Rich’s Power Rankings: The NFL’s Top 10 Wide Receivers Heading into the 2026 Season

Rich opened his top 10 wide receivers with a warning, and it was accurate. This list is going to make some people angry, and by the end it is not hard to guess which people.

**10. Chris Olave.** So many receivers deserve this slot that picking one is almost arbitrary, and Rich landed on Olave because the production never wavers when he is available. He has done nothing but produce when healthy, and he is a tough cover. Now he needs Tyler Shough to be the guy.

**9. Nico Collins.** A beast when healthy, and Rich means the full-service version: possession receiver, physical over the middle, or the guy who takes the top off. He bought the hype last year, taking Collins in the second round of the league he most wanted to win, and it did not work out because Collins could not stay on the field and did not have enough help around him to avoid being blanketed. Tank Dell returned to practice that very day. Even hurt, Collins still put up a thousand-yard season.

**8. George Pickens.** Rich admitted he was loath to include him, because Pickens has never done this before, and because it puts a second receiver from one roster on the list. What he did last year was beyond impressive and genuinely unstoppable, which is exactly why Pittsburgh was patient with him for so long, and why the Steelers may end up lamenting the moment their patience ran out. Dallas saw it and responded with a franchise tag rather than a contract. Do it again and the bag comes out, at which point the Cowboys are staring at the most expensive quarterback and receiver combination in football.

**7. A.J. Brown.** This is a ranking built on past performance and on a big season ahead. Everything Rich said about Collins applies here, that Brown can be whatever the moment requires. Now he does it in New England, catching passes from Drake Maye, coming off a season that fell just short of an MVP and a championship. Rich framed the fit around a Kurt Warner observation, that of anybody in the league throwing a deep ball, Maye makes it look like a handoff. Give that quarterback a 50/50 target and see what happens.

**6. Amon-Ra St. Brown.** Rich was calling him a top-five receiver well before the rest of the league caught up, which makes ranking him sixth feel ironic. His fix was to call St. Brown 5A rather than six, praising how he catches the football, shrugs off bad games, and comes back at it.

**5. CeeDee Lamb.** Chris immediately said this was too low. Rich also revealed he toyed with putting Tee Higgins at 10, which would have created a second two-receiver team.

**4. Jaxon Smith-Njigba.** The reigning Offensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl champion, and Rich acknowledged he fully deserves a top-five spot. He has the belt.

**3. Puka Nacua.** Here is where Rich knew he was starting a fight, and he did not hide behind vibes. He voted Nacua for Offensive Player of the Year last season, and the case is statistical. Nacua played one fewer game and finished 78 yards shy of tying Smith-Njigba for the most receiving yards in football. He led the NFL in receptions with 129 and in yards per game at 107.2. Both men had 10 touchdowns. Smith-Njigba won the yards per catch battle at 15.1 to 13.3, but Nacua's 666 yards after the catch led the league.

**2. Justin Jefferson.** Rich threw out last year's stat lines on the grounds that the quarterback situation was not to Jefferson's liking, or anybody's. His entire argument was three words. Let's not forget.

**1. Ja'Marr Chase.** No hedging here. Chase is the best receiver in the NFL, and paired with Joe Burrow the rest of the league can go ahead and good luck. If Burrow makes 17 starts, Rich does not think there is an argument.

Chris's quibble was narrow. He would slide CeeDee Lamb to four and drop Jefferson to five, and he would take Drake London over Olave, calling them essentially the same player with the same availability problem. Rich pointed at the numbers, since London finished with 68 catches and seven touchdowns while Olave posted nine touchdowns and 1,163 yards.

As for the Seattle fans who will not enjoy seeing Smith-Njigba at four, Rich was unbothered.

"I'm not going to sit here and go, uh-oh, I'm upset about dissing off the 12s."