#1 WR Power Rankings

There was not one receiver taken in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. In fact, since 2005, only 13 WRs total have been drafted in the first round with only two being top five picks.
The reason for this is quite simple. The Wide Receiver position with all its glamour and limelight is also easily the most dependent position in football. If a team is looking to rebuild itself out of the ashes, it will rarely start by building around a receiver.
Furthermore, teams have realized that a decent #2 WR is not all that difficult to find and not always worth the risk of a high pick. Braylon Edwards and Calvin Johnson are the only WRs who have been drafted in the top five since 2005, essentially because it was assumed coming out of college that both were going to be much more than decent #2 wideouts.
Edwards is just now starting to live up to expectations and is becoming an elite, game changing WR. He can change a team’s entire passing attack because of the defensive focus on him and improves his entire team by doing so.
However, Edwards is a rare commodity as showed by this list, which ranks every team’s go-to wideout.

Note: Players are not classified as elite, solid or adequate #1 WRs, but rather as elite, solid or adequate wide receivers in general. I am fully aware that Marty Booker is an inadequate #1 WR, but he is an adequate starting receiver in the NFL. Few teams’ best receiver will ever be a fringe starter and most will be solid wideouts.

Elite
1. Randy Moss – New England Patriots – Is 6’4, has unreal leaping ability, excellent deep speed and the ability to make supernatural catches. Caught NFL record 23 TDs last season and is the NFL’s premiere wideout.
2. Terrell Owens – Dallas Cowboys – Has and will always have problems dropping easy passes, but once he has possession there is no receiver more dangerous running after the catch.
3. Chad Johnson – Cincinnati Bengals – 1,300 yards, 8 TDs and an array of controversy are almost guaranteed in a season with Ocho Cinco.
4. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals – Already has two 100 catch, 1,400 yard and 10 TD seasons in young career despite constant flux at QB position.
5. Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts – Finally got chance last year to be team’s go-to receiver and flourished by leading NFL in receiving yards. He has officially dethroned Marvin Harrison as Peyton Manning’s #1 target.
6. Andre Johnson – Houston Texans – Missed 7 games in what would have been monstrous year. He averaged 94.6 yards per game when healthy.
7. Steve Smith – Carolina Panthers – Question marks at QB position and lack of talent to divert defensive attention away from him has made his job extremely tough, yet he still produced a third straight 1,000 yard season in 2007.
8. Marques Colston – New Orleans Saints – Was robbed of Rookie of the Year crown in 2006 and took another big step forward in second season. Size and hands make him an ideal fit in New Orleans’ offense.
9. Plaxico Burress – New York Giants – Burress has been clutch, dynamic and healthy since signing with Giants in 2005. Caught Super Bowl winning TD and is possibly the league’s best receiving threat near goal line because of his great size.
10. Torry Holt – St. Louis Rams – Had yet another 90-catch, 1,100-yard season in what was an injury plagued, disjoint year for the Rams offense.
11. Braylon Edwards – Cleveland Browns – Has improved every year as a starter since being drafted 2nd overall in 2005, but last year he finally emerged as the elite playmaker he was touted to be coming out of Michigan.

Solid
12. Donald Driver – Green Bay Packers – As consistent as it gets. He has been a great player in Green Bay for a number of years, yet has never truly received the credit he deserves.
13. Roy Williams – Detroit Lions – Possesses all the tools to be an elite Wide Receiver, but injuries, inconsistency and concentration lapses have kept him from making that step.
14. Brandon Marshall – Denver Broncos – Had a phenomenal sophomore season and appears to have a stellar career ahead of him if he can mature on – and especially off the field.
15. Derrick Mason – Baltimore Ravens – The ultimate possession receiver. He may no longer be a game changer, but still caught 103 passes from carousel of mediocre QBs throwing to him.
16. Lee Evans – Buffalo Bills – QB controversy and inconsistency delayed what should have been a true breakout year for Evans. Production increased later in the season.
17. Chris Chambers – San Diego Chargers – Career had begun to erode in Miami. Now with a whole off-season in the Chargers’ system he should be able to jumpstart his career.
18. Joey Galloway – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – He will be 36 this season but still is a legitimate burner with great deep speed. Seems to put up 1,000 every season without getting any recognition whatsoever.
19. Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – On the verge of being labeled a first-round bust, White broke out with Chris Redman, Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich throwing to him. Hats off to whoever predicted him to top 1,200 yards before last season.
20. Jerricho Cotchery – New York Jets – Silently has had a pair of very productive years in New York. Outplayed more revered teammate Laveranues Coles last year with 82 catches for 1,130 yards.
21. Kevin Curtis – Philadelphia Eagles – Almost nobody noticed that Curtis topped 1,100 yards in his first full season as a starter. He’s an extremely intelligent player who runs excellent routes.
22. Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs – Far and away the NFL’s best Rookie WR had immediate impact and fell five yards short of 1,000 yards with zero talent around him.
23. Santana Moss – Washington Redskins – Injuries have kept him from playing anywhere near record-setting 2005 season level.
24. Bernard Berrian – Minnesota Vikings – He’s a strong deep threat and got a huge contract to fix Minnesota’s passing game.
25. Bobby Engram – Seattle Seahawks – He had a career year at the ripe old age of 34 with 94 catches for 1,147 yards and 6 TDs. Did anyone outside of Seattle notice?
26. Hines Ward – Pittsburgh Steelers – Ward is a great competitor, tough as nails and largely considered the best blocking WR in the NFL, but he’s 32 and hasn’t had 75 catches or 1,000 yards in any of his last three seasons.

Adequate
27. Javon Walker – Oakland Raiders – He’s a legitimate gamebreaker when healthy, but that has rarely been the case. He signed a bigger contract than Randy Moss this past off-season; more damning evidence of Al Davis’ senility.
28. Jerry Porter – Jacksonville Jaguars – Signed to be the go-to receiver the team hasn’t had since Jimmy Smith, but was never really that player in Oakland either.
29. Isaac Bruce – San Fransisco 49ers – Reunited with Mike Martz, is expected to have the same sort of impact that Shaun McDonald had last year in Detroit as an experienced wideout in Martz’s immensely complex system.
30. Justin Gage – Tennessee Titans – Had a surprisingly good first year in Tennessee, but why he and Roydell Williams remain Vince Young’s top outside weapons remains a mystery.
31. Ted Ginn Jr. – Miami Dolphins – Miami’s top pick in 2007 was decent as a rookie, but with the departures of Chris Chambers and Marty Booker, has been thrown into the role of go-to receiver. Coming out of college, most had him as a jack-of-all-traits #2 type of WR.
32. Marty Booker – Chicago Bears – Seriously Chicago, is this really the best you could come up with to replace departed Bernard Berrian? Booker is a decent veteran wideout, but if he’s your #1 guy outside, then you have failed to assemble an even somewhat passable receiving corps.