In this division, having the best group of wide receivers is kind of like being the tallest midget, it’s nothing to really brag about. Regardless of being a weak division in the wide receiver department, he’s a power ranking of the wide receiver groups in the NFC West:
4. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks probably have the deepest roster as a whole in the entire NFL. They’re the most talented roster from top to bottom. However, they severely lack talent at one position in particular: the wide receiver position. Although they gain a talented rookie in Tyler Lockett, they lost a talented rookie from last season in Paul Richardson with a knee injury. Their top wide receiver on the roster is Doug Baldwin, who isn’t making any defensive coordinators in the league lose any sleep the night before they play the Seahawks. A big reason the Seahawks haven’t really addressed this glaring need at wide receiver this offseason is because their top pass catcher will almost certainly be their tight end, Jimmy Graham. With a tight end like that, you don’t need elite wide receivers.
3. St. Louis Rams
The Rams’ receiving corps is loaded with wide receivers who haven’t fulfilled their potential. If this was a power ranking of potential talent within wide receiver groups the Rams would top the list. But it’s not and the Rams are third in the division. Their top receiver, Tavon Austin, has underperformed so far in his short career and a lot of people will tell you it is because he has been underutilized. NFL veteran Kenny Britt has made a career out of underperforming and after a certain amount of time in the league you just have to realize that a player is who he is.
2. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have had a major weakness at wide receiver for quite awhile now. With Michael Crabtree gone, the 49ers were able to add Torrey Smith to the group and finally get the burner they’ve been needing for so long. With a guy like Smith to take the tops off defenses and Anquan Boldin, the savvy vet, to soften them up underneath, it’s going to be hard for defenses to handle all of that. In addition to those two, the 49ers have Bruce Ellington and Quinton Patton to line up in the slot and on the outside and both are extremely dangerous from both spots. Once rookie Deandre Smelter is able to get healthy (might not be this season), this wide receiver group is going to be extremely dynamic.
1. Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are built around the pass game. Being in Bruce Arians’ system helps out this group a great deal but they’d be very good no matter what system they played in. For the longest time this group was centered around Larry Fitzgerald. But times have changed and Michael Floyd is now the focal point. In the past season or two Floyd has really started to come into his own as a wide receiver (in large part because of the guidance of Fitzgerald) and defenses key in on him first and foremost. John Brown is their third guy and he is fast. Defenses can know that he is going to run a go route every single time and they’ll still struggle to stop it. He gets behind safeties quick, fast, and in a hurry. If Carson Palmer can come back and regain the form he had before his injury last season, this passing attack won’t take long to start clicking on all cylinders.