Two-time Super Bowl winner ranks the top five receiving duos in the NFL: Bengals edge Eagles for top spot
Going into the offseason, it wasn’t clear if the Cincinnati Bengals would be able to keep their top two receivers, but there’s no question about that now after Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase both signed long-term deals this week.
Higgins signed a four-year, $115 million deal that will keep him in Cincinnati through 2028 while Chase signed a record-setting four-year, $161 million extension that will keep him with the Bengals through 2029. Basically, the Bengals’ dynamic duo is going to be terrorizing NFL defenses together for the next several years.
With Chase and Higgins now locked up, that got us wondering: Are they the best receiving tandem in the NFL?
To answer that question, we went to someone who would know: CBS Sports HQ NFL analyst Bryant McFadden. The former NFL cornerback won two Super Bowls while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As someone who spent his entire career trying to slow receivers down, McFadden knows what to look for when trying to rank the best ones in the NFL.
With that in mind, McFadden decided to rank the top five receiving duos in the NFL, so let’s check out what he had to day:
5. Rams: Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. “The only thing that slowed down Puka last year was injuries. He only played in 11 games, but he almost had a 1,000 yards. One would think with a clean bill of health and with Matthew Stafford back on the saddle, he’s going to do numbers. … When you look at Adams’ skill set and his ability to create separation, the play caller in Sean McVay and the quarterback, these two guys are clearly a top five wide receiver tandem.”
4. Lions: Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. “When you play against the Detroit Lions, you can’t devote all of your attention to the aerial attack. When you have [David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs] in the backfield, they have more balance than any other team in the NFL and that will pave the way for another successful season for these two wide receivers.”
3. Dolphins: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. “These are the two fastest receivers in the NFL. Speed is something you can not coach, you can not prepare for, you will be in a position where you’re just chasing. You better believe these three individuals [Hill, Waddle and Tua Tagovailoa] will be motivated to make big time splash plays.”
2. Eagles: A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. “They have two wide receiver ones on this team, in my opinion. They coexist nicely together in this offense. They have a really good running game led by Saquon Barkley, but when Jalen Hurts is looking to make plays in the air, he’s looking for [Brown or Smith]. Those guys often win their one-on-one matchups.”
1. Bengals: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. “Ja’Marr Chase, triple crown winner, led the NFL in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns. And Tee Higgins, the only thing that slowed him down was the injuries that he was dealing with, but he still had a very successful season. When you look at the individual skillsets that they each provide along with the quarterback who is throwing them the football: Joe Burrow. You look at the chemistry they have in place … they’re the best duo of receivers, easily, in my opinion.”
There are only three teams in the NFL that have two receivers who are making at least $25 million each, and not surprisingly, those three teams are at the top of McFadden’s ranking.
