There are a good number of seriously productive wide receivers in the NFL, including Atlanta Falcons wideout Julio Jones and Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins, among others. Many fans believe New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is the best in the NFL right now, but I beg to differ. OBJ is incredibly talented, and his embarrassing antics this Sunday aside, for which the league rightfully suspended him for one game, almost any NFL team would love to have him on their roster. But I think Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is the NFL’s best wide receiver right now.
Antonio Brown is the Best Wide Receiver in the NFL
Among wide receivers this season, Antonio Brown ranks first in yards (1,586), second in receptions (116, second to only Jones’ 118) and first in yards per game (113.3). Brown is tied for eighth among wide receivers with nine touchdown receptions this season and he has secured 71 first downs for the Steelers in 2015 which is third most among receivers. The talented wideout has done some of his damage this season without his starting quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger missed some time with an injury. In Brown’s last 30 games he has caught 245 passes, which means he has averaged over eight receptions in those 30 contests. This is also his third straight season with over 100 receptions and 1,000 plus yards.
This Sunday, Brown and the Steelers faced off against an incredibly talented Denver Broncos defense. It hasn’t been easy for many teams to find a lot of success against the Broncos this season, but the Steelers found a way to come back from a 17 points deficit and get a victory. A large part of Pittsburgh’s success against Denver was because of Brown, who had 16 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns. It was the second time Brown had at least 16 receptions this season (he had 17 against the Oakland Raiders on Nov. 8). The incredibly reliable receiver is the first player in NFL history with a pair of 16-reception games in the same season.
Think about that for a second. No other receiver has done that in the history of the NFL. I know the game has become much more passing friendly, but that means the likes of Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Cris Carter, among others, never had a pair of 16-catch games in the same season. Brown will need 24 catches in the final two games of the season to break the single-season reception record, which seems like a tall order, but he has recorded double digit receptions four separate times this season, so it’s definitely not impossible.
There are a lot of really talented receivers in the NFL, and you can’t really go wrong with the likes of Beckham, Hopkins, or Jones, but I’ll take Antonio Brown above all other wideouts.
Main Photo:
