2011 Fantasy Football Rankings- Wide Receivers

Sure, there might be a lock out for the NFL. Sure, we might not have a football season. Sure, I might be relegated to playing fantasy basketball and/or fantasy college football this fall (or even worse… fantasy hockey). But that's not stopping us here at GOI from fantasizing about fantasy football. Today, in my mother's basement (because we're bloggers so of course we blog from my mom's basement) Cubsfan, The 'Bright' One and myself got together for our own fantasy rankings summit. Individually we came up with our own lists for each of the four major positions (QB, RB, WR, and TE) and then I have compiled a composite list for the site.

This is currently a first draft. The biggest factor that will change all of our rankings is free agency. For the most part we assumed free agents will stay with their current teams. There are some players that we assumed will be leaving their current team, but for the most part we ranked players based on where they played in 2010. Preseason (if there is one) and injuries will also most certainly affect out rankings, but for right now. Here are our lists.

This is our second set in our four part series. Each day for the next consecutive days GOI will post our lists for a particular position. This post is obviously dedicated to Wide Receivers.

The 'Bright' One did not create lists coming into the summit and reluctantly created partial lists for wide outs and running backs during the discussion so his list is currently not as complete as Sexy Rexy's and Cubsfan's lists

COMPISITE RANKINGS (Player / Average Rank)

1) Andre Johnson (HOU)	1.00
2) Calvin Johnson (DET)	2.67
2) Roddy White (ATL)	2.67
4) Greg Jennings (GB)	4.67
5) Mike Wallace (PIT)	6.00
6) DeSean Jackson (PHI)	6.33
6) Reggie Wayne (IND)	6.33
8) Vincent Jackson (SD)	7.67
9) Hakeem Nicks (NYG)	8.33
10) Mike Williams (TAM)	12.33
11) Brandon Marshall (MIA)	13.00
11) Dwayne Bowe (KC)	13.00
13) Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)	14.00
14) Miles Austin (DAL)	14.33
15) Brandon Lloyd (DEN)	15.67
15) Marques Colston (NO)	15.67
15) Dez Bryant (DAL)	15.67
18) Jeremy Maclin (PHI)	16.00
19) Kenny Britt (TEN)	18.00
20) Wes Welker (NE)	19.00
21) Anquan Boldin (BAL)	19.67
22) Stevie Johnson (BUF)	21.00
23) Steve Smith (NYG / FA)	23.00
24) Sidney Rice (MIN / FA)	23.33
25) Deion Branch (NE)	25.00
26) Pierre Garcon (IND)	26.00
27) Percy Harvin (MIN)	27.00
28) Johnny Knox (CHI)	29.00
29) Julio Jones (ATL)	29.33
30) Michael Crabtree (SF)	29.50
31) Santonio Holmes (NYJ / FA)	30.50
31) Santana Moss (WAS / FA)	30.50
33) Malcolm Floyd (SD / FA)	32.00
24) Braylon Edwards (NYJ / FA)	36.00
25) James Jones (GB / FA)	36.50
25) Mark Clayton (STL)	36.50
27) Mario Manningham (NYG)	37.00
28) Derrick Mason (BAL)	38.50
29) Jacoby Ford (OAK)	39.33
30) Steve Smith (CAR)	40.50
31) Mike Williams (SEA)	41.00
32) Davone Bess (MIA)	42.50
32) Hines Ward (PIT)	42.50
34) A.J. Green (CIN)	44.00
34) Chad Ochocinco (CIN / FA)	44.00
36) Terrell Owens (CIN / FA)	47.50
37) Mike Thomas (JAX)	48.00
38) Jerome Simpson (CIN)	51.00
38) Lance Moore (NO / FA)	51.00
38) Mike Sims-Walker (JAX / FA)	51.00
41) Austin Collie (IND)	52.50
42) Robert Meachum (NO)	53.00
43) Steve Breaston (ARI)	57.00

 

Column One: Sexy Rexy

Column Two: Cubsfan

Column Three: The 'Bright' One

1) Andre Johnson (HOU)	1) Andre Johnson (HOU)	1) Andre Johnson (HOU)
2) Calvin Johnson (DET)	2) Roddy White (ATL)	2) Calvin Johnson (DET)
3) Roddy White (ATL)	3) Reggie Wayne (IND)	3) Roddy White (ATL)
4) Mike Wallace (PIT)	4) Calvin Johnson (DET)	4) Greg Jennings (GB)
5) Greg Jennings (GB)	5) Greg Jennings (GB)	5) Hakeem Nicks (NYG)
6) DeSean Jackson (PHI)	6) Mike Wallace (PIT)	6) DeSean Jackson (PHI)
7) Reggie Wayne (IND)	7) DeSean Jackson (PHI)	7) Vincent Jackson (SD)
8) Vincent Jackson (SD)	8) Vincent Jackson (SD)	8) Mike Wallace (PIT)
9) Hakeem Nicks (NYG)	9) Mike Williams (TAM)	9) Reggie Wayne (IND)
10) Brandon Lloyd (DEN)	10) Dwayne Bowe (KC)	10) Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)
11) Kenny Britt (TEN)	11) Hakeem Nicks (NYG)	11) Miles Austin (DAL)
12) Mike Williams (TAM)	12) Dez Bryant (DAL)	12) Dwayne Bowe (KC)
13) Brandon Marshall (MIA)	13) Brandon Marshall (MIA)	13) Brandon Marshall (MIA)
14) Miles Austin (DAL)	14) Marques Colston (NO)	14) Dez Bryan (DAL)
15) Jeremy Maclin (PHI)	15) Anquan Boldin (BAL)	15) Marques Colston (NO)
16) Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)	16) Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)	16) Mike Williams (TAM)
17) Dwayne Bowe (KC)	17) Jeremy Maclin (PHI)	17) Brandon Lloyd (DEN)
18) Marques Colston (NO)	18) Miles Austin (DAL)	18) Stevie Johnson (BUF)
19) Wes Welker (NE)	19) Wes Welker (NE)	19) Wes Welker (NE)
20) Stevie Johnson (BUF)	20) Brandon Lloyd (DEN)	20) Anquan Boldin (BAL)
21) Dez Bryant (DAL)	21) Kenny Britt (TEN)	21) Steve Smith (NYG / FA)
22) Deion Branch (NE)	22) Steve Smith (NYG)	22) Kenny Britt (TEN)
23) Sidney Rice (MIN / FA)	23) Santonio Holmes (NYJ / FA)	23) Sidney Rice (MIN / FA)
24) Anquan Boldin (BAL)	24) Sidney Rice (MIN / FA)	24) Julio Jones (ATL)
25) Pierre Garcon (IND)	25) Stevie Johnson (BUF)	25) Jacoby Ford (OAK)
26) Steve Smith (NYG / FA)	26) Percy Harvin (MIN)
27) Johnny Knox (CHI)	27) Pierre Garcon (MIN)
28) Percy Harvin (MIN)	28) Deion Branch (NE)
29) Santana Moss (WAS / FA)	29) Michael Crabtree (SF)
30) Michael Crabtree (SF)	30) Julio Jones (ATL)
31) Malcolm Floyd (SD / FA)	31) Johnny Knox (CHI)
32) James Jones (GB / FA)	32) Santana Moss (WAS / FA)
33) Braylon Edwards (NYJ / FA)	33) Malcolm Floyd (SD / FA)
34) Julio Jones (ATL)	34) Mike Williams (SEA)
35) Mark Clayton (STL)	35) Mario Manningham (NYG)
36) Chad Ochocinco (CIN / FA)	36) Devone Bess (MIA)
37) Derrick Mason (BAL)	37) Steve Smith (CAR)
38) Santonio Holmes (NJY / FA)	38) Mark Clayton (STL)
39) Mario Manningham (NYG)	39) Braylon Edwards (NYJ / FA)
40) Hines Ward (PIT)	40) Derrick Mason (BAL)
41) Plaxico Burress (FA)	41) James Jones (GB / FA)
42) Terrell Owens (CIN / FA)	42) A.J. Green (CIN)
43) Jacoby Ford (OAK)	43) Mike Thomas (JAX)
44) Steve Smith (CAR)	44) Mike Sims-Walker (JAX / FA)
45) Jericho Cotchery (NYJ)	45) Hines Ward (PIT)
46) A.J. Green (CIN)	46) Austin Collie (IND)
47) Lance Moore (NO / FA)	47) Jerome Simpson (CIN)
48) Mike Williams (SEA)	48) Nate Burleson (DET)
49) Devone Bess (MIA)	49) Jacoby Jones (HOU)
50) Donnie Avery (STL)	50) Robert Meachum (NO)
51) Anthony Armstrong (WAS)	51) Jacoby Ford (OAK)
52) Nate Washington (TEN)	52) Chad Ochocinco (CIN / FA)
53) Mike Thomas (JAX)	53) Terrell Owens (CIN / FA)
54) Jabar Gaffney (DEN)	54) Jordi Nelson (GB)
55) Jerome Simpson (CIN)	55) Lance Moore (NO / FA)
56) Robert Meachum (NO)	56) Leonard Hankerson (MIA)
57) Steve Breaston (ARI)	57) Steve Breaston (ARI)
58) Mike Sims-Walker (JAX / FA)	58) Danny Amendola (STL)
59) Austin Collie (IND)	59) Louis Murphy (OAK)
60) Anthony Gonzalez (IND)	60) Earl Bennett (CHI)

 

Next Post: Running Backs

The Bears Wide Receivers From The 2010-2011 Season

Before the season started everyone thought with the new Bears pass happy offense orchestrated by Mike Martz that Jay Cutler would throw for a ridiculous amount of yards on the season spread out to a few receivers. This was because the Bears had no number one receiver so it seemed feasible that the Bears could have a few receivers hitting the 1,000 yards plateau on the season. With the regular season in the books let’s take a look at how the Bears receivers did stack up this season. Coming into this season we didn’t know who would emerge as the Bears number one wide receiver. Some thought it could be Devin Hester, Jonny Knox, and even Devin Aromashodu.

Well Knox emerged as the Bears number one receiver with 960 yards. He had 100 targets and averaged 18.8 yards per catch. He ranked 21st overall among wide receivers at the position. Not very good in the Martz pass happy offense. Knox showed this season he is never going to be a DeSean Jackson who ranked 12th among wide receivers with 1056 yards or Mike Wallace who ranked 5th among WR with 1257 yards. He is not a complete wide out like either of the mentioned elite players. Knox showed he is a one dimensional player who can run the deep route. This makes him a good second receiver, but not a number one.

Earl Bennett surprised most people by his strong play this season. Before the season started Sexy Rexy and I both agreed that Bennett was a good third receiver because he is solely a possession receiver, but he performs that job well. He emerged as a favorite target of Jay Cutler building off of the Vanderbilt connection and had 46 catches on 70 targets for 561 yards. Bennett came on in the 2nd half of the season, so his numbers next year should be better over the entire season.

When Mike Martz came he said he envisioned Devin Hester in a 3rd down role Lovie Smith quickly rejected that. However, in the long run Martz got what he wanted because it was best for the team. Hester is not a receiver and will never be a good one. He is fine on 3rd downs, and as a backup, but not as a Bears top three receiver. Hester caught 40 passes on way too many targets of 73 for 475 yards.

Two other Bears that were big in the receiving game were not wide receivers- tight end Greg Olsen and running back Matt Forte. Olsen caught 41 passes on 70 targets for 404 yards. Forte had slightly better numbers of 51 receptions on 70 targets for 547 yards with an average of 10.7 per yard.

My love for Devin Aromashodu is well documented. I thought he would emerge as the number one receiver if the Bears gave him the chance. The Bears wanted DA to play the slot and there is some controversy if he just wasn’t good in the slot or if he didn’t want to play it, but either way he lost the little respect the coaching staff had for him and got buried deeper on the bench. His chance of ever being good as a Bear is over so they may as well cut him so he has a chance to sign on with another team before his career is over before it ever got started. That makes me sad because he has tremendous talent.

Thus, the Bears have very good number two and three wide receivers in Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett. All they are missing is that number one receiver which hopefully they will find in free agency. That is a recap of the Bears wide receivers from the 2010-2011 season.

Wide Receiver Rankings

This is the second of our four part series that Sexy Rexy, The 'Bright' One, and Cubsfan4evr1 have put together. You can read Part One on Tight Ends here

RULES
1) This is not a fantasy ranking, this is an actual skill set ranking.
2) We said that if we had to draft players to play one game tomorrow, who would we choose. Now past and future performance was taken into account as well, but we felt this was the best way to accurately rank skill set of current players.
3) We only ranked 32 players- one from each team. The group used our best judgment to determine which was the teams best player to rank.
4) This is assuming all players are 100% healthy

QUICK NOTES
- Because we only chose one player from each team, there are guys like Jeremy Maclin, Austin Collie, and Steve Smith (NYG), etc. that very easily could have and would have made this list if it was only the 32 best wide outs in the league. But all those guys have a better talented player that they play next to and that we felt deserved to be ranked higher
- We could not for the life of us think of the Rams #1 wide out. If this question was asked at the end of the '09 season we probably would have said Donnie Avery. If we asked this question after Week 2 we would have said Mark Clayton. But if you can tell me the talent difference between Laurent Robinson, Brandon Gibson, and Danny Amendola then more power to you! It would not change our ranking in the least though
- I personally think Derrick Mason is the best receiver in Baltimore. But I was outvoted
- We choose Louis Murphy in Oakland because we felt he got targeted more and had a bit better numbers than the other guys, but really we got into St. Louis receiver territory here
- My apologies for Mohammed Mossoquoi's name from getting cut off but it was a necessary causality. And that's what he gets for sucking
- I think it's amazing our similar TBO's and my list are- especially compared to Cubsfan's list

Now on to the show

(Click to enlarge). That's what she said

Cubsfan4evr Fantasy Football Advice: Wide Receivers

Now with the Game Of Inches fantasy draft done I can follow in the footsteps of "Sexy Rexy" and post my football advice which I am following in my drafts. I have worked hard to come up with my strategies and list of players to target that I think will have good seasons better than where they’re going, and of course a list of "value picks" for deeper leagues. I say "value picks" because what is a sleeper anymore. Any good fantasy football player has the same sleepers if they do their homework. That is why I came out with my strategy of targeting specific players that I think are good value where they are going in the draft. I have already given my fantasy football advice on running backs a few days ago and then did another article on runningbacks to target that will get the ball so now on to my receivers to target and my "value picks" at receiver.

I typically like to target receivers early in a draft. If I get a top 5 pick then you have to take a running back. If your first round pick is after the 6th pick then I would consider taking a receiver in the first round in Andre Johnson. He is a stud and the best receiver by a wide margin.

The two things I initially think about when evaluating a wide receiver are the talent of the receiver and the quarterback of his respected team with the offense. Let’s take a look at some of the top receivers projected this season: Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, and Miles Austin. All of them have a top QB which makes them in a position to succeed. Ranked 4 to 6 are: Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, and Roddy White respectively. All three of these guys are very good, but has unknowns throwing them the ball. Calvin Johnson has a 2nd year QB in Matthew Stafford who still has a lot to prove and the same goes for Chad Henne to Brandon Marshall. Roddy White has Matt Ryan and it looks like his rookie season (Ryan's) was a fluke. With that said all three are still good, but limited to a degree by their QB. Because of the unproveness of their QB I am personally going to stay away from Brandon Marshall and Calvin Johnson. Both are going to have very good seasons, but there are better safer early picks where you should get more value for your return.

Here is a list of the top 15 WR according to Yahoo standard scoring and my take on them:

1. Andre Johnson-A great talent with a great QB as long as Matt Schaub stays healthy.

2. Randy Moss-Some issues at the end of last year but will be fine and repeat last year's numbers.

3. Reggie Wayne-A stud receiver on a great offense. Safest pick besides for Andre Johnson.

4. Calvin Johnson-Why gamble if he will stay healthy and if his QB will develop?

5. Brandon Marshall-New team that hasn't thrown the ball much in recent years. Chad Henne is an unproven so why risk it.

6. Roddy White-A beast who could easily be a top 3 receiver, even with Matt Ryan. Big fan of White who is the real deal.

7. Miles Austin- He has a good QB, and the best option on that team.

8. Larry Fitzgerald-With Kurt Warner spending his retirement on "Dancing with the Stars" Larry's stock drops a lot with Derek Anderson trying to get him the ball. Anderson likes throwing deep so better him at the helm over Leinart, but a big loss because of Anderson's lack of accuracy. He should still get 1.000 yards and some TD from the deep ball.

9. DeSean Jackson- I think his health could be a big concern, but when healthy a stud.

10. Greg Jennings- My favorite receiver this year after Johnson, Moss, and Wayne. He has dropped to 9 after last year's disappointing season, but he is a young dynamic receiver (and only one) in a pass happy offense with my favorite QB. His yards were pretty good last year and that should go up with his TD which you can't predict.

11. Steve Smith (Caronlina)- Could be underrated because of run happy offense, inexperienced QB, and healthy issues he is recovering from.

12. Marques Colston- Would be higher if they didn't pass the ball around so much.

13. Anquan Boldin- Health concern so I would avoid. High risk, high rewards.

14. Steve Smith (Giants)- A safe pick if you missed out on guys I like going before him.

15. Chad Ochocinco- His best days are way beyond him. Better younger options going much later.

Here are the receivers I am targeting early on from the above group:

1. Andre Johnson
   
2. Randy Moss
   
3. Reggie Wayne
   
4. Roddy White
   
5. Miles Austin
   
6. Greg Jennings
   
7. Marques Colston
   
8. Steve Smith (Giants)

These are the safest Wide Receivers to anchor your team with in my opnion. Greg Jennings going 9th among receivers is my boy who I think will have a monster year and love his value for where he is going. If you miss out on a top 6 RB go WR and get 2 from the above list with Jennings completing one of: Johnson, Moss, Wayne, White, or Austin. If you got a RB with your first pick or two then get Jennings with some receivers going much later. After the above eight WR are off the board here are my favorite WR going later.

Here are some Wide receivers I like a lot going later:

1. Michael Crabtree-Shaky QB, but great upside for how late he is going.
   
2. Jeremy Maclin-Best value WR. He is going to be a high level number two option in my opnion.
   
3. Mike Wallace
   
4. Devin Aromashodu
   
5. Jacoby Jones
   
6. Kenny Britt
   
7. Mohamed Massaquoi
   
8. Bernard Berrian

These are my value Wide Receivers of great value for where there going. Jeremy Maclin is going to be a stud and a steal for where he is going in the draft. Mike Wallace is another late flyer who is the number two guy now in Pitt and will be even better in a few weeks when Big Ben comes back. He would be a great backup receiver. Mohamed Massaquoi is another late flyer to take one of your last picks with. He should emerge as the number one option there and be a decent bye week plug in with more upside. Try to snag as many of these guys as possible.
That is my take on Fantasy wide Receivers this season.

How Do You Measure A Wide Receiver?

This is a question I posed back in December when I was trying to determine greatness for individual positions to see who DESERVES to go to the pro bowl. You can absolutely judge and quantify a wide receiver (much more so than say a safety) and there are many numbers you can look at. But sort of similar to baseball, there are a lot of numbers out there to look at and not all of them are per se helpful (at least not individually).

Normally, I would would go to football sabermetrics to determine this answer. However, for wide receivers this does not help so much. There are two main statistical categories that are normally good: DVOA and DYAR. According to footballoutsiders.com:

The simple version: DYAR means a wide receiver with more total value. DVOA means a wide receiver with more value per play.

Last year Andre Johnson was #1 in DYAR, yet Devery Henderson of the Saints was #1 in DVOA. I don't think even Henderson's mom would think her son is better than Andre Johnson. Last year, the top five wide outs in terms of DYAR were:

1) Andre Johnson (Texans)
2) Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals)
3) Roddy White (Falcons)
4) Vincent Jackson (Chargers)
5) Steve Smith (Panthers)

Pretty elite list, no? Now let's take a look at top wide outs by DVOA

1) Devery Henderson (Saints)
2) Vincent Jackson (Chargers)
3) Anthony Gonzalez (Colts)
4) Steve Smith (Panthers)
5) Roddy White (Falcons)

At first glance, you would probably say that DYAR is the better metric for judging wide outs, especially considering the names consistently, year after year, atop of DYAR lists versus those a top the DVOA.

But wait a minute, that's not quite fair to those on the DVOA list; the main reason the guys on the DVOA list don't really top the DYAR list is because they don't get thrown to. Using that logic, Craig Biggio is a guaranteed Hall of Famer just because he got so many ABs that he was able to join the 3,000 hits club. Andre Johnson caught as many passes (115) than Henderson had balls throw to him (56). If Henderson had had 171 passes thrown his way like Johnson did, he would have easily have been the best receivers last year. In fact, here's what Henderson's numbers would have been if that had happened:

171 passes, 97 receptions, 2,417 yards, 9 TDs, 24.8 YPR

Here's what Andre Johnson did do:

171 passes, 115 receptions, 1,575 yards, 8 TDs, 13.1 YPR

The reason Henderson's numbers looked so good and the reason he was #1 in DVOA, because he had a league best 24.8 Yards Per Reception. Judging wide outs using a baseball sabermetric mind, we WOULD say that Devery Henderson was better than Andre Johnson, just Johnson had more passes thrown his way (ABs). But the problem, is that judging a wide out by his average is not really the way to go. It's perfect for a RB, but not so much for a wide receiver. Take this scenario:

Player A: 10 catches, 100 yards, 1 TD, 10 YPR
Player B: 2 catches, 100 yards, 1 TD, 50 YPR

By average terms, we would say that Player B was better because he was able to do more with less and his five times greater yards per reception. But I don't believe that true in real life. I would actually argue that Player A was better because he (probably) got more first downs for his team and was consistently available throughout the entire game, versus Player B, who probably just one amazing play. Both look good for fantasy football, but I would say Player A was better in the real game. So while a wide out like Andre Johnson may get more passes and catches, that actually does make him better! Receptions are analogous to ABs in baseball, but in baseball, you don't FORCE ABs, their automatic. Not true in football. A wide receiver had to FORCE himself to get open and the consistently make catches.

That, I believe, leads a nice transition into my last metric to judge a wide out: catch rate. Here's how footballoutsiders.com defines catch rate:

Catch Rate represents the percentage of passes to this receiver completed. This is a reference to incomplete passes, not dropped passes: dropped passes are not specified in publicly available play-by-play, and unfortunately we cannot yet correct for this.

Unfortunately catch rate is not perfect yet, but it's pretty damn close. It essentially states that how well does a receiver do when the ball is thrown to him. It doesn't account for how many passes a receiver was thrown, just individually, how well does a player do when the ball is throw the receiver's way. And isn't that really what a wide out's job is: to catch passes thrown his way. Last year, there were only ten receivers who topped 70% in catch rate with a minimum of 50 passes thrown his way:

1) Ike Hillard (Bucs): 81%
2) Wes Welker (Patriots): 75%
3) Greg Jennings (Packers): 72%
3) Devone Bess (Dolphins): 72%
3) Anthony Gonzolaz (Colts): 72%
6) Anquan Boldin (Cardinals): 71%
6) Antonio Bryant (Bucs): 71%
6) Josh Reed (Bills): 71%
6) Eddie Royal (Broncos): 71%
10) Steve Smith (Giants): 70%

Sure, this list doesn't look at flashy or "good" as the DYAR list, but I think this is the better metric than both DYAR and DVOA. Sure, the vast majority of this list consists of guys that you don't think are "good", but that's because they don't get thrown to a lot. Sure, you can make the argument that because these guys weren't good they couldn't get open and thus the limited time they did get open they were able to catch what was thrown. But the fact that these guys couldn't get open makes them not good. And I don't know about that. It could be true, but I think that logic understates just how well these guys did when their number was called.

So back to our original question: how do you measure a wide receiver? Well I don't think you can use just one measure. I think it's just fine to look at the "traditional" and fantasy football numbers just fine. Despite what I wrote in this article, you'd be hard pressed to say that Devery Henderson and Ike Hillard are better than Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Randy Moss. Those guys put up a ton of yards and TDs. Sure they may not get it as efficiently as guys like Henderson or Anthony Gonzalez, but they sure as hell produce.

But that's not to say you shouldn't look beneath the surface either. Looking at DVOA, DYAR, and catch rate is extremely useful. But I think for wide receivers, it's mainly a secondary source to the primary of catches, yards, and TDs.

TBO: Top 12 Running Backs

Even shorter and even sweater

1. Adrian Peterson - I was petitioning for him to be the top pick in 2007 draft. I was right
2. DeAngelo Williams - Given a chance to play full-time. 5.5 YPC, 18TD. Runs hard
3. Michael Turner - Lead league in YAC playing in great Atlanta running offense
4. Brandon Jacobs - Dude runs over Urlacker. Gets in end zone
5. Matt Forte - Not best speed, but great running/catching combo
6. M.J. Drew - See Forte
7. Steven Jackson - See Forte
8. Chris Johnson - Fastest guy in league. Limited touches but super effective
9. Frank Gore - Underrated playing on west coast. 4.7 average with catching skills
10. Steve Slaton - Slightly less explosive version of Chirs Johnson
    
11. Brian Westbrook - Legs shot from carrying Eagles for years. Still gets yards and TDs
12. Clinton Portis - Biggest workhorse in league. Surprised he can still walk. 1 year left.

Tomlinson is done. Can't move. Even playing for great team will not help. Last year was just sad.

TBO: Top 12 wide receivers

Short and sweet

1. Randy Moss - Best WR of my generation. Averages 13 TD's per season. Tom Brady is back
2. Larry Fitzgerald - Perfect skills for the WR position. Perfect hands, perfect routes, perfect speed
3. Andre Johnson - Taller, stronger, faster than Calvin Johnson.
4. Calvin Johnson - Amazing season on a crap team with a crap QB
5. Greg Jennins - Just like 2 Johnsons, cannot be stopped
6. Steve Smith - The Allan Iverson of the NFL. Scoring machine who can't be stopped
7. Maquis Colston - Just like #3-5, has all the skills to dominate any game. Hurt too much
8. Brandon Marshall - Street baller with raw skills but gets the job done when sane
   
9. Roddy White - Skills a little raw, but skills are off the charts
10. Reggie Wayne - Helps to have Manning, but dude runs routes perfectly.
11. Chad Ochocinco - Can't overlook 6 1200 yard seasons. Makes D Hall look silly
    
12. Terrell Owens - On his way out of league, but he has more TDs than Moss, respect

The Temperment Of A Wide Out

Wide Receivers in the NFL tend to have a reputation of being loud mouth guys. See: Terrell Owens, Keyshawn Johnson. Many wide outs just seem to "want the ball" and the media makes a big deal whenever receivers are yelling at their QB whenever they're open. But this only seems to happen with wide receivers. TE don't really complain about not catching passes and RB rarely complain about getting carries. So why is it that wide receivers are the only ones complaining?

On average, an offensive gets the ball about 60-70 times a game. On a normal team, RBs will get about 25-30 carries and QB will throw the ball about 30-40 times. This assuming you're not on a team like the Chicago Bears or the the Pittsburgh Steelers where backs can get about 30-40 carries and QBs can get about 20-25 attempts. And out off all those attempts, good QBs only make about 60-65% of their passes. So out of 30+ attempts, only about 19 attempts are caught. And those caught passes are getting distributed to at least four guys. Which means wide receivers actually catch the ball very little. If you're a great WR who gets 100+ catches, you still only catch the ball about 8 times a game. The best receivers only contributes to about 12% of plays. That means, on 88% of plays, wide receivers do not directly contribute the play- and that most likely means the WR has to go down the fields and block for another receiver or for the RB.

All this is assuming above average offensives. The Bears QBs in recent years only made about 50% of their passes and only threw it about 20-30 times a game. That means only about 12 passes are actually caught per game. Distribute that number between abut 4 receivers and a wide out only catches about 4 passes per game. Last year Devin Hester only caught 51 passes- that's only 3.2 catches per game!

So when you think about it, most of the time WRs are throwing blocks or attempting to catch passes instead of actually catching a pass. If you're a stud wide receiver, you're doing very little of what you enjoy doing- and that's catching passes. And because you catch so little passes relative to a team's offense, you seem to have every right to get upset at you're QB if he misses you when you're wide open. Now, you don't need to criticize the QB every chance you get (T.O!) but I do think if you want to be a successful WR in the NFL, you do have to "want to catch the ball on every play" and you do need SOME fire that sports analysts seem to criticize wide outs for. Now you obviously can be a successful receiver without throwing a hissy fit every play (Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison) but I do think that T.O. sometimes has at least a LITTLE point whenever he gets upset (But obviously tearing teams apart like Dallas and Philly are just unacceptable).

So the next time you see a wide receiver yelling at someone on the sidelines, I want you to step in his shoes for a second before you judge him.

SIDENOTE: Because of all the stats and whatnot I just mentioned about receivers catching the ball so few times per game, in fantasy football, whenever I have a WR/RB position, I always try to fill it with a RB. RB are almost guarantee to get carries and even if the back sucks , the back can still carry the ball a lot to produce good fantasy numbers (One of the best examples of this is during the Indy/Green Bay game last year. Ryan Grant had good fantasy numbers: 105 yards and a TD, but also had 31 carries and a shitty 3.4 YPC). Having the guarantee to hold the ball on many downs can go a long way in fantasy.