Top NFL Receiver Combos for 2009

It's July which means it's time for the NFL over-analyzing to kick into high gear. Fox Sports just came out with it's pre-season top receiving combos for 2009. I know it means very little, but there are always a few surprises when publications rank things.

The top teams and bottom team make sense. On top of the list are the Arizona Cardinals with the other worldly Larry Fitzgerald and ornery Anquan Boldin. The New England Patriots are next with the Moss, Welker combo. With Tom Brady coming back, that team is definitely up the ladder.

On the other end of the spectrum sit the Raiders with their gauche owner who drafts like it's 1975. The team spent a top ten pick on a receiver who hasn't even made it through a mini camp yet and frankly, no one gives the Raiders the benefit of the doubt when it comes to personnel moves.

One of the interesting teams on this list sits just in front of the Raiders at number 31 out of 32 teams: the St. Louis Rams.

I agree the Rams have very little receiving help this year and that is the first time in a loooong time I could say this. Even when the team sucked in the 1990's, they had a young Isaac Bruce turning heads. Then the Greatest Show on Turf exploded onto the scene. Now it's a wasteland of a passing game. It's hard for me to wrap my head around that.

The Chicago Bears currently sit at 27 in the receiver rankings. Will new QB stud Jay Cutler change that up? Or will the lack of receivers move Cutler way down on the QB list? It's like the chicken vs the egg theory. What affects what?

Mediocre has never been used to describe the Colts passing game since Peyton Manning arrived, but Fox has the Colts ranked at 15...right in the middle and below teams such as the Buccaneers and Steelers. Really? I know Marvin Harrison is gone, but Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez are only middle of the pack? Hmm.

The Eagles receivers sit in the top ten this year after the team grabbed DeSean Jackson and Jeremy McClain through the draft. Apparently there will be no more bitching about the lack of good receivers for Donavon McNabb to throw to in Philly. Yeah, right.

Speaking of top ten receiving corps....the FALCONS?! Has this team ever had a top ten receiving corps? I guess that's the difference between Michael Vick and Matt Ryan at quarterback: suddenly your high receiver draft picks look good. Add Tony Gonzalez at tight end and the revamping of the Falcons offense is complete. My what a difference a few years make.

Finally, the Broncos are ranked number seven. For now. This has everything to do with Brandon Marshall and Kyle Orton. If Marshall disappears into a funk this season or Orton can't get the passing game going, this receiving corps could free fall into the 20's.

It's time to start talking a little football because before you know it, the greatness that is the NFL will once again be on our televisions. What a magnificent day it will be.