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[QUOTE="JoeSU, post: 514227, member: 309"]
All WRs are not created equal. The X, Z and slot receivers require somewhat different skill sets, and during a game a team needs to be able to rotate at least 2 WRs at each position. Including the benefit of having a couple of incoming guys RS, and assuming 1 or more WRs misses time during the season due to an injury, having 10 WRs on the roster is not as crazy as it might appear.
 
The X receiver is generally the split end. He is the widest receiver away from the tight end, (weak side receiver) and in most formations, he's tethered to the line of scrimmage. He cannot go in motion, and is usually facing a CB who can jam him at the line. So the X receiver needs to have speed to get down the sideline, the quickness to get away from the corner, and the physicality to come off a jam at the LOS.
 
The Z receiver (the 'flanker'), who is often a team's featured WR, lines up on the strong side, opposite side of the split end in most formations, off the line of scrimmage a few yards. That enables the tight end to be eligible, because if the Z receiver were on the line, it would make the tight end ineligible. The Z receiver has to posess the speed and the acceleration to beat cornerbacks, but he can be put in motion because he's off the line of scrimmage, so you can get him down in the slot and run for passes over the middle.
 
The slot receiver is usually covered by a LB and/or S (in a zone), so he's got an entirely different challenge to beat those defenders, than he would when he's lined up as a wide receiver (X or Z).
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