Ian Allan

Brian Grzybowski mentioned yesterday that he was surprised and disappointed that Isaac Bruce finished a distant 3rd behind Cris Carter and Tim Brown in our informal Hall of Fame poll. This was the one where 176 readers chimed in, and 57 percent thought Carter was the most deserving of a spot in the HOF (Andre Reed was also listed as a possibility).

When you look at the catches and yards, these four receivers are very similar. Carter caught the most passes, but both Bruce and Brown finished with more receiving yards – they did a better job of getting downfield. Bruce averaged over 2 more yards per catch during his career.

So in weighing the worthiness of these four guys, I think, it comes down to weighing touchdowns versus postseason accolades. Carter caught 130 touchdowns during his career – 30 more than any of the other guys. That’s impressive, even though a lot of those were little 6-yard jobs around the goal line. I think that’s the reason Carter won in the poll – fantasy-wise, it made him more valuable than the others.

When you look at the postseason, it favors Bruce and Reed. Bruce played in two Super Bowls with the Rams, and in one of them, he caught the game-winning 73-yard touchdown late in the game. Reed helped his team to four straight Super Bowl berths (though Buffalo lost all four of those). Tim Brown appeared in one Super Bowl (the blowout loss to Tampa Bay), while Carter never appeared on the big stage – blame that on Gary Anderson, who missed a field goal that would have salted away a win against Atlanta in the NFC Championship game.

Only one of these receivers, by the way, was a first-round pick. That was Brown, who was one of three wide receivers picked among the first 11 players in 1988 (Sterling Sharpe and Michael Irvin were the others). Reed was a fourth-round pick. Carter was selected in the fourth round of the supplemental draft, by Philadelphia. And Bruce was an early second-round choice.


Receptions
  1,101  Cris Carter
  1,094  Tim Brown
  1,024  Isaac Bruce
    951  Andre Reed

Receiving Yards
  15,208  Isaac Bruce
  14,934  Tim Brown
  13,899  Cris Carter
  13,198  Andre Reed

Touchdowns (total)
  131  Cris Carter
  105  Tim Brown
    91  Isaac Bruce
    88  Andre Reed

Yards Per Catch
  14.9  Isaac Bruce
  13.9  Andre Reed
  13.7  Tim Brown
  12.6  Cris Carter

Rushing Yards
  500  Andre Reed
  190  Tim Brown
  139  Isaac Bruce
    41  Cris Carter

Postseason Receiving
  85-1229-9  Andre Reed (19 G)
  63-870-8  Cris Carter (14 G)
  44-759-4  Isaac Bruce (9 G)
  45-581-3  Tim Brown (12 G)

Net result? I think the order on these receivers should be Carter, Bruce, Reed, then Brown.

But I’m just looking at four similar guys, all from the same era. I’m not sure that any of them should go in before Cliff Branch. I heard Al Davis complaining about Branch not being in a year or two ago, and I think it’s an idea worth consideration.

Branch caught only 501 passes, but he played in a different era. Passing was far more limited before they made the big rules changes in 1978 (making blocking easier and limited contact with receivers). Branch played 14-game seasons for his first six years as well. He was a great downfield receiver, averaging 17.3 yards per catch, and he caught 67 touchdowns. When you adjust for lesser passing offenses and fewer games, Branch’s 67 TDs probably comes in ahead of Brown, Bruce and Reed. He also won three Super Bowls, and caught 3 TDs in those games.



In six of his seasons, they played only 14 games. And he was much more of a downfield threat than those others, avera

• Comments [0]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.