Audacy Rankings: 10 greatest NFL wide receivers of all-time

Many fans of a younger generation may recognize Carter as a TV personality, but before his career in media he was one of the best to do it on the field. The Hall of Fame wide receiver was an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro over an impressive 16-year career in the NFL.

Carter was a late bloomer, recording his first 1,000-yard season at 28-years-old, but it marked the beginning of eight-consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus yards receiving for Carter. In 1994, when Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon joined the Minnesota Vikings, Carter led the NFL with 122 reception and then posted the same number of receptions the following year, while leading the league with 17 touchdown catches — tied for sixth-most in a single season.

Even when Moon left and Brad Johnson became the quarterback in Minnesota, Carter led the league in touchdowns two more times and had five-straight seasons of double-digit scores, finishing with 130 touchdowns by the end of his career, which ranks fourth all-time.

Receivers putting up 1,000-yard seasons is not uncommon in the modern NFL, but it was rare territory in the 1960s when offenses were more of a ground-and-pound style. This is why Alworth makes this list.

The Hall of Fame receiver, who spent most of his career with the San Diego Chargers, strung together seven-consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 1963-1969, leading the league three times in that span, including a 1,602-yard season in 1965, which still holds up as 21st among the single-season receiving yards leaders.

Alworth also led the league in receiving touchdowns three times, finishing with double-digits five times in his 11-year career. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro, winning a Super Bowl toward the end of his career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1971 and an AFL Championship in 1963.

It is hard to find a player who just looked so much bigger, faster and stronger than his competition than Johnson. His physical feature and dominant talent earned him the nickname “Megatron” during his nine-year career with the Detroit Lions that consisted of six Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams.

His 2012 season was one of the best ever by a wide receiver, hauling in a league-leading 122 receptions and finishing with an NFL single-season record 1,964 receiving yards, which still stands today.

He is one of just five players to have two seasons of, at least, 1,600 receiving yards and has the most receiving yards in a single game in regulation with 329, which came against the Cowboys on Oct. 27, 2013 (Flipper Anderson of the Los Angeles Rams had 336 in 1989, but had the help of overtime).

Had Johnson not retired at age 30, he likely would have found himself higher on this list. Regardless of that, there's more than enough reasons why he was enshrined into Canton in 2021.

Perhaps Harrison does not put together a Hall of Fame career without quarterback Peyton Manning, but the duo was one of the most feared quarterback-wide receiver combos in recent memory. Harrison, an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, led the league in receiving yards twice, receptions twice and touchdowns once.

His 143 receptions in 2002 was an NFL record in a single season until Michael Thomas broke it in 2019. His eight seasons of, at least, 10 touchdowns ranks third behind Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. He ranks fifth all-time on touchdown leaders and receptions and ninth all-time on the career touchdown leaders.

Largent is another wide receiver who was, arguably, ahead of his time. Playing for the Seattle Seahawks from 1976-1989, Largent had eight seasons of 1,000 yards receiving, leading the league twice, and was a seven-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro in 1985. When he retired in 1989, he held the career receptions, receiving yards and touchdown records while playing with quarterbacks such as Jim Zorn and Dave Krieg throwing the ball his way. His 100 career receiving touchdowns still rank 10th-most all-time.

Fitzgerald is the model of consistency, and it has led him to having one of the all-time great careers at the position. The 11-time Pro Bowler ranks second on the all-time receptions list (1,432) and receiving yards (17,492), trailing Jerry Rice in each, and is sixth on the all-time receiving touchdowns list (121).

He has eight seasons of, at least, 90 receptions, the most in NFL history, and five seasons of, at least, 100, tied for third most of all-time. While Fitzgerald has only played in nine career playoff games, he holds all sorts of postseason records courtesy of the Cardinals' playoff run, including most touchdowns in a single postseason (7), most receiving yards in a postseason (546) and most postseason games with, at least, 150 receiving yards (3).

Hutson is like the godfather of wide receivers. He paved the way for the position for others during his playing career, which spanned from 1935-1945 with the Green Bay Packers.

Obviously, playing in that era, he averaged 4.2 receptions per-game, but led the league in receptions eight times, receiving yards seven times and receiving touchdowns eight times. Some of his numbers were quite impressive, including his 1942 season in which he had 74 catches for 1,211 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns — a respectable line in 2021, let alone 1942.

Hutson was also a four-time Pro Bowler and eight-time All-Pro, winning three NFL championships, as well making him one of the most accomplished receivers ever, certainly the greatest of his era. His 99 career touchdowns still rank 11th on the all-time list.

Owens may be one of the most polarizing players in NFL history with his on-field celebrations, beefs with quarterbacks and his infamous driveway press conference while doing sit-ups. But on the field, he was dominant.

Owens was a six-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro with his prime years coming with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Cowboys. He led the league in receiving touchdowns three times and had nine seasons of, at least, 1,000 yards receiving. Owens ranks third all-time in both receiving yards and touchdowns, and he is eighth all-time in receptions.

Moss has recently laid claim that he is the G.O.A.T. wide receiver in recent years, and he has a pretty good argument. The Hall of Famer was a six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, leading the league in receiving touchdowns five seasons, including the single-season touchdown record in 2007, previously held by Rice, while with the New England Patriots team that went undefeated in the regular season, in large part, due to the presence of Moss as a weapon for quarterback Tom Brady.

Moss has 10 seasons of, at least, 1,000 yards receiving, with eight of those being 1,200 or more. He’s No. 4 on career receiving yards and second in touchdowns behind Rice. He was, unquestionably, the most feared receiver of his era.

There is no doubt about who the No. 1 wide receiver of all-time is. Nobody has dominated the position the way Rice did in his career. A 13-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro, Rice led the NFL in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns six times each, and is the all-time career leader in each of those categories. He had 14 seasons of, at least, 1,000 yards and 11 seasons of, at least, 1,200 yards.

Rice was also a three-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers, winning the Super Bowl XXIII MVP with 11 receptions for 215 yards and a touchdown in a 20-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He played in four Super Bowls total (the other with the Oakland Raiders in 2002) and had eight touchdowns combined in those games.

Rice is, unquestionably, the G.O.A.T. when it comes to wide receivers.