Who has the best hands in the NFL? (1 Viewer)

[Facenda's Voice]

Wide Receivers coach for the Raiders, Fred Biletnikoff.

Fred had slightly better than average hands with massive amounts of stickum spread on right up to his elbows.

Yeah, I remember a cartoon that showed Fred running down the sidelines, the ball is thrown, and sticks to the back of his helmet as he runs in for a TD. Funny as hell.

 

[chisoxzen]

whats Boldins drop percentage. Boldin is pretty good. Maybe the best route runner?

 

[thecatch]

I saw Brandon Lloyd catch a pass during preseason that no other human on the face of the planet could have caught - best catch I've ever seen, bar none.

He's doing this regularly every week. Most people don't see them because they have been called back by penalties or he's out of bounds or something, and thus don't make sportscenter, but if this guy can get his right hand on the ball, its caught, period. He gets gator arms going over the middle sometimes, but that is just one of the problems with his game as a WR, not his hands.

 

[shadyridr]

Driver's gotta be mentioned. I rarely see him drop Favre's heaters.

 

[jwvdcw]

wow...a lot of bad nominations imho. Just because a guy is a good overall WR like TO or CJ doesn't mean that he has great hands.Holt and Harrison are good ones that have been mentioned. I also think Bruce belongs in the discussion.For a guy that isn't a huge star, I think Stokley looks very good when he catches.

 

[jeff_eaglz]

Nice call on the best hands ever going to Cris Carter. The fact that he used to limit himself to using just his right or just his left hand ONLY for an entire practice and still catch the ball with great consistency just goes to show how great he was at catching the ball. He's also been quoted as saying that the reason he was so good on the sidelines was because his great hands allowed him to solely concentrate on his footwork.

For today's WRs, I think you gotta go with Holt or Harrison because of their sheer consistency. Javon Walker's season last year though, catching lasers from Favre, was truly impressive as well.

Jerry Rice, anyone?

 

[BlueOnion]

Jerry Rice, anyone?

Great receiver, not the best hands.

 

[matuski]

Proehl

 

[Wilbur Wood]

Within my NFL viewing span (~~ 1968 - 2005). Here's my Top 10 (not necessarily in that order)Cris CarterJerry RiceWayne ChrebetJohn JeffersonShannon SharpeFred BiletnikofDave CasperRuss FrancisMark BavaroSteve LargentHere's my top 10 for "highlight film" catches:John JeffersonCris CarterBrandon LloydJerry RiceRoy WilliamsRandy MossLynn SwannAl ToonLance AlworthOtis Taylor

 

[BlueOnion]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

 

[Gravity]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

 

[BlueOnion]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

 

[Sockmonkey]

Roy Williams, because he can take it away from the defender when covered. Just grab that thing like a trap slamming shut. Plus the circus catches. Do you think YOU could make those catches with Joey Harrington throwing them in a general northwesterly direction? If so I'll bet you could break 100 at Augusta and finish Daytona in the same day.

 

[Pied Piper]

Oronde Gadsden....I think there is a pic of his most famous catch in the Hall of Fame.

 

[raidergil]

Wide Receivers coach for the Raiders, Fred Biletnikoff.

Fred had slightly better than average hands with massive amounts of stickum spread on right up to his elbows.

Have you felt the gloves WRs use today? Personally think its a heck of alot easier to catch with today's gloves than with gobs of stickum.

 

[Sack-Religious]

Branch has great hands and had a great one handed catch yesterday

He's also among the league leaders in drops.

And he didn't have a single drop last season. What's your point?

 

[Bobcat10]

Kevin Johnson

 

[fridayfrenzy]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

You have to remember him making a one handed catch for him to have good hands?

 

[BlueOnion]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

You have to remember him making a one handed catch for him to have good hands?

Lot of receivers have good hands, the question was who had great hands. Catching every catchable ball thrown your way does not mean you have great hands.

 

[fridayfrenzy]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

You have to remember him making a one handed catch for him to have good hands?

Lot of receivers have good hands, the question was who had great hands. Catching every catchable ball thrown your way does not mean you have great hands.

Thats exactly what it means, cause there are very few WRs who have great consistent hands. Making a few one handed acrobatic catches, while not having great consistent hands, does not mean that a WR has great hands.

 

[pantera]

Here's a short list of active players that come to mindHINES WARDDONALD DRIVERJOE HORNANTONIO GATESRANDY MOSSMARVIN HARRISON CHAD JOHNSON DERRICK MASONANDRE JOHNSON

 

[BlueOnion]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

You have to remember him making a one handed catch for him to have good hands?

Lot of receivers have good hands, the question was who had great hands. Catching every catchable ball thrown your way does not mean you have great hands.

Thats exactly what it means. Making a few one handed acrobatic catches, while not having great consistent hands, does not mean that a WR has great hands.

True. But a receiver that can only can catch catchable balls but does not consistently bring down an almost uncatchable ball hardly solidifies him as having great hands either.

 

[Wilbur Wood]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

I've probably seen at least 500 of Chrebet's ~ 600 career receptions. His hands were just as good as Largent's. He has hands that could make catches in a variety of fully-extended positions, including outstanding ability to keep his feet in bounds and stretch his hands out. He had hands that could hold onto a ball in fully prone position while getting hit at full force by a defensive back. Have I seen him pull a ball in with one hand? Yes, on occassion. He does not have hands the size of Michael Jordan's so he is not capable of making a catch like Mike Williams (USC) and Ron Curry (Oak) did completely with one hand and no other body part. Also (like Largent and most fundamentally sound WRs), Chrebet would always use 2 hands whenever humanly possible to catch the ball, often at the expense of his body as frequently the unused arm is used to soften the impact of hitting the ground or to ward of an opponent. A significant portion of "one-handed" catches are catches that could have also been made using both hands. Some guys fall in love with the one-handed approach because it is much more likely to make the cut for ESPN SportsCenter.

 

[BlueOnion]

Wayne Chrebet

Are you serious?

Like I posted earlier - he had tremendous hands.

For the life of me, I don't recall him every making any legit 1-handed catches.

I've probably seen at least 500 of Chrebet's ~ 600 career receptions. His hands were just as good as Largent's. He has hands that could make catches in a variety of fully-extended positions, including outstanding ability to keep his feet in bounds and stretch his hands out. He had hands that could hold onto a ball in fully prone position while getting hit at full force by a defensive back. Have I seen him pull a ball in with one hand? Yes, on occassion. He does not have hands the size of Michael Jordan's so he is not capable of making a catch like Mike Williams (USC) and Ron Curry (Oak) did completely with one hand and no other body part. Also (like Largent and most fundamentally sound WRs), Chrebet would always use 2 hands whenever humanly possible to catch the ball, often at the expense of his body as frequently the unused arm is used to soften the impact of hitting the ground or to ward of an opponent. A significant portion of "one-handed" catches are catches that could have also been made using both hands. Some guys fall in love with the one-handed approach because it is much more likely to make the cut for ESPN SportsCenter.

I am not nearly as qualified as you guys are, largely because I have not see the same volume of Chrebet games as you guys have. However, I would still put Keyshan higher on the list than Chrebet.