AFC Position Rankings: WR’s

1)      Pittsburgh Steelers: The defending champions have two Super Bowl MVPs on the roster. Hines Ward is still the best blocking receiver in the game. Remember the broken jaw he gave Keith Rivers? Ward had 1,043 yards and seven touchdowns last season, but Santonio Holmes was the receiver that won the Super Bowl MVP last season. The former Ohio State receiver had 821 yards and five touchdowns last season and should have more than 1,000 yards this season. The underrated receiver on this team is Limas Sweed. He missed the first five games of last season, but we expect him to be the most improved receiver in the NFL. Shaun McDonald is a veteran receiver that had 943 yards in 2007.

2)      Buffalo Bills: Many claim that Terrell Owens is past his prime, but remember that he had 1,355 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008 and had 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns last season with the Dallas Cowboys. Besides Jerry Rice, T.O. has never played with a receiver as talented as Lee Evans. The former Wisconsin receiver had 1,017 yards and three touchdowns last season, but should have a career year this season now that he won’t be facing double teams with T.O. in Buffalo. Josh Reed had almost 600 yards and is very good on third downs. Roscoe Parrish is one of the best punt returners in the game, but this could be his last season in Buffalo after having a mediocre career as a receiver. The surprise here is second-year receiver Steve Johnson. The former Kentucky receiver has battled a rib injury in the preseason, but quarterback Trent Edwards is a big fan of Johnson and we expect Johnson to have a breakout year. Last year’s first round pick James Hardy has been tutored by T.O. all preseason, and Bills fans want the tall receiver to finally perform.

3)      New England Patriots: The Patriots have two receivers that are a lock for at least 1,000 yards in Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Moss is not the receiver he once was, but Is still one of the most dynamic receivers in the game. Welker is one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets and had 1,165 yards last season. If Brady stays healthy, Moss and Welker both should have better years. The Patriots signed veteran Joey Galloway in the offseason and the former Tampa Bay receiver should have a very good season as the third receiver. Greg Lews had 561 receiving yards in 2005 with the Philadelphia Eagles, and should have similar numbers with the Patriots.

4)      Cincinnati Bengals: People forget that Chad Ochicinco still has some of the best hands in the NFL and will once again have a Pro Bowl season now that his shoulder is healthy. The Bengals lost T.J. Houshmandzadeh to the Seattle Seahawks, but they added Laveranues Coles. The former New York Jets receiver had 850 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Coles will have at least 900 yards playing with Carson Palmer this season. The wildcard here is Chris Henry. Palmer nicknamed him “Randy Moss Jr.” and Henry has been one of the best players in the preseason. We expect Henry to be one of the most improved players in the NFL and will have close to 1,000 yards. There is a chance that this team could have three receivers with 1,000 yards this season.

5)      Denver Broncos: We were close to putting an asterisk by this pick now that Brandon Marshall is suspended for the rest of the preseason for insubordination. Marshall still had one of the best seasons last year with 1,265 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games. One of the surprises of the NFL last season was rookie Eddie Royal. The rookie has 980 yards and five touchdowns and will be the number one receiver if Marshall misses any regular season games. This team is loaded with depth with Brandon Stokley, Brandon Lloyd and Jabar Gaffney all competing for playing time as the third receiver. We expect Denver’s offense to take a step back now that Jay Cutler was replaced by Kyle Orton, but there are a lot of good veterans on this roster. Keep an eye on former South Carolina receiver Kevin McKinley as an underrated player that could help out this offense.