What was it about 1995? (1 Viewer)

[sgtrobo]

5 WRs had > 110 receptions, 9 players had > 100 receptions, 17 had > 80.

23 WRs were over 1000 yards receiving.

Some of the names were not surprising. Some of them were.

Jeff Graham never broke 70 receptions or 1000 yards receiving in any other season, yet in 1995 he went 82/1301.

Eric Metcalf was certainly a dual threat, but aside from his 104/1189/8 season in 1995, he never had > 63 catches or 614 yards receiving.

Quinn Early never broke 900 yards in his career, other than the 1087 he put up in 1995. Likewise with Bert Emmanuel.

Not only that, but the insane stats that the top guys put up. 2007 was considered a banner year for WRs because 4 WRs broke 1400 yards receiving and 3 of them broke 13+ TDs

In 1995, 4 WRs broke 1600 yards receiving, and 10 broke 1300. 7 WRs had 13 or more TDs.

Just look at the top WRs that season:

Jerry Rice, 122/1848/15

Isaac Bruce, 119/1781/13

Herman Moore, 123/1686/14

Michael Irvin, 111/1603/10

Robert Brooks 108/1488/9

Brett Perriman, 108/1488/9 (slacker!!!)

Cris Carter 122/1371/17

Tim Brown 89/1342/10

Carl Pickens 99/1234/17

Anthony Miller 59/1079/14

Curtis Conway 62/1037/12

9 WRs over 200 points in NON-PPR, 8 over 300 and 25 over 200 in PPR

insanity. Pure insanity.

can anyone think of any season that compares for any position? 2006 and RBs as well as 2004 and QBs kinda come to mind, but really neither of those seasons can compare

 

[Zackattack]

I used to draft WR's early back then even! Rice, Pickens, Moore and Rison. They used to be money in the bank.

 

[The Jerk]

I don't know how much impact these rules changes had, but they had to help the passing numbers somewhat:

MAJOR 1995 NFL RULE CHANGES

1. An eligible receiver forced out of bounds by a defensive player may return to the field and automatically become eligible to legally be the first player to touch a forward pass.

2. Quarterbacks may now receive communications from the bench from a small radio receiver in their helmets.

A lot of other things were going on as I recall. The Steelers, of all teams, were among the more innovative offenses and had a lot of success with the five-wide receiver spread offense (Chan Gailey's version) including the rookie Kordell Stewart emerging in his "Slash" role.

 

[David Yudkin]

IIRC (cause I had a thread on this on some point), the league started enforcing defensive holding/pushing off/interference more and defenders were forced to play more hands off. At least that's what I remember (but be forewarned that I have a hard time remembering last week sometimes).

 

[DropKick]

5 WRs had > 110 receptions, 9 players had > 100 receptions, 17 had > 80.23 WRs were over 1000 yards receiving. Some of the names were not surprising. Some of them were.Jeff Graham never broke 70 receptions or 1000 yards receiving in any other season, yet in 1995 he went 82/1301.Eric Metcalf was certainly a dual threat, but aside from his 104/1189/8 season in 1995, he never had > 63 catches or 614 yards receiving.Quinn Early never broke 900 yards in his career, other than the 1087 he put up in 1995. Likewise with Bert Emmanuel.Not only that, but the insane stats that the top guys put up. 2007 was considered a banner year for WRs because 4 WRs broke 1400 yards receiving and 3 of them broke 13+ TDsIn 1995, 4 WRs broke 1600 yards receiving, and 10 broke 1300. 7 WRs had 13 or more TDs. Just look at the top WRs that season:Jerry Rice, 122/1848/15Isaac Bruce, 119/1781/13Herman Moore, 123/1686/14Michael Irvin, 111/1603/10Robert Brooks 108/1488/9Brett Perriman, 108/1488/9 (slacker!!!)Cris Carter 122/1371/17Tim Brown 89/1342/10Carl Pickens 99/1234/17Anthony Miller 59/1079/14Curtis Conway 62/1037/129 WRs over 200 points in NON-PPR, 8 over 300 and 25 over 200 in PPRinsanity. Pure insanity. can anyone think of any season that compares for any position? 2006 and RBs as well as 2004 and QBs kinda come to mind, but really neither of those seasons can compare

I had Rice, Bruce and Irvin... PPR... no joke.

 

[The Jerk]

It's also noteworthy that five of the eleven WRs on that 1995 list had HoF QBs throwing to them (Young, Aikman, Favre, Moon, Elway threw to Rice, Irvin, Brooks, Carter and Miller, respectively). And Moore and Perriman were running in a Detroit offense that was one year removed from officially executing the run-and-shoot. That all had to help.

 

[Tickle Monster]

5 WRs had > 110 receptions, 9 players had > 100 receptions, 17 had > 80.23 WRs were over 1000 yards receiving. Some of the names were not surprising. Some of them were.Jeff Graham never broke 70 receptions or 1000 yards receiving in any other season, yet in 1995 he went 82/1301.Eric Metcalf was certainly a dual threat, but aside from his 104/1189/8 season in 1995, he never had > 63 catches or 614 yards receiving.Quinn Early never broke 900 yards in his career, other than the 1087 he put up in 1995. Likewise with Bert Emmanuel.Not only that, but the insane stats that the top guys put up. 2007 was considered a banner year for WRs because 4 WRs broke 1400 yards receiving and 3 of them broke 13+ TDsIn 1995, 4 WRs broke 1600 yards receiving, and 10 broke 1300. 7 WRs had 13 or more TDs. Just look at the top WRs that season:Jerry Rice, 122/1848/15Isaac Bruce, 119/1781/13Herman Moore, 123/1686/14Michael Irvin, 111/1603/10Robert Brooks 108/1488/9Brett Perriman, 108/1488/9 (slacker!!!)Cris Carter 122/1371/17Tim Brown 89/1342/10Carl Pickens 99/1234/17Anthony Miller 59/1079/14Curtis Conway 62/1037/129 WRs over 200 points in NON-PPR, 8 over 300 and 25 over 200 in PPRinsanity. Pure insanity. can anyone think of any season that compares for any position? 2006 and RBs as well as 2004 and QBs kinda come to mind, but really neither of those seasons can compare

I had Rice, Bruce and Irvin... PPR... no joke.

Rice scored you, what, 380-390?

 

[sgtrobo]

397

 

[leave a whisper]

won my 1st title that season .... had Pickens & Conway from that list of WR's

(oh, and having emmit smith with his 1700+ yards rushing & 25 TD's didnt hurt either)

 

[SSOG]

5 WRs had > 110 receptions, 9 players had > 100 receptions, 17 had > 80.23 WRs were over 1000 yards receiving. Some of the names were not surprising. Some of them were.Jeff Graham never broke 70 receptions or 1000 yards receiving in any other season, yet in 1995 he went 82/1301.Eric Metcalf was certainly a dual threat, but aside from his 104/1189/8 season in 1995, he never had > 63 catches or 614 yards receiving.Quinn Early never broke 900 yards in his career, other than the 1087 he put up in 1995. Likewise with Bert Emmanuel.Not only that, but the insane stats that the top guys put up. 2007 was considered a banner year for WRs because 4 WRs broke 1400 yards receiving and 3 of them broke 13+ TDsIn 1995, 4 WRs broke 1600 yards receiving, and 10 broke 1300. 7 WRs had 13 or more TDs. Just look at the top WRs that season:Jerry Rice, 122/1848/15Isaac Bruce, 119/1781/13Herman Moore, 123/1686/14Michael Irvin, 111/1603/10Robert Brooks 108/1488/9Brett Perriman, 108/1488/9 (slacker!!!)Cris Carter 122/1371/17Tim Brown 89/1342/10Carl Pickens 99/1234/17Anthony Miller 59/1079/14Curtis Conway 62/1037/129 WRs over 200 points in NON-PPR, 8 over 300 and 25 over 200 in PPRinsanity. Pure insanity. can anyone think of any season that compares for any position? 2006 and RBs as well as 2004 and QBs kinda come to mind, but really neither of those seasons can compare

That season Isaac Bruce broke the record for most receiving yards in a season... and he couldn't even earn a pro bowl invite.

 

[Deuceman]

5 WRs had > 110 receptions, 9 players had > 100 receptions, 17 had > 80.23 WRs were over 1000 yards receiving. Some of the names were not surprising. Some of them were.Jeff Graham never broke 70 receptions or 1000 yards receiving in any other season, yet in 1995 he went 82/1301.Eric Metcalf was certainly a dual threat, but aside from his 104/1189/8 season in 1995, he never had > 63 catches or 614 yards receiving.Quinn Early never broke 900 yards in his career, other than the 1087 he put up in 1995. Likewise with Bert Emmanuel.Not only that, but the insane stats that the top guys put up. 2007 was considered a banner year for WRs because 4 WRs broke 1400 yards receiving and 3 of them broke 13+ TDsIn 1995, 4 WRs broke 1600 yards receiving, and 10 broke 1300. 7 WRs had 13 or more TDs. Just look at the top WRs that season:Jerry Rice, 122/1848/15Isaac Bruce, 119/1781/13Herman Moore, 123/1686/14Michael Irvin, 111/1603/10Robert Brooks 108/1488/9Brett Perriman, 108/1488/9 (slacker!!!)Cris Carter 122/1371/17Tim Brown 89/1342/10Carl Pickens 99/1234/17Anthony Miller 59/1079/14Curtis Conway 62/1037/129 WRs over 200 points in NON-PPR, 8 over 300 and 25 over 200 in PPRinsanity. Pure insanity. can anyone think of any season that compares for any position? 2006 and RBs as well as 2004 and QBs kinda come to mind, but really neither of those seasons can compare

That season Isaac Bruce broke the record for most receiving yards in a season... and he couldn't even earn a pro bowl invite.

According to the above Rice led the league in yardage that year.

 

[SSOG]

According to the above Rice led the league in yardage that year.

Prior to 1995, the record for receiving yardage in a single season was 1746 by Charley Hennigan in 1961. Then, in 1995, Bruce had 1781 receiving yards, breaking the 34 year old record for single-season receiving yardage. It just so happened that Rice broke the record by an even greater amount, though, which is part of the reason why Bruce didn't make the pro bowl. To give a modern equivalent, it'd be like if Chris Johnson broke Dickerson's rushing yardage record by rushing for 2200 yards... but then missed the pro bowl partly because Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 2300.

 

[Addai's Adidas]

West Coast Offense caught on?

 

[J-Dawg]

Wow, those stats are incredible. I wish I was playing fantasy football in '95, I took those numbers for granted back then.

 

[texasbirdfan]

to properley answer the question one would need to know if there was an aberation of more receptions in 1995 than in the seasons just before and after. Also my guess is if they declined it was defensive coordinators reaction to containing teams top WR and as a result offensive coordinators started spreading the ball around.

 

[Don Quixote]

It's also noteworthy that five of the eleven WRs on that 1995 list had HoF QBs throwing to them (Young, Aikman, Favre, Moon, Elway threw to Rice, Irvin, Brooks, Carter and Miller, respectively). And Moore and Perriman were running in a Detroit offense that was one year removed from officially executing the run-and-shoot. That all had to help.

And the Falcons were in the June Jones era, which helps to explain Metcalf, Emanuel, and Mathis. I remember Metcalf had an RB designation that year in a league which awarded double points when a RB caught a TD pass. I wished that I had him.