According to the True Receiving Yards metric I created with Chase Stuart of FootballPerspective.com which adjusts a receivers stats for era, schedule length and team passing volume only Harrison (8,311 TRY) was more productive over that span than Smith (8,271). His detractors would point out that while Smith did have exceptional years, and did play well in several others, he had so few seasons on the field that his overall statistics don't measure up to the best players of his generation. This isn't a guy who caught 60 passes for 800 yards every year for 15 years. Smith was a star from 1996-2005. The Hall of Fame also generally wasnt kind to receivers who played during the transition to the 16-game season era, unless they played for the Steelers. He fell just short of 600 receptions, 9,000 yards, and 80 touchdowns. But those guys had a lot of other really good seasons, too. Jimmy Smith I guess you could argue that Bruce spent a lot of time as the number two guy behind Holt. The two who stand out on the list, obviously, are Powell and Carmichael. Mel Gray was certainly a fine player. In his 11-year career, Pearson led the Cowboys in receiving TDs only twice (1975-76). Whom you ask why stats or ok not great nothing like carters or Tim brown who enter the league same year and was so far ahead and higher in stats and records even with horrible qbs and team. Some of those assignments are close calls. Duper played from 1982 to 1992. Brian Branch, S, Alabama. He probably shouldn't be in. Oh, you thought this was some Patriots Hater troll piece? . Next Article: Julian Edelman Retires: Looking back at his 12-year career with the Patriots. 1990-99: Michael Irvin. All Rights Reserved. 2. They play in high-efficiency pass-oriented offenses, as opposed to the exciting but reckless bomb-it-down-the-field passing games of the past, when running was a way of life and throwing a sneaky change of pace or a mark of desperation. For this project, we'll examine in depth 25 eligible wide receivers with strong backing for the Hall of Fame: Cliff Branch, Tim Brown, Harold Carmichael, Cris Carter, Wes Chandler, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Irving Fryar, Charley Hennigan, Harlon Hill, Billy Howton, Harold Jackson, Herman Moore, Stanley Morgan, Drew Pearson, Art Powell, Andre Reed, Andre Rison, Sterling Sharpe, Del Shofner, Jimmy Smith, Mac Speedie, Hugh Taylor, Otis Taylor, and Billy Wilson. For Minnesota, it was Randy Moss, not Carter. Rice, for instance, was the premier receiver of the 1990s, and could easily fit into that block instead. James Jones: Julian Edelman had a very good career, but there's no way he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Effectively, Jackson stands alone atop his era, leading all players in the '70s in every major receiving category receptions, yards, and TDs. My silly side is insisting that Jimmy Smith should obviously make the Hall of Fame, because he's incomparable! Hill is an instant-impact player, and voters typically prefer that sort of player to someone who just accumulates lots of stats by being a cog in a machine. From recent years, when the passing game has reached levels of unprecedented importance, so far there's just Rice and Irvin. Andre Reed is mentioned eight times. Of course, Brown is most remembered as a receiver who was among the best at his position for a decade. 1985-94: Jerry Rice Going by career numbers, Branch has a far stronger case: 501 receptions, 8,685 yards, 67 TD. Defenses fear the deep threat, the guy who can burn you on any given play. He lacks Johnsons best seasons and Smiths image. The premier deep threat and speed burner in the league in his prime. 1945-54: Tom Fears, Elroy Hirsch, Dante Lavelli, Pete Pihos He probably shouldn't be in. HOF Qualifications: POOR. Sterling Sharpe's five best seasons (1989-90, 92-94) average 4th, 5th, and 5th. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1950s. Please help keep me accountable. But Harrison, Moss, Owens, Bruce those are all great players. Please note that WRs of the late '80s and early '90s, like Reed and Sharpe, are in next week's column. I don't even know whether to group him with the '90s guys or the best of the early 2000s. But Boldin has lots of Hall of Fame trappings: a Rookie of the Year Award, a Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, a Super Bowl ring (and an important fourth-down Super Bowl reception) with the Baltimore Ravens, some playoff heroics for the Arizona Cardinals, lots of postseason production, and a pair of 100-catch seasons. Putting numbers in context, how do Moore's best seasons look? So in Smith you have one of the best old receivers ever, a guy who had a lot of good seasons, including five years over 1,200 yards and two seasons catching more than 110 passes. Tyreek's 2K Target; He's Not Playing Around Or Is He? Which is a shame, because he was secretly one of the greatest pass-catchers in NFL history. Three: Chandler, Hill, Morgan, Reed, Rison, Hugh Taylor Harrison, Owens, and Isaac Bruce all have far more impressive career stats. 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. Receiving statistics are exploding, and their numbers don't look as glorious now that guys like Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens have played full careers. When you think about his numbers in the context of 14-game seasons and the defense-dominated '70s, they're nothing short of remarkable. Jackson led the team in touchdowns (9) and led the NFL in receiving yardage. Rod Smith, WR, Missouri Southern State (1994) Denver Broncos Smith was signed by the Broncos and went on to be a starting. Moore's relatively short prime overlaps precisely with an unprecedented statistical boom for receivers, further exaggerating his already impressive accomplishments. Pro Football Network, LLC. Reggie Wayne is still years away, and it's too early to even make predictions about guys like Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. Jerry Rice in the '90s and Jackson in the '70s are the only Modern Era players to lead any decade in every major receiving category. Well popularity rings and of course the team. In the '70s, Jackson gained 7,724 receiving yards, far ahead of 2nd-place Ken Burrough (6,343), and even farther ahead of celebrated players like Harold Carmichael (6,080), Drew Pearson (5,713), Cliff Branch (5,520), and Lynn Swann (3,982). And if you look at the list of active players, there's really no one else who figures to pass Brown and Carter any time soon. His Hall of Fame candidacy came up just as the committee was flailing to clear an embarrassing Art Monk-Andre Reed-Tim Brown logjam. 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin He should be in. He led the league in both receptions and receiving yards in 1973. Nuk will also get some juice for having signature seasons while catching passes from Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, and Tom Savage, and having perhaps the best hands of his generation. When you think about someone who was maybe the 2nd-best receiver of the decade, certainly no lower than 4th it's a different perception than right now. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1980s I understand why Brown and Carter haven't been enshrined yet. I believe only about five of those players deserve induction, but there's a case to be made for all of them. Jerry Rice has 1549 receptions, 22895 receiving yards, 197 touchdown catches when playing wide receiver. Projecting the Jets' depth chart after the NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers Top Golf Logo. All HOFm Positions: QB RB WR TE G T C DT DE ILB OLB DB K P WR HOFm Leaders Bold indicates HOF player See full explanation here Share & Export That debate quickly ended when everyone who doesnt own a closet full of old Mike Vrabel and Danny Amendola jerseys scoffed, No way, Get real, and LOLZ.. Sharpe, unfortunately, suffered a neck injury at the end of the 1994 season, and that was that. Those teams were consistently good, but they played in two Super Bowls. His three-year yardage and TD totals are the highest for any receiver in the 1970s, including the later years with a 16-game schedule. You know what, let's just do a chart. 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. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1950s (Hill, Howton, Speedie, Hugh Taylor, Wilson), Cliff Branch He was 31 when he made his first Pro Bowl as a receiver, a 10-year veteran. The Best Damn Receiver Who Won't Make The Hall Of Fame Of his 750 career regular season catches, 95 went for 20-29 yards, 38 for 30-39, 18 for 40-49, 10 for 50-59 and nine for 60 yards-or-more . NFL's top 20 players not in the Hall of Fame: Torry Holt, Zach Thomas, Ken Anderson headline all-time list These greats are still waiting for their call to Canton By Bryan DeArdo Aug 18,. Smith is an unlikely first-ballot Hall of Famer, but hell get in some time in the next few years. Is it stats some times wonder maybe but not really. Hall will be the 48th player and 52nd individual inducted into the Chiefs . Hill has already accumulated the kernel of a Hall of Fame portfolio. Hall Of Good (13). Art Monk. The only wide receiver from Carmichael's era who had more TD catches was Paul Warfield, who had 85. Newest Colts WR Josh Downs is excited to work with WRs coach Reggie I immediately lost all respect for your credibility for this page because there is no mention of Andre Reed. Swann: 336 rec, 5,462 yds, 51 TD. @Neil_Paine, NFL (976 posts) Drew Pearson Had five standout seasons and played in seven NFC Championship Games. Jackson's record wasn't tied until Tim Brown in 2003, and finally broken by Terrell Owens and Tony Gonzalez almost 30 years later. Those same seasons, he placed 23rd, 1st, 2nd, tied for 1st, and 8th in receptions an average of 7th. That distinguishes him from almost every receiver in history. Branch also led the NFL in yardage once, receiving touchdowns twice, and was named an All-Pro three times in the mid-1970s. Late in his career, he was suspended under the NFLs substance-abuse policy; after retiring, he went through even more cycles of rehab, sobriety and relapse, even serving prison time in 2013. Smith led the NFL in receptions in 1999 (116), then the highest total in history outside the whacked '94-'95 seasons. (In fact, Smith remains the Jags all-time franchise leader in AV to this day.). Those of us who care about the Hall of Fame sometimes write derisively about "compilers" that is, a compiler of stats, who has impressive career numbers without ever really being a great player. 1975-84: Charlie Joiner, Steve Largent, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann But let's review each player's rsum, in alphabetical order. You can probably win a bar bet with that, by the way. Published: Apr. The expanded 16-game season and increased offensive levels also made Branchs 46-to-60 catch stat lines look like something any receiver could accomplish. Pro Football Hall of Fame snubs: The 10 biggest in NHL history - Sportsnaut 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. Steve Smith - legendary wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers hops on the podcast with Takeo and Steve's former Panther teammate Tutan to talk about Steve's career in the game, where his drive comes from and how his next chapter as an analyst has allowed him to see the game in a whole new light. In most eras, there are 2-4 wide receivers honored with Hall of Fame recognition. 2023 Hall of Fame Game; Class of 2023 Enshrinement; Concert for Legends feat. Behind The Mask Podcast: STEVE SMITH, FORMER CAROLINA PANTHER ALL-PRO Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1960s Weve written before that the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a receiver problem. Smith made the most of the years he did play, with nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons and five Pro Bowl appearances. But I think the voters have been reluctant to enshrine him partly for the same reason Art Monk had to wait so long. It's difficult to compare players across eras at any position, and this is particularly true in the passing game, because the rules and statistics have changed so much. For Washington in the '80s and early '90s, that was Gary Clark, not Monk. I have a strange theory: the 1982 strike kept Carmichael out of Canton. Best Wide Receivers Not in the HOF: 1990s - Sports Central He made five Pro Bowls (one as a returner) and was second-team All-Pro twice (once as a returner). NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1980s - Pro Football Hall of Fame Here's how I rank the best non-HOF receivers of the 1990s: 1. But you can't really compare Jimmy Smith to Rison, because Rison was basically finished by the time Smith became a starter. http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-TPSWill he or won't he get into. 10 Biggest Pro Football Hall of Fame snubs in NHL history. When football fans cry "snub," there's a good chance they're talking about a wide receiver. This is a Game 7 I will forever remember as the Steph Curry game." He probably shouldn't be in. Same era and they too only had three seasons over 1000 yds receiving and Swann never did! Both the Eagles and Rams improved dramatically when they acquired Jackson. The bar for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is incredibly high, and even a player of Johnsons caliber can end up in a bin with four or five other guys a few seasons after his retirement. HOF Qualifications: FAIR. 3. He was the Megatron of the time and his stats blow away the similar era receivers who are in the HOF. Drew Pearson (part of the 2021 class) was a great player, and I grew up worshipping Harold Carmichael (2020 Centennial class), but Branch is more qualified than either of them. Harold Jackson Five-time Pro Bowler, first player to amass 10,000 receiving yards in the NFL.
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