NFL Top 10 Series: Wide Receiver Honorable Mentions

With the 2012 NFL season steadfast approaching, it’s time to continue an original Garden State Sports Guy production: The NFL Top 10 Series. As the Top 10 countdown approaches for each position, we’ll be looking at honorable mentions for each position as those steadfastly approach. For the first time we’ll be looking at an offensive skill position that isn’t the quarterback. The all-important wide receiver position is littered with star power from just about everywhere and most of these guys could probably find themselves in the Top 10 in a few years. That’s how good this honorable mentions list is. With that said, away we go. 

Honorable Mentions for the Wide Receiver Position

A.J. Green: This stud from Summerville, South Carolina (not to be confused with the great town of Somerville, New Jersey) was the 4th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and more than lived up to the hype that surrounded him and was one of the key contributors to a Cincinnati Bengals squad that made the playoffs. Scouts loved Green from his days before attending The University of Georgia and it showed while he was there and at the professional level. Scouts loved his hands and his evasiveness after the catch, and Green flashed all of that in his rookie season as a Bengal. He had some highlight reel catches and is no doubt an absolute stud muffin. WalterFootball.com has compared him to Larry Fitzgerald and with all things considered it might not be a stretch in a few seasons. The sky is the limit. 

Julio Jones: The Atlanta Falcons “sold the farm” to trade up to draft Julio Jones and while it did not improve their performance in the playoffs or march towards a Super Bowl title, nobody could say that Atlanta did not reap the rewards of what they got in Julio Jones. In 13 games played Julio caught 54 balls for an astounding 959 yards (that’s 17.8 YPC for you statisticians out there) for eight touchdowns. Had Julio managed to stay healthy and played a full 16 game schedule he would have torched A.J. Green’s monstrous 2011 campaign and keep in mind this: Julio’s first touchdown reception didn’t come until Week Eight. With a full season under his belt and a non-shortened offseason Julio has the potential to blow the roof off of the Georgia Dome every time he steps inside it and if he stays healthy can emerge as one of the best receivers in the league, much like the man he was drafted just two picks after.

Victor Cruz: Let me preface this by saying that Victor Cruz had probably the best 2011 of anybody on this list and was an All-Pro at his position for a reason. But that exact reason is why he finds himself on the Honorable Mention section and not within the Top 10: just one season. I’m not going to hastily anoint Victor Cruz as a top 10 wide receiver because that would just be too hasty. Cruz could fall off the face of the earth next season and never be heard from again after his incredible performances last season. Cruz no doubt has the potential to be an incredible compliment to the Giants’ passing game for the next several years and is a dangerous slot receiver. His 3.08 YPRR (Yards Per Receiving Route) was the highest in the National Football League a season ago, which essentially says that he picked up the most yardage relative to how much Cruz was on the field and running routes (Cruz was on the field for 499 receiving snaps last season). Cruz just has to do one thing to follow up his outstanding 2011: show some consistency and play at an elite level in 2012.

Percy Harvin: It’s going to be a very sad day when the alien larva hatch from the brain of Percy Harvin because he is one of the most underrated talents going today in the National Football League. Now switching from the jokes it’s time to get serious and I’m going to make a bold statement: Percy Harvin is the best all-around threat when on the field, period. (See? It was in bold, and it was a bold statement. Get it? Hehehe) There is nobody in the NFL that can do what Percy can do when he’s healthy and that’s why he’s on this honorable mentions list. Harvin has been the model of consistency for the Minnesota Vikings the last three seasons and in fact has seen his numbers get better as time has progressed and 2011 was his breakout season when he saw the field the most he had seen the field in his career, playing in all 16 games and starting 14 of them racking up 967 yards and 6 touchdowns. And if you think receiving’s all this guy can do, think again: Harvin was a rushing threat for the Vikings as well, picking up 345 yards on the ground on 52 carries and even hit paydirt twice. And oh yeah, he’s a pretty good kick returner too, having waltzed into the end zone at least once in his three years in the league. For Harvin’s sake he can only hope to see the field more and more because he’s really an incredible player and hell: I flirted with putting him in the Top 10.

Jordy Nelson: With Donald Driver exiting his peak years, and James Jones crawling back into his old pass-dropping self, the Packers needed another wide receiver to compliment elite wide receiver Greg Jennings. Enter: Jordy Nelson. The Little Apple who -- in my opinion was another touchdown grab from being the Super Bowl XLV MVP carried that momentum into the 2011 season and emerged almost flawlessly. Nelson was a touchdown monster in 2011, finding the end zone and incredible 15 times: a number only beaten by two other players that will be featured within the entirety of this series (no need to guess who, look it up and you’ll find out). And not only is Nelson’s game being a premier end zone target, he can play the deep ball pretty well too. Nelson’s 637 yards compiled amongst balls that traveled over 20 yards in the air was the best in football. Nelson is a ferocious target, make no mistake about it.

Vincent Jackson: Jackson is probably the first player on this list that could make a serious argument to be within the Top 10. And this honorable mention feature is no slight make no mistake. But I just think that the talent around him has gotten even better; so much that it has pushed Jackson down the Top 10 in favor of the new blood around him. Jackson has had some very solid seasons in San Diego and has always flared a lot of potential to be of Top 10 or even Top 5 caliber. He has big-play ability and an excellent pair of mitts, but I’m not sure he convinced me that he was deserving of being in that slot and like I said, the talent has gotten so much better over the last couple of seasons that I do not know if Jackson belongs in the discussion. And now with him taking his talents down to Tampa and the enigmatic Josh Freeman throwing him the ball, perhaps that opinion will be shared. Or, Jackson could prove me wrong and have a monster year as a #1 target again and vaunt himself in that discussion. Only time will tell. Is there a case anyways? Sure. But you won't find it here.

Kenny Britt: Kenny Britt has been an interesting commodity since hitting the NFL. The nearly retired wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans has also found himself having trouble with the law with a couple of brushes here and there, but he has also had himself a fair share of injury problems as well. Now that that preface is done, it’s time to dig into as to why I believe that Kenny Britt should be recognized as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL today. Let’s look at the numbers. Kenny Britt has amassed (sadly) a full season of play (in terms of starts, at least) so far in his career and in that he has caught 101 receptions for 1,765 yards and 15 touchdowns which, let’s face it, would automatically put him in the discussion for an elite receiver, no? Britt has been a terror for defenses when on the field but that’s just his main problem: his ability to stay on the field. Injuries have plagued him from the start and to be honest it’s really unfortunate. In 2012 we’ll see if Britt can play for a full season and stay on the field because if he can, with his abilities and his talent I believe he can be in the Top 10.

Dwayne Bowe: The honorable mentions winds down with our fourth player from the Southeastern Conference. Yes that’s right: the SEC holds no boundaries over how it dominates the football landscape and has made its way to this blog. All jokes aside now, we will delve into Dwayne Bowe who is a very, very good receiver. Not an elite receiver, and I think he’s peaked at just that, but a very, very good one that Kansas City fans should be happy to have (one of the fewer things that they should be happy about…but I’m done taking shots for right now).  Bowe has been nothing but tremendously consistent ever since stepping onto the field in 2007, amassing roughly ~1,100 yards per season including his monstrous 2010 season where he really put it all together finding the end zone 15 times on 72 receptions. If you statisticians are calculating at home that means that Bowe found the end zone on 20.83% of the time that he caught the ball, which is absolutely ridiculous. Unfortunately that looked like it was nothing more than an anomaly what with Bowe’s average number of touchdowns being near five each other year of his career, but perhaps with a consistent Matt Cassel throwing to him this year (maybe?) maybe, just maybe Bowe can show his worth to the K.C. faithful.