There were a number of break-out receivers in 2007.  Brandon Marshall, Braylon Edwards and Wes Welker to name just three who exploded into the fantasy market.  While running backs continue a downward trend in value due to platoon situations and constant injuries, wide receivers are becoming more important in the early rounds of fantasy drafts, as players like Randy Moss and Reggie Wayne continue to put up stats which rival or surpass any starting running back.  With more fantasy owners paying attention to wide receivers early, you need to recognize which wide receivers in 2008 will get that break-out tag.  This year there will be a mix of young players, and previous stars who went MIA in 2007.  Here are my top five choices:

Calvin Johnson:  The rookie of 2007 battled injuries and an inconsistent offense and still had pretty decent numbers starting across from Roy Williams.  With a year under his belt, a strong off-season conditioning program and an offense which won’t be the helter skelter system Mike Martz pushed, expect a much more consistent year from Calvin.  He has all the tools, and has looked very solid in preseason.  Roy Williams still keeps defense honest across from him.  In 2008, Johnson should be much closer to 75 receptions and 10 touchdowns, the numbers expected in his rookie season.

Bernard Berrian- This speedster can get distance between any defender if you give him even half a step.  He had over 70 recepetions as a Chicago Bear so I don;t expect him to blow away 2007 numbers, but his move to Minnesota has to help his numbers.  In Chicago, defenses were able to key in on Berrian, sit back and just pick off Grossman since no-one else on the Bears team was a threat.  In Minny, defenses will be watching Adrian Peterson and trying to stop the ground attack and actually trying to force Minny to pass.  Throw in that Tavaris Jackson is improving each season and at this point a much safer QB than Rex Grossman, and you have to feel that if Berrian can stay healthy he will top 80 receptions and have more red zone looks in a better offense.  At the time of writing this Berrian is still battling “Turf Toe”, but it appears he is just making sure he does no further damage in the preseason and will be ready to go by the opener.

Santana Moss - This one will be short and sweet.  For whatever reason Moss has an incredible consistent trend during his NFL career.  Great fantasy year - horrible fantasy year - great fantasy year - horrible fantasy year… In 2008 he is due for one of his great years.  It is like defenses forget him every second year, and his QB hits the zone.   He has the speed and skills, so until he proves otherwise and breaks his pattern, I’ll believe he can produce top 20 numbers again in 2008.

Tedd Ginn- From what I have seen in preseason, Tedd Ginn has the speed and hands to excel in this league.  That is two big pieces of a WR’s package, and the third is a quarterback who can deliver him the ball.  Well he has 2 of 3 anyway.  Though I have no faith in Pennington as a starting QB, I do feel Ginn is going to be one of those receivers who make the biggest step forward in year 2.   He looked like he had all the physical tools in his rookie year, but couldn’t get a grasp on the offense (what little of it there was).  He arrived in came looking much more confident this year and ready to take the reigns as WR1 for this Dolphins team.  While I don’t think he will post the overall stats of some others on this list, he is worth a late round look if you are thin at WR, especially in keeper leagues.

Jericho Cotchery- Say hello to the 2008 version of Greg Jennings.  Cotchery has shown flashes of brilliance in his short NFL career, but his overall numbers have not reached the potential he flashes, even though he has quietly tallied 164 catches and over 2000 yards in his two seasons.  He is a runner who likes to get downfield and make yards happen after the catch.  He simply has not had a QB who can deliver him the ball where and when he needs it consistently or those numbers would be even better.  Enter the gun slinger himself, Brett Favre and he finally has a QB that can hit him over the middle, on a streak, wherever.  Most of his points are going to come on receptions and yards, but in most leagues that will be enough.