Is there really seven receivers better than Anquan Boldin?

by akaespo on Nov 12, 2008 5:37 PM MST

Interesting article on Fanster.com where Vince Marotta breaks down the Sporting News' top 40 wide receivers in the NFL. In the piece SN ranks Fitzgerald the 4th best reciever and Boldin the 8th best (Steve Breston is ranked 28th if you were wondering).

I find it hard to believe that Boldin is only 8th best and Fitz is better than him at this point. Vince even goes as far to say Boldin is the best receiver in the game right now.

Boldin is a game changer and has to be game planned for. I'm not sure guys like. Chad Johnson, who rank ahead of him, are in the same boat

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.

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Wow, Chad Johnson is not even a threat when compared to Q.

Where has Ocho Cinco’s production been all year? He’s been in every game, and yet Q dominates him in stats, and we all know that Q had to take a few weeks off.

I’m personally a very big Fitz fan so this is biased, but I think Q would be number 3 and Fitz would be number 2. Fitz is one of the best receivers to play the game. Q is one of the best players to play the game. We’re seeing new sides to Q all of the time. But specifically at the WR spot. I think Fitz makes a few more of the big catches and runs amazing routes and I would put him one spot up from Q. But, Q is so much better at getting yards after the catch, punishing defenders for trying to tackle him, and just being there to do what needs to be done. I think they compliment each other amazingly, and if anything I would actually have to say, who the heck is number 1 to be better than either of them?

by CardsFan08 on Nov 12, 2008 11:13 PM MST reply actions

Welcome to ROTB

It’s hard to judge lists like this b/c you don’t know what criteria they were using, but I’m guessing that they didn’t factor in age too much since TO was still listed pretty high. Either way though, it’s an odd list considering that Brandon Marshall is listed #2. He’s a good receiver but I’ve never seen him listed that high. I’d personally try to squeeze Fitz and Q into my top 5, but when you’re talking about the best WRs in the game, there’s not a big difference between #1 and #5 or 6.

I do love the Fitz vs. Q argument though. I’ve always been a ‘Fitz guy’ but Boldin’s been so good this season, he’s making me rethink the whole thing.

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by cgolden on Nov 13, 2008 6:00 AM MST reply actions

Thanks for the welcome. I think the discussion is an interesting one as well when it comes to Fitz and Q. I love Larry and what he brings to the team, even have his jersey, but Q is just such a threat in every aspect of the game. He is even becoming part of the running game with the new Wildcat formation. Some argue that speed is the bigger threat when it comes to wide receivers but honestly Boldin’s ability to run through people, break tackles and willingness to go over the middle makes him a bigger threat in my books.

by akaespo on Nov 13, 2008 8:13 AM MST reply actions

Here's always been my argumetnt for Fitz over Q

I understand that Q gets more yards after catch b/c he’s tougher, but if Fitz still averages more yards per catch, what’s the difference? Boldin’s averaged 13.1 yards per catch over his career while Fitz has averaged 13.8. Does it really matter if you catch a ball at nine yards and run for four versus catching a ball at 14 and falling on your face?

That combined with Fitz’s advantage in hands and leaping ability have always caused me to lean toward Fitz, but you really can’t go wrong with either.

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by cgolden on Nov 13, 2008 12:29 PM MST up reply actions

where is the rankings?

by Andrew602 on Nov 13, 2008 10:51 AM MST reply actions

good question

I tried to search Sporting News to see the complete rankings but couldn’t find the story. It’s possible that it was just a ‘print’ story (which I’m assuming since no one has posted a link). It would be interesting to see who is ranked around Breaston, who was much higher than I would have guessed.

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by cgolden on Nov 13, 2008 12:25 PM MST up reply actions

The ranking was in their online Sporting News Today. It’s their email newspaper and it’s impossible to pull anything from it. I’ll see if I can get an image of the article and post it.

by akaespo on Nov 13, 2008 2:53 PM MST reply actions

Here is the link

http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081112/?sub_id=TroElnn0S9gp&folio=CGI

Go to page 11 of that and you will see the ranking in it’s entirety.

by akaespo on Nov 13, 2008 2:55 PM MST reply actions

wow that's a bizarre list

Vincent Jackson at 16th
Eddie Royal at 19th
Braylon Edwards at 23rd

I don’t get how a guy like Edwards can fall so far because of a bad season or guys like rookies with 9 games of experience can be so high, but Terrell Owens, who’s having a terrible year (on pace for 62 receptions for 830 yards), can still be ranked 6th. Oh well I guess that’s why we all love lists.

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by cgolden on Nov 13, 2008 3:56 PM MST up reply actions

Im assuming the list is just based of this year thus far. If it were best in the NFL period this would be a terrible this. But based on this year alone, how is Boldin 8th? Only missing two games after that hit and to lead the league in TD’s. Bizzare. But Calvin Johnson is ahead, why I dont know.

by Andrew602 on Nov 13, 2008 5:27 PM MST up reply actions