Former stud WRs that make comebacks? (1 Viewer)

[mr roboto]

In my dynasty league, Kenny Britt and Hakeem Nicks or both dropped this year. A few years ago these guys were studs and would have been tradable only for a kings ransom. Now they are waiver wire material.

In both cases, there has been hope by some people that they could regain their early form. Here you have highly coveted players who, for whatever reason, go from top dynasty prospects to just another guy.

Is there any precedent for young stud receivers who go quiet for several years making a comeback? I picked Britt up last week and he had a good game this week but off the top of my head I can't think of receivers like him really coming back after several years of little to no production.

Was wondering if the shark pool could come up with any historical precedent for young top receivers going dark for years and making a comeback later in their career.

 

[Mister CIA]

Besides Randy Moss?

 

[Eagle Eye]

Irving Fryar

 

[BroadwayG]

I still have David Boston on my roster

 

[mr roboto]

Besides Randy Moss?

Good one here.

 

[Mister CIA]

Joey Galloway, maybe.

 

[FF Ninja]

Joey Galloway?

 

[FF Ninja]

Joey Galloway, maybe.

Damn it, beat me by seconds.

 

[mr roboto]

Eddie Royal had a nice rookie season and has been useful in stretches the last couple years. Never really a stud though.

 

[Cenobite]

Interesting discussion - I'll add Andre Rison.

 

[domvin]

cris carter

 

[Henry Ford]

In my dynasty league, Kenny Britt and Hakeem Nicks or both dropped this year. A few years ago these guys were studs and would have been tradable only for a kings ransom. Now they are waiver wire material.

In both cases, there has been hope by some people that they could regain their early form. Here you have highly coveted players who, for whatever reason, go from top dynasty prospects to just another guy.

Is there any precedent for young stud receivers who go quiet for several years making a comeback? I picked Britt up last week and he had a good game this week but off the top of my head I can't think of receivers like him really coming back after several years of little to no production.

Was wondering if the shark pool could come up with any historical precedent for young top receivers going dark for years and making a comeback later in their career.

It's usually a 1- or 2-year deal. WRs will disappear for a few years, pop back up and put up one or two 1000+ seasons, and then disappear again.

Stanley Morgan (80s), Terrance Mathis (90s), and Plaxico Burress (2000s) come to mind.

 

[FF Ninja]

Was Britt ever really a stud? He had stud hype, but never even put together a full season. I like his talent and took a flyer on him in a league or two, but realistically, we wouldn't even be talking about him if Quick hadn't gotten hurt.

 

[Mister CIA]

Steve Smith had a dip in production along the way.

 

[thriftyrocker]

John Stallworth battled injuries forcing a couple year gap between good years. Brandon Lloyd was a nice prospect in SF, then bounced around forever, then had a top 1 season.

 

[mr roboto]

Was Britt ever really a stud? He had stud hype, but never even put together a full season. I like his talent and took a flyer on him in a league or two, but realistically, we wouldn't even be talking about him if Quick hadn't gotten hurt.

He had a strong stretch iirc then got hurt then came back and pooped the bed. But you're right he never had a full stud season.

 

[mr roboto]

Antonio Bryant?

 

[Henry Ford]

Muhsin Muhammed.

 

[Henry Ford]

James Lofton, maybe?

 

[mnmplayer]

Eric Moulds revitalized his career 3 times playing studly every other year for 8 years. He regressed each year thereafter. I had a running joke that a good strat would be to draft him in even years and let some other shmuck grab him in odd years. That strategy worked until 2006.

 

[mr roboto]

Bump. Anyone else?

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Plaxico Burress had a few meh years for Pittsburgh before rejuvenating his career with the Giants

 

[jdubs952]

Colston

 

[zftcg]

Was Britt ever really a stud? He had stud hype, but never even put together a full season. I like his talent and took a flyer on him in a league or two, but realistically, we wouldn't even be talking about him if Quick hadn't gotten hurt.

He had a strong stretch iirc then got hurt then came back and pooped the bed. But you're right he never had a full stud season.

You could say the same about Nicks. He put together a better stretch than Britt, obviously, but his best two seasons were '10 and '11, where he put up 79/1,052/11 and 76/1,192/7. That's good, but hardly elite. And IIRC, at least one of those seasons was cut short by injury. Certainly a lot of people at the time expected him to break through and become Top 5, and he never quite got there.

It is true that you see this phenomenon far more with RBs: Benson, Moreno, Ricky Wiliams, Reggie Bush, Lynch. These are guys who were left for dead and then suddenly became productive. Williams did it a couple times.

 

[adrenaline]

Jerry Rice

 

[jasvic]

Isaac Bruce fits the bill.

 

[FF Ninja]

Was Britt ever really a stud? He had stud hype, but never even put together a full season. I like his talent and took a flyer on him in a league or two, but realistically, we wouldn't even be talking about him if Quick hadn't gotten hurt.

He had a strong stretch iirc then got hurt then came back and pooped the bed. But you're right he never had a full stud season.

You could say the same about Nicks. He put together a better stretch than Britt, obviously, but his best two seasons were '10 and '11, where he put up 79/1,052/11 and 76/1,192/7. That's good, but hardly elite. And IIRC, at least one of those seasons was cut short by injury. Certainly a lot of people at the time expected him to break through and become Top 5, and he never quite got there.

It is true that you see this phenomenon far more with RBs: Benson, Moreno, Ricky Wiliams, Reggie Bush, Lynch. These are guys who were left for dead and then suddenly became productive. Williams did it a couple times.

I disagree. He was top 12 in both of those seasons and both of those seasons were cut short by injury. If you are a WR1 without a full 16 game slate then you qualify as a stud (maybe not elite, but the OP did not say elite).

You see this occur more in RBs because they are simply given a chance more often. All those guys you listed got 250+ touches in their "comeback" seasons. Strangely, you just don't see this happen with WRs very often. I'd be very interested to see what Britt or Nicks could do with 120 targets from a decent QB. (120 targets usually ranks around 24th for WRs, so it's a good litmus test for productivity - studs can crack the top 12, good players are WR2s, and guys who are at risk of losing targets next season finish as WR3 or worse, but quality of QB must be taken into account when passing judgment).