2009: AFC West Wide Receiver Rankings

One of the best wide receivers in the NFL plays in the AFC West. The Denver Broncos' wide receiver Brandon Marshall at 6'4", 230 lbs is a very hard cover for the majority of NFL corners. Other than Marshall there are a few quality WR's that are not household names in the NFL, but are very productive. The San Diego Chargers' Vincent Jackson and the Kansas City Chiefs' Dwayne Bowe are very good players that will only get better. Overall, a lot of teams in this division need to improve at the WR position if they eventually want to make some noise in the 2009 NFL playoffs.

Denver Broncos' 2008 Top WR's Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley

Brandon Marshall is one of the best players at his position in the NFL. In 2008 Marshall had 104 receptions, 1,265 yards and 6 TD's. Opposing defenses know that the ball is going to Marshall and they have not found an answer for him. On the opposite side of Brandon is Eddie Royal. Most WR's that enter the NFL need two or three years to develop. In his first NFL game against the Oakland Raiders Royal had 9 catches, 146 yards and 1 TD. In a Monday Night game Royal torched CB DeAngelo Hall over and over. Royal is the main reason why Hall was cut by the Raiders and is now a Washington Redskin. Eddie finished the 2008 NFL season with 91 receptions, 980 yards and 5 TD's. The production of the Broncos WR's will decrease in 2009, because Jay Cutler is gone and it is possible that WR Brandon Marshall will have an extended holdout or possibly be traded.

San Diego Chargers' 2008 Top WR's Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers and Malcolm Floyd

One of the things that have been holding the Chargers back from reaching a Super Bowl is their production at the receiver position. In 2008 Antonio Gates led the team in receptions. Vincent Jackson (6-5 230) finished the 2008 NFL season with 59 catches, 1,098 yards, 18.6 YPC and 7 TD's. Last season was Jackson's first 1,000-yard season and Vincent's production has increased each year he has been in the NFL. In 2007 the Chargers traded for WR Chris Chambers hoping that he would be their number one WR, but that has not been the case. In 2008 Chambers had 33 catches for 462 yards. Chambers has the talent to be a lot more productive. The Chargers drafted Craig Davis in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft and he has a total of 24 catches in 18 games.

Kansas City Chiefs' 2008 Top WR's Dwayne Bowe and Mark Bradley

The Chiefs have been such a bad team over the last few seasons that Dwayne Bowe's production in the NFL has gone unnoticed. Over the last two seasons Bowe has 156 receptions, 2,017 yards and 12 TD's. Bowe has done this without a quality QB. The Chiefs have Matt Cassel at QB and Cassel still has to prove that he is a franchise QB, but he is a great improvement over Tyler Thigpen and Damon Huard. With Todd Haley running the offense Bowe could have over 100 catches and Mark Bradley should have 40-60 catches.

Oakland Raiders' 2008 Top WR's Johnnie Lee Higgins, Chaz Schilens and Javon Walker

The Oakland Raiders were not productive with their passing game in 2008. Some of the blame could be placed on the fact that QB JaMarcus Russell was in his first year as the starter, Schilens was a rookie and Javon Walker only played in eight games. Whatever the reason was the Raiders have to get more production out of this position. Opposing defenses are aware of Oakland's talent at the RB position and will put extra defenders in the box and make the Raiders prove that they can move the chains through the air. With an emerging star at the TE position in Zach Miller and RB Darren McFadden being incorporated in the passing game the Raiders don't need their WR's to have 80 or more receptions. Oakland does need to have at least two WR's with 40-60 catches each. Oakland is counting on the 6-4 225 Chaz Schilens to be their number one WR this season and drastically improve his production from the 2008 season. Johnnie Lee Higgins is an explosive player in the open field and Tom Cable needs to find ways to get him the ball in space. Javon Walker and Darrius Heyward-Bey the seventh pick in the 2008 NFL Draft need to make plays in 2009.