gonzobill5
Footballguy
With the upward trend in passing numbers, you would think this is the next milestone to fall. Here are some facts I found interesting while I was flipping through some stats.
In 1995, Rice set the single season yardage record with 1848, which still stands today. He caught 122 balls that season, a personal record for him. However, his 15.1 YPR that season was not unusual as he bested that mark in 8 other seasons.
In 1961, Charlie Hennigan had 1746 in 14 games. That works out to 1999 and some change per 16 game schedule. Can't we round him up?
Charlie Hennigan and Jimmy Smith are the only receivers in the top ten that didn't play in a dome.
In 1995, Herman Moore had 123 catches and 1686 yards. Like many other, his ypr was right at his career average and about 2.5 ypr lower than the year prior.
In 2002, Marvin Harrison had 1722 yards on 143 catches. Sounds great, but his ypr (12.0) was the third worst of his career. If he was at 14.0 with the same number of catches, he would have eclipsed 2000.
Last year there were three WRs with top 25 all time receiving yardage totals...Johnson, Welker, and Cruz. Seems shocking to have some many at once, but in 1995 there were four in the top 10. Rice, Bruce, Moore, and Irvin (who now has been bumped to #12).
Now let's take a closer look at the three who came close last year...
Victor Cruz put up 1536 in what essentially was 14 starts, which prorates to nearly 1750. Also, he only received 132 targets, compared to Nicks with 161. If you swap their targets and keep their catch %, that would have given Cruz an additional 18 catches, which at 19 ypr would add another 340ish yards to his total bringing him to 2090. I know that is some goofy math, but it stands to show how truly special his season was last year. With Manningham out, and Nicks banged up, could Cruz do the unthinkable in 2012?
To me, Welker putting up 1569 yards is nearly as surprising as what Cruz did. Coming off of 2010 with a ypr in the single digits, Welker caught 122 balls at a 13 ypr clip. The volume approach is consistent with most players in the top ten - Hennigan and Calvin are the only two that didn't top 100 catches.
If someone is going to break the record, the smart money is on Calvin. Last year, Calvin Johnson had 1681 yards or about 105 per game. He would need to increase his yards per game by 20 to get to 2,000. When you think of it like that, it seems unlikely. However, 20 ypg is approximately 1 extra catch per game - from that angle it seems very doable considering he "only" caught 6 passes per game last year.
I didn't look into how many catches/targets the second best receiver on these teams had, but that would be interesting to see.
So who's it going to be? We need someone who plays in a dome and doesn't need an elite ypr but makes up for it with a ton of passes. Jimmy Graham anyone???
And finish up with a bit of trivia...
Easy: Name the three players that currently rank in the top twenty all time for two different seasons
Medium: Name the two cardinals in the top twenty
Hard: Name the other two receivers (not including Rice, Bruce, Moore and Irvin) that had a top 25 finish in 1995. Note: they have since been bumped out
Sorry for any typos/mistakes/bad grammar it is now past my bedtime.
In 1995, Rice set the single season yardage record with 1848, which still stands today. He caught 122 balls that season, a personal record for him. However, his 15.1 YPR that season was not unusual as he bested that mark in 8 other seasons.
In 1961, Charlie Hennigan had 1746 in 14 games. That works out to 1999 and some change per 16 game schedule. Can't we round him up?
Charlie Hennigan and Jimmy Smith are the only receivers in the top ten that didn't play in a dome.
In 1995, Herman Moore had 123 catches and 1686 yards. Like many other, his ypr was right at his career average and about 2.5 ypr lower than the year prior.
In 2002, Marvin Harrison had 1722 yards on 143 catches. Sounds great, but his ypr (12.0) was the third worst of his career. If he was at 14.0 with the same number of catches, he would have eclipsed 2000.
Last year there were three WRs with top 25 all time receiving yardage totals...Johnson, Welker, and Cruz. Seems shocking to have some many at once, but in 1995 there were four in the top 10. Rice, Bruce, Moore, and Irvin (who now has been bumped to #12).
Now let's take a closer look at the three who came close last year...
Victor Cruz put up 1536 in what essentially was 14 starts, which prorates to nearly 1750. Also, he only received 132 targets, compared to Nicks with 161. If you swap their targets and keep their catch %, that would have given Cruz an additional 18 catches, which at 19 ypr would add another 340ish yards to his total bringing him to 2090. I know that is some goofy math, but it stands to show how truly special his season was last year. With Manningham out, and Nicks banged up, could Cruz do the unthinkable in 2012?
To me, Welker putting up 1569 yards is nearly as surprising as what Cruz did. Coming off of 2010 with a ypr in the single digits, Welker caught 122 balls at a 13 ypr clip. The volume approach is consistent with most players in the top ten - Hennigan and Calvin are the only two that didn't top 100 catches.
If someone is going to break the record, the smart money is on Calvin. Last year, Calvin Johnson had 1681 yards or about 105 per game. He would need to increase his yards per game by 20 to get to 2,000. When you think of it like that, it seems unlikely. However, 20 ypg is approximately 1 extra catch per game - from that angle it seems very doable considering he "only" caught 6 passes per game last year.
I didn't look into how many catches/targets the second best receiver on these teams had, but that would be interesting to see.
So who's it going to be? We need someone who plays in a dome and doesn't need an elite ypr but makes up for it with a ton of passes. Jimmy Graham anyone???
And finish up with a bit of trivia...
Easy: Name the three players that currently rank in the top twenty all time for two different seasons
Medium: Name the two cardinals in the top twenty
Hard: Name the other two receivers (not including Rice, Bruce, Moore and Irvin) that had a top 25 finish in 1995. Note: they have since been bumped out
Sorry for any typos/mistakes/bad grammar it is now past my bedtime.
