Cincinnati Bengals: Best wide receivers in team history, No. 4

The ranking of the best wide receivers in Cincinnati Bengals franchise history moves forward as we get to No. 4 on the list.

Training camp is almost upon us, but we’re still some time away before meaningful football will be played by the Cincinnati Bengals. Subsequently, the look back at some of the best players in the history of the franchise, doing so by position, continues.

After looking at quarterbacks, we took on the running backs. Then, we began with the interesting extras at wide receiver before getting to the fifth-best in Bengals history.

Today we will look at the No. 4 wide receiver in franchise history.

4. Cris Collinsworth

The Cincinnati Bengals may be ingrained in people’s minds as a laughingstock (from their Bungles days in the 90s) or a nondescript playoff-losing afterthought (much of the Marvin Lewis era), but they weren’t always that way. In fact, this was a team which not only found success in the playoffs at one point in time, but made two Super Bowls in a single decade.

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Cris Collinsworth was there for both. While fans born after 1988 may only know of the former Bengal as face and voice who has long paired with Al Michaels for prime-time football commentary, he was once not only a player but an impactful one.

He wasted no time making that impact, either: in his first season, he immediately set what would stand as his career-high for receptions (67) while eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards. This was quickly followed by what would be the first of three playoff runs — and the one where he best left his mark. He scored the decisive touchdown in a 28-21 victory in the Divisional Round against Buffalo, before eventually bringing in five receptions for 107 yards in the 1981 Super Bowl.

Collinsworth wasn’t just a one-hit wonder, though. In fact, the man was just 11 yards short of  having 1,000+ yards in the majority of his career seasons; instead, he just has it in exactly half of his eight seasons. Collinsworth from 1981 to 1986 was one of the premiere receiving options in the NFL.

He may have never reached the peaks that some of his peers did, but compare him with the greats from that era and he comes out positively. During that stretch, his stats were either comparable to or surpassed James Lofton, Wes Chandler, Art Monk, Dwight Clark, and John Stallworth. This is Collinsworth in that time: 373 receptions, 5,977 receiving yards, and 35 touchdowns across 86 games.

With the way his career began, Collinsworth could have turned himself into one of THE receivers of the 80s, rather than just being an underrated one from that era. Unfortunately, his time among the greats came to an end quickly. The player strike in 1987 helped limited his season to 8 active games, and by 1988 he was no longer starting games for the team. He would cap that year — and his playing career — with 3 catches for 40 yards in the Super Bowl, but it would end with the same unfortunate result as his rookie year: a heartbreaking loss to San Francisco.

Next: NFL 2018: Ranking all 32 WR corps

Collinsworth was a clear success in his Cincinnati days, but the way he ends up being remembered when he truly stops working will probably be through his voice on your football broadcast or as an investor in the advanced analytics side of things with Pro Football Focus. Still, his time with Cincinnati should not be overlooked in what it means for his own legacy, nor should his place in the history of the franchise be forgotten.