Empty the Bench

You’ll notice there’s a Steve Smith in the top dozen of our weekly wide receiver rankings, and for the first time in ETB history he doesn’t play for the Carolina Panthers. This Steve Smith plays for the New York Giants, and as you may have noticed he leads all Smiths in catches, receiving yards and receiving TDs – by a wide margin. The 2007 second-round pick is having a breakout season sans Plax and it’s time to start trusting the kid. Eli Manning sure does, and that’s good enough for us.

We’ve also taken a stand on the Denver Broncos receiving corps, ranking Brandon Marshall a full 18 spots ahead of Eddie Royal. While we were happy to scoop up Marshall on the sly in drafts amid all the offseason argle bargle and fooferah, we thought Royal was one of the more solid picks out there. Royal runs great routes, has good hands, goes over the middle well, doesn’t rely on the deep ball, blah, blah, blah – basically, his skill set is tailor made to take advantage of Kyle Orton’s shortcomings. But that hasn’t been happening so far, and the Broncos seem much more intent on getting the ball into Marshall’s hands. So this is how we’ll roll this week, but an Eddie Royal resurgence is going to come. Patience.

Meanwhile, the rookie in Minnesota is having himself quite an opening month to his career. Three games, 3 TDs for Percy Harvin. Can he keep it going under the big top on Monday night? He’s clearly Brett Favre’s favorite receiver right now, and there’s no reason to think he can’t. We’ve seen Harvin make some tough grabs, break tackles and flash serious moves. On that 101-yard kick return he hit the 30 and just decided he wanted to run faster than everybody else on the field. Video evidence after the jump. Impressive.

Enough chatter, on to your wide receiver commandments. Love them. Live by them.

See also:
- Week 4 QB Rankings
- Week 4 RB Rankings
- Week 4 TE Ranks
- Week 4 DEF Ranks

1. Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts vs. SEA
2. Randy Moss, New England Patriots vs. BAL
3. Vincent Jackson, San Diego Chargers @ PIT
4. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans vs. Asomugha
5. Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals @ CLE
6. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions @ CHI
7. Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers @ MIN
8. Jerricho Cotchery, New York Jets @ NO
9. Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. SD
10. Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints vs. NYJ
11. Steve Smith, New York Giants @ KC
12. Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos vs. DAL
13. Devin Hester, Chicago Bears vs. DET
14. Santana Moss, Washington Redskins vs. TB
15. Kevin Walter, Houston Texans vs. OAK
16. Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers @ MIN

WR rankings 17 through 42, after the jump…

17. Wes Welker/Julian Edelman, New England Patriots vs. BAL (Check Status)
18. Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. SD
19. Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns vs. CIN
20. Dwyane Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs vs. NYG (Check Status)
21. Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bills @ MIA
22. Mario Manningham, New York Giants @ KC
23. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings vs. GB
24. Derrick Mason, Baltimore Ravens @ NE
25. Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys @ DEN
26. Mike Sims-Walker, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. TEN
27. Nate Burleson, Seattle Seahawks @ IND
28. Lee Evans, Buffalo Bills @ MIA
29. Eddie Royal, Denver Broncos vs. DAL
30. Pierre Garcon, Indianapolis Colts vs. SEA
31. Bernard Berrian, Minnesota Vikings vs. GB
32. Patrick Crayton, Dallas Cowboys @ DEN
33. TJ Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks @ IND
34. Nate Washington, Tennessee Titans @ JAC
35. Devery Henderson, New Orleans Saints vs. NYJ
36. Johnny Knox, Chicago Bears vs. DET
37. Josh Morgan, San Francisco 49ers vs. STL
38. Justin Gage, Tennessee Titans @ JAC
39. Donnie Avery, St. Louis Rams @ SF
40. Ted Ginn, Jr, Miami Dolphins vs. BUF
41. Andre Caldwell, Cincinnati Bengals vs. CLE
42. Mark Bradley, Kansas City Chiefs vs. NYG

See also:
- Week 4 QB Rankings
- Week 4 RB Rankings
- Week 4 TE Ranks
- Week 4 DEF Ranks

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