AFC North wide receiver corps ranked from worst to best in 2023

Over the past two offseasons, the Cleveland Browns have gone to work on their roster. One area they focused on improving was the wide receiving corps and they enter 2023 with a deep and talented unit.

But are they the best in the AFC North? We answer that with this divisional wide receiver ranking.

4. Baltimore Ravens

Top Players: Rashod Bateman, Odell Beckham, Jr., Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor

Much like the Browns have done recently, the Baltimore Ravens have tried to fix their concerns at wideout. They have an interesting mix of youth and veteran talent with Odell Becham, Jr. and Rashod Bateman as the projected starters outside and rookie Zay Flowers in the slot.

Behind them, the Ravens have 30-year-old Nelson Agholor who just spent two seasons with the New England Patriots. While Agholor was a disappointment overall in New England, he has incredible speed that needs to be respected. The same can be said about OBJ but he has been injured for the past couple of years and is far from the player he once was — even if Baltimore wants to pay him like he's still elite.

Bateman is a former first-round pick but he too has been injury prone. That means two of their top wideouts could be sidelined for much of the year — if history is any indicator — and the other is a deep threat with wildly inconsistent play.

That means a lot will be put on the shoulders of Zay Flowers, who was really never supposed to be a WR1.

Baltimore has name recognition but that's about it. That's why this is the worst wide receiver corps in the AFC North.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

Top Players: Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Allen Robinson

Ar first glance, the Pittsburgh Steelers might appear to have the worse wide receiving corps in the North, but that's not the case. They come in just ahead of the Ravens due to their superior talent, even if the production wasn't there in 2022.

Diontae Johnson was still their No. 1 wideout and had 86 receptions for 882 yards. Oddly enough, he had zero touchdowns last season but that falls on the shoulders of the quarterback more than it does Johnson.

The veteran wideout had eight touchdowns in 2021 and 20 total in his first three seasons. Then when being forced to work With Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, he saw his numbers go down. Despite their issues getting him the ball in the end zone, Johnson has proven he's a great route runner than can cause issues for opposing teams.

Starting next to him will be George Pickens who had 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns. He's a deep threat who also made one of the most impressive receptions of the year against the Browns last season.

Third is Allen Robinson who is far from the player he once was. At least, that's what the numbers say. He had just 410 yards in 2021 and 339 in 2022. However, he had issues under center with the Bears and Rams so he shouldn't be slept on just yet.

2. Cleveland Browns

Top Players: Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Marquise Goodwin

Entering the 2023 season, Donovan Peoples-Jones is the longest-tenured member of the Browns receiving corps. Selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, he's been a great find by Andrew Berry and broke out in a big way in 2022.

DPJ pulled down 61 passes for 839 yards with four touchdowns. He now enters a critical fourth season since he will be a free agent in 2024. Another strong campaign and he can make a whole lot of money for himself.

As good as he was last year, the No. 1 wideout was Amari Cooper, who was practically stolen away from the Dallas Cowboys. Cooper had 78 receptions for 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns in his debut season with Cleveland. His route running is second to none as he finds space with ease week in and week out.

Both Cooper and DPJ put up these numbers despite having a lack of depth to take some of the pressure off their shoulders. They also were working with Jacoby Brissett, who isn't a franchise quarterback.

This year, both those factors change. Deshaun Watson will be under center from Week 1 and the receiving corps is deep enough that opposing teams will pay for focusing too much on Cooper and Peoples-Jones.

Their top addition was Elijah Moore, who is a potential game-changer. They also signed Marquise Goodwin, giving them a deep threat that can actually make a difference.

As far as sheer talent goes, the Browns are up there with any team in the NFL. The only issue is that Moore has yet to prove he's the player we thought he was coming out of Ole Miss and Goodwin has been up and down for much of his career. Even so, this unit is stacked and arguably the best receiving corps Cleveland has had since returning in 1999.

1. Cincinnati Bengals

Top Players: Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd

As much as the Browns have done to improve their receiving corps, they're still coming in behind the best in the AFC North —and quite possibly the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals have three players who are a nightmare to cover with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd.

Both Chase and Higgins could be No. 1 wideouts and each had more than 1,000 yards receiving in 2022. Higgins had 74 receptions for 1,029 yards and seven touchdowns. In three seasons, he's twice hit the 1,000-yard mark and has 3,028 yards and 19 touchdowns.

With the Bengals, that's been WR2 numbers since Chase has been one of the best in the league. As a rookie, he had 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns on 81 receptions. He followed that up with 87 catches for 1,046 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2022 — although he missed five games.

Boyd is the veteran of the group and has hit 1,000 yards twice in his seven-year career. In all, he has 446 receptions for 5,333 yards and 29 touchdowns. He's not as dangerous as Chase or Higgins but he's an excellent slot receiver and can do more than enough damage. Especially when opposing teams focus too much on the big two.

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