Quote:It's a good question. Does a player HAVE to be 6'4", 220 and run a 4.4 to be considered one? I guess Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Tory Holt, Antonio Brown (dot, dot, dot) weren't #1 receivers? Because each of those guys were incredibly average from a physical standpoint.

 

No, they don't. Plenty of wide receivers have been "#1" that aren't physical freaks, such as the guys you mentioned. However, I wouldn't call those guys "average" from a physical standpoint. Now, as far as what constitutes a #1? For me, its a guy who can run the full route tree and threaten the defense equally well. You look at a guy like Allen Robinson, who isn't the fastest guy. He's big and has strong hands though, so you can utilize him in a lot of short and intermediate routes. Think of how Reggie Williams was used the year he set the TD record here. But he's never going to be a guy who's going to take the top off a defense. Now, can you scheme him open deep? Of course. Think about the deep balls that Ernest Wilford caught off playaction. Allen's good at high pointing the ball too, so you can do some jump ball situations with him (like how Mike Evans is often used).

 

So to me, ARob is a perfect #2 WR. He's going to keep the chains moving, but he's not a guy that the opposing defense will have to really account for. 

 

Now, contrast this to Jimmy Smith. Jimmy was referred to as "Lightning" for a reason. He has speed to threaten the defense deep, so corners have to give him cushion. Now, there's tons of WRs in this league who have speed, but they obviously weren't as good as Jimmy. And that's because Jimmy, as well as being fast, was also a very good route runner. There's also a reason why he's J-Smooth. I'm not sure how long you've been watching this team, but Jimmy and Mark made the out route look soooo eaaassy.

 

Corners gave him cushion for his speed, and Jimmy uses his route running to make his cut, boom ball is there...first down Jaguars. That's a #1 receiver, because he can beat a corner not just in one way. If they give him cushion, he's such a great route runner that he'll run an out or a curl for an easy first down. If they start to creep up to defend the out or the curl, Jimmy goes deep.

 

The guys you mentioned can all do this.

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