49ers fans won't believe this NFL player's all-time wide receiver list
If Steelers wideout George Pickens was merely looking to turn some heads, he succeeded.
By Peter Panacy
While it's OK to come up with some alternative opinions on all-time lists, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is just flat-out wrong.
Every now and then, the greater San Francisco 49ers fanbase has to rise to the occasion and defend some ludicrous take out there that suggests Hall of Famer Jerry Rice isn't the greatest wide receiver of all time.
Heck, Rice should be in the discussion for the best NFL player of all time.
Although this one take was pretty humorous:
Jerry Rice wouldn't make a final roster, let alone start, in the modern NFL. The game and overall athleticism has changed so much. Can shout out his past accomplishments all you want, but at the end of the day the man is 60 years old. Not happening.
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) July 15, 2023
A 60-year-old Rice could feasibly make a practice squad, perhaps, though.
At any rate, that's not the wild take we're looking at here. No, instead we're evaluating one from a current NFL player, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens.
Pickens' top-five wide receiver ranking was, um... provocative.
Steelers' George Pickens slights Jerry Rice in top-5 wide receiver list, includes another shocking 49ers wideout on list
Pickens recently joined CBS Sports' All Things Covered Podcast to chat a few items, and his top-five wide receiver list came up.
From No. 1 through 5, Pickens name out his best wideouts of all time:
- Calvin Johnson
- Randy Moss
- Jerry Rice
- Julio Jones
- Michael Crabtree
OK, Rice is slighted. Hang onto that for a second. But Crabtree?
Sure, Crabtree joined the NFL with the Niners, and he was an integral part of those Jim Harbaugh-era offenses in the early 2010s.
But a top-five receiver in league history? Seriously? Grab another former 49ers legend who traveled around the league for a while, Terrell Owens. Hall of Famer Cris Carter. Almost anybody else!
At any rate, the slight to Rice is another gaffe by far. Sure, Moss could potentially be in the conversation, although fellow Hall of Famer Michael Irvin put that argument to rest, "period."
Johnson, meanwhile, gushed talent but never even sniffed the kind of longevity that Rice had.
Oh, and records. Any career receiving record is likely to be held by Rice, and the next player on each respective list would probably need to nearly double his own career to catch San Francisco's GOAT.
Sorry, Pickens. You got this one wrong.
Hat tip to JPA Football for the find.
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