Arizona Cardinals: Top Five WR In Franchise History

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The Arizona Cardinals have seen a lot of decent receivers come through since 1988

Choosing the top five receivers in Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals was easy after the first two choice.  After that you could look at a group of seven or eight guys you could consider.  Alas, as with the other lists, I went with five.

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Even with Larry Fitzgerald re-signing after a restructured contract, there is still some uncertainty at wide receiver headed into the offseason practices and camps.  Fitz will be one and then you have John Brown and Michael Floyd.  After that who knows what the future holds.  So with that in mind, let’s look at the past history of Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals receivers.

1. Larry Fitzgerald

Was there any other choice for number one?  This was a easy choice.  Despite his production dropping off a bit over the past three seasons, Fitz is still a weapon in the Cardinals offense.  His re-signing proves the Cardinals still believe that.  Sure, the contract was a bit of a thank you for years of service but a player who can’t produce any more won’t get a contract close to that no matter who you are.

In his 11 seasons Fitz has 909 receptions for 12,151 yards and 89 touchdowns.  He has five seasons of at least 10 touchdowns or more.  His last double-digit touchdown season was in 2013 when he had 10.  He’s had to struggle through a number of different quarterbacks but in Carson Palmer he’s found someone that can keep him productive until the end of his career in a few years.

Best season as a Cardinal: Tough call but in 2005 Fitz had 103 receptions for 1409 yards and 10 touchdowns

Best game as a Cardinal: Despite the decrease in production, Fitz showed last season he still has it with seven receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown in a 24-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on October 26, 2014.

2. Anquan Boldin

Boldin spent seven seasons in Arizona from 2003-2009. His time didn’t seem to end amicably here but there is no doubt he was one of the best to ever catch a ball in Arizona.

For his seven seasons, Boldin caught 586 passes for 7,520 yards.  He had 44 touchdowns for the Cardinals.  He had over a 1,000 yards receiving in five of his seven seasons here.

Best season as a Cardinal: 2005 was also a great season for Boldin in addition to Fitz.  Boldin had 102 receptions for 1,402 yards, a league-best 100.1 yards per game.  He caught seven touchdowns.

Best game as a Cardinal:  Nothing was better than his rookie debut on September 7, 2003.  He caught 10 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-24 loss to the Detroit Lions.

3. Frank Sanders

Sanders spent his first eight seasons in the NFL with the Cardinals.  Die-hard fans will remember his contributions to the organization.  He had two 1,000 yard seasons.  He was with the Cardinals 1995-2002.

Sanders had 493 receptions for 6,579 yards and 24 touchdowns.  The number of touchdowns may seem low for that period of time given all the yards but you have to remember the Cardinals offense floundered quite a bit over those eight seasons and at times found it very difficult to score.

Best season as a Cardinal: In 1998 Sanders had 89 receptions for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns.

Best game as a Cardinal: On November 15, 1998 Sanders caught 11 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown in a 35-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.