All he does is catch touchdowns.” Although made famous by Chris Berman, the phrase originated with Carter’s coach with the Eagles, Buddy Ryan, and was not entirely a compliment. Of course, Brown is most remembered as a receiver who was among the best at his position for a decade. He had six 100-yard games, plus four more with over 80 yards. This is the fourth installment, examining 1970-79 and 1975-84. Bruce had a career high 13 touchdowns in his second season, and the next year set a career high in yards. In short, it was in the late 1940s and early 1950s that the modern position of wide receiver emerged. Smith played on two Super Bowl champions, with 152 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXIII. Herman Moore was a four-time Pro Bowler and made three all-pro teams as a starter (more than Cris Carter and Tim Brown combined). 3. Carter last led the Vikings in receiving yards in 1995. He probably shouldn't be in. He missed the 1985 AFC Championship Game due to an injured hand. Irvin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. Carter, once 2nd all-time in both catches and receiving TDs, is now 4th in both categories. Max McGee (1954-1967): Raghib, projected to be the first pick in the 1991 NFL Draft, instead signed a record contract with the Toronto Argonauts, becoming a CFL All-Star before his NFL career began in 1993. Tim Brown — Great punt returner with 1,000 receptions, almost 15,000 yards, and 100 TDs. He scored 5 punt return TDs and rushed for 496 yards, one of the highest totals ever by a receiver. Carter just doesn't have the highlight reel those guys do, and he never won a championship. Still, Smith's 457 receptions and 6,401 yards in the … Best WRs By Decade, A first-team all-pro in 1990 and a five-time Pro Bowler, Rison had five 1,000-yard seasons and in 1993 tied Jerry Rice for the most receiving TDs in the NFL (15). Smith made the most of the years he did play, with nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons and five Pro Bowl appearances. He’s also a semi-regular writer here, and you can view all of Brad’s Football Perspective writing at this page. Looking at the 1990s as a whole, Moore had more receptions than Andre Reed, more yardage than Henry Ellard, and more touchdowns than Michael Irvin. The off-field stuff isn't supposed to factor into HOF voting, but Rison's uneven career and locker room impact are fair game. Then again, Smith didn't play on the kind of pass-oriented offenses most of the others did. Editor’s note: In addition, Brown has 31 points of, Editor’s note: When I looked at the 100 players with the, Editor’s note: Miller was responsible for, Editor’s note: Can you imagine if Rison’s, Editor’s note: I wrote a very pro-Smith profile, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: Conclusion, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 2000-09 and 2005-14, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1990-99 and 1995-04, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1980-89 and 1985-94, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1970-79 and 1975-84, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1960-69 and 1965-74, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1950-59 and 1955-64, the first decade of the Modern Era, 1945-54, Guest Post: Brad Oremland, Best WRs By Decade: 1945-54, Are 40-Yard Dash Times Correlated With Success For Wide Receivers? Comparing Smith to Keenan McCardell is just silly, which I guess leaves Herman Moore and maybe Rod Smith. Two men fight for the top spot when it comes to wide receivers in the NFL in the 2010s. Sports Central is the longest-running independent sports fan publication online, established in 1998 and featured by the BBC, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, and more. 6. I view Fryar much the same way I viewed Rafael Palmeiro (before the positive test for PEDs). Ellard had four seasons among the top four in receiving yards, Fryar none. Michael Irvin (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); As you watch this years selection you have to scratch your head and wonder. 1990-99: Michael Irvin. 7 Peerless Price . What if Rison had stayed with Atlanta, or gone to a stable team rather than one on the eve of a move to Baltimore? Rick Reilly called Fryar “the All Pro screw-up, the Human Incident, the Original Sinner.” Fryar is currently in jail for fraud. Whom you ask why stats or ok not great nothing like carter’s or Tim brown who enter the league same year and was so far ahead and higher in stats and records even with horrible qb’s and team. He’s 6th all-time in receiving yards and 8th in receiving TDs. Tittle and Roger Staubach never dreamed of. Smith was occasionally dogged by drug issues, and his four-game suspension in 2003 probably kept him from becoming the only person besides Rice with 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons. In 1999, Smith led the NFL in receptions (116) and first downs (86), then the highest totals in history outside the whacked ’94-’95 seasons, and his team went 14-2. But that was the widespread impression at the time; Rison’s success with Green Bay was a real surprise coming from someone most fans thought was finished as an impact player. It's natural, I think, to compare him to Ellard. HOF... 2. This is the third installment, examining 1960-69 and 1965-74. Irvin had seven 1,000-yard seasons, two 1,500-yard seasons, five straight over 1,200. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_29739_3_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_29739_3_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, he went to the Raiders — of course he went to the Raiders — and Rison even played for the Toronto Argonauts after his NFL career ended (winning a Grey Cup in 2004). Isaac Bruce ranks 4th all-time in receiving yards. 1955-64: Raymond Berry, Tommy McDonald, Bobby Mitchell I know you probably don't think Moore belongs on this list. It's useful to me, in thinking about these issues, to break them down by era. Undrafted out of Division II Missouri Southern, he didn’t play in the NFL until he was 25, and didn’t become a starter until he was 27. Defenses fear the deep threat, the guy who can burn you on any given play. 5. This doesn't really tell you anything. [continue reading…]. 1,101 receptions, 13,899 yards, 130 TD. But he didn’t hurt the hand playing football, he hurt it in a domestic dispute with his pregnant wife (Fryar needed six stitches). Irving Fryar and Rison did a lot of the same things as Andre Reed, but the constant team-switching makes it hard, psychologically, to view them that way. The most by any current Hall of Fame receiver is five (Tommy McDonald). Well this days i think so. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and made three All-Pro teams as a starter (more than Cris Carter and Tim Brown combined). Of course, Rison doesn't nearly equal Irvin in the postseason, but that's a gap of opportunity as much as talent. [continue reading…]. Those are great stats, but they’re dwarfed by Rice’s. 1945-54 represents the beginning of the NFL’s modern era. He's here for the statheads. Passing statistics exploded in the mid-1990s, and 1995 was an expansion year, diluting the talent pool and allowing the best players to excel even more than usual. A wide receiver out of USC who was projected as the top pick of the 1996 draft, Johnson knew fans wouldn't see his face during games. That's a much different résumé, particularly on the touchdowns. It would be … He was a rookie in 2011, where he finished with 54 receptions for 959 yards. Taken as a group, they averaged 768 catches, 10,568 yards, and 69 TDs — about the same numbers as Keyshawn. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and was twice named first-team All-Pro. 1991-2002, Detroit Lions, New York Giants Who is the best wide receiver eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not yet enshrined? Within that, however, I still want to recognize legitimate football players, not just fast guys who put on pads and a helmet. Cris Carter — Eight-time Pro Bowler, set single-season reception record, caught 1,100 passes for 130 TDs. HOF Qualifications: POOR. I suspect the voters were reluctant to enshrine him partly for the same reason Art Monk had to wait so long. Brown caught 90 passes for 1,344 yards. Bruce’s case is a little stronger than Joiner’s. His career-high 1,316 receiving yards came at age 35. He made three Pro Bowls, caught 100 passes one year, and retired with more than 800 receptions, for over 10,000 yards. He had nine consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and ranks 5th all-time in receptions. Irving Fryar The Playmaker was the heart and soul of a Dallas Cowboys dynasty that won three Super Bowls in the ‘90s. 5 spot. Last week, we covered 1960-69 and 1965-74. 2. Give him an inch and he’d make the catch. Next: This next wideout could do it all … 4. But the truth, I think, is that he falls a bit short, maybe as much by bad luck as anything. His first 1,000-yard season came in 1991, when Fryar was 29 and playing his eighth year in the NFL. He played seven games and never caught a pass. To keep the statistics from skewing, I used top-five rankings (instead of top-10) for seasons before 1970, when the leagues were 8-16 teams rather than 26-32. This year, I’m combining those two themes in a look at the best wide receivers ever, broken into decades. But in looking at the early '90s, I don't think Fryar and Rison are as strong as some of the candidates I'll write about next week: Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Andre Reed, and Sterling Sharpe. But that was the widespread impression at the time; Rison's success with Green Bay was a real surprise coming from someone most fans thought was finished as an impact player. Moore didn't. Both players also have to fight the perception that they were good for a long time without being true standouts. He didn't play at all the next two years. Indianapolis Colts, 1996-2008 849 receptions, 11,389 yards, 68 TD. Cris Carter is 3rd, 9th, and 4th, Tim Brown 7th, 5th, and 19th. That’s tough to argue with. 862 receptions, 12,287 yards, 67 TD. First, consider that Irvin’s 93 receptions produced 79 first downs, compared to 75 first downs for Rice. Moore's other issue is that he played for the Lions at a time when (1) they weren't an elite team, (2) they had kind of a weird offense, (3) he was overshadowed by Barry Sanders. Choosing between the two, I'd go with Ellard. In his final season, Rison became just the seventh player in history with 700 receptions, 10,000 yards, and 80 touchdowns. Smith didn't become a full-time starter until 1996, when he was 27, an age when many players begin to decline. Harrison has the most receptions, receiving yards, and TDs of any player to spend his whole career with one team. Fastest Receiver — Willie Gault. 1. Carter is one of the most improbable winners ever of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. I named Jerry Rice’s 1995 season the greatest by a wide receiver in the 1990s. Standing at 6'8" and weighing in at 225 pounds, Carmichael towered over his competition during his career in Philadelphia. As always, we at the FP community thank him for his work. There's a comparison to be drawn between Smith from '95-'04 and Big Game Torry Holt in the 2000s, when BGTH led the league in receptions and yards, with about half as many touchdowns as Moss and Owens. He was a team leader on a three-time Super Bowl champion. 1992-2005, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars Smith was occasionally dogged by drug issues, and his four-game suspension in 2003 probably kept him from becoming the only person besides Rice with 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons. He probably doesn't need to be in. Joiner deserves his place in Canton, and Bruce deserves to join him. 1,094 receptions, 14,934 yards, 100 TD. He was big for that era, and strong and fast. Smith in 2004 gained the third-most receiving yards ever by a 35-year-old (1,172), and he and Rice are the only players ever to gain over 1,000 yards in a full season after turning 36. 1985-94: Jerry Rice It's about his peak. They can't be bumped more than five yards downfield. And it wasn’t a one-year blip. Randy Moss was as fast as anyone. They were both great players, but Brown was better. Best Hands — Steve Largent. One is that his production was largely limited to seven seasons. We’ll take a look at the best of the best and the worst of the worst as we present the 10 best and 10 worst white NFL wide receivers of all time. His stats are basically the same: 800-900 receptions, about 11,000 yards, 60-70 TDs. The great receivers of the early ’90s, such as Jerry Rice and Andre Reed, were in last week’s column. Irving Fryar and Rison did a lot of the same things as Andre Reed, but the constant team-switching makes it hard, psychologically, to view them that way. Top 10 Best Wide Receivers of the 2010s – #1 Julio Jones #1 – Julio Jones. Moore had four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the '90s. Let's use 1994-98. HOF Qualifications: FAIR. Overall numbers notwithstanding, Smith was by far the best of the three. HOF Qualifications: EXCELLENT. Last year, I wrote an article breaking down the best quarterbacks by decade, followed by in-depth profiles of the greatest QBs in history. Tim Brown Wide receiver Tim Brown runs with the ball. Because careers don’t always fit cleanly into a single decade, I’ve gone in five-year increments. Defenses fear the deep threat, the guy who can burn you on any given play. Carter had eight 1,000-yard seasons, six years with double-digit receiving TDs, led the NFL in a major receiving category four times and at one point set the single-season record for receptions. The top pick in the 1996 draft, Keyshawn Johnson was known as much for his attitude as his play. Alvin Harper was a great deep threat across from Irvin, but never a true no. He played seven games and never caught a pass. Reed, who began his career in 1985, had four. Rice, for instance, was the premier receiver of the 1990s, and could easily fit into that block instead. The argument against Brown is that he was consistent rather than exceptional. Last year, I wrote an article breaking down the best quarterbacks by decade, followed by in-depth profiles of the greatest QBs in history. Fryar was a late bloomer. He played for four teams in three years, his girlfriend alleged that he was abusive, he went to the Raiders — of course he went to the Raiders — and Rison even played for the Toronto Argonauts after his NFL career ended (winning a Grey Cup in 2004). Brad is also a senior NFL writer at Sports Central. Josh Reed’s eight-year career in Buffalo: 311 receptions, 3,575 yards and 10 touchdowns. But again, heck of a player. He had more good seasons, more of his production came before league-wide receiving numbers went through the roof, and he had a stronger peak. Last year, I wrote an article breaking down the best quarterbacks by decade, followed by in-depth profiles of the greatest QBs in history. This is an era in which the phrase "other than Jerry Rice" comes up often. Tim Brown — Great punt returner with 1,000 receptions, almost 15,000 yards, … Best Deep Threat — James Lofton. Why did they change their minds? He had three tremendous seasons, yes, but so did all the others, and they were effective players for much longer. While Rice’s raw numbers are much better, Irvin actually stood out more from the league. For his entire NFL career he posted 52 touchdown receptions. But seven players had more (Brown, Carter, Ellard, Fryar, Irvin, Rice, Rison), and so far only two of them are in the Hall of Fame. Super Bowl rings well sure the does matter. Two of Bruce’s three best seasons came when the Rams were coached by Rich Brooks, while Joiner’s best years were under Don Coryell. Rather than three years finishing second and one tied for first, he's got two seasons alone at the top and another tied for the lead. He was arrested on weapons charges. The way the receiving game is today, I think we're going to see a lot of players string 1,000-yard seasons together, some of them as many as Smith. How does Moore get that high in a statistical analysis? Brad Oremland, Brad Oremland is a longtime commenter and a fellow football historian. Harrison was not the biggest, fastest, or strongest receiver in the game; he didn’t intimidate opponents the way Terrell Owens and Moss did. Smith looks terrible on that list. Although he was a first-round draft pick, Tim Brown’s receiving career began slowly. The guys who peaked a little later have a stronger case. You probably don’t remember Jimmy Smith on the Super Bowl-winning Cowboys in 1992. That averages out to about 14th. Moore’s 1995 ranks among the most impressive statistical seasons of all time: 123 rec, 1686 yds, 14 TD. Smith was only the third player with multiple seasons catching 110 or more passes, the first two being Jerry Rice and Cris Carter from 1994-95. Terrell Owens Los Angeles/St. Let’s begin with some specific categories and honors, then we’ll go in depth on the finest wide receivers of the era. Four receivers had more first downs in 1995 than Rice. A 12th-round draft pick in 1991, McCardell didn’t get a chance to play regularly until he joined the Jaguars in 1996. 1988-2004, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Because careers don’t always fit cleanly into a single decade, I’ve gone in five-year increments. Fourth all-time in both receptions and receiving TDs, Carter joined Jerry Rice as the starting wide receivers on the 1990s NFL All-Decade team. Nonetheless, his past couple of seasons have been among the best of the decade at the wide receiver position. Here are the top wide receivers in … Were we awed by their stats because they were truly great, or largely because of when they played and how the game is changing? And you can't compare Smith to Isaac Bruce, because Bruce played until 2009. Several years ago, Chase Stuart introduced a stat-based system that ranked Moore as the 23rd-most valuable wide receiver in history, ahead of players like Ellard (26), Reed (35), Art Monk (36), Gary Clark (46), Sterling Sharpe (48), Rison (72), and Fryar (unrated). Hutson is far and away the best receiver of his time and some of his accomplishments will be hard to beat. Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 1988-2003; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004 He played for five teams in four years, his girlfriend alleged that he was abusive [4]Editor’s note: Can you imagine if Rison’s relationship with Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez existed during today’s social media world?? That 122-93 reception gap is a lot less significant when you consider what their catches did for the team. Maybe as much for his entire career in Green Bay, he a... Because... he 's 5th all-time in receiving yards 110 passes twice and 1995-2004 in! 'S review each player 's résumé, particularly on the bench, would he be a Hall of who. Receiver: Marvin Harrison, Owens, and still holds the rookie record for receptions ( 143 ) prolific wide! Carter was a substantially weaker conference that was Gary Clark, not Monk first several of. Stat like that I named Jerry Rice and Irvin t take long for him to Roddy... 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