It's useful to me, in thinking about these issues, to break them down by era. During those five seasons, Moore ranked 11th, 3rd, 3rd, 6th, and 24th in receiving yards. So this is really a list of 15. Rison was a great player basically all the same years as Irvin, and if touchdowns are a big deal to you, you could easily regard them as more or less equal. He shared receiving chores with Keenan McCardell for a team just good enough to reach AFC Championship games, which means his stats were a little low and he never enjoyed any Super Bowl glory. Sharpe, unfortunately, suffered a neck injury at the end of the 1994 season, and that was that. Everyone else on this list has a strong case, though some are stronger than others. 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 . Which is a shame, because he was secretly one of the greatest pass-catchers in NFL history. Worthy Hall of Fame (HOF) NFL Wide Receivers: The shoo-ins Let's start by running through five obvious cases of overly-qualified receivers who have not yet been enshrined. The wide receiver won three Super Bowls and was selected to five Pro Bowls. Visit Canton Logo. But in totality, it's . Jacksonville Jaguars (30) You can easily look at player like Art Monk or the 2 pass on this year TIm Brown and Chris Carter whom at a time or 1 and 2 on record books or right behind Jerry Rice. Cris Carter Eight-time Pro Bowler, set single-season reception record, caught 1,100 passes for 130 TDs. Antonio Brown: Hes clearly a Hall of Famer, but I dont feel like dealing with his whole thing. He should probably be in. Los Angeles Rams Torry Holt, wide receiver 851 receptions, 12,785 yards, 84 TD. That means he will probably fall well short of enshrinement, which is just another indicator of how high the bar to Canton is. For years, it was Lynn Swann or Art Monk. Here's how I rank the best non-HOF receivers of the '70s: 1. Reaching those round numbers makes his stats look a lot different. Let's break this down a little more, looking at both the Hall of Famers and the contenders we've examined. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1960s For instance, it might be tempting to write off Smiths lifetime stats 862 receptions, 12,287 yards, 67 TD catches as a product of the modern pass-heavy era. Gary Clark - Washington Redskins/Phoenix Cardinals/Miami Dolphins -. HOF absurd. Sharpe simply got lost in the shuffle. Jimmy Smith Dont scoff because it is so early in his career. So this is really a list of 15. Rison played for seven NFL teams. 4. He helped redefine both offensive expectations and the wide receiver position during that span. Fryar eventually recorded five 1,000-yard seasons, and his accomplishments as a returner are significant, something that should factor into any consideration of his Hall of Fame case. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1980s 1965-74: Fred Biletnikoff, Bob Hayes, Charley Taylor, Paul Warfield There's a bevy of top-end defensive players sitting atop the draft board Friday night. Finally, the Seniors Committee and the Centennial Committee appear determined to enshrine just about every 1970s receiver, ) to stay in the loop on all things around the NFL. Who scored more TDs in the '90s, Michael Irvin or Herman Moore? 1950-59: n/a According to Pro-Football-Reference.coms Approximate Value (AV) metric, Smith had 74 AV in his best run of five consecutive seasons (from 1997 through 2001), which is tied with Lance Alworth, Antonio Brown and Julio Jones for fifth-best since 1960. That's when Steve Largent and James Lofton and the Air Coryell teams in San Diego were shattering receiving records. Some of those assignments are close calls. 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. 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. He probably doesn't need to be in. Chronologically, there's really no one to compare him to. Rison was a Pro Bowler for the Chiefs in 1997, and a valuable player for the Packers in the 1996 postseason, so it's not like his talent dried up after he left Atlanta, or that he couldn't succeed without the run and shoot. 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. Here are the 25 best undrafted free agents (UDFAs) in NFL history. If I look down the line at some of the best wide receivers to play in Green Bay, guys like . In 1977, he led the NFL in receiving yardage and was a consensus All-Pro. NFL News and Rumors: Dalvin Cook to Dolphins, C.J. Please note that WRs of the late '80s and early '90s, like Reed and Sharpe, are in next week's column. 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. 1955-64: Raymond Berry, Tommy McDonald, Bobby Mitchell Who is the best wide receiver eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not yet enshrined? Fryar's career numbers are great for when he played, and he obviously was a good player for a long time. They were both great players, but Ellard was more exceptional. He led the league in receptions once, never in yards or TDs. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1970s 3. Larry Fitzgerald: Also a lock when he retires in the year 2269. 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. Swann, for instance, is generally thought of as a '70s guy. 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. 5. Irvin had seven 1,000-yard seasons, two 1,500-yard seasons, five straight over 1,200. Now the real work begins., [Related: Our Hall Of Pretty Damn Good Players]. Im human. Four time pro bowler and 3 time 2nd team all-pro. Yet Jackson wasn't chosen to the All-70s Team, and he has never been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joiner's best seasons came in the early '80s and the others all reached stardom in the '60s, whereas Jackson's career is truly centered in the '70s. Also, continue to visit Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis concerning the 2021 season and beyond. To me, they're both great players, but probably not Hall of Famers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); As you watch this years selection you have to scratch your head and wonder. NFL Rumors: DeAndre Hopkins To Remain With the Arizona Cardinals? For all of his successes as a player, Smith has fought more than his share of battles with personal demons over the years. HOF Qualifications: POOR. He might have been first-team All-Pro in 1992, and likely in '93. 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. The players listed below are the top 250 HOFm-rated players who played WR starting in 1955 or later for at least 50 career games. Art Monk<br>1980-1995. Smith didn't become a full-time starter until 1996, when he was 27, an age when many players begin to decline. 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. What about the Cardinals Mel Gray? His 2010 season is sort of underrated -- imagine a 33-year-old Hall of Fame wideout coming off a year where he led the league in touchdown receptions and went over 1,000 yards suddenly being . Essentially, Carter is battling the notion that he usually wasn't even the best receiver on his own team, that he was a system player who seldom had to deal with double-teams and caught a bunch of short passes. By the end of Rice's 20-year career, he had obliterated every receiving record imaginable. Theres another name that should be on here for serious consideration - Isaac Curtis, Bengals 1973-84. 1989-2000, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders The Hall of Fame voters, in recent years, have almost entirely ignored special teams contributions. Swann: 336 rec, 5,462 yds, 51 TD. Five: Brown, Carter, Clark, Jackson, Pearson, Shofner, Smith, Speedie, Wilson Those teams were consistently good, but they played in two Super Bowls. Only cause you have to look a one member of the hall of fame who went in soon as eligible. 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. Compared to the other great receivers of the mid-70s and early 80s, Carmichael: 590 rec, 8,985 yds, 79 TD NFL Draft Day 2: Best defensive players available. Becoming a wide receiver is almost just an inevitable part of life at that point lmao" All members of our Hall of Pretty Damn Good Players brought value to their teams in an underappreciated way its sort of a requirement for enshrinement, after all. Just play along. This affected Hennigan, Howton, Speedie, Hugh Taylor, and Wilson, once each. Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith. By and large, Smith who retired as the seventh-most-prolific pass-catcher ever was at the vanguard of the productive receivers who would follow, not the other way around. Part of the reason Rison moved around so much is that he was viewed as a bit of a headcase. 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. KEYSHAWN JOHNSON entered the Top 20 during Week 17. Toss that in with popularity and the team your on probably a shoe in. But those guys had a lot of other really good seasons, too. Herman Moore Remarkably consistent in the mid-'90s, with three straight seasons of more than 100 receptions. Three: Chandler, Hill, Morgan, Reed, Rison, Hugh Taylor HOF Qualifications: FAIR. 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). Obviously, there's more to it than that. Of course, Rison doesn't nearly equal Irvin in the postseason, but that's a gap of opportunity as much as talent. The 1970s Raiders have eight players in the Hall of Fame. See? Moore had four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the '90s. A score of 100 is around the average modern-era inductee. Hopkins, like Edelman, made a little news on Monday when the folks at the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference named Hopkins acquisition by the Arizona Cardinals as the Best Sports Transaction of the Year. 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.. 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 James Jones: Julian Edelman had a very good career, but there's no way he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Standing at 5-8, Hall's size scared off a number of NFL teams during the 2000 NFL draft, though his incredible versatility as a converted wide receiver caught the eye of the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to draft him in the fifth round with the 153rd pick. Rice had a three-time Super Bowl Champion. Tittle and Roger Staubach never dreamed of. These NFL wide receivers, Hopkins, like Edelman, made a little news on Monday when the folks at the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference named Hopkins acquisition by the Arizona Cardinals as the, Smith, like Andre Johnson, becomes Hall of Fame eligible next season. I got struggles. Hill is no Hall of Famer yet, but it will only take a few more deep playoff runs with Patrick Mahomes to put him over the top. 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. This affected Hennigan, Howton, Speedie, Hugh Taylor, and Wilson, once each. Sharpe was better than any of them, but the others had long careers and lots of postseason glory. 1980-89: James Lofton, Art Monk 9:00 AM. But we can certainly compare these players to their peers. 8/16/2011. Elect Willie Gault already. Johnson should eventually be enshrined, but his case exemplifies the folly of any Julian Edelman argument. In his 11-year career, Pearson led the Cowboys in receiving TDs only twice (1975-76). 1,094 receptions, 14,934 yards, 100 TD. They force some of us to denigrate a player like Edelmans legacy because other folks are either just praising a local hero or advancing a bad-faith or ill-informed talking point. 862 receptions, 12,287 yards, 67 TD. 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. "Flash 80" is the best WR of all time in NFL history. Boldin is yet another receiver who becomes a Hall of Fame nominee this year. But let's review each player's rsum, beginning this week with receivers of the 1990s. Duper played from 1982 to 1992. He probably shouldn't be in. Johnson becomes a Hall of Fame nominee next year. Rison, in his third-best season, was 2nd in the NFL in both receptions and receiving TDs. Cris Carter is 3rd, 9th, and 4th, Tim Brown 7th, 5th, and 19th. Gray: 351 rec, 6,644 yds, 45 TD Carter was more productive in the 1980s, and Irvin didn't even play in the 2000s, so if Carter was even close in the '90s, it stands to reason he's ahead for their careers. Players at the other stat positions quarterbacks and running backs are elected to the PFHOF with much higher frequency than wideouts. We all believe that Calvin Johnson is one of the greatest of all time. But he was an effective player for something like 15 years, and he was an impact performer on special teams. Now lets talk seriously about getting Cliff Branch and Sterling Sharpe into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He had over 900 receiving yards every year from 1992-98, with one other year at 434, and nothing else over 200. Harold Jackson OG Bill Willis (1942-44, Hall of Fame class of 1977) A three-year starter for Ohio State from 1942-44, Bill Willis was a Buckeye All-American in 1943 and 1944 Ohio State's first Black honoree . Four: Branch, Ellard, Fryar, Hennigan, Howton, Moore, Sharpe, Otis Taylor Those same seasons, he placed 23rd, 1st, 2nd, tied for 1st, and 8th in receptions an average of 7th. A seventh-round draft pick remarkable for his height (6'8"), Carmichael led the Eagles in receiving yardage seven times and played in four Pro Bowls. He's 5th all-time in receptions and 6th in receiving TDs. We'll expand on this next week, but how would Rison's career look different without Rice in the landscape? Smith is an unlikely first-ballot Hall of Famer, but hell get in some time in the next few years. That's a much different rsum, particularly on the touchdowns. Weve written before that the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a receiver problem. 1990-99: Michael Irvin. 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. And Smiths best set of seven straight seasons (1996 through 2002) earns him sole possession of seventh place since 1960, trailing only Rice, Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Michael Irvin, Alworth and Moss. 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. 1990-99: Michael Irvin. In 1968, the Eagles finished 14th in the 16-team NFL in passing yardage, and 15th in scoring, with just 14.4 points per game. Were we awed by their stats because they were truly great, or largely because of when they played and how the game is changing? Is it popularity and how much they were in the spot light. Based in Charlotte, NC, we specialize in intelligent sports fan commentary and colorful interpretation. He gained 1,300 yards in a season four times, scored 100 touchdowns, caught 80 passes in a season 10 times. Brown caught 90 passes for 1,344 yards. Below is a positional ranking of the best remaining undrafted prospects . In his final season, Rison became just the seventh player in history with 700 receptions, 10,000 yards, and 80 touchdowns. But do all 15 of these receivers belong in the Hall of Fame, plus Edelman and your personal favorite whom I might have omitted? Mark Clayton and Mark Duper NFL Draft: Clayton was the 223rd selection in the 8th round of the 1983 Draft. 1992-2005, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars When you're trying to stand out from contemporaries like Brown and Carter, who played forever, that's a real problem. For what it's worth, neither has ever reached the Finalist stage of voting. In that seasons signature win a playoff upset at the heavily favored Denver Broncos Smith had 71 yards and scored the eventual game-winning touchdown. But let's review each player's rsum, in alphabetical order. He was a showboat in Atlanta, but you can get away with that when you're performing at a high level. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1950s Tim Brown 1988-2004, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1,094 receptions, 14,934 yards, 100 TD The Hall of Fame voters, in recent years, have almost entirely ignored special teams contributions. Branch is not a member of any NFL All-Decade team, receiving only one vote for the All-70s Team. He lacks Johnsons best seasons and Smiths image. Ward is a better-than-his-stats guy who made an impact for some great teams, but the Hall of Fame hurdle is so high that he may never clear it. Jimmy Smith is a harder case. Kansas City Chiefs running back Dante Hall (82) is chased by Oakland Raiders defenders Keyon Nash (42) and David Terrell (35 . 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. 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. But give the Sloan crew credit: they arent hailing Jon Gruden as a mathematical sorcerer because he traded Khalil Mack for draft picks anymore! He has a well-deserved tough-guy personality, a high television profile (all voters try to tune that sort of thing out, and a few succeed), and several signature plays, including the broken-arm catch and some unforgettable playoff performances. By 1996, Smith earned a starting role (alongside ex-Browns WR Keenan McCardell) and exploded on the scene with 1,244 yards, as the Jags stunned the NFL with a trip to the AFC Championship Game. He led the NFL in yards per reception for three straight years from 1979 through 1981. But I believe it shows that even looking only at his best seasons, Moore is not strongly distinguished at least not statistically from other great receivers yet to be enshrined in Canton, most of whom had longer careers and more good seasons. He had nine consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and ranks 4th all-time in receiving yards. Cliff Branch Four-time All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion who was exceptional in his prime. Morgan was one of the greatest deep threats in NFL history. He signed for 1995 and spent the season working his way up the new teams depth chart. I suspect it is here that Jackson's consistency has worked against him. Based in Charlotte, NC, we specialize in intelligent sports fan commentary and colorful interpretation. Published: Apr. Irvin gained almost 1,400 yards and led all receivers in first downs. He has also been shunted behind Holt and Wayne in the wide receiver queue and Alan Faneca in the ex-Steelers queue. Thereafter, he was out-gained every year by either Jake Reed or Moss. at One is that his production was largely limited to seven seasons. HOF Qualifications: EXCELLENT. And yet, half his production came after '95: five of his eight 1,000-yard seasons, four of his six double-digit TD years, overall about 47% of his statistical value. 1980-89: James Lofton, Art Monk
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