Stephen A. Smith ranked the top five wide receivers in the NFL in a First Take segment, and Antonio Brown was noticeably absent from the list.
Here's Smith's top five:
- Julio Jones
- DeAndre Hopkins
- Odell Beckham Jr.
- Michael Thomas
- Tyreek Hill
Smith defended his decision to leave Brown off of his list, saying, "this is not about who the best wide receiver is at this moment, it's about who they're going to be this upcoming season."
"I'm not questioning anything about Antonio Brown," he said. "I'm questioning Derek Carr and whether or not Derek Carr will be able to beat Ben Roethlisberger."
Co-host Max Kellerman questioned the decision.
"Like, are we talking about the numbers they're going to put up? Because if we're talking about fantasy numbers, JuJu Smith-Schuster is going to be off the chains this year," said Kellerman. "JuJu Smith-Schuster is now the No. 1 receiving option in a pass-happy offense with a quarterback with something to prove about that guy! ... If we're talking about actual value as a player? You cannot leave off AB! AB is not showing any signs of slowing!"
Former receiver and current ESPN NFL analyst Victor Cruz agreed with Kellerman.
"I'm one of those people that's looking for AB on this list too," he said. "You've got to take into account the numbers he's put up over the years. I know he's got a new quarterback, but he's still the No. 1 option in that receiving corps. Derek Carr is going to get him the football early and often for him to be successful. It's the only way the Raiders are going to compete this year is if Antonio Brown is out there on that football field performing."
Smith responded by saying that if Brown were still in Pittsburgh with Roethlisberger, he'd be in the top two of his list.
This debate comes after Smith tore into Brown for Brown's tweet saying he was "never friends" with Roethlisberger.
The full video can be seen here:
