The 5 O'Clock Club: Ranking the NFC East wide receivers

It’s July. Free Agency is finished. The draft is in the books. Training Camp is 3 weeks away, and it seems like a good time to consider how the Redskins stack up against their division rivals.

Today, I’d like to think about the Wide Receivers — a group of players that perform and shine individually, but have to have complementary skills, and work together as a corps to succeed.

I’ve tried to focus on the top 3 non-TE receivers on each team.

1. Which unit is the best in the NFC East?
2. Which is the worst?
3. When you look position-by-position in the NFC East, who are the three beastiest receivers in the NFC East?

Here’s a summary of the most likely top-3 receivers for each of the division teams:

Giants:

Odell Beckham Jr, Brandon Marshall, Sterling Shepard

Cowboys:

Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley

Redskins:

Terrelle Pryor, Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder

Eagles:

Alshon Jeffrey, Torrey Smith, Jordan Matthews

Damn, Skippy! That’s a lot of quality receiving talent in the division!

Sitting here in early July, I have a hard time giving the “beastiest” overall group to anyone other than the Giants. OBJ is possibly the most talented WR in the league... he’s at least in the conversation with players like Julio Jones and Antonio Brown. Brandon Marshall may be at the end of his career, but playing opposite OBJ has its advantages. Sterling Shepard is just at the beginning of his career, and when he’s the #3 receiver on your team, you know you’re looking at some serious talent.

The Redskins & Eagles look similar to each other with a new #1 receiver coming in as a free agent acquisition, and a three-man group that has never played together before.

While I love Jamison Crowder, and I’m excited about Pryor and hopeful about Doctson, sitting here in July, I have to put the Redskins at #4 in the division, but I do so with the full expectation that Gruden & Cousins will have this receiving group looking absolutely fabulous on the field and in the stats by the time December rolls around.

My all star NFC East receiving corps would be: OBJ, Brandon Marshall, Jamison Crowder.