I believe only about five of those players deserve induction, but there's a case to be made for all of them. Top Golf Logo. Obviously, there's more to it than that. When they needed the key first down, who did they go to? But he was a heck of a player. 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. Harrison is one of the best wide receivers in NFL history, currently ranked fourth all-time in career receptions and fifth all-time in receiving yards. He had nine consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and ranks 4th all-time in receiving yards. Both players also have to fight the perception that they were good for a long time without being true standouts. Maybe it's a by-product of Irvin's fame and flamboyance, but Carter isn't exactly low-profile, either. Jerry Rice has 1549 receptions, 22895 receiving yards, 197 touchdown catches when playing wide receiver. But the expansion Jaguars offered Smiths career a path forward. 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. Andre Reed is mentioned eight times. Theres another name that should be on here for serious consideration - Isaac Curtis, Bengals 1973-84. Also, continue to visit Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis concerning the 2021 season and beyond. Based in Charlotte, NC, we specialize in intelligent sports fan commentary and colorful interpretation. 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. And then theres Jimmy Smith, a five-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL with 116 receptions in 1999. at It's true that Harrison, Moss, Owens, and Isaac Bruce have caught Brown and Carter on the all-time lists, and it's true that Brown and Carter played at a time when receiving statistics exploded, to unheard-of levels. 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. Johnson becomes a Hall of Fame nominee next year. So this is really a list of 15. Moore had four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the '90s. Tyreek's 2K Target; He's Not Playing Around Or Is He? I know you probably don't think Moore belongs on this list. Here are the 25 best undrafted free agents (UDFAs) in NFL history. Why did they change their minds? Dante Hall to Be Inducted Into Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame 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. Art Monk. Is it popularity and how much they were in the spot light. One is that his production was largely limited to seven seasons. Thats also a big reason why Smith finished fourth among players who started their careers in 1950 or later behind only Rice, Harrison and Owens based on their head-to-head TRY against teammates over their careers (after adjusting for aging effects). Which is a shame, because he was secretly one of the greatest pass-catchers in NFL history. Moore didn't. Hall of Fame QB's son will get NFL chance after signing rookie free In his prime, Smith was a receiving machine, easily the most important part of a Jaguars team that won the NFLs seventh-most games from 1996 through Smiths retirement after the 2005 season. Also, Matt Ryan is not a Hall of Famer, no matter how hard Atlanta Falcons fans try to pretend that he is. Thats just one more indicator of how high the Hall of Fame bar really is. If there's another receiver of this era who's worthy of HOF consideration, I suppose it might be John Gilliam, or Gene Washington of the 49ers, maybe Ken Burrough or Carmichael, if you count him here instead of 1975-84. But he was an effective player for something like 15 years, and he was an impact performer on special teams. Here's how I rank the best non-HOF receivers of the 1990s: 1. He was a showboat in Atlanta, but you can get away with that when you're performing at a high level. Becoming a wide receiver is almost just an inevitable part of life at that point lmao" But for a few seasons, Morgan was one of the most dynamic players in the NFL. You probably don't remember Jimmy Smith on the Cowboys in 1992. 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. But playing on so many bad Eagles teams delayed his entry into the Hall of Fame. Rison, in his third-best season, was 2nd in the NFL in both receptions and receiving TDs. The 1970s Raiders have eight players in the Hall of Fame. His career-highs after '76 were 59 receptions (1980), and 858 yards and 7 TDs (both '81). 743 receptions, 10,205 yards, 84 TD. He has several advantages over Johnson, however. Most Approximate Value (AV) in a receivers best sets of five and seven consecutive seasons, 1960-2019, McCardell and Smith dubbed Thunder and Lightning were a historically potent duo at receiver. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1960s To me, no one from that group left a Hall of Fame legacy. Sharpe, unfortunately, suffered a neck injury at the end of the 1994 season, and that was that. He literally changed the game as the first of the series of liberalized passing rules which the 1970s would see was called the Isaac Curtis rule. 13. Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith. Top 25 Best NFL Wide Receivers of All Time - bolavip.com Between playing in one of the NFLs smallest markets during his career and fighting a tough battle with addiction afterwards both of which likely prevented him from the kind of second act in broadcasting enjoyed by many of his receiving contemporaries most fans dont remember just how great Smith was in his prime. Just play along. How does a guy who didn't stand out in his own era deserve Hall of Fame recognition? They were drafted just one year apart, both were great punt returners early in their careers, both had most of their best seasons in the '90s, both had career numbers that looked exceptional before the explosion of receiving stats in the last decade or so. 1,101 receptions, 13,899 yards, 130 TD. Two: Carmichael. But Smith's. Ten Worthy Hall of Fame Receivers (Not Named Julian Edelman) April 15, 2021, 11:20 am ET 38 Our own Mike Tanier wades into the Hall of Fame debate with this list of wide receivers he believes deserve consideration for the Hall of Fame. During the 1970s, Carmichael ranked 2nd in receptions, tied for 2nd in receiving TDs, and 4th in receiving yardage. Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1950s (Hill, Howton, Speedie, Hugh Taylor, Wilson), Cliff Branch That's when Steve Largent and James Lofton and the Air Coryell teams in San Diego were shattering receiving records. 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. He's also a victim of timing. Brohm was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Association Hall of Fame in Lexington. 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. Were Branch and Carmichael and Pearson really more outstanding than Henry Ellard and Andre Reed and Sterling Sharpe? Folks appear to have forgotten just how great and groundbreaking those early Jaguars teams were. Those teams were consistently good, but they played in two Super Bowls. There are other 70s Bengals who are greater Hall snubs (cough - Ken Anderson, Ken Riley) but Curtis should at least be in this conversation. Swann, Bob Hayes and Warfield all had less receptions and Yards, and only Warfield had more TDs. That rule culminated in the 1978 allowance of only one bump of a receiver within the first five yards of the line. Average rank in five best seasons: This is a quick-and-dirty rating method, underemphasizing the most important stat (yards) and unduly skewed by a couple of bad TD years, so I wouldn't want to draw any specific conclusions from it. 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. Fryar never caught 90 passes in a season, was never first-team All-Pro, only caught double-digit TD passes once. Beyond the overall numbers, he led the league at various times in all of those categories, actually led in yardage twice (1969 and 1972). He played his entire career for the. Morgan was one of the greatest deep threats in NFL history. 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. Just looking at career numbers, Fryar and Rison both compare well to Irvin. The Jacksonville Jaguars of the 1990s cannot catch a break. Despite his qualifications, hes probably not getting in on the first ballot. But again, heck of a player. When you talk about a player like Irving Fryar, I think there's some truth to the idea that he had a lot of pretty good seasons without necessarily establishing true greatness. Sharpe simply got lost in the shuffle. Eagles great Harold Carmichael finally gets his Hall of Fame enshrinement 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. Many fans identify the HOF plights of Cliff Branch and Pearson together. I know, they won in '83, but that's a different team: Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Mike Haynes the '70s Raiders already have an awful lot of Hall of Famers for a team that only won its own conference twice. Gary Clark - Washington Redskins/Phoenix Cardinals/Miami Dolphins -. The Jets have sent five players to the Pro Football Hall of Fame throughout their 61 years as an organization, but some of the most dominant players in New York's . He didn't live up to his contract in Cleveland, he got a bad reputation, Left Eye burned his house down, and he played for seven teams, eight if you count the Argos. He didn't play at all the next two years. 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. 1988-2004, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Best players available on Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft There's a bevy of top-end defensive players sitting atop the draft board Friday night. For years, it was Lynn Swann or Art Monk. He led the NFL in receiving touchdowns twice, and in . For one thing, Carmichael ranked among the top 10 in receiving TDs eight times, and as a possession receiver, his yardage totals don't fully reflect his value. Fryar's career numbers are great for when he played, and he obviously was a good player for a long time. 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. 2. 600-700 receptions At least 5 Pro Bowls At least 2 all pros Or 1 all pro and a Superbowl MVP All this just to be considered. Swann, for instance, is generally thought of as a '70s guy. He caught two touchdowns in Super Bowl XV and could easily have been named the games MVP. Dont scoff because it is so early in his career. Pro Football Network, LLC. Four time pro bowler and 3 time 2nd team all-pro. "Imagine growing up with a hall of fame qb as your dad and playing football? The best time of the year to . Branch actually led the Raiders in receiving only three times in his final nine seasons.