The Importance of a True No. 1 Receiver in the N.F.L.

Something that has really stood out on film this season is the significance of wide receivers. With the N.F.L. seemingly entirely pass-oriented these days – the four most productive weeks in league history in terms of passing yards have been Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the 2011 season – weapons in the passing game have never been more important.

The tight end position is experiencing a meteoric rise that we’ll examine more closely as the season goes on and we’ve had time to confirm that Jermichael Finley and Jimmy Graham are indeed human. In the meantime, one pronouncement we can make is that if you don’t have a wideout who can create big plays, you’re in trouble.

Look at the bottom-ranked pass offenses (in terms of yards per attempt): Jaguars 32nd; Rams 31st; Browns 30th; Colts 29th; and Vikings 28th.

One thing that these teams – save for the Colts – have in common is the absence of a true No. 1 wideout. They don’t have someone who can consistently command double teams or stretch the field. The Jags have a respectable young possession target in Mike Thomas, but he’s not quite fast enough to make up for his smallish size.

The Rams have a decent option in Mike Sims-Walker, but he’s inconsistent and struggles at times to get open. The Browns have no one, unless you think that Mohamed Massaquoi’s often heavy feet and slow change of direction aren’t a problem (they are). As for the Vikings, they refuse to treat Percy Harvin as a No. 1 (he’s not a true No. 1 but he’s certainly more than the traditional slot receiver that they’ve been primarily using him as). And so they’re stuck with Bernard Berrian and Michael Jenkins, two veterans who simply can’t separate against press coverage.

A reading of the pass offense rankings would show that the general theme of this trend holds true for all 32 slots. Teams near the top of the pass rankings have elite receivers; teams in the low-20s – like the Seahawks, who had been without Sidney Rice; the Bucs; the injury-plagued Broncos or Redskins – don’t.

It’s not just that potent wideouts produce big plays – it’s that they also compel defenses to be conservative with their safeties. This stretches a defense, which creates bigger passing lanes. It also limits what defenses can do with blitz packages. These factors create the horizontal and underneath passing windows that so many offenses are exploiting these days (especially on first and second down).

It used to be that the key to a great offense was having a dominant running back who could force a safety to creep up as an eighth defender in the box. This would open things up over the top. Now, the key seems to be having a dominant receiver who can force a safety to creep back and help keep short passing lanes open.

Andy Benoit is an NFL analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.