There are a lot of very good receivers in the league right now.  With the new rules in the NFL you can barely touch these guys and it shows as they’re putting up crazy numbers.  It was hard for me to put together a top-five young receivers because there are so many talented guys in the league.  I had to leave off guys I really think will be stars in the league. Guys like Tavon Austin and DeAndre Hopkins who have the tools to be great players in the NFL.  But this isn’t a top 10 or 20 its a top five so lets get right to it.  

5. Keenan Allen San Diego Chargers

Allen is a talented young receiver who also has pretty good size.  I recently saw him play against the Washington Redskins and he also seems to have a knack for getting open.  In that game he tallied eight catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, that makes three 100 yard games for him this year.  I also caught a couple of his college games at California and you could see how much potential he had.  San Diego needed another go to guy after Vincent Jackson packed up and moved to Tampa Bay.  Allen is the type of guy that might slide into Jackson’s old spot and put up some Pro Bowl-caliber numbers.

4. Alshon Jeffery Chicago Bears

Jeffery is just a good receiver that benefits from having an established vet like Brandon Marshall to help him grow, and take some of the coverage pressure off him.  He also benefits from a good running back Matt Forte to keep teams from dropping eight guys back in zone.  And a good quarterback (Jay Cutler) that is able to give him the ball when he’s open and put it in the right spot where he can go up and get it.  In week 5 he torched the New Orleans Saints for 218 catches and a touchdown on 10 catches.  What makes him special is that he has the size to win jump balls and the athleticism to take a screen pass 50 yards for a touchdown.  

3. Josh Gordon Cleveland Browns

Gordon is at three because of how much potential he has.  He’s playing extremely well this season in his second year out of Baylor.  For one he’s a really big dude, at 6’3 225 not only can he win jump balls over corners, he’s got to be pretty hard to bring to the ground as well.  He’s also very athletic beating defenses deep and turning two yard catches into first downs.  He currently averages 17.9 yards per catch which is top five in the NFL.  All this while playing for three different starting quarterbacks in the first half of the season.  If you give him some consistency at quarterback where they can know what the other is doing it can only get better.  There’s no telling what Gordon is capable of if the Browns find their franchise quarterback.  

2. Julio Jones Atlanta Falcons

Jones can easily be the number one guy on this list in a different situation.  The Falcons haven’t been good this year and he has to share targets with the other 30 weapons on the Falcons offense.  But Jones is still the definition of the word Beast, there’s not too many cornerbacks that can slow him down.  He's a big guy and he’s also pretty fast.  Which means like the other guys he is a very balanced receiver that can do it all.  Jones also has one of the best quarterbacks in the league on his side in Matt Ryan.  This two can easily combine to make one of the biggest nightmares in the league for a long time.  I also am fully confident that he will be able to return fully from this injury next season.  He will come back fully healed and better than ever next year which is pretty scary.  

1. A.J. Green  Cincinnati Bengals

Green is looking like he’s not only the best young guy at receiver, but he’s pushing the veterans for the heavyweight title.  He reminds me of a young Randy Moss with the way he plays so fun to watch.  He’s tall and very fast with an unreal vertical.  He also suffers from a sore back from carrying my fantasy team this season.  He currently leads the league in receiving yards with 862 with 5 touchdowns on 57 catches.  Him and Andy Dalton are always on the same page and he’s Dalton’s favorite target which means it’s almost impossible to take him out of a game.  Him and Jones are two of the best young players in the league and will both be perennial pro bowlers in their career.