We are 11 weeks away from the new NFL Season and to lead up to the action, I’m doing a top 10 list for each position of the best players in my life time. We have done Quarterbacks and Running Backs and now we go to perhaps the toughest position, Wide Receiver. There have been so many good receivers over the years with ridiculous stats and impact on the game. It was a real challenge to narrow it down to 10 but that’s why I get paid the big bucks. Not for writing this blog, but for my real job. Anyway, lets dive in.

On the right track but not in the conversation yet: Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson

Honorable Mention: Julio Jones, Steve Smith Sr., Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Reggie Wayne, Art Monk, Michael Irvin, Andre Johnson, James Loftin, Andre Reed and Sterling Sharpe.

10. Marvin Harrison

Harrison was a machine from 1999 to 2006. He had over a thousand yards and 10 or more touchdowns every year during that stretch. During that stretch he led the league in receptions twice, yards twice and touchdowns once. He was a pro bowler every year during the stretch and either an all pro first team or second team as well. Harrison was a great route runner and was quick and fast. He does lose points for having a top 5 quarterback throwing to him the majority of the time in Peyton Manning. But not enough points to fall off the list. It also helps that he is 5th all time in receiving TDS with 128.

9. Tim Brown

Brown played for the hated Raiders so I got to watch him beat up on my Chiefs twice a year. He came on the scene in 1988 and as a rookie was a pro bowler. Brown gets bonus points for being an exceptional return man too. Injuries slowed him down a little bit early in his career but from 1993 to 2001 he was one of the best receivers in the game. Brown had over a thousand yards every year during that stretch. And unlike Harrison, he did most of his damage with average quarterback play. Brown was also a great return man as I mentioned earlier. He returned 4 kicks for touchdowns in his career and is 6th all time in receiving yards among receivers (7th overall).

8. Mike Evans

Evans is the only active player on my list and perhaps the most controversial. He has never led the league in any major category and one could argue he has never been the best receiver in the league in any given year. But I value consistency. In 11 seasons he has a thousand yards every single year. He joins only Jerry Rice in having that many straight a thousand yard seasons. If he does it again this year, he will be the first player to have a thousand yards in twelve straight seasons. He is the epitome of consistency. And sure he played a couple years with Brady and the last two with Baker but prior to that he played with some real duds. So that makes the feat that much more impressive. He’s a great route runner and wins most 50/50 balls thrown his way. And I am not putting him in here because I am a Mike Evans fan. I’ve never liked the guy ever since he talked smack about Mizzou and Mizzou players back during his college days back at A&M. And I don’t particularly like the Bucs although Baker is hard to cheer against. So the fact that I don’t like Evans makes his accomplishment of making this list even more impressive. But not as impressive as getting a thousand yards 11 seasons in a row. He is also already 9th in receiving tds with 105.

7. Steve Largent

Before there was Jerry Rice, there was Largent. Playing for an up and down Seahawks team without a hall of fame quarterback didn’t stop Largent from holding pretty much every receiving record in the game. During a mostly runnning error from 1978 to 1986, Largent had over a thousand yards a year besides the strike year in 82. He had over 13,000 yards receiving in his career and 100 touchdowns. Many have passed him since he retired in the pass heavy league. But Largent is still number 19 all time in yards and tied for 11th all time with Tim Brown for most receiving tds. And he makes the list for being the clear best receiver in the league during my early childhood.

6. Chris Carter

“All he does is catch touchdowns!” Is what Chris Berman used to say. And Carter did catch a lot of touchdowns. But he also did a lot more than that. Carter’s career got off to a slow start with the Eagles. He was a head case and had some drug problems. He still had 11 touchdowns in 1989. Despite that successful year, Buddy Ryan felt like he needed a change of scenery for his own good and he traded him to the Vikings. Carter started a little slow there but became a full time starter by year 2. From 1993 to 2000 you could make an argument that Carter was the best all around receiver in the league. He wracked up a thousand or more yards every year during that stretch. He had a ridiculous 122 receptions in back to back years. And led the league in touchdowns in 3 of those seasons including 17 in 1995. The Vikings only missed the playoffs one year during that stretch. Carter had over 800 yards and 8 touchdowns during the playoffs during that time despite the Vikings never making it very far. He also mentored this young receiver who turned out pretty good named Randy Moss. Carter is 4th all time in receiving tds with 130.

5. Calvin Johnson

Johnson is only 36th all time in receiving yards but that is just because he pulled a Barry Sanders and retired early. The Lions are so bad that they had not one, but two all time greats retire just so they wouldn’t have to play for them anymore. Johnson was basically unguardable in the league. In just 9 yards Johnson racked up 11,619 yards and 83 touchdowns on 731 receptions. He had over a thousand yards 7 of his 9 seasons and had 12 or more TDs 4 times. In 2011 he had 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. He followed that up in 2012 with 122 catches for a ridiculous 1,964 yards. That is a season record and the closest anyone has ever gotten to 2,000 yards receiving. Megatron was a force to be reckoned with. There was no answer for him. In his last season he had 1,214 yards and 9 touchdowns. The only thing that could stop him was the Lions who were so terrible that at age 30 he decided to hang it up just like Barry.

4. Larry Fitzgerald

Larry is second all time in receiving yards and 6th in tds. He finished his career with over 17,000 yards and 121 touchdowns. He had 100 or more catches 5 times in his career. He had over a thousand yards 9 times and led the league in TDS twice. And he did all this playing for the same team. And as an added challenge, that team was the Cardinals. Larry was a big reason the Cardinals ever made the playoffs. In 2008 during their one Super Bowl run, Larry had 30 catches for 546 yards and 7 touchdowns in 4 games! Longevity certainly helped Larry make his way so high on the list but one strength in life is availability and Fitzgerald was available a lot. Larry could run every route and could get open against any coverage. And again, he did all this playing for the Cardinals.

3. Terrell Owens

TO is such a head case that he didn’t even go to his own hall of fame induction. He got traded and released and moved around the league because he was a club house nightmare. But he was a nightmare on the field in a positive way. The guy was a beast on the field. From 2000 to 2004 he didn’t have less than 1100 yards receiving. He finished his 15 year career with 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns. He is 3rd all time in both yards and tds and 8th in receptions. After a great run with the 49ers he helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl where he came back from a severe injury to play in the Super Bowl basically on a broken leg. He caught 9 balls for 122 yards in the game. Due to his beef with Donovan McNabb, he headed to Dallas. He had over a thousand yards and 10 or more touchdowns in all 3 seasons in Dallas. He headed to Buffalo for a year and then spent his final season in Cincinnati where in 14 games he had 983 yards and 9 touchdowns at age 37. I’m pretty sure TO could play right now if he wanted to. The dude is a freak even if he is a complete head case.

2. Randy Moss

Randy is 4th in receiving yards and 2nd in touchdowns despite only being 17th in receptions. That’s how explosive Randy was. He exploded on the scene as a rookie with 1,313 yards and a league leading 17 touchdowns on just 69 catches, winning rookie of the year. His first 6 years in Minnesota were ridiculous. He never had less than 1,200 yards and led the league in tds 3 times. He had some issues in year 7 in Minnesota and then he headed to Oakland were he had one good year and then the following year was a dud. It looked like his career was ending which made him a perfect fit for New England. He had quite the bounce back season on arguably the greatest team ever to not win it all. He had 23 touchdowns on a perfect 16-0 team. The 23 touchdowns is an all time season record. Even the next year with Tom Brady hurt, he still had a thousand yards and 11 tds. When Brady came back the next year he had over 1,200 yards and 13 tds which led the league in tds for the 5th time in his career. Like Owens, Moss would wear out his welcome which led to his exit in New England. He bounced around the rest of 2010 before retiring in 2011. He came out of retirement in 2012 to play for the 49ers. He wasn’t a star but still a contributor to a team that made the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for Moss they fell short and the championship ring eluded him. Moss had his ups and downs but his ups were some of the best receiving years for anyone.

1. Jerry Rice

No surprise here. Rice is the all time leader in yards, tds, and receptions. He’s a 3 time Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl mvp. He led the league in receiving yards 6 times. He also led the league in TDS 6 times including a then record 22 tds in 1987. He had over a thousand yards 14 times including 11 in a row. At age 40 he had 92 catches for 1,211 yards and 7 tds. He’s the all time post season leader in yards and tds. Only Travis Kelce has more post season receptions. He was an all pro first team 10 times and an offensive player of the year in 1987. He even had 10 rushing tds. He finished his career at age 42 with 1,549 receptions for 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns. Fitzgerald is second in yards and is over 5,000 yards behind. Larry is also second in receptions and is 100 behind Rice. Showing that Rice didn’t just catch a lot of balls but was explosive as well. And he has 41 more touchdowns than the runner up, Randy Moss in that category. He has the all time record for scrimmage yards and total tds. You can argue about other positions but Jerry Rice is clearly the GOAT receiver.

What did I get right or wrong? Who did I leave off who would be on your list?

Tune in next week when we cover Tight Ends.