Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Who's No. 1?

In Indianapolis, it's Marvin Harrison, with Reggie Wayne ready, willing and able to handle the designation.

In Houston, it's unquestionably Andre Johnson.

In Jacksonville, the hope is it will be Jerry Porter.

In Tennessee, there isn't one and the team is hardly hell-bent on finding one.

Is a No. 1 receiver necessary for a team to win big?

All sorts of statistical markers can be used to assign the title, but more important is the ability of a top receiver to dictate coverage and the potential for him to turn a game around with one catch.

Think of all-time Super Bowl teams in the last 25 years and a receiver jumps out: San Francisco with Jerry Rice, Dallas with Michael Irvin, Denver with Rod Smith. Look at the last three Super Bowl winners and find Hines Ward -- certainly a No. 1 in the context of the 2005 Steelers -- Harrison and Plaxico Burress.

Indianapolis president Bill Polian is quick to say he's had a clear-cut top receiver at each of his stops -- Andre Reed in Buffalo, Muhsin Muhammad in Carolina and now Harrison and Wayne. While Polian drafted Muhammad in 1996, his prime seasons came in 1999, 2000 and 2004, when Polian was already with the Colts.

"It's an absolute must," he said of having a No. 1. "If you're going to throw the ball successfully, obviously, you're going to have to have a guy you can go to who's consistent and durable and out there every week. That's been the kind of offenses I've been used to being with now. There are other kinds of offenses where they can be interchangeable."

The Titans see themselves as that sort of offense. They've invested little in high draft picks and big-ticket free agents over the years, and had their share of injury bad luck at the position while focusing on defense and the running game. But through four coordinators, with Mike Heimerdinger now at the start of a second term, the team's philosophy has been that it can effectively spread the ball around rather than funneling passes to one wideout who's the best of their bunch.

"I think it depends on the scheme," said Heimerdinger, who worked with Brandon Marshall last year in Denver as he emerged as a No. 1. "A guy like Brandon Marshall, a guy like T.O., the two at Indy, those guys can all turn a game around. I've seen Brandon catch 6-yard passes and make 40-yard runs because guys couldn't tackle him. That makes you a real good coach. If you can get those guys or people develop into those guys, that's special for you."

In Derrick Mason's best year as a receiver in Tennessee -- he had 95 catches for 1,303 yards and eight touchdowns in 2003 -- the Titans went to the AFC Championship Game.

Teams can succeed on a top level without a No. 1, but it sure seems a difficult route. In 2000, Baltimore won the Super Bowl with the sort of defense and run-first formula that the Titans and Jaguars both lean toward now.

And at least two of New England's three Super Bowl wins came with teams that didn't have a receiver who qualified as a No. 1 in terms of passing distribution or dictating coverage. But with a top-flight quarterback like Tom Brady playing great, a group of receivers who would be designated as twos or threes by most can be plenty good enough.

The Titans could certainly work harder to find a No. 1. But they shouldn't be blamed for not getting him this offseason, as the top of the draft and the free-agent pool simply didn't include a can't-miss candidate. There is often a misperception that teams can or should just go get one. But by my count only 13 of 32 teams can say they have one for sure and the two top ones -- Terrell Owens and Randy Moss -- have proven to be combustible locker room forces when things haven't gone well.

"You don't have to have a one," Heimerdinger said. "I don't think there are a lot of those in this league. But then you need guys that fit in the scheme and can get open when they are one-on-one. They have to have the ability to separate when they get single coverage and make a play."

Polian disagrees.

"The teams that win, it seems to me, have one," he said. "There are teams that don't who come close, but I think it's hard to win it all without one."

As Houston looks for its first winning season, it's banking on Johnson, who eats up a cornerback's cushion with superb explosion when he's healthy. The Texans were 6-3 with him and 2-5 without him last season. If he's playing, others such as Kevin Walter, Andre Davis and tight end Owen Daniels benefit greatly.

More troubling than the lack of a No. 1 in Nashville is the personality of the group. While a receiving corps and an offense can be disrupted by a just-give-me-the-damn-ball type, I'd argue they need a guy or two with at least a bit of swagger in the meeting room and huddle. The Titans, instead, have a universally mild-mannered bunch that doesn't seem to aggressively go get the ball.

As Bo Scaife stands to improve because of the addition of Alge Crumpler and as LenDale White should be better because of Chris Johnson, players such as Justin Gage, Justin McCareins and Brandon Jones could all profit from having a standout at the head of the line.

Jacksonville grabbed Porter in free agency, though he missed all of camp and the preseason as he recovered from hamstring surgery. He is not expected to play Week 1 at Tennessee, and there is no guarantee a player who only posted two big seasons in Oakland will be able to transform a group. But at least Jacksonville took a swing.

"If you don't have that dominant presence that demands double coverage, you go through the progressions and deliver the ball on time," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "It takes maybe more of a team approach. I think that can be healthy. It's harder to zero in on where the ball is going defensively if everybody is an option. There can be some benefits to that.

"We all want dominant guys. It's about playmakers making plays. You're always looking for the dominant guy. [But] I don't think you need to manufacture it, I don't think you need to try and name a guy that particular guy. If you have one, it becomes apparent to everybody. Defenses will let you know because they'll start rolling coverages there consistently. That's what a dominant guy can do."

While the Jaguars' defense will key on Harrison and Wayne and Andre Johnson twice each year, Jacksonville knows it has players on offense that other teams will have to account for in a similar manner, even if they don't line up wide.

"Our dominant guys right now are in our backfield, they're the ones that are dictating how defenses play us," Del Rio said, pointing to Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. "Because if you don't get down there and load the box, you're going to have a hard time slowing our guys down. Our No. 1 happens to line up in the backfield."