2002 Top 20 Wide Receivers

More interesting is that while six players managed great seasons in their second or third year, only three continued to produce well last year after their seventh season - Jerry Rice, Isaac Bruce and Jimmy Smith. Throwing out Jerry Rice as one of the most extraordinary players to ever strap on a helmet, only Smith and Bruce did well and both are clearly declining.

There is an odd consistency to the top 10 for receivers in terms of years of experience, particularly since reason says the top level should be almost pure individual talent, not some single variable. However, even in 2001 the top ten had every receiver there between four and sevens years of experience with the exceptions of David Boston (3) and Torry Holt (3) and the aging Jimmy Smith (9). The 10th through the 20th best receivers in 2001 followed a similar pattern like 2002. They were either seven players that had at least 8 years of experience or three players with two or three seasons (Kevin Johnson, Marty Booker and Darrell Jackson).

If you want a reciever in his prime, look first at the ones that are in their fourth through seventh years of playing. It is a rule that gets broken, but not enough to keep it from being a meaningful rule. The next ten players in a season will normally be either young guys just breaking out or old guys just winding down their careers with suprisingly few in the middle tier.

Which players have eclipsed that apparent seventh season? Derrick Alexander (9), Tim Brown (15), Troy Brown (10), Isaac Bruce (9), Wayne Chrebet (8), Curtis Conway (10), Joey Galloway (8), J.J. Stokes (8), Ed McCaffrey (12), Keenan McCardell (11), Johnnie Morton (9) and Frank Sanders (8) are all added to the aging concern list.

While runners are better when they are under six feet tall typically, only two players - Peerless Price and Lavernues Coles - were under that mark last season and yet managed top 20 numbers for 2002. Interesting too that both just changed teams and are veterans of only four or three years respectively.

College produces a ton of great receivers below the six foot mark, they just are unable to sustain that level of play in the NFL.

While big possession receivers were present with Terrell Owens and Plaxico Burress, the majority of top receivers were between 200 and 210 pounds. Obviously individual talent plays a significant role in a receiver's success - more so than mere physical characteristics - but the commonality of the 200-210 is useful for searching for up and coming receivers that best fit "the mold" of a prototypical great receiver.

There are so many qualities that are important to a receiver that physical characteristics are only one consideration and by no means the most important one. But the best and easiest benefit you can gain for your fantasy team is to find the breakout receivers for the season and those players - shown above - fall into a fairly regimented group in height and weight and experience.

The caliber of quarterback, offensive system and all the elements that make up a team feed into the success that a receiver can have. Consider that by the time a reciever has caught the ball, ten other players have all done their job well enough to let it happen. That all takes time, talent and teamwork.