NFL Top 10 Series: Wide Receivers

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The Top 10 Series moves today to wide receivers. There are a lot of very good wide receivers in the National Football League today, arguably some of the best that we have ever seen. A lot of them deserve to be on this list, but there are only ten spots to give. The HM post for this was very, very large and had some names that you might think belong on this. I would recommend going to that post to see my take on them.

Nonetheless, we're here, and we're ready to go. Let's get the show on the road.

1. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans: I will be honest. Andre, and the two players that follow him all have cases for being the best wide receiver in the NFL. I went with Andre because of the technique known as “personal preference.” I do realize that Andre is a liability when it comes to his injury problems. When he’s healthy though, he’s incredible. He’s caught over 100 passes three times in his career, twice leading the league (2006 with 103, and 2008 with 115), and has gone over the 1,000 yard mark five times in his career, including two times where he led the league, in 2008 and 2009 (1,575 and 1,569 yards respectively). What’s more is that Andre Johnson has the league lead in yards per route run with 2.59 (3,478 receiving yards on 1,341 pass routes) over the last three seasons. When he’s healthy, there is, in my opinion, nobody better than Andre Johnson.

2. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions: Calvin Johnson was heralded as the best receiving prospect in years when he came out in 2007. Since then he has done nothing but live up to the hype. Megatron is unguardable at times, and hardly anybody can stop him. Remember his triple-teamed leaping grab against Dallas? Or the leaping catch against Oakland? Johnson has racked up 4,002 receiving yards over the last three seasons, which puts him ahead of everybody in the league. He really strutted his stuff in the one playoff game that the Lions had this year against New Orleans, when he had a ridiculous 12 receptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns, also with five broken tackles in a game. To put that in perspective, only 35 receivers managed more than five broken tackles for the entirety of the 2011 regular season.

3. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals: Being a part of one of the most incredible draft classes of all time, Larry Fitzgerald for the most part has been stuck on a dreadful team. For a while he did not get much national attention, but when the Arizona Cardinals made the playoffs in the 2008 season and 2009 season, Fitzgerald made sure to let the country know who he was. His performances in both of those postseasons were superb, with 30 catches totaling for 546 yards, with his best performance coming in the NFC Championship Game when he had 9 catches for 152 yards. Lately, Fitzgerald has kept up the excellent work. Last season he picked up 80 receptions for 1,411 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Only two wide receivers were targeted more than the 151 times Fitzgerald was thrown in 2011, which is amazing considering the rest of the talent on the roster. Lastly, a stat even more telling of his dominance? Of the 275 times he’s had a catchable ball thrown his way the last three seasons, he only dropped it 3.27% of the time.

4. Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers: I’ll again be honest here. There are a lot of receivers that follow the three kings, but they can be placed in any order. I decided to go with Greg Jennings because I’m a huge fan of his play. He’s by far the best receiver on the best receiving corp in the NFL. Even though he did miss some time last year, he was still on pace to get over 1,000 receiving yards for what would have been the fourth season in a row, and most likely his second season in a row of getting more than 10 touchdowns. Jennings picked up the 13th highest yards per run route over the last 3 years at 2.11 (3,800 yards over 1,804 routes run), so he’s getting it done when it comes to both catching and going along with his routes. Jennings also picked up a very low drop rate of 5.63% last season amounting for 17th lowest in the league. Don’t let last season fool you, Jennings is the best Packer WR, and fourth best in the league.

5. Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears: When was the last time the Bears had a Top 5 receiver in football? You would probably have to do a lot of researching, and I do not believe that there would ever be an answer found. Believe it or not Chicago fans, you finally have one. Sure, he does carry some baggage, but on the field, Brandon Marshall is as dynamic and talented as they come. He’ll be reuniting with Jay Cutler, with whom he had the best seasons of his career. For three straight seasons in Denver, Marshall had over 100 receptions, and over 1,100 yards, with his best being in 2007, when he had 1,325 yards on 102 yards, to go with seven touchdowns. Even with Miami, whose quarterback situation is starved, he still managed to go over 1,000 yards in each of his two seasons as a Dolphin. He does drop the ball a little too much, with 35 drops over the last three seasons, the most amongst his peers. But he’s an incredible talent that the Bears and Bears fans will grow to enjoy seeing on Sundays.

6. Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers: If you forgot about Steve Smith, 2011 helped you remember him. One of the best receivers of the last decade, Smith rose back to relevancy last year thanks in part of the dynamic Panther quarterback Cam Newton, who is rising up the charts in his own right. After putting up the worst numbers of his entire career, Smith rebounded with one of his best. 79 catches for 1,394 (with a 17.6 YPR, the second-best of his career), and seven touchdowns accounted for another Pro Bowl year for the Utah graduate. His incredible quickness, playmaking abilities, and soft hands cancel out his small size. Be ready to be reminded of Steve Smith for the next few years as his career winds down.

7. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons: For somebody who has piled together five straight seasons of 1,153 yards or more, 80+ catches including two consecutive 100 catch seasons, and 42 touchdowns, you would think that Roddy White would be placed much higher on this list. That is all true. I watch a lot of Falcons games, and Roddy is a difference maker on the field. However, the one problem is this: he drops way too many balls. Only Brandon Marshall and Wes Welker had more drops than him over the last three seasons, with Roddy dropping 30 passes thrown to him. The problem with that? He was thrown at 494 times, and 330 of those passes were deemed as catchable, second most only to Wes Welker. So Roddy is dropping the ball 9% of the time thrown to him. An unacceptable number for him. Nonetheless, he still remains a great receiver, and I could easily make a case for him being higher.

8. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants: While all of the hullaballoo (and it was well deserved in 2011) was focused upon the Giants’ Victor Cruz, the best of the bunch often was standing next to him or on the other side of him. Hakeem Nicks is the best of the loaded 2009 wide receiver draft class that includes the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Kenny Britt and Mike Wallace. Nicks has really started to break out the last two seasons after playing in limited time in 2009. In 2010 he caught 79 balls for 1,052 yards and found the end zone 11 times. Last season, he caught 76 balls for 1,192 yards and found the end zone seven times. Nicks really did a number on the oppositions he was against in the 2012 postseason. Against Atlanta, he caught six balls thrown his way for 115 yards, picked up two touchdowns, and famously, one Dirty Bird. Against Green Bay he played even better, picking up seven receptions for 165 yards, and once again, two touchdowns including a Hail Mary pass at the end of the game. In the Super Bowl, he did not find the end zone, but still had 10 catches for 109 yards. If Nicks continues this hot streak, he’ll contend even higher.

9. Wes Welker, New England Patriots: Wes Welker is the best slot receiver in the NFL. He’s a quick, small and shifty player that is often able to beat man coverage with his route-running skills. When he plays out of the slot he can be dangerous but he generally keeps his routes to under ten yards and makes plays after the catch. Since coming to the Patriots in 2007 he’s been an integral part of their offense and a 100-catch machine, only missing the mark once in 2010 when he only had 86 catches, but that was only due to injury. He has led the league in receptions three times, including last year when he had 122 receptions for a total of 1,569 yards and nine touchdowns. The reason he finds himself so down on this list is not so much a knock on him. He is not the receiver that Calvin, Fitzgerald, and Johnson are or any of the receivers above. It is difficult to rank somebody whose game is very limited, but nonetheless he’s a very good player and a perfect fit for the New England Patriots’ offensive system.

10. Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers: There are a lot of players who could have found themselves at the #10 spot, but I went with Mike Wallace because since he came into the league he has wowed me with a lot of the skills that he possesses. A fast player like him would have you believe he only does a lot of go-routes and slip screens, but Steeler fans will tell you that is hardly the case and they are correct. Mike Wallace is the definition of a “burner” and a home-run threat to score because of his incredible speed. He is easily one of the most athletic receivers and players in football. Last season failed to be as good as it was in 2010, but that was due to the fact that he started 14 of the 16 gams he played in. He picked up 1,193 yards on 72 receptions, and found the end zone eight times. He only dropped four passes in 2011, which ranked 11th-best amongst his peers.