AFC North WR power rankings after latest Brandon Aiyuk rumors

The AFC North is stacked with talent and the wide receiver position is no exception to that rule. The Cleveland Browns are fortunate to have one of the scariest wide receivers in the division with Amari Cooper catching passes for them but the rest of the AFC North has dangerous receivers as well. Things could get even scarier at the position in the division if the rumors that have Brandon Aiyuk landing with the Steelers end up coming to fruition.

As mentioned not long ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the mix to add Aiyuk to their arsenal of weapons and that's a terrifying thought. For the time being though, their WR1 is George Pickens and they look to have struck gold with him. Pittsburgh spent a second-round pick on Pickens in the 2022 draft and despite not having a great quarterback during his two years in the league, Pickens has performed like a top-tier receiver.

The Cincinnati Bengals own not just the toughest group of receivers in the division but in the entire NFL as well. They have both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at their disposal on offense and lost Tyler Boyd in the offseason, now giving them just two terrifying weapons as opposed to all three starters being a pain to slow down.

The Baltimore Ravens are definitely more of a running team but they have receiving threats for Lamar Jackson too, with Zay Flowers leading the way in that department. Flowers is coming off an impressive rookie season and Browns fans are hoping he regresses.

With the division being so stacked with wide receiver talent, let's dive into the power rankings of the four WR1s for every team. Let's rank them from "worst" to first.

4. Zay Flowers (Ravens)

This fourth place ranking isn't because Flowers is bad but rather that he's the least experienced in a powerful group of wide receivers. The Ravens spent a first-round pick on Flowers in last year's draft and the rookie started 16 games while tallying 77 receptions for 858 yards and five touchdowns.

Flowers and Lamar Jackson were clearly on the same page during the first-round pick's rookie season and all Browns can hope for is that he doesn't have the same success during his sophomore season. He put together a nice rookie season but it's a small sample size for Flowers so that's why he's at the bottom of the list.

3. George Pickens (Steelers)

Since Aiyuk isn't in the division yet, Pickens is still the top receiver in the Steel City and sadly, the hope that Pickens would regress in Year 2 did not pan out for Browns fans. The second-year product out of Georgia popped off the page in 2023. Pickens finished the 2023 season with 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns and managed to do all of this despite having Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph throwing the ball to him.

Just imagine how much worse the Steelers offense would have been had Pickens not been on the team. Now Pittsburgh has added Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to their quarterback room with both of those guys being upgrades over anyone the Steelers had slinging the pigskin the previous season. This means that Pickens is likely going to get better and that's not a fun thing to think about.

2. Amari Cooper (Browns)

The Browns were smart to trade for Cooper in 2022, as he's been everything they've hoped for and more since coming to Cleveland. Cooper immediately balled out for the Browns, racking up 1,160 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns in 2022.

Cooper had quite the encore during Year 2 in Cleveland, putting up a career-high in receiving yards with 1,250 while finding the end zone five times. Cooper missed the final two games of the 2023 regular season and no wide receiver was able to step up and carry the load in his absence, which is a testament to how good the former Alabama receiver truly is.

The Browns are lucky to have him and should try their best to keep him in Cleveland for the rest of his career.

1. Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

As much as I'd have loved to put Cooper in the top spot, Chase is the best receiver in the AFC North and one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, he plays for the Bengals and has been a stud since Cincinnati shocked the world by spending the fifth overall pick on him in 2021.

Chase's best year is still his rookie season where he hauled in 81 receptions for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. His efforts that year were enough to earn him the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and Chase has never looked back.

While he hasn't hit those marks in 2022 or 2023, he's still a dangerous weapon and has yet to finish a season below 1,000 receiving yards. He missed five games in 2022 and still finished with over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns and this past year, he didn't have Joe Burrow for half the season but still crushed the competition with 1,216 yards and seven trips into the end zone.

Browns fans will be ready for Tee Higgins to hopefully leave the division after this year but unfortunately, it doesn't look like Chase will be going anywhere. The Bengals would be fools to not sign him to a long-term extension.