The quarterback might be the star of the show most of the time in football, but they’re much less useful without wide receivers.
As far as offensive plays go, wide receivers are still extremely important to the team.
In fact, after running backs, wide receivers generally score the most points in the NFL.
If you’re the type of football fan that loves to run the length of the field and score touchdowns, this guide to the best wide receiver build on Madden 24 is for you.
I’ve put together three amazing WR builds, with each one being suitable for a different style of play.
Wide Receiver Skills & Abilities in Madden 24
Here’s a list of all the upgradable skills of a wide receiver in the game.
- Catching – Increased catch chance.
- Spectacular Catch – Increased chance to win mid-air catches.
- Catch In Traffic – Increased chance to prevent ball knockouts.
- Short Route Run – Increased chance to win on the cut on short routes.
- Medium Route Running – Increased chance to win on the cut on medium routes.
- Deep Route Running – Increased chance to win on the cut on deep routes.
- Juke – Increased chance for juke fakeouts.
- Spin – Increased chance for spin fakeouts.
- Trucking – Increased chance for trucking through tackles.
- Stiff Arm – Increased chances to break tackles with stiff arms.
Here’s a list of abilities that can be equipped by a wide receiver in the game.
- Double Me XFactor – an increased success rate of aggressive catches against single coverage
- Max Security XFactor – an increased success rate on possession catches and reduced knockout chance
- YAC ‘Em Up XFactor – a guaranteed break of the first post-catch tackle
- Route Technician – high success rate when creating separation on the last cut of any route
- Deep Route Elite – access to four extra hot routes when lined up Outside
- Iron Grip – protection against catch chance penalties due to being double covered
- Juke Elite – steerable juke animations
- Matchup Nightmare – sharper cuts and increased ability to win contested catches when covered by linebackers and linemen
- Mid Route Elite – access to four extra hot routes when lined up at Slot
- Red Zone Threat – increased chance of winning contested catches against single coverage
- Short Route Elite – access to four extra hot routes when lined up at WR
- Showboat – better turning after a RAC catch
- Spin Elite – steerable spin animations
- Sticky Fingers – increased ability to catch passes
- Stiff Arm Elite – increased ability to connect on stiff arm tackles
- Truck Elite – increased ability to connect on truck tackles
Big Man Build
Don’t be deceived by the name, the Big Man build produces a player that offers much more than the ability to bully smaller players. However, if you’re looking for a player that can outplay a corner in one-on-one coverage, this is your guy.
The goal of this build is to combine spectacular catching ability with physical ability. This guy is light enough on his feet, can catch a throw in the most difficult scenarios, and can hold his own against physical players.
The playstyle that suits this build the most will shine through more in the earlier stages when you’re focusing on upgrading his catching ability, but by the time you hit a 90+ OVR, he’ll pretty much be an unstoppable force that can do everything.
Physique
Right away, we’re going to start with a game-breaking physical build for this position. Here, we’re building a tall, agile player that stands 6’4″ and weighs 164 lbs. Imagine a wide receiver as tall as Randy Moss, but still super agile because he weighs at least 40 lbs. less.
Initially, this physique does negatively affect Catch in Traffic which seems to be more important this year. However, it plays like a beast in-game regardless and improves Juke, Spin, and Spectacular Catch animations.
The height and weight parameters are the only two important ones in the Physique category, so you can adjust everything else according to your preference or leave them on default settings.
Skill Upgrades
The recommended upgrades here will get your wide receiver to a 99 OVR and it requires 80 skill points in total.
You’re obviously not going to have that many points in the early stages of your Superstar Mode career, so you have to prioritize upgrading certain areas first before others.
In terms of priority, I recommend focusing on Spectacular Catch, Catch In Traffic, and then Juke/Spin first (in that order).
Once you’ve upgraded those categories to the recommended levels, you can proceed to upgrade the Route Running skills. If you still have skill points left over, spend them as you see fit.
Abilities
- XFactor Slot – Double Me
- Bronze Slot – Matchup Nightmare
- Silver Slot – Juke Elite
- Gold Slot 1 – Showboat
- Gold Slot 2 – Sticky Fingers
- Gold Slot 3 – Iron Grip
Runner Build
As the name suggests, the runner build is most suitable for wide receivers that particularly enjoy running down the flanks.
This type of player relies on his speed to get wide open to receive catches, so they don’t usually have to be the best at catching under pressure compared to the Big Man build that I discussed earlier.
Obviously, they need to be good at catching the ball as well, but the most important skills for the runner build are speed and trickery.
Physique
We’re going for a smaller player with a lower center of gravity for this build. DeSean Jackson is a good example of the height we need, so set that to 5’8″. The maximum weight that we can have while still keeping the player agile is 222 lbs. so set it to that for that tiny strength boost.
This starts us off with a rating of 93 for speed and agility and a rating of 82 for strength and stamina.
Skill Upgrades
The recommended upgrades here will get your wide receiver to a 99 OVR and it requires 79 skill points in total.
In terms of priority, focus on upgrading Route Running first, then Juke, Spin, and Catching. Subsequently, you can upgrade everything else that’s recommended as you wish.
Abilities
- XFactor Slot – YAC ‘Em Up
- Bronze Slot – Route Technician
- Silver Slot – Juke Elite
- Gold Slot 1 – Short Route Elite
- Gold Slot 2 – Medium Route Elite
- Gold Slot 3 – Deep Route Elite
Possession Receiver Build
The possession receiver is not the quickest player, neither is he the strongest. The biggest strength of this player is their safety in possession of the ball. Teammates know that they can be trusted not to lose it when passed to, especially over shorter distances.
For this build, the focus will be on creating a player that can receive possession in any situation and keep the ball before recycling accurately. He won’t score as many as the runner, but he possesses a unique skill set that would serve any team well.
He’s the closest you’ll get to an all-rounder for this guide.
Physique
Since we’re not focusing on runs too much, we can go for a height of 6’2″ with a weight of 194 lbs. for a Balanced body type. This gets us a rating of 90 for speed and agility and a rating of 85 for strength and stamina.
Skill Upgrades
The recommended upgrades here will get your wide receiver to a 99 OVR and it requires 80 skill points in total.
In order of priority, upgrade Catching, Catch In Traffic, Short Route Run, and Stiff Arm. Then, you can upgrade everything else that’s recommended as you wish.
Abilities
- XFactor Slot – Max Security
- Bronze Slot – Stiff Arm Elite
- Silver Slot – Short Route Elite
- Gold Slot 1 – Iron Grip
- Gold Slot 2 – Matchup Nightmare
- Gold Slot 3 – Sticky Fingers
These three builds cover vastly different playstyles, so you should find one that works for you as a WR in Madden 24 Superstar Mode.
If the wide receiver position is not for you, and you’re a big fan of the spotlight, our quarterback build is a good place to look next.
