How important is the WR position?

[Upnorth]

From looking at the link in the oline thread to PFF, I started to look at the PFF top 10 players article, as follows

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/05/03/pff-top-101-of-2011-the-top-10/

Arod gets #1 as best player in football, with Justin Smith and Drew Brees being 2 and 3 respectively. This i'm okay with, however at 4th and 9th best player there are 2 pass catchers, Calvin Johnson (4) and Fitz(9).

I believe they are both dominant WR's and deserving of high praise, but to be considered the 4th and 9th best players in the league? I just don't think one WR has that large of an impact on the game.

We have arguably the best WR corp in the game, but they dropped 40 passes, or about 8% of all attemps, and they are still considered to be very good players.

Do you think any WR deserve to be in the top 10 players?

[smuggler]

Calvin Johnson makes Matt Stafford look like Aaron Rodgers. Almost. He's a top-10 player. Not Fitzie though.

[sharpe1027]

I think a hard rule that a WR cannot have a large impact on games is way to simplistic.

A WR is not going to carry a team without a decent QB throwing him the ball, so WR should not be in the top ten.
A QB is not going to carry a team without a decent line blocking for him, so QB should not be in the top ten.
A RB is not going to carry a team without a decent line blocking for him, so QB should not be in the top ten.
A OL is not going to carry a team without a QB throwing to a WR or RB that is going to take advantage of the blocking, so and OL should not be in the top ten.

Round and round we go...

[Cheesehead Craig]

First, teams ran the wishbone exclusively.

Then the WR came along and Air Coryell was born.

Football was expanded to places like Jacksonville and Germany.

Revenues, fan attendance and finger foam sales skyrocketed to the point where we enjoy the game today.

Thus, the discovery of the WR was indeed very important.

[Deputy Nutz]

wide receivers are really important to this pass happy league. They are paid extremely high and top wide receivers are now out producing top running backs.

[Joemailman]

Calvin Johnson makes Matt Stafford look like Aaron Rodgers. Almost. He's a top-10 player. Not Fitzie though.

Fitz had over 1400 yards last year with John Skelton and Kevin Kolb throwing to him. A top-10 player in my book.

[Smidgeon]

And only three other Packers made the top 100: Clay, Bulaga, and Sitton.

[hoosier]

The injury to Jennings is an argument in support of the importance of elite WRs. The passing game suffered a noticeable statistical decline for the first two games that Jennings missed (213 yards in the low-scoring loss to KC, 282 in a win against Chi). Consider also the difficulty they had adjusting in the games following the loss of Finley in 2010. Maybe my argument is partly about the importance of continuity (the offense looked out of sync during most of the first half of 2010), but take away Jennings in late 2011 and suddenly things were not coming nearly as easily for Nelson and Cobb. What they found was that they couldn't easily plug one of the other guys into Jennings's place and have things run smoothly.

In the top 10: Sure, why not? The difference between Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson is every bit as big and important for the team as the difference between, say, Clay Matthews and Brad Jones.

[pbmax]

And only three other Packers made the top 100: Clay, Bulaga, and Sitton.

Man have people fallen in love with Bulaga fast. Is this a case of #1 pick, playing a spot he was projected to shine and then the expected decline in production when he missed a couple of games? Or the product of a great O?

I know his pass pro improved, but I was not wowed enough to think he would be in anyone's Top 100 list. Did I miss a meeting?

[Smidgeon]

Man have people fallen in love with Bulaga fast. Is this a case of #1 pick, playing a spot he was projected to shine and then the expected decline in production when he missed a couple of games? Or the product of a great O?

I know his pass pro improved, but I was not wowed enough to think he would be in anyone's Top 100 list. Did I miss a meeting?

I'm just as surprised as who wasn't on it. Jennings for one. I guess Raji and some other had down years, but I didn't think Jennings deserved to be off. Oh well, I'm an amateur at this.

[woodbuck27]

I think a hard rule that a WR cannot have a large impact on games is way to simplistic.

A WR is not going to carry a team without a decent QB throwing him the ball, so WR should not be in the top ten.
A QB is not going to carry a team without a decent line blocking for him, so QB should not be in the top ten.
A RB is not going to carry a team without a decent line blocking for him, so QB should not be in the top ten.
A OL is not going to carry a team without a QB throwing to a WR or RB that is going to take advantage of the blocking, so and OL should not be in the top ten.

Round and round we go...

What your implying is that it's a team game. Of course your correct; but it's generally accepted that GREAT teams have extremely solid QB's so to see a QB at the head of that BEST 100 NFL players seems logical.

So why do we see WR's in the TOP Ten?

To win games your need to put points up on the board and in todays game it's generally accepted that's through the air. Thus we see WR's enter the TOP TEN list. Those WR's have to be 'go to guys' and capable of making catch's over and over or more readily targeted and successful in helping to, or put points on the board.

Value to a team can be generally determined by a players $compensation?. We might take a look atv what certain NFL players are paid to assist in declaring a Top Ten List. Calvin Johnso and Larry Fitzerald are paid as TOP NFL players as dominant forces in terms of a games outcome.

Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzerald are dominant players. Go to guys when a game is on the line.

Calvin Johnson makes his QB look better and places enormous pressure on opposing teams secondary. I've seen games when I wondered why the QB didn't target Larry Fitzerald on 60 % of the plays he was that dominant. What would Larry Fitzerald show us if he ever had a a TOP TEN QB getting the ball to him?

We then turn to the argument what makes what great? Get back to the point that sharpe1027 is making. The QB and WR are depended upon one another for domination. Taking that and adding a wrinkle; it follows when all is considered and (adding player grades into the equasion) that WR's deserve to be included in that list. **

** What impressed me was 'the Domination Factor' that added The NE Pat's TE Rob Gronkowski to 'the TOP TEN List'. Gronk's a player that causes opposing team 'D's' real concern as WR Calvin Johnson does. If Rob Gronkowski had been at 100% in the Super Bowl. Would The New York GIANTS be the current NFL Champions?

GO PACKERS !

[Pugger]

If you only list the top 10 WRs in the league, Jennings is on that list. I've seen lists of the top 10 WRs where Jennings is #5 overall. This list at profootball focus is comprised of the top players regardless of position. I'm sure some folks would dispute a couple of the players in this top 10.

[RashanGary]

I look at WR as a corp. You need one stud you can go to when the going gets tough and you just have to hope and pray. Then you need 3 other good ones to make the other team have to cover the whole field.

If you WR corp is great, that's a big friggin deal.


As far as one guy goes. . . . Agreed. Overrated.

[woodbuck27]

If you only list the top 10 WRs in the league, Jennings is on that list. I've seen lists of the top 10 WRs where Jennings is #5 overall. This list at profootball focus is comprised of the top players regardless of position. I'm sure some folks would dispute a couple of the players in this top 10.

and.... 'of course' you'd be correct in that assumption.

Some people argue when clearly white is white as white ... that it's BLACK. That's what makes the world spin like a top. There are all sorts of amazing discoveries. You'll often observe some people scratchin' their head over some of them.

Yup ... just before they take the sane approach and 'bust out laughing'. (-:

[woodbuck27]

I look at WR as a corp. You need one stud you can go to when the going gets tough and you just have to hope and pray. Then you need 3 other good ones to make the other team have to cover the whole field.

If you WR corp is great, that's a big friggin deal.


As far as one guy goes. . . . Agreed. Overrated.

I believe Calvin Johnson is a force. He makes ** his QB so much better.

** "Matthew Stafford had a QB rating of *** 125.8 *** when throwing at Calvin Johnson." Fr.Article

*** Note Aaron Rodgers set the all-time single season QB rating record of 122.5 in the 2011 season.


Good point here. When we have a healthy Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson we're a BIG headache for DC's. Now add a TE that actually hangs onto the ball. SCARRY.

The thing is thisb is a list of the TOPP 100 active NFL players and as I recall it our FB John Kuhn is on this list. If this is the list off of 'The NFL Network' ...it's compiled by current NFL payers input alone. Peers selecting peers.