Every NFL franchise's greatest wide receiver ever

Baltimore Ravens
Derrick Mason

Honestly, it’s incredibly hard to dictate one receiver as the best in Baltimore Ravens history. It was a few spurts of fantastic play, but it was almost always later in a player’s career or one small spate of good play. Steve Smith Sr. was really good for a couple of seasons. Torrey Smith was fine but never great. Anquon Boldin was very productive for his three seasons after leaving Arizona. Yet, the best was Derrick Mason.

Mason left Tennessee to sign with Baltimore in 2005. Mason broke the Ravens franchise record (which was only worth less than 10 years at that point) in his first season in purple. He continued his fantastic connection with Steve McNair in Baltimore, making the transition for the star quarterback easier. He also helped a rookie Joe Flacco learn the league. He was essential in making the transition from college to the NFL easy for the former University of Delaware product. 

Mason finished his Ravens career with 5,777 yards and 29 touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who started with the franchise when he turned 31 years old. He broke 1,000 yards in four of his six seasons with the Ravens. It’s an underrated impact on a franchise that had so many great players. Most of those players were on the defensive side or at running back, so Mason fell under them, but he was huge for this team.

The Ravens won the Super Bowl after Mason left, but he left an impact on that team. He gave Flacco the confidence to trust his receivers, and he even helped him get to the AFC Championship Game in 2008. He caught the only touchdown in their Divisional Round win against the Titans, and he caught another touchdown against the Dolphins the week before. Mason delivered whenever asked to, and he should have a bigger legacy in Baltimore.