Former Green Bay Packers receiver and current NFL media analyst James Jones recently posted his top five receiving duos in the league. He prefaced his list by stating that the Cleveland Browns would shoot to the top of the list if Josh Gordon is able to play the entire season. That's a bold statement. Gordon was dynamite when he was on the field and on his game. Who knows where his game is now? It's been so long since he's been on the field for a significant stretch of games. It looked like he was going to be back for this training camp then suddenly he wasn't. He's such a big question mark. Now they no longer have Corey Coleman but Jones didn't know that when he praised the Browns receiving group. None of this rambling on the Browns matters much seeing as they didn't actually make this list. Here are the five that did.
5. Julio Jones and Muhamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons
4. Golden Tate and Marvin Jones, Detroit Lions
3. Keenan Allen and Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
2. Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
1. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers
It's a fine list. The thing that most jumps out to me isn't the order or the teams. It's the players that he has that make up a few of the duos. I like these duos on the teams better:
Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons
Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions
Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
No offense to Sanu, Tate, and Williams but I really like the potential of Ridley, Golladay, and the other Williams. I especially like the potential of Golladay. My duos are projections while Jones' duos are established.
As for the actual rankings, I'd have Diggs and Thielen in the top spot. Smith-Schuster has ridiculous potential. He nearly hit 1,000 yards in his rookie season last year and he nearly did it in only 14 games. And he plays opposite Brown. Despite that, I see Diggs and Thielen as a more productive, more difficult to handle duo and neither has approached their potential. Especially Diggs.
A few other duos of note:
Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard, New York Giants
-I'm surprised that this duo didn't make Jones' list.
A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
-I've been a fan of Boyd since his Pitt days. He's yet to establish himself and perhaps that prompted the Bengals' selection of John Ross in the first round last year. Green and either Boyd or Ross could emerge as one of the top duos in the league.
Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams
-I feel like any receiving duo in a Sean McVay offense could be a top duo.
DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, Houston Texans
-Hopkins and a trash bin would be a potent duo.
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