Tampa Bay Buccaneer Thinks Team's Wide Receiver Group Might Be Best Ever

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are apparently feeling themselves. Per Pewter Report, Wide receiver Russell Gage recently returned to practice and told assembled reporters in the locker room that the team's wide receiver group is "maybe the best ever".

It's a bold claim but not totally unsubstantiated considering the room sports three former Pro Bowlers in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones. Gage likely considers himself not too shabby, either. But in the long history of the league, surely there must be obvious examples he is looking past. Right?

The highest-scoring offense in NFL history is the 2013 Denver Broncos, who featured Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Wes Welker as their top three wide receivers. Next up in total scoring is the 2007 New England Patriots, with Randy Moss and Wes Welker, yet again. Other notable units include the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, who set the scoring record hurling passes to Randy Moss and Cris Carter, and the Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams, who scored over 500 points in three consecutive seasons thanks in no small part to the talents of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.

The NFL actually made a list about this very subject on their NFL Throwback channel, and they made an intriguing case for an unusual choice: the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers, who sported four past and future Pro Bowlers in Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Emmanuel Sanders. But Brown and Sanders were only rookies, and the team finished the season a mere 12th in scoring. So an abundance of talent doesn't necessarily guarantee an abundance of points.

Time will tell where the 2022 Bucs fall among the all-time great wide receiver groups. Tampa already scored the second-most points in the league while tallying the most passing yards of any team last year. Should this group of pass catchers be even better than that one, there may be no limit to what this year's offense can achieve.