Anquan Boldin (1 Viewer)

[Weiner Dog]

Maybe it's b/c he plays on an notoriously losing team in Arizona. Maybe it's b/c he was never a "lottery" pick. Maybe it's b/c he plays across from a "lottery" pick. I don't know. I do know, however, that this guy plays football...and plays football hurt.

Just to throw some stats on the table, here are the career yards/game for some of the top WR's in the game:

Boldin: 80.3

Harrison: 79.7

R Moss: 79.2

C Johnson: 77.5

Fitzgerald: 75.7

J Rice: 75.6

Owens: 75.5

NOTE: Marques Colston could be entering Boldin's territory over the next few years. He's already averaging 74.7 yards/game in his short career.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Career YAC (yards after catch):

S Smith: 6.5

Owens: 5.5

Boldin: 5.2

A Johnson: 5.1

Driver: 4.4

L Evans: 4.4

Galloway: 4.1

R Moss: 3.9

Wayne: 3.7

C Johnson: 3.4

Harrison: 3.3

Fitzgerald: 3.3

NOTE: YAC was not an official stat until 1994.

 

[FUBAR]

You forgot to mention

Torry Holt 83.5

I'll have to assume your use of "all-time" is just to get our attention. Right now, I'd say the following are more under-rated in recent years:

Tim Brown

Andre Reed

Isaac Bruce

Keenan McCardell

Irving Fryar

Henry Ellard

Keyshawn Johnson

Flipper Anderson

 

[Weiner Dog]

You forgot to mentionTorry Holt 83.5 I'll have to assume your use of "all-time" is just to get our attention. Right now, I'd say the following are more under-rated in recent years:Tim Brown Andre Reed Isaac Bruce Keenan McCardell Irving Fryar Henry Ellard Keyshawn JohnsonFlipper Anderson

Nice catch with Holt. However, I do not think I'm embellishing the post by using the term "all-time". Think about it...when guys like Tim Brown and Andre Reed were playing, they were considered one of the game's best WR's (...even though Boldin is currently averaging 20+ yards/game more than both players). I would argue Boldin would currently not be included on the same list. Boldin could possibly have 10+ WR's listed above him.McCardell and Fryer do not belong in this conversation. They were good on the field...not great. Argument could be made for Ellard and Keyshawn, but Boldin is currently averaging nearly 20 yards/game more than both. That's a big chunk of change.Flipper Anderson --- Of the players listed above, I think only Bruce could approach Boldin's underwhelming respect. I would also include Art Monk b/c of his HOF shun.

 

[FUBAR]

You forgot to mentionTorry Holt 83.5 I'll have to assume your use of "all-time" is just to get our attention. Right now, I'd say the following are more under-rated in recent years:Tim Brown Andre Reed Isaac Bruce Keenan McCardell Irving Fryar Henry Ellard Keyshawn JohnsonFlipper Anderson

Nice catch with Holt. However, I do not think I'm embellishing the post by using the term "all-time". Think about it...when guys like Tim Brown and Andre Reed were playing, they were considered one of the game's best WR's (...even though Boldin is currently averaging 20+ yards/game more than both players). I would argue Boldin would currently not be included on the same list. Boldin could possibly have 10+ WR's listed above him.McCardell and Fryer do not belong in this conversation. They were good on the field...not great. Argument could be made for Ellard and Keyshawn, but Boldin is currently averaging nearly 20 yards/game more than both. That's a big chunk of change.Flipper Anderson --- Of the players listed above, I think only Bruce could approach Boldin's underwhelming respect. I would also include Art Monk b/c of his HOF shun.

I almost included Monk, but didn't as he's been discussed a lot, to the point where I think most fans give him proper respect. I added McCardell and Fryer just because if you asked most fans to list the top 50 WRs in the last 20 years, I highly doubt either would be included, yet here they are #8 and 11 in receptions, 11 and 20 in yards. Maybe this is the Jerome Bettis or Paul Molitor of WRs, but they deserve much more respect than they get. I don't recall people considering Brown among the game's elite players, but the man had an incredible career. Same with Reed. With Flipper, nobody remembers this guy, yet he was a pretty good deep threat. Fact: Flipper's Y/R = 20.1, #9 all time. Nobody else that's played in the last 14 years is in the top 25. He's certainly not elite, but from "scrub" to "good player" is underrated. I'm not arguing who's better, just who is more underrated. Boldin is among the league's best WRs, I think most people recognize that. But there are knocks against him; he's only played 2 complete seasons, he's only gone over 1,000 yard 3 times, and he has a career 13.2 y/r, and has he ever led the league in a significant stat? I won't insult him for not winning, that's a team thing, but it would help if he did.

 

[Otis]

Notably he's also a better all-around football player than just about everyone on this list:

Harrison: 79.7

R Moss: 79.2

C Johnson: 77.5

Fitzgerald: 75.7

J Rice: 75.6

Owens: 75.5

I'd put a guy like Owens in there with Boldin, but the likes of Moss, CJ, Fitzgerald do not bring the total package to the game, including downfield blocking etc, the way these guys do. If I'm drafting a new NFL team from scratch I take Boldin ahead of those guys easily.

 

[awesomeness]

im surprised Boldin is averaging that many yards a game in his career. Especially considering he only had 80+ yards receiving in 4 games out of 12 games this year.

signed,

bitter Anquan Boldin owner.