May 15th, 2009 
David Gillikin 
Posted in 
The Sporting News has come out with a list of the top receivers in the NFL, and while you can hardly argue with their picks, it’s always fun to do it anyway.
When ranking wide receivers, I think that you need to take into account at least 3years of playing time. It’s great to say that Calvin Johnson should be in the top ten (he’s number 11 in the Sporting News list), but I think he should be judged on at least one more year.
But actually Calvin did have a monster year last year when you consider he had 4 different quarterback’s throwing to him, and that the Lions went 0 and 92 last year.. So I’m putting him in my top 10. That being said, how can they have Braylon Edwards at number 7? He’s had one good year (2007), and I think he led the entire nation in dropped passes last year. Maybe they meant that he could be a top 10 model or actor?
Both Randy Moss and Terrell Owens had off years last year, so should they be ranked in the top ten? Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin were 1 and 4 respectively, and while I agree that Fitzgerald should be in the top 3, I think Boldin is ranked a little high. Would he be in the top 5 if Arizona hadn’t appeared in the Super Bowl? And if he’s so good, why hasn’t Arizona been able to trade him?
So after much research and hours of watching tape (well actually hours of watching Family Guy), here is my Top 10 from the home office in South Park, Colorado;
1) Andre Johnson, Texans
2) Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
3) Reggie Wayne, Colts
4) Steve Smith, Panthers
5) Lee Evans, Bills
6) Calvin Johnson, Lions
7) Randy Moss, Patriots
Roddy White, Falcons
9) Hines Ward, Steelers
10) Anquan Boldin, Cardinals
Feel free to criticize this list if you want, but if you do, you need to back it up with your own list.
Here’s the think about Calvin: Out of anybody on this list, who would you trade Calvin for straight up? Not one of them. Calvin is a young player on a bad team bad quarterbacks throwing to him, and he dominates. He consistently makes corners and safeties look bad. Ask the corners in Green Bay who the harder WR to cover is.