In 1979, Carmichael broke the NFL record for consecutive games with a reception, eventually stretching the mark to 127 before it was broken by Steve Largent in 1986. Draymond Green, Sports Central / Original Sports Fan Commentary Since 1998, Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1980s, Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1970s, Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1960s, Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1950s, Risers, Fallers of the 2022-23 NFL Season. The Cowboys now have 20 Hall of Fame members, thanks to three more additions last weekend. Were we awed by their stats because they were truly great, or largely because of when they played and how the game is changing? The 10 Best Wide Receivers Not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Dean Hybl June 21, 2009 Best of the Rest 1 of 11 10. Smith made the most of the years he did play, with nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons and five Pro Bowl appearances. Also, continue to visit. Of course, Brown is most remembered as a receiver who was among the best at his position for a decade. 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. Smith retired when he was still a good player; his final season yielded 70 catches, 1023 yards, and 6 TDs. Four: Branch, Ellard, Fryar, Hennigan, Howton, Moore, Sharpe, Otis Taylor 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. Picked out of Division I-AA Jackson State by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1992 draft, Smith struggled with medical setbacks a broken leg, an appendectomy even as the Cowboys dynasty was flourishing. Here's my list of 25, ranked by the number of times they were among the top 10 in their league in receiving yards: Seven: Powell He lacks Johnsons best seasons and Smiths image. They were both great players, but Ellard was more exceptional. Johnson should eventually be enshrined, but his case exemplifies the folly of any Julian Edelman argument. Many fans identify the HOF plights of Cliff Branch and Pearson together. 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. Moore had four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the '90s. But those are glimpses of greatness. The first overall pick in the 1984 draft, Fryar quickly made his mark on special teams he was a Pro Bowl returner, with 3 punt return TDs in his first three seasons but didn't emerge as a major receiving threat until he left New England to play for the Dolphins and Eagles. Most importantly, he has accumulated a sizzle reel full of memorable moments, and signature plays can be as important to a Hall of Fame case as stats or rings. HOF Qualifications: POOR. His career stats are good, especially the TDs, but they aren't impressive when compared to contemporaries with longer careers, like Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Henry Ellard, Irving Fryar, and Andre Reed. Jackson made five Pro Bowls and was remarkably steady, with over 500 receiving yards for 13 consecutive seasons, breaking Raymond Berry's record of 11. That set off a stretch of peak seasons for Smith that few other wideouts can top. At . 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. 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. Stallworth: 537 rec, 8,723 yds, 63 TD Despite his qualifications, hes probably not getting in on the first ballot. The off-field stuff isn't supposed to factor into HOF voting, but Rison's uneven career and locker room impact are fair game. 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. NFL wide receivers that will make the hall of fame and ones that won't.If you're new, Subscribe! Drew Pearson And then theres Jimmy Smith, a five-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL with 116 receptions in 1999. 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.. When you're trying to stand out from contemporaries like Brown and Carter, who played forever, that's a real problem. Moore's problem is two-fold. Sharpe, unfortunately, suffered a neck injury at the end of the 1994 season, and that was that. 1985-94: Jerry Rice With his 5-foot-9, 171-pound frame, Downs is a bit of a mixup size-wise at the receiver position for the Colts, who have featured larger pass-catchers in recent years with Michael Pittman Jr. (6 . Now, it's guys like Andre Reed and Cliff Branch. 1960-69: Lance Alworth, Don Maynard Pearson: 489 rec, 7,822 yds, 48 TD In 2000, they chose Carter, not Michael Irvin, to join Rice on the All-90s Team. That distinguishes him from almost every receiver in history. No, it was Carter." Everyone else on this list has a strong case, though some are stronger than others. Andre Reed is mentioned eight times. The next step for Smith could be Canton, though he appears to have been swept aside in the wave of modern stat-stuffing wideouts who have inflated the statistical requirements for Hall of Fame entry. 6. From 1996 through 2002, Smith may have been the best receiver in football. Players active in 2005 who rank closest to a Top 20 ranking: TERRELL OWENS (716), ERIC MOULDS (675), RICKY PROEHL (666), TONY GONZALEZ (648), MUHSIN MUHAMMAD . Johnson becomes a Hall of Fame nominee next year. I believe only about five of those players deserve induction, but there's a case to be made for all of them. See? Best Wide Receivers Not in the Hall of Fame: 1960s That hurts Brown, who was a dazzling punt returner (3,320 yds, 10.2 avg, 3 TDs). Art Monk. But again, heck of a player. 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. 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. 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. Theres no reason to belabor the arguments for them. Known for his durability, Carter played full 16-game seasons in 13 of his 16 years in the NFL. He's also a victim of timing. Stats again: The interesting thing about this list is that many of these players need to be evaluated with serious consideration of their postseason accomplishments. . We continue this week with WRs of the 1970s. 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. He helped redefine both offensive expectations and the wide receiver position during that span. That's a much different rsum, particularly on the touchdowns. That hurts Brown, who was a dazzling punt returner (3,320 yds, 10.2 avg, 3 TDs). July 16, 2020 8:00 am ET. I view Fryar much the same way I viewed Rafael Palmeiro (before the positive test for PEDs). In 1994, he set the single-season record for receptions (122, since broken), and in three other seasons he led the NFL in receiving TDs. 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). NFL News and Rumors: Dalvin Cook to Dolphins, C.J. To me, they're both great players, but probably not Hall of Famers. Rison signed a big free agent contract with the Browns, then publicly cursed at the Cleveland fans. 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. 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. Their quarterbacks are protected in ways Y.A. 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. HOF Qualifications: POOR. Brohm was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Association Hall of Fame in Lexington. Grays not in the same statistical neighborhood as anyone except Swann, who was perhaps the most graceful and visually stunning receiver in history, a clutch legend and playoff hero, and who is widely regarded as a poor choice for Canton (see Tims comment above). All Rights Reserved. Wide Receivers (14) With that being said, here's my list for the top ten wide receivers in Redskins history. Those are 16-game seasons, after the Mel Blount Rule and the changes that opened up pass blocking. 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. Carmichael was one of the best wide receivers of his era. But hes no Hall of Famer. Live From New York: Will AI Replace This Podcast. 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. Larry Fitzgerald: Also a lock when he retires in the year 2269. He displaced Andre Rison (743 receptions for 10,205 yards and 84 TDs). 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. But I think the voters have been reluctant to enshrine him partly for the same reason Art Monk had to wait so long. In 2007, though, they elected Irvin to Canton, and in each of the next five seasons, they've passed on Carter. That averages out to about 14th. Moore didn't. That said, Hopkins may have to wait in line behind another recent Houston Texans receiver and former teammate. 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. Of course, Rison doesn't nearly equal Irvin in the postseason, but that's a gap of opportunity as much as talent. 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. Carter averaged just 12.6 yards per reception, one of the lowest marks in history for an elite wide receiver. When he's in the zone like that, you try to just get him in his spots, get him the ball and get out of the way. The Hall of Fame argument in Rison's favor is that he has good career stats for his era, and he was a remarkable player in his prime, with five 1,000-yard seasons and four years of double-digit TDs. He is ranked 15th in NFL history with 13,777 yards, but he is not in the Hall of Fame, though he was nominated in . 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. 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.

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