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There has been a long chorus line of praise being thrown at Bengals second-year receiver, A.J. Green, this offseason. It's definitely deservedly so, as Green had the best season for a rookie receiver in the club's history, landing him in the Pro Bowl last year. The praise that Green has received over the past few months has been from analysts and other writers from NFL sites.
The most successful and prominent name in league history at the receiver position, Jerry Rice, sounded off with a recent list of his own. Speaking with The Dallas Morning News, Rice names six youngsters at the position that he sees as the league's future at the position. Rice was diplomatic with his list, as he didn't rank the six names in any order other than alphabetical. The Bengals' Green was complimented by Rice to be one of the six names he threw out there. NFL.com's Marc Sessler relayed the story and took it a step further, ranking the six names on the list by overall talent.
Sessler ranks Green No.2 on the list of six, behind only Victor Cruz of the Giants:
2. A.J. Green (23), Cincinnati Bengals: Completely transformed Cincy's offense and should only improve after a full offseason with Andy Dalton.
Green finished ahead of fellow 2011 wide receiver draftee, Julio Jones, on Sessler's list and is one of the youngest players of the six. Perhaps the most surprising player on the list is Percy Harvin of the Vikings. While Harvin is an exciting player who is multidimensional in the way that he can help a team, he's had n up and down career to this point. A lot of that has been out of his control though, as he's had to battle migraine issues and inconsistent quarterback play.
Though the tagline explaining the reasons behind Green's fast track to stardom are familiar, it's still eye-opening to see the game's greatest receiver give props to the youngster. Like so many others, Rice and Sessler see huge things in the future for Green.