Who is the best NFL wide receiver of all time? Everyone has their different opinions, but we all have a few wide receivers in our mind that dominated and stood out from the rest. Here is my tournament of wide receivers(part one).
NFL Wide Receiver Knockout
Round of 16
Steve Largent vs. Michael Irvin
From 1976–1989, Steve Largent was a beast! He got about 1,000 yards per season and finished with 13,089 receiving yards. Along with those receiving yards, Steve Largent had 819 receptions. About six years after he retired, Steve Largent received one of the best honors possible when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Michael Irvin’s career was a little bit shorter than Steve Largent’s career. Which might be why his career stats are a little bit lower. But, when I was doing these power rankings I wasn’t just looking at their career stats, I was thinking about how their stats would compare if they were to have played the same amount of time.
Taking that into consideration, Michael Irvin averaged slightly more receiving yards and receptions, while Largent averaged more touchdowns if they were to play the same amount of time. So for that reason I would give the slight edge to Michael Irvin.
Round of 16
Jerry Rice vs. Lance Alworth
Jerry Rice has more receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns than any other player in history and that is impressive. However, he played 20 seasons in the NFL. That is way longer than most players.
Lance Alworth had an amazing career as well. In his ten seasons he got over 10,000 receiving yards, 542 receptions and 85 touchdowns.
That is pretty good, but even if he played 20 seasons like Jerry Rice. His stats wouldn’t even compare. With that being said I like Jerry Rice for this one.
Round of 16
Andre Reed vs. Terrell Owens
This one was easy for me to figure out. They both played fifteen seasons, so who ever had the better stats is better in my opinion.
Terrell Owens had more receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. What is the most impressive, though is that Terrell Owens scored 69 more touchdowns than Andre Reed did.
That is a little less than five more touchdowns per year than Andre Reed got. Talk about a difference.
Round of 16
Art Monk vs. Randy Moss
Art Monk had 940 receptions. Think about that. That is 62 and two-thirds receptions on average per year. Back in the day that was a lot. Before Jerry Rice came along he had the most receptions of all time. However, Art Monk didn’t even average a thousand yards per season.
Heading into the 2010 season Randy Moss had 148 touchdowns, almost 15,000 receiving yards and 926 receptions. Even when his career wasn’t over Randy Moss still had better stats than Ark Monk.
Ark Monk might have had more receptions at the time, but Randy had way more receiving yards at the time. Eventually, though Randy did have more receptions. Therefore, I think Randy Moss is the better wide receiver out of the two.
Next time, I will reveal my second half of the round of sixteen NFL Wide Receivers. Did you agree with my first four choices? Comment down below about what you thought.
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