands exceptional anticipation between quarterback and receiver, resulting in a completion rate of just 51.6%.

Comebacks are also one of only a handful of routes averaging more than 3.0 seconds in time to throw, forcing quarterbacks to hold onto the football longer than they would on the vast majority of concepts. The end result is predictably poor efficiency. Since 2021, comeback routes have generated a passer rating of just 67.1 — the lowest of any route tracked by PFF.

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Looking specifically at individual players from last season reveals several notable outliers. Puka Nacua produced a PFF record 439 receiving yards on in routes, commonly known as dig routes. The concept has long been a staple of Matthew Stafford’s passing game, so it’s fitting that the second-highest total in the league belonged to another Rams receiver, Davante Adams.

Jameson Williams led the NFL with 347 receiving yards on crossing routes despite dropping four of his 19 catchable targets on the concept. Interestingly, none of those receptions resulted in touchdowns. Meanwhile, Quentin Johnston scored four of his eight touchdowns on crossing routes alone.

Likewise, George Pickens topped the league in both receptions and yardage on slant routes, hauling in a league-leading eight contested catches along the way. By comparison, Drake London,was the NFL’s highest-targeted on the league’s most frequent route — the hitch.

Among quarterbacks, Geno Smith broke a PFF record by recording seven turnover-worthy plays targeting crossing routes, although four of those went unpunished. Several established passers also struggled to connect on vertical shots. Patrick Mahomes completed only two of his 17 go-ball attempts, the third-lowest completion total among qualifying quarterbacks.

One of just two passers to fare worse was rookie Jaxson Dart, who went 1-for-11 on go routes. To Dart’s credit, though, he excelled in more sustainable areas of quarterback play. His 84.4% accuracy rate on hitch routes led all qualifying quarterbacks.

Another remarkable outlier came from Drake Maye, who threw nine touchdown passes on corner routes. That was four more than any other quarterback and the highest total by any passer on a single route concept during the 2025 season.

Ultimately, no statistic in this study crowns one route as universally “best.” The numbers simply highlight where each route succeeds, where it struggles and the trade-offs offenses must accept each time they target it.

The effectiveness of any given route obviously depends on the coverage, the surrounding pattern, the quarterback delivering the ball and the receiver executing the assignment. Evaluating these routes in isolation only tells part of the story.