2009 NFL Cheat Sheet Preview: Wide Receivers

As avid readers of the Bruno Boys website know, the 2009 fantasy football cheat sheetwebazine will be making its world premiere on July 1.

Unfortunately, there will be no red carpet event featuring starlets and the paparazzi to drum up interest (though you’ll all agree there should be), so to whet your appetite we’re going to dole out a bit of a preview on a few wide receivers who have a lot of hype surrounding them entering '09.

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Anthony Gonzalez (WR)

Without getting too specific, we can tell you that Gonzalez is among the top-30 receivers in our rankings. Clearly, there’s a lot to like about the third-year Ohio State product, but the best thing about him for fantasy football owners may simply be that he’ll be getting more opportunities than at any other point in his career.

With Marvin Harrison having exited Indy, Gonzalez is now the starter opposite Reggie Wayne. And despite Gonzalez’s relative youth, he is the most accomplished wideout on the current roster other than Wayne.

In fact, the rest of the receivers on the team have caught a total of just five NFL passes.

Michael Crabtree (SF)

The first-round pick of the 49ers in April’s draft, Crabtree is the only rookie in the top-40 of the wide receiver rankings. His situation, while not similar to Gonzalez’s in terms of who will be throwing him the ball, is comparable in terms of competition in San Francisco at wideout—there just isn’t much.

Josh Morgan has shown the capability to be a special player, but other than him, Crabtree’s main competition for playing time is Isaac Bruce, who will turn 37 during the season, along with Jason Hill and Brandon Jones. Solid players each, but not the type who will be able to stand in the way of Crabtree.

Miles Austin (DAL)

Though a top-65 ranking may not seem like it is anything to brag about, it may be for a player who has a total of 18 catches in three seasons in the NFL. But somebody has to catch the balls that Tony Romo slings, and at 6-foot-3 with excellent speed, Miles is as good a candidate as any.

He would only be the third wideout in Dallas, but they were eighth in the league in pass attempts last season, so there are plenty of balls to go around.

Earl Bennett (CHI)

As few passes as Austin has caught, there is a player among the top-75 who has caught fewer, and that player is Bennett. In fact, as a third-round pick of the Bears last season, Bennett was on the receiving end of… zero passes. None. Nada. Zilch.

The former Vanderbilt star had his hands on the ball just one time all year—a 17-yard punt return in a Week 14 loss to Minnesota. But the Bears are looking for a receiver to step up, and Bennett’s new teammate, Jay Cutler, also happened to be his teammate in college at Vanderbilt, making him a nice sleeper option this season.

Those are just four of the 80 wide outs we touch on with more detail than we did here in the webazine.

There, all of your most pressing questions will be answered, like did Randy Moss make the top-three with the return of Tom Brady? How far did Braylon Edwards fall due to his case of the butterfingers last season? Is Chad Ochocinco still a top-20 receiver? You’ll just have to wait until July 1 to find out.

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