Wideout Hall Of Fame Criteria
-
With the retirement of Hines Ward I thought it might be interesting to see if he is indeed of Hall of Fame material. In a previous thread dealing with QBs we talked about the fact that it appeared for that position that you must be amongst the top 4 or 5 performers of your era to be considered for the HOF. I am going to take here the receivers that are Ward's contemporaries, those that played from say the late 90s into the end of the 2000's to the early 2010s and look at what I think are the Top Ten Candidates and compare some raw numbers on them. And here are those numbers (those with an * are still active and may add to their numbers:
Receptions:
1. Marvin Harrison 1102
2. Terrell Owens 1078
3. Isaac Bruce 1024
4. Hines Ward 1000
5. Randy Moss* 954
6. Derrick Mason* 943
7. Torry Holt 920
8. Reggie Wayne* 862
9. Chad Ochocinco* 766
10. Donald Driver* 735
Yards:
1. Terrell Owens 15,934
2. Bruce 15,208
3. Moss* 14,858
4. Harrison 14,580
5. Holt 13,382
6. Ward 12,083
7. Mason* 12,061
8. Wayne* 11,708
9. Ochocinco* 11,059
10. Driver* 10,060
Touchdowns:
1. Moss* 153
1. Owens 153
3. Harrison 128
4. Bruce 91
5. Ward 85
6. Holt 74
7. Wayne* 73
8. Ochocinco* 67
9. Mason* 66
10. Driver* 59
It seems to me that Moss, T.O. and Harrison are pretty sure fire Hall of Famers, if you look at numbers and not personalities. On raw numbers Isaac Bruce is ahead of Ward in every category. And it is touch and go with Torry Holt for the raw numbers. Another issue is what can those who are still active accomplish in their careers.
One thing that helps Ward is that he was part of 2 SB winners. Harrison, Holt, Bruce, Wayne, Driver were also part of championship teams.
Again, to me, he is a borderline case.
You also have to consider the Carter/Tim Brown/Andre Reed factor. Will these guys be in when Ward comes up in 5 years.
Then there is Tony Gonzales....who Ward is not really competing against because he is a sure HOFer, but will the committee take into consideration TEs vs. WRs when making their choices.
I say he is 60/40.
-
Perhaps it may be illustrative to look at the Wideouts from a different era to see what the criteria may have been. Here I am looking at those WRs who played from the late 50s/early 60s to the late 60s/early 70s. Remember that the game was different then, so the raw numbers are likely to be less, but comparing these guys to their contemporaries is the key:
Receptions:
1. Charley Taylor 649
2. Don Maynard 633
3. Raymond Berry 631
4. Lance Alworth 542
5. Bobby Mitchell521
6. Tommy McDonald 495
7. Boyd Dowler 474
8. Carroll Dale 438
9. Paul Warfield 427
10. Bob Hayes 371
11. Gary Collins 331
Yards:
1. Don Maynard 11,834
2. Lance Alworth 10,266
3. Ray Berry 9275
4. Charley Taylor 9110
5. Warfield 8565
6. McDonald 8410
7. Dale 8277
8. Mitchell 7954
9. Hayes 7414
10. Dowler 7270
11. Collins 5299
Touchdowns:
1. Maynard 88
2. Warfield 85
2. Alworth 85
4. McDonald 84
5. Taylor 79
6. Hayes 71
7. Collins 70
8. Berry 68
9. Mitchell 65
10. Dale 52
11. Dowler 40
Highlighted are Hall of Famers. A couple of things for this: it seems that the HOF was more lenient in putting in WRs than QBs as there are 7 from that era in there. Also, this shows that it is not automatic that one of the more productive players, numbers wise, is not necessarily going to make it.
The prior observation helps someone like Hines Ward, the latter does not.
-
Let's look at one more grouping: Wide Receivers that played from the late 70s into the early 90s:
Receptions:
1. Art Monk 940
2. Steve Largent 819
3. James Lofton 764
4. Drew Hill 634
5. Mark Clayton 582
6. Wes Chandler 559
6. Roy Green 559
8. Stanley Morgan 557
9. Mark Duper 511
10. Dwight Clark 506
11. Tony Hill 479
12. Wesley Walker 438
Yards:
1. Lofton 14,004
2. Largent 13,089
3. Monk 12,721
4. Stanley Morgan 10,716
5. Drew Hill 9831
6. Mark Clayton 8974
7. Wes Chandler 8966
8. Roy Green 8965
9. Mark Duper 8869
10.Wes Walker 8306
11. Tony Hill 7988
12. Dwight Clark 6750
Touchdowns:
1. Largent 100
2. Clayton 84
3. Lofton 75
4. Morgan 72
5. Walker 71
6. Monk 68
7. Green 66
8. Drew Hill 60
9. Duper 59
10. Chandler
11. Tony Hill 51
12. Clark 48
Againk, those highlighted are in the HOF. A key difference here from the earlier era above is that obviously the HOF saw fit to put in fewer WRs from this era. Perhaps a lesson to be learned is that if the HOF selection committee feels there is a weak crop from a particular era that they will not feel beholden to put someone in.
You could possibly add John Stallworth to this group. He started in the early 70s and went to the later 80s.
But if the HOF thinks the crop of the Hines Ward era was weak, he may not make it.
-
Are you really going to make me defend Hines Ward? I hated him with a passion, every time the camera showed him with that chesire cat ear to ear smile.
I don't think he is a first ballot guy and by numbers he clearly isn't among the elite receivers.
But there is no stat to show his blocking and to measure the physicality with which he played.
I think he is a Hall of Fame football player, probably not a Hall of Fame receiver.
-
Are you really going to make me defend Hines Ward? I hated him with a passion, every time the camera showed him with that chesire cat ear to ear smile.
I don't think he is a first ballot guy and by numbers he clearly isn't among the elite receivers.
But there is no stat to show his blocking and to measure the physicality with which he played.
I think he is a Hall of Fame football player, probably not a Hall of Fame receiver.
Are you really going to make me defend Hines Ward? I hated him with a passion, every time the camera showed him with that chesire cat ear to ear smile.
I don't think he is a first ballot guy and by numbers he clearly isn't among the elite receivers.
But there is no stat to show his blocking and to measure the physicality with which he played.
I think he is a Hall of Fame football player, probably not a Hall of Fame receiver.
It won't be for his blocking ability that he will get HOF consideration except in regard to how he is viewed as a winning player.
If the future HOF voters follow the 60s model, they will put 6-8 WRs of this era in the HOF, but if they follow the 80s era, they will only put in about 3.
One era I didn't point out is the 90s era WRs. Right now you have only Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice in there. Chris Carter, Tim Brown, Andre Reed have been waiting. Who knows how long they may wait...if they ever get in. Maybe 1 or 2 of those guys never make it. Lynn Swann waited 14 years I believe.
And blocking aside, Ward's numbers aren't as good as Moss, T.O., Harrison, and Bruce. Like I said, winning helps.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login