How old is too old for a WR? (1 Viewer)

[Kitrick Taylor]

Its been pretty well established that 30 is the magic number for RBs to get old. There have certainly been some exceptions to the rule, and there has also been all-time greats that defy the rule (E Smith, C Martin). But by and large if your RB is 30 he's about done.

Do we have an age where we can say the same thing for WRs? I think we can throw out Jerry Rice as a freak. He played until he was 42, and was still a fantasy starter at age 40.

 

[TommyGilmore]

Depends on the caliber of WR. The pro-bowl WRs are usually productive up to about 33 (Harrison, Horn, Bruce; Owens turns 34 in 6 weeks). Kennison hit the wall this year (34), Moulds hit the wall last year (33). Rod Smith was productive up to 35.

 

[Chaka]

Galloway is still going strong.

 

[EdwardCat]

Depends on the caliber of WR. The pro-bowl WRs are usually productive up to about 33 (Harrison, Horn, Bruce; Owens turns 34 in 6 weeks). Kennison hit the wall this year (34), Moulds hit the wall last year (33). Rod Smith was productive up to 35.

Harrison is 35.

 

[EdwardCat]

Only 9 receivers in history have 1000 receiving games at age 35. That drops to 2 at age 36 and zero at age 37. It looks like 33-34 is about the tail end of a receiver's career. For a RB, the age is 30-31. The decent season (1300 total yards) drop-off for RBs after age 31 who have decent seasons is dramatic.

So, which current WR's fall in the getting-pretty-old category?

1	Isaac Bruce	wr	2007	35	14	6	23	325	14.13	0	32.202	Donald Driver	wr	2007	32	9	7	39	440	11.28	2	55.903	Bobby Engram	wr	2007	34	12	7	34	468	13.76	2	58.804	Joey Galloway	wr	2007	36	13	8	33	564	17.09	4	80.505	Marvin Harrison	wr	2007	35	12	5	20	247	12.35	1	30.706	Joe Horn	wr	2007	35	12	7	14	142	10.14	0	14.207	Joe Jurevicius	wr	2007	33	10	7	20	236	11.80	3	41.608	Eddie Kennison	wr	2007	34	12	2	0	0		0	0.509	Michael Lewis	wr	2007	36	6	4	0	0		0	0.0010	Derrick Mason	wr	2007	33	11	7	56	529	9.45	2	64.9011	Keenan McCardell	wr	2007	37	16	3	4	69	17.25	0	6.9012	Eric Moulds	wr	2007	34	12	7	15	122	8.13	0	12.2013	Muhsin Muhammad	wr	2007	34	12	8	19	248	13.05	3	42.8014	Terrell Owens	wr	2007	34	12	7	34	556	16.35	5	86.1015	David Patten	wr	2007	33	11	7	20	341	17.05	0	33.5016	James Thrash	wr	2007	32	11	7	3	16	5.33	0	1.6017	Amani Toomer	wr	2007	33	12	8	30	355	11.83	2	47.50

 

[Anthony Borbely]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

 

[EdwardCat]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

Which only proves the point... Unless you are an absolute stud, odds are you won't have a good season after age 33. Same goes for RBs after 31.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

Unless you are an absolute stud

So, where does that leave us? We're obviously talking about Harrison, aren't we?

 

[Kitrick Taylor]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

Unless you are an absolute stud

So, where does that leave us? We're obviously talking about Harrison, aren't we?

Actually, I was thinking about Owens and Driver. The Harrison thing has been pretty well hashed out in another thread.

 

[EdwardCat]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

Unless you are an absolute stud

So, where does that leave us? We're obviously talking about Harrison, aren't we?

If we are talking about Harrison, and that is not implied as Owens will pass the threshold of 33 soon, it leaves us on a wait-and-see basis. He's venturing into WR realms where only one person has ventured before him...Rice. Is Harrison par with Rice? Does he have the physical skills to continue until 40 and produce 1000 yard and 6-8 TD seasons? Depends if he's as injury prone as he was this year.

 

[EdwardCat]

Jerry Rice had one at 39 and one at 40.

Unless you are an absolute stud

So, where does that leave us? We're obviously talking about Harrison, aren't we?

Actually, I was thinking about Owens and Driver. The Harrison thing has been pretty well hashed out in another thread.

Driver tanked against 3 good pass defenses. Outside of those games, he is on pace for another decent season of 1100-1200 yards and around 6-8 TDs. His upcoming schedule is a cupcake. He should turn it around. He almost made a TD catch last night. Jennings was much more open than Driver (who was playing on Bailey's side). I would expect Driver to turn in another good season and return next year for yet another assuming Favre returns. If we switch to Aaron Rodgers, I think it is safe to assume Driver will not have a great season...could be wrong.

 

[Yitbos69]

TO and Harrison could both play into their late 30's. Health and desire to play will be the biggest hurdles for both.

 

[Sweet Love]

I think we also are forgetting about guys that hit the wall prior to age 30 like Herman Moore, Jake Reed and Carl Pickens. They were on par career-wise with guys like Rod Smith and Isaac Bruce, but for some reason they just fizzled out early. I believe Pickens may have had a major injury (like a knee), but I don't remember anything more than nagging injuries for Moore or Reed.

 

[BusterTBronco]

About 35. They go downhill pretty quick after that.