Top 10 Receivers Of The 2000s

I've been watching a bunch of the NFL Network's Top 10 episodes the past few weeks. That tends to happen during the slow days of the NFL calendar. These are those days. The Top 10 episodes are fun. The lists are fun. The debates are fun. The commentaries are fun. They are fun even when I disagree with the list, the debates, and the commentary. The Top 10 Receivers of the 2000s was one of those lists.

10. Reggie Wayne
  9. Anquan Boldin
  8. Larry Fitzgerald
  7. Chad Johnson
  6. Steve Smith
  5. Hines Ward
  4. Torry Holt
  3. Terrell Owens
  2. Randy Moss
  1. Marvin Harrison

I don't think that I've ever disagreed with one of these Top 10 lists more. This one lost any sense of accuracy and reality when Larry Fitzgerald was revealed at #8. He's among the best eight receivers in NFL history. He's in the debate for the best receiver of the 2000s. #8? That's ridiculous. The rest of my issues with this Top 10 are minor compared to that one. Fitzgerald and Steve Smith should be higher. Calvin Johnson and maybe Andre Johnson should be included. Personally, I'd be tempted to boot Terrell Owens to fit Calvin Johnson into the list. Watching Owens catch a football was one of the great comedy routines seen in the NFL. He often seemed startled when he caught the football. I know that I was. His hands were on par with those of Troy Williamson. If he'd been able to pepper in a few positive plays among the drops like Owens was able to do often enough to be considered a star, Williamson probably would've managed a decent NFL career. He didn't and became a punchline. Owens was explosive enough to offset shitty hands in the eyes of most. Not mine. He's a pass-catching disaster. I have a hard time ranking a receiver highly that struggled so much with the one thing that he has to be able to do. Add to that his tendency to rip apart a team and you have a receiver that doesn't have a place in my Top 10 Receivers of the 2000s.

10. Anquan Boldin
  9. Chad Johnson
  8. Hines Ward
  7. Reggie Wayne
  6. Calvin Johnson
  5. Torry Holt
  4. Steve Smith
  3. Marvin Harrison
  2. Larry Fitzgerald
  1. Randy Moss

I don't think that any discussion of the best pass catchers of the 2000s can slip by without mentioning the Arizona Cardinals from 2004-09. It was so much fun watching Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin do their thing. They were a weekly pass-catching tutorial. Until Kurt Warner hit his stride in 2008 quarterbacking was an annual issue in Arizona. It didn't matter. Fitzgerald and Boldin kept catching passes. It was beautiful to watch.

Randy Moss was the most physically gifted receiver to ever play the game. So often, he could not be covered. Cover-2, double coverage, triple coverage, whatever-coverage, it didn't matter. He was open when he wasn't.

I've suspected that the creators of these lists will throw out an absurd one every now and then just to keep things spicy.