Every NFL franchise's greatest wide receiver ever
By Nick Villano
Green Bay Packers
Don Hutson
This is one of the either-or arguments that’s actually incredibly fun. These two wide receivers played in completely different eras and completely different styles of play. It comes down to Don Hutson versus DaVante Adams. Yes, there were other really good receivers like Donald Driver, James Lofton, and Sterling Sharpe, but Hutson and Adams are just better.
We went with Hutson over Adams because he was more dominant than any receiver ever. This isn’t to say Hutson was better than Jerry Rice, but it’s to show how much better he was than anyone else playing at the time. He led the league in receptions in eight of his 11 seasons. Hutson led the league in receiving seven times and touchdowns nine times.
Hutson’s 17 touchdowns in 1942 was the league record that wasn’t broken until Rice caught 22 in 1987. Still, to this day, only five players have caught more touchdowns in a season (including Adams in 2020).
Six All-Pros, four Pro Bowls, six-time NFL scoring leader, and he even led the league in interceptions in 1940. It’s wild since Hutson almost decided against playing professional football entirely. It took the convincing of then Packers head coach Curly Lambeau to jump to the NFL. He helped the Packers win three NFL Championships, starting this franchise’s legacy.