NFL Players With the Most Receiving Touchdowns in a Season

Following a disappointing run with the Oakland Raiders after having so much success with the Minnesota Vikings , Randy Moss reinvigorated his career with the New England Patriots . The Raiders sent Moss to the Pats via trade ahead of the 2007 NFL season, teaming him with quarterback Tom Brady .

The two made an instant connection and then connected 23 times for a touchdown during the ’07 campaign, giving Moss the NFL record for the most touchdown receptions in a season, breaking Jerry Rice’s 20-year-old mark of 22 set during the strike-shortened 1987 season.

Here is a list of the NFL players with the most receiving touchdowns in a single season.

1 Randy Moss (23), 2007

Randy Moss teamed with Tom Brady in 2007 and finished with an NFL record 23 touchdown catches

Randy Moss certainly made an impact in his first year with the New England Patriots. As mentioned, the Pats landed Moss in a trade with the Oakland Raiders, and he and Tom Brady proved to be a deadly combination.

In his first regular-season game with the Pats, Moss caught nine passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, and added a pair of touchdown receptions in each of his next three games.

During a game against the Buffalo Bills , Moss caught a career-high four touchdown passes — all in the first half. In the regular-season finale, he caught two touchdown passes in a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants , helping the Pats finish with a perfect 16-0 record.

Moss finished the season with 23 TD receptions, breaking Jerry Rice’s previous record of 22 and marking the fourth time in his career that he led the NFL in touchdown catches. He made it five times after catching 13 in 2009.

Moss finished the 2007 season with 98 catches for 1,493 yards and finished second in the Offensive Player of the Year voting, losing only to Brady. Moss ultimately recorded 156 touchdown receptions during his Hall of Fame career.

2 Jerry Rice (22), 1987

Jerry Rice finished with 22 touchdown catches in the strike-shortened 1987 season

Jerry Rice is widely considered the best wide receiver ever to play in the NFL. The 16th overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft , the Mississippi Valley State alum led the league in touchdown catches six times, and he had double-digit TD receptions nine times during his 20-year career.

In his third NFL season in 1987, Rice finished with a career-best 22 touchdown catches for the San Francisco 49ers , despite missing four games due to the infamous players’ strike that saw one game canceled and three played using replacement players.

Even though he was limited to 12 games, Rice had 65 catches for 1,078 yards and his record-setting 22 touchdown grabs. During one stretch that season, he had three receiving touchdowns in four different games and scored at least once every game in which he appeared.

Rice finished his career with 197 touchdown catches, the most ever by an NFL player. He won three Super Bowls with the Niners and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

3 Sterling Sharpe (18), 1994

In the final year of his career, Green Bay Packers WR Sterling Sharpe collected 18 receiving touchdowns

If not for a serious neck injury, Sterling Sharpe would likely have joined his brother, Shannon Sharpe, one of the greatest tight ends of all time, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Sterling Sharpe played seven years in the NFL, all with the Green Bay Packers , and never missed a game. He injured his neck during a Week 16 game in 1994 but still played in Week 17. He had offseason neck surgery and the risk of serious injury was too great, so the five-time Pro Bowler called it a career.

In his final year, he finished with a league-leading and career-high 18 touchdown catches, tied for the most in history at the time. Sharpe ultimately had 94 total catches on the season for 1,119 yards.

Sharpe led the NFL in catches three times. In 1992, he earned the Triple Crown for wide receivers, leading the NFL in catches (108), yards (1,461), and touchdown catches (13). He finished his career with 65 touchdown receptions and was named a First-Team All-Pro three times.

4 Mark Clayton (18), 1984

In just his second NFL season, Mark Clayton had 18 touchdown receptions

The Miami Dolphins selected wide receiver Mark Clayton in the eighth round of the 1983 NFL Draft. They also famously selected quarterback Dan Marino in the first round that same year. The two helped turn the Dolphins into a highly explosive offense.

In their second year together, Clayton and Marino helped get the Dolphins to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the San Francisco 49ers. Marino led the NFL in passing yards (5,084) and passing touchdowns (48), both league records at the time, and was named NFL MVP.

Eighteen of Marino’s 48 TD passes went to Clayton, who led the league in that department. The 5-foot-9, 177-pound wideout finished the year with 73 catches for 1,389 yards. Clayton and Mark Duper made up the Marks Brothers, a wide receiver tandem that gave Marino two prime targets in the ’80s.

Clayton played 10 years with the Dolphins and racked up 81 touchdown catches.

5 Davante Adams (18), 2020

Davante Adams led the way for the Green Bay Packers with 18 TD catches in 2020

Davante Adams played the first eight years of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, catching passes from four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers . Adams was a second-round pick of the Pack in 2014 after a stellar college career at Fresno State.

Adams had six seasons of 10 of more touchdown catches with the Packers, including a career-high 18 in 2020. He had three touchdowns in a game against the Minnesota Vikings and three more in a victory over the Tennessee Titans on a snowy Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

Adams had 115 catches for 1,374 yards that year, marking the first of four straight seasons with 100 or more receptions.

6 Nine Others Tied With 17

Moss and Rice also had 17 touchdown receptions in a season

Not only does Moss hold the record with 23 touchdown catches in a season, but he also had 17 in two other seasons. Rice also finished with 17 TD catches in a season. In all, notching exactly 17 touchdown catches in one season has been achieved nine times.

• Moss finished with 17 touchdowns during his rookie season in 1998. He had 69 catches for 1,313 yards and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Moss also had 17 TD receptions in 2003 after catching a career-high 111 passes and racking up a career-best 1,632 yards.
• Rice had 17 touchdown catches during the 1989 season. Rice’s 17 scores led the NFL, as did his 1,483 receiving yards.
• A year after catching 10 touchdown passes as a rookie, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had 17 touchdown catches in his second NFL season in 2011.
• In 1995, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Carl Pickens and Minnesota Vikings standout Cris Carter led the league with 17 touchdown receptions each.
• Don Hutson (1942), Elroy Hirsch (1951), and Bill Groman (1961) also had 17 touchdown grabs in a season.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.