Best NFL Wide Receivers Of All Time

Don't agree with the list? Vote for an existing item you think should be ranked higher or if you are a logged in, add a new item for others to vote on.

1) Jerry Rice

“Rice by a long shot. Moss in my opinion is great at #2 but there’s absolutely no way any receiver has ever been as good as Jerry Rice. End of discussion.”

ahaleysr

“No debate!”

JONBONPIGO

“Rice dominated almost every wide receiver stat and Don Hutson should be #2 not #18. How pathetic is that”

SgtPeppersz196715

read more comments on Jerry Rice

2) Randy Moss

“I don’t really have to explain, but I will for the ignorant people randy moss has played for at least 10 years and he won rookie of the year on his first year”

dissthisnoob

“moss is the best reciever ever to play the game I mean speed hops hands awarness can even throw you neva heard someone say o you got riced or you god owensed or irvined no you jus got mossed plus look at the qb’s he had before brady and rings don’t define a great player how many great players don’t have a ring? a lot plus if moss is second all time in every recieving record behind jerry rice but if moss playes for 21 years he would be numba 1 in stats”

tjda1

“too fast, too much hops. too tall.”

hands16

read more comments on Randy Moss

3) Marvin Harrison

“the beast of all times”

alika+_33

“I love marvin harrison!
when payton throws a long ball and it headed marvins way you can almost garintee a TD.”

cameronmorgan10

“He can bring the heat for peyton when he needs it and he is a really good blocking WR!!!!”

ginn19

read more comments on Marvin Harrison

4) Terrell Owens

“NUMBER ONE WITHOUT A DOUBT”

Kaivan_3

“get your pop corn ready”

lebronjames23

“his the best wide reciver”

read more comments on Terrell Owens

5) Michael Irvin

“Jerry Rice is a good pick for #1. Michael should be #2. Terrell Owens above Michael, what a joke.”

ernest

“You guys are kidding me right? How can I take this list seriously when you don’t have a hall of fame wide receiver in top ten. (OUTRAGEOUS! )”

“3 rings and look at the stats please”

read more comments on Michael Irvin

6) Steve Largent

“He should be #2 behind Rice.With all the records he holds and his character should put him there.”

“Never a quality quaterback throwing to him and he was not afraid to go over the middle.”

“This white boy was THE BEST before all the cry babies took over... you know who you are !!!”

7) Lance Alworth

“Put up great stats for a 60s wide receiver!”

“A lot of people don’t know about him because he played in the 60s and 70s, but believe me, he was the best.”

“Bambi was the face of the great American Football League. It was partly because of him and his skills that the AFL had the great legacy it did.”

8) Chris Carter

“carter should be higher than 10.. jeez. chad johnson has absolutely no business being on this list”

Erik2806

“Cris Carted has to be #2”

waterboy51

“Can’t believe he got passed on the HOF today for 2008! He is one of the top 10 WR of all time and he got passed up! This guy invented the toe drag catch as he’s going out of bounds! Now everyone is doing it because of him! If you needed a first down I would pick Carter over any other WR ever! HOF committee made a monstrous mistake today! Awesome awesome WR! Moss and Carter was the best WR tandem (deep threat/possession receiver combo) of all time!”

read more comments on Chris Carter

9) Chad Johnson

“best football player ever”

tacoboy

“Chad is the total package he has amazing catches and the best touchdown celebrations of all time above anyone”

wolffwalker

“Chad Johnson is one of the top 5 wide receivers in the NFL right now maybe top 10 all-time. His athletic talent is unbelievable. The dude is tall, amazing quickness and nice cuts. He outran a race horse, like seriously. He is not as fast as Randy Moss, does not have as great route running ability or hands such as Marvin Harrison, and does not have the consistency of Jerry Rice. He is a step or two under all those categories but that is still freakin amazing considering the aforementioned players are the best in NFL history at those crafts. Playing alongside a future Hall of Famer quarterback such as Carson Palmer doesn’t hurt. As long as the guy doesn’t get traded (nor Palmer) and doesn’t have season or career ending injuries (or Palmer) he will rack up stats that might put him in top ten categories when it comes to receptions, yards, and touchdowns all-time. He also has some of the best touchdown dances ever and the dude doesn’t care if he is fined for it, he’ll continue it and thats why we love him. Modesty could be a bit better still. If he, Palmer, or the entire team could step up and he has some postseason success he along with Palmer will go down as some of the best at their positions. They are already in the top five or ten QB-WR duos ever in a league that consists of; Manning and Harrison, Brady and Moss, Montanna and Rice, Young and Rice. Very Nice Group and they all won superbowls together (Moss is about to). Go Ocho Cinco!”

yougnr1116

read more comments on Chad Johnson

10) Lynn Swann

“I like him outta all these guys but art monk should be #2. people need to get off chad and TO’s nutz. learn somethin”

Pag1

“Lynn Swann is a great wide reciver. If you replay his plays you will be very good plays.”

dum

“the most electrifying”

connieban12

read more comments on Lynn Swann

People who visited this list also visited these top ten lists:

Add this top ten list to your site. List will automatically update so you have the same list as we do.

Link to this list from your blog, Facebook profile, or MySpace page using the HTML code below.

Choices Not In The Top Ten

11) Steve Smith

“Dear, Steve Smith I think you are the ’’BEST’’ WR in the NFL not those other guys. And my favorite number is 89!. I also like Williams and Peppers. P. S. I’m 8 year’s old.
”

“Steve Smith is simply the best wide receiver ever, randy moss is good and jerry rice is amazing but Steve Smith is still young I mean look at his speed, endurance he is just crazy”

“steve smith is the best he is fast has endurance he is just the best ever jerry rice is good but steve smith is 28 or 29 and he is still good amazing”

read more comments on Steve Smith

12) Hines Ward

“Hines Ward and Isaac Bruce are both VERY underrated, they are two of the best of all time. Jerry Rice I agree number one easy. T.O. should not be that high up at all, I don’t care what stats show, he needs to stop eating the popcorn it gives him, wait for it... Butter fingers.”

steelerfan_1743

“Hines is the best WR in NFL history. He is going to get the 6th ring for the STEELERS.”

“best right as of 2008”

read more comments on Hines Ward

13) Tim Brown

“Ok, I know this can’t be right. Brown along with Carter out of the top 10 when you have guys like Steve Smith and Chad freakin Johnson ahead of them. Moss and TO are also questionable but I am not trying to take anything away from them. Some of those guys are good but this is of all time and Brown should be in the top 5 for sure. In a lot of the major records, he is ranked 2nd to only Rice yet still doesn’t get the respect he deserves”

ColdJ3

“if tim had been with any other team there would be no question that he should be in the top three”

“Leader and broke records for the Raiders.”

read more comments on Tim Brown

14) Tory Holt

“Great speedster receiver who played on the greatest show on turf.”

“he’s top 5”

“He will be in the top ten trust me”

read more comments on Tory Holt

15) Larry Fitzgerald

“look at him... he’s a powerhouse and he runs very fast... he’s the combination of a defensive line and a runnerback with the ability to catch...”

16) Andre Reed

“He lead the K-Gun offense and should be in the Hall of Fame”

17) Art Monk

“Art is top 5. Period.”

“Why don’t this receiver get the credit he deserves?”

“Check out how many catches this Redskin had, during Super Bowl years.”

18) Don Hutson

“Its not even close if there is no don hutson then there is no jerry rice randy moss cris carter lance alworth or anybody”

olhrocks

“Has most nfl records of all time more than any qb, rb, wr, or any other postition”

olhrocks

“1. hutson
2. alworth
3. blientnekoff
4. rice
5. berry”

olhrocks

read more comments on Don Hutson

19) Isaac Bruce

“Has 15,208 yards receiving in his career plus he played for The Greatest Show on Turf.”

“Isaac Bruce [Reverand Ike to those who truly love him] will no doubt end up in the top 5 of all time for yardage. possibly for catches as well. Never ran his mouth. [very Monk like in that respect] T. O. and Moss can maybe carry his pads for him when he retires... if they are lucky!”

“smothest route runner of all time. great down field blocker as well, sprung blocks for bettis, marshall faulk, and steven jackson. old school baby!! pro bolwer and super bowl champion. life time RAM!! hall of famer for sure.”

read more comments on Isaac Bruce

20) Donald Driver

“One of the toughest to play the position. Only missed one game in his career to injury. At his age and still putting up big numbers. Right up there with Hines Ward in toughness and ability.”

“he’s had over 8 years of 1000 yards”

“Give the DD some love. Posting big numbers year after year, and looking for SB glory!”

21) Wes Welker

“John Madden says he is quick.”

22) Andre Johnson

“TO that can catch”

23) Rod Smith

“rod smith is a soldier”

big-al

“... it shud b Rod smith here... :D”

24) John Gilliam

“4 time pro bowler, great at running the deep route.”

BurtReynoldsWig

25) John Jefferson

“John was a class act, team player and REALLY was one of the greatest WR of all time. Not like these press/camera grabbing fools of today.”

paulbrown1

“Every catch was a world-class catch.”

“Possibly the best pair of hands to ever play the game. Every catch was highlight material”

26) John Stallworth

“I can not believe in good conscience Stalworth was not in the top ten.GO STEELERS!!!”

shirllene828

27) Calvin Johnson

“This guy better step up or the lions should get a better QB. Too much talent and potential to let go wasted. The dude is 6-5 240 lbs. He’s a beast. He has the third best 40-yard dash time after Randy Moss and Deion Sanders (and we all know what they did in history). He has the second best vertical after Randy Moss. This dude also has Marvin Harrison style modesty. Imagine that Randy Moss Marvin Harrison. I know I’m getting ahead of myself but I seriously want to see him develop and quick. The next Jerry Rice or better, not likely (especially considering Jerry Rice came into the league with a Hall of Fame QB at the helm, Montana, not no John Kitna) but hopefully he comes close to it. One of the best college wide receivers ever hopefully one of the best NFL wide receivers ever.”

yougnr1116

“the future.”

28) Sterling Sharp

“I always felt that if not for the neck injury, we would be talking about Sterling has the best receiver to ever play the game. He had better speed than Rice, he was stronger & more physical than Rice, & he had incredible hands like Rice. He’ll always be one of my all-time favorites long after people have forgotten about him as far as the record books show”

“Strength, speed, great hands, agility, power. He was the prototype reciever in his day. Watch old tapes of him and see the future then.”

“He was the only good receiver on the team, everyone on the defense knew the ball was coming to him, and he still caught a record number of passes.”

29) Fred Biletnikoff

“wtf? why is he not in the top 5? ignorance. thats why.”

madcowsarecrazy

“2 Randy Moss? 3 Marvin Harrison? 4 Terelle Owens? None even come colose to Biletnikoff.”

raiderfan372

“I’m a Rams fan but Fred could do something these youngsters can’t - catch everything thrown to him - he is definitely top ten. This poll is skewed by the younger voters.”

read more comments on Fred Biletnikoff

30) Reggie Wayne

“May finish in the top 10.
He is outstanding. Currently the 2nd best after Randy Moss.”

“how do you get timed so slow and put up these kind of numbers this kid is the exact duplicate of rice.”

31) Raymond Berry

“No one ever covered him--not even close-should be in everybodies top ten.”

MackyJay

“Unitas to Berry. The main target for John Unitas and they won a lot of Championships together.”

“Unitas’ go to guy in the 50s and early 60s.”

32) Jerry Rice

33) Jimmy Smith

“he should be in the top 5 not top 30”

34) Braylon Edwards

“he has great potential to be one of the all time best if he keeps it up go browns”

“he putting up numbers being his teams best wideout”

35) Plaxico Burress

“he is a monster. Leading his team to the superbowl this year”

36) James Lofton

“Best Long Range Speed and hands combination ever . Doesn’t have
as much credit as he deserves because of early altercations in his career. 14,004 career yards multiple plays of 70 yards or more in career.”

uhprodigy80

“"Arguably the best deep threat of all time. An eight time pro bowler and maybe the best long range speed and hands combination ever. Held the all-time receiving record at time of retirement. ""Overcame extreme adversity and renewed his image in the NFL. Possibly the most inspirational play as a veteran ever by having over a thousand yards at the age of 35 although playing in an arsenal of wide receivers such as Andre Reed on the Buffalo Bills in the early nineties."”

uhprodigy80

37) Drew Pearson

38) Herman Moore

“he caught everything. he just was never blessed with a good team in detroit”

keeno68

39) Marquis Colston

40) Brandon Marshall

“Current record holder for most receptions in a game”

Puppy_Dawgie

“THE BEAST”

Puppy_Dawgie

“can catch amazingly and by far is the best after he has the ball”

41) Willie Gault

“i’m speedy willi and im world clase i like runnin but i lov 2 get the pass i practice all day and dance all night i gotta get ready 4 the sunday fight now im as smoth as a chocklet swirl moves so slick so watch me girl there anit no 1 else can do it like me my super bowl shuffle will set you free!
”

42) Keyshawn Johnson

“KEYSHAWN ALWAYS MAKES THE AMAZING CATCHES WITH A LOT OF PRESSURE AND ALWAYS COMES THROUGH”

“"If you have a problem with Keyshawn, you have a problem with yourself." - Keyshawn Johnson”

43) Charley Taylor

“Another legendary great”

44) Paul Warfield

“72’ Dolphins.. Enough said!”

45) Mark Clayton

“Yards; 8,974 Dolphins all time receiver in receptions(582), and touchdowns(84)-5 time pro bowler”

46) Bernard Berrian

“Fresno State Pride
yup definately the best
Represent
They R gonna win the SB this year”

ballanico23

47) Mushin Muhammad

48) T. J. Houshmandzadeh

“he is a beast and catches dang near everything that comes his way he is strong fast has excellent hands and he can take a hit unlike chad johnson could be a starting receiver for a team but is currently playing as a second receiver behind chad johnson who he out shined big time this season”

49) Troy Brown

“has been around for a while and is one of the greatest pats ever and nfl wideout”

50) Joe Horn

“This guy is the man. He was the go-to guy when you needed points.”

Baltimore1993

51) Roy Willams

“best receiver in the game today
”

52) Charlie Joyner

“Give the man some love!”

53) Darrel Green

“This is ridiculous. How could he not be in the top 51? Mushin Muhammad is above him, WHAT!? Yeah, uh, crazy.
He may not have had the best hands, but he is the fastest American football player EVER. Almost ran a 4. 00 40-yard dash. At 40 years old, he was the fastest person on his old team with a 4. 2 40. Played for the Redskins, great receiver.”

54) Cliff Branch

“Extremely fast could almost beat anyone deep.”

55) Dwayne Jarrett

“Greatest receiver of all time by far. Who is Jerry Rice? He is horrible pathetic excuse for a player. Jarret is what the nfl is all about and will always be about! The Big J is the greatest player of all time.”

56) Santonio Holmes

“Great catch in the Super Bowl against the Cardinals. I think this guy is very underrated. If they would only add him a little more in the offense, then they would be a one-two punch with Ward and him.”

FootballDog61

57) Derrick Mason

58) Cris Carter

59) Harold Carmichael

“Tall and lanky, solid and strong.”

60) Anquan Boldin

61) Greg Jennings

“Most underrated player in NFL history... LOOK AT HIM, future hall of famer.”

62) DeSean Jackson

“He is so fast. he burns everyone down the field. led the team in fifty plus yard touchdowns this year. that includes Recieving, Rushing, and returning”

63) Webster Slaughter

“easily one of the fastest wr of all time i’m not saying he should be in the hall of fame or nothing like that but he was fun to watch.”

64) D.J. Hackett

65) Roddy White

66) Terry Glenn

“He is obliviousy one of the fastest
”

67) Kevin Dyson

68) Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch

69) Laveranues Coles

70) Sidny Rice

71) Wes Chandler

“Remember him? One of most underrated receivers in N.F.L history. When John Jefferson left for Green Bay in free agency, the chargers didn’t miss a beat. He was just as good as Jefferson, if not better. That, s why I’m surprised that Jefferson is on the list, and not Chandler.

”

72) Al Toon

73) Stanley Morgan

“He was not my fist choice for someone that I thought that should have been on this list. (actually it was Wes Chandler) But lest we not forget that Morgan still holds the all time avg. per catch record, which if I’m not mistaken stands at about 21 yards a catch”

74) Wesley Walker

“Use to give the Dolphins nightmares. Had some of his biggest games against them.”

75) Isaac Curtis

“Before Chad Johnson (Or whatever his name is these days) There was Issac Curtis. Chad Johnson has had a good career with the Bengals, but so did Eddie Brown. But Issac Curtis in my opion is the best receiver in Bengals history. Ask Ken Anderson, who also happens to be the best quarterback in Bengals history.”