Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Andre Reed.
Wide Receivers: Isaac Bruce (2020), Marvin Harrison (2016), Calvin Johnson (2021), Randy Moss (2018), Terrell Owens (2018).
Om 2021, Calvin Johnson replaced Tim Brown in regards to the last five Wide Receivers. This changed the averages from 2020. Games Played dropped by over 23m but Approximate Value only dropped by 10.2. AV/G rose by more than 0.03. Pro Bowls dropped by .6, but First Team All-Pros rose by the same amount. Receiving Yards dropped by nearly 600 Yards, but Touchdowns only went down by 3. Receptions dropped by 117.
Johnson replacing Brown brings overall accumulative numbers down though his stellar, though relatively brief career, shows the AV/G increase as a reflection of a higher standard.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #9, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #12, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #14.
Julio Jones joined Tampa Bay last season, and it was underwhelming, as he only compiled 299 Yards and is a Free Agent as of this writing. It is possible that we have seen the end of his playing career, and if so, is he a Hall of Famer? We think so, as this man was not just an All-Decade player but would also compile more Yards than any other WR in that decade. With the exception of his Touchdown Total (63), Jones' numbers are not that far off the MPA, and only had Antonio Brown to seriously consider as the best WR of that decade. As Brown may have acted his way out of the Hall, Jones has no direct peers when he is eligible. The questions we have is when he will be eligible (he still might find work) and what year of eligibility he enters in.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #53.
New team. Same Hill. Tyreek Hill's former squad (kansas City) might have won a Super Bowl without him, but Hill remained an elite Wide Receiver, and last year's 1,710 Yards was a career-best. Now in striking distance of 10,000 Yards, he has gone to the Pro Bowl in all seven of his seasons, and is a four-time All-Pro (though one was a Returner). Hill is over the MPA for AV/G, and has matched First Team All-Pros. While his off-field issues can cause concern, that is washed away by one of the most dynamic performers of our day. If he can keep the controversy at the door, he will get into the Hall of Fame.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #44.
From 2017 to 2019, Hopkins was regarded as the best Wide Receiver in the game, and he will be honored in Houston one day. His last Pro Bowl was in 2020, his fifth, but it feels like it was lot longer ago than that. He begins 2023 as a Tennessee Titan, and there is a better than 50/50 chance that Hopkins will not have another 1,000 Yard year. 11,296 Yards and 71 Touchdowns is a hell of a career, but the bar is raised annually for Wide Receivers, so a look through a compiler's eye when his career is over may not seem good enough. Saying that, anyone who was at time considered the best at his role puts him above other WRs who are inducted now.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #43, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #67, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #95.
One year into his run in Las Vegas, Davante Adams has proven that he did not need Aaron Rodgers to be an elite Wide Receiver. 2022 was Adams' second 1,500 Yard year, while maintaining his Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro streaks, which now stand at six and three respectively. Adams should break 10,000 Yards this year, and is an achievable 13 away from 100 Touchdowns. As we have said, the statistical bar as rising for Wide Receivers, but when you are considered upper-echelon and could do so with two different Quarterbacks, this bodes well for him. Let's see what he does with the next Raiders Quarterback.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #58, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #73.
How can so much production seem so quiet? Last year, Mike Evans broke 10,000 Yards and 80 Touchdowns, and in the first nine seasons of his career, he has never failed to break the four-digit mark in Receiving Yards. So, why so unassuming? In four of those seasons, Evans did not reach 1,100 Yards, and in two of them he was less than 1,010. Although Evans made the top ten in Touchdwon Receptions five times, he has only reacjed the top ten in Receiving Yards twice, and has never been a First Team All-Pro and only has one Second Team All-Pro. Evans also has only appeared in four Pro Bowls. Still, we have an outstanding compiler, who is a Super Bowl Champion. If he ties Jerry Rice's 11 consecutive 1,000 Yard years, can we not look at him as Canton bound even if those 11 were inferior to Rice?
2022 Pre-Season Rank #38, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #41, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #49.
In 2019, Thomas made history as the Wide Receiver (the first being Jerry Rice) to win the Offensive Player of the Year Award, and not only was the WR1 of the NFL, he had a future so bright that it looked to involve a gold jacket. SInce that time, Thomas has dealt with ankle and foot issues and appeared in only 10 Games over the last three years. Entering 2023, Thomas is teheoretically below Chris Olave on the Saints depth chart, and if there is no comeback, there is not enough on the stat sheet for Thomas to gain induction.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #48, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #66, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #82.
A ten-year veteran, Allen had a five-year streak of Pro Bowls broken last year when he appeared in only ten Games following a hamstring injury. He is still capable of retirning to that level, but he has never been an AP All-Pro of any kind. This has to happen for Allen to get any real Hall of Fame consideration especially in this deep field.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #57, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #118.
After five good years with Minnesota, many pundits wondered how Diggs would perform in Buffalo, but they need not have worried. The three years that Diggs has been a Buffalo Bill have been the ebst of his career, with Pro Bowls coming in all of them and a First Team All-Pro in 2020 and Second Team in 2022. The Allen/DIggs combo is among the best in football and Diggs is rocketing up this list.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #66, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #61, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #63.
A member of the 10,000 Yard Receiving Club, Jackson's career appears to be nearing the end, and if so, what do we have? Thhe most impressive part of his career is the four times he led the NFL in Yards per Reception, and that he is the all-time leader in Touchdown Receptions of over 60 Yards and 80 Yards (tied). Jackson might be the best deep threat of the 2010s, but was he ever considered among the best three WRs of his day? If that is true, the Hall ia tough ask.
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2022 Pre-Season Rank: #67
Somebody was going to be the highest debut last year Pre-Season rank, and who better than the reigning Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP, Cooper Kupp, who shattered all of his personal bests. Kupp is now an elite WR, which he was not considered before, so there is still a lot of work to do, but this is a pretty good bet.
2022 Pre-Seaspn Rank 2021 #58, Pre-Season Rank #60, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #58.
It looks like the career of T.Y. Hilton might have come to an end, as he is a Free Agent as of this writing and only had a handful of Yards in a brief stay in Dallas. As it stands, Hilton was a career Colt, a four-time Pro Bowl Selection, and is in the group of Wide Receivers who can claim a Receiving Yards Title (1,448 in 2016). If Hilton's career is over, he failed to make 10,000 Yards, a minimum for a WR to even be looked at in this era, but this is still a nice run and worthy of celebration in Indianapolis.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #81, 2021 Pre-Season #78, Rank 2020 Pre-Season Rank Rank #84.
Four Pro Bowls is impressive for any NFL player, but with the exception of Quarterback, no position has seen stats change as much as the Wide Receiver. Cooper, who is entering his second season in Cleveland, and if he maintains present production should see him reach 10,000 Yards in 2025. With DeShaun Watson as his QB for a full season, a magical pairing could take place.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #77, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #71, Last Year’s Rank #62.
OBJ’s three Pro Bowls were in his first three seasons, and while his last Pro Bowl was in 2016, Beckham Jr. did have1,000-Yard plus seasons in 2018 and 2019. Since that time, injuries piled up, and he just was not the same guy who made the most incredible regualr season catch in history. Last year was the agony and exctacy for Beckham Jr, who seemed rejuvinated in a mid-season pick up by the Rams, where he helped them win the Super Bowl, though in that game he scored a Touchdown and tore his ACL. Now healthy, the Ravens took a chance on him, but the odds of him being what he was in New York seems like a tall order.
2021 Pre-Season-Rank #72, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #71.
Landry has been named to the Pro Bowl five years straight (2015-19) but in that half-decade, the Wide Receiver was never considered the top shelf of wideouts. Regardless of that fact, Landry led the NFL in Receptions in 2017 (112), but the window of where he might be able to enter the top level may have passed him by. Landry did not have a good year in 2023 with the Saints, and is currently seeking work, which may not happen.
2021 Pre-Season Rank #130
As we enter 2023, Justin Jefferson is considered the WR1 of the National Football League, and when that happens to any player at any non-Special Teams position, it is colossal for Hall of Fame induction. That being said, we can't rank Jefferson any higher off of only three years of service, but last season's offensive Player of the Year has a higher AV/G than the Modern Positional Average, and barring injury is the front runner (and yes it is early) for the All-Decade spot. We love this guy!
2022 Pre-Season Ranl #142, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #141.
Brown had a breakthrough year in 2020 on an explosive Tennessee offense but was not able to build on that in 2021. Tennessee surprisingly traded him to Philadelphia in the following off-season, and it what we thought was an early crossroads for Brown, would see the Wide Receiver take the correct fork in the road. If Brown vaults on his Second Team All-Pro year, he could make a serious Hall of Fame run.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #116, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #124, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #137.
After back-to-back Pro Bowls, Thielen had a poor 2019, though he rebounded in 2020, it was not as good as he had done before. He will have to get back to that level again for any fringe Hall of Fame hope to survive, and we don't see that happening as he joins the Carolina Panthers. Is there a WR2 Hall of Fame?
2022 Pre-Season Rank #144, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #145.
Metcalf has only played four years but he has emerged as the top offensive weapon of the Seattle Seahawks. Thus far, Metcalf has twice broke 1,000 Yards in the air, going to the Pro Bowl once in 2020. While he did have 1,046 Yards, he only had 6 Touchdowns, his lowest since he enter the NFL.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #144
Chase has only played two seasons, but his combination with Joe Burrow, with whom he won a National Championship at LSU with, went to the Super Bowl as a rookie. Chase, the 2021 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, is two-for-two in Pro Bowls, and he is pegged to have a shot as the number one Wide Receiver in the NFL in he distant fuure.
2022 Pre-Season Rank #136
Samuel is the most unique Wide Receiver of 2021, as there has not been a stud WR who was also given the ball ample time on the ground, so much so that he currently has more Rushng Touchdowns (14) than Receiving Touchdowns (12). The inverse Roger Craig went to his first Pro Bowl in 2021, but his 2022 went back to his pre-Pro Bowl production. He lost spots this year, and this season will tell us if he is more than one really good season.
2022: Pre-Season Rank: Unranked
Only a three-year veteran, CeeDee Lamb is a star on the rise, and how perfect is it that he wears a star on his helmet. The young Cowboy went to the Pro Bowl the last two years, raising his stats each year. A Second Team All-Pro in 2022, a First Team could be in his future.