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Most Receiving Touchdowns in a Season: 2023 Edition

most receiving touchdowns in a season

Who has the most receiving touchdowns in a season? Wide receivers provide some of the most impressive highlights with extraordinary talents, athleticism and skill.

Most Receiving Touchdowns in a Season

These players all showed remarkable consistency across an entire season to keep on scoring. Let’s take a look at the most receiving touchdowns in a season. 

10. Bill Groman – 17 TDs (1961)

Although Bill Groman only had a six-year playing career due to injuries, he managed to win the AFC Championship in 1961 during the pre-Super Bowl era. He’s also the only player to have 27 touchdown catches in his first 25 games.

Groman had great hands, was nimble and had great speed. In 1961 he had 50 catches, 1,175 yards and 17 touchdowns, as the Oilers became the only team in AFL or NFL history to score 45 points or more, six times in a single season. 

9. Carl Pickens – 17 TDs (1995)

Carl Pickens was a fantastic wide receiver on a very bad Cincinnati Bengals team in 1995. He and quarterback Jeff Blake both made the Pro Bowl.

The rest of the Bengals team were mediocre and they limped their way to a 7-9 record and missing the playoffs. Pickens however had 17 touchdowns in a season good enough to make the list of most receiving touchdowns in a season.

Pickens also became the first player ever to record at least five receptions and a receiving touchdowns in eight straight games. 

8. Cris Carter – 17 TDs (1995)

Cris Carter was able to find open space, make clutch catches and was particularly deadly in the red zone. He and Warren Moon had a great connection and Carter finished the 1995 season with 1,371 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns.

Carter is one of the best wide receivers of all time. Despite the great play between Carter and Moon, the Vikings missed out on the playoffs altogether after finishing with an 8-8 record, and they finished last place in the NFC Central division. 

7. Rob Gronkowski – 17 TDs (2011)

Rob Gronkowski revolutionized the tight end position and had a year to remember in 2011. He had the best quarterback in history, Tom Brady, throwing to him, who also had other targets such as Wes Walker and Chad Ochocinco to throw to. 

Gronkowski scored 17 receiving touchdowns during the season thanks to his combination of size, strength, and agility making him impossible to defend in the red zone. 

He formed a lethal tight end combination with Aaron Hernandez and the pair made it all the way to Super Bowl XLVI, where they would lose to the Giants. 

6. Randy Moss – 17 TDs (1998 and 2003) 

Randy Moss is one of the greatest wide receivers in history. He scored 17 touchdowns twice in his career while at Minnesota, displaying phenomenal athleticism and deep running routes. 

In 1998 he scored 17 touchdowns in his rookie year but lost in OT to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game. In 2003 he did it again, receiving 17 touchdowns with Daunte Culpepper under center, but the Vikings failed to make the playoffs.

5. Sterling Sharpe – 18 TDs (1994)

Sterling Sharpe’s 1994 campaign with the Green Bay Packers is one of the greatest seasons by a wide receiver. He displayed a combination of strength and precise route running on his way to recording 18 receiving touchdowns. 

Sharpe’s season was the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season at the time, and he helped the Packers reach the Divisional Playoffs where they lost to the Cowboys. 

4. Mark Clayton – 18 TDs (1984)

Mark Clayton makes the list of most receiving touchdowns in a season following his exceptional year with the Miami Dolphins in 1984 on their way to making Super Bowl XIX. 

During the season Clayton formed a great partnership with legend Dan Marino, scoring 18 receiving touchdowns on the back of his precise route running and great hands. 

3. Davante Adams – 18 TDs (2020) 

Davante Adams had a spectacular 2020 season, finishing with 115 catches, 1,374 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. He did it all despite missing two games because of a hamstring injury.

Adams formed a formidable partnership with Aaron Rodgers, finishing second in the league for total receptions and fourth in receiving yards.

Rodgers earned himself league MVP but Green Bay went on to lose to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game. 

2. Jerry Rice – 22 TDs (1987)

Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver of all time. He has the second most receiving touchdowns in a season following his 22-touchdown performance in 1987, and he did it all in only 12 games and on 65 receptions. 

Had it not been for the player-strike which had seen him miss four games, it’s almost a certainty that Rice would own an unbeatable outright record. 

The combination between Rice and Joe Montana was lethal, and Rice scored another 17 receiving touchdowns in 1989.

1. Randy Moss – 23 TDs (2007) 

Randy Moss has the most receiving touchdowns in a season with 23 touchdowns in 2007. Moss dominated defenses with his freakish combination of size, speed, and his incredible hands which made him an unstoppable force. 

At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, he made things look easy with his partnership with the best quarterback of all time, Tom Brady. 

The pair guided the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 season, but were upset by the Giants in Super Bowl XLII in one of the greatest upsets in American sports history.

Matt Ieriko

Matt Ieriko is a freelance writer who’s evolved his lifelong passion for sport into the creation of WolfgangSport.com in 2020 – an American sports blog covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. As an Australian, he’s always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America.

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