Ryan Ford|Detroit Free Press
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It was a good weekend for wide receivers at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
On Saturday night, Eagles star Harold Carmichael and Rams star Isaac Bruce were inducted as part of a super-sized 2020 class. Then, on Sunday night, Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson was inducted after making the Hall on the first ballot and the Cowboys' Drew Pearson made it after a long wait.
The quartet's enshrinement brought the total of wide receivers in the Hall to 31, out of 354 total members. (Johnson is technically Hall member No. 349, according to his gold jacket issuance on Friday night.)
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Johnson is unquestionably the franchise's greatest wideout, ranking first in virtually every receiving category. But how does he rank among his new peers: Hall of Fame wide receivers?
(For clarity's sake, we limited the look to players defined as receivers by the Hall itself. That means Elroy Hirsch, Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor, who all also spent time at halfback, were included, but ends such as Don Hutson and tight ends such as Tony Gonzales and Charlie Sandersweren't.)
Here's the breakdown in four major categories.
Yards: 15th
Just five receivers in the Hall played nine or fewer seasons in the AAFC, AFL or NFL, landing four of them near the bottom of this career ranking: the Rams’ Tom Fears, the Steelers’ Lynn Swann, the Eagles’ Pete Pihos, and Johnson. Leader Jerry Rice, meanwhile, was outstanding nearly every year AND played 20 seasons (in case you were wondering why he's so far ahead of everyone else and missed the past quarter-century).
Against the Lions:No Hall of Famer can top Raymond Berry’s 1,653 yards against the Lions from 1955-66, and it’s not even close. (This despite the Lions and the Colts not having shared a conference — Baltimore shifted to the AFC in the NFL/AFL merger—for more than 50 years.)Frequent NFC Central opponent Cris Carter is No. 2 at 1,111 yards from 1990-2001.
Receptions: 14th
Johnson had just one 100-reception season: 122 in 2012, when he also set the NFL’s single-season receiving yards record with 1,964. Rice, surprisingly, only had four: 1990, 1994, 1995 and 1996.
Against the Lions: Speaking of Carter, all he does is catch … passes against the Lions. His 110 receptions edge out Berry, at 101, and torch Randy Moss at 73.
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Touchdowns: 14th
It’s not charted here, but neither Rice nor Johnson are the touchdowns-per-game leader; that would be Moss, at 0.72. Rice is fourth, at 0.65 per game, and Johnson is sixth, at 0.62. Charlie Joiner is last, at 0.27.
Against the Lions: The top three are no surprise, with Berry and Carter tied at 10 each, and Moss at nine. But tied for No. 4 is a classic surprise: Rams standout Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, with seven.
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Yards per game: First
Yes, Johnson is the leader here, but perhaps not for long: Julio Jones (entering his first season with the Tennessee Titans after 10 with the Atlanta Falcons) is at 95.5 yards per game, though who knows when he’ll retire.
Against the Lions: He only faced Detroit four times in his career with the Seahawks, but Seattle's Steve Largent made the most of them, with 125 yards a game (and six TDs combined).
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.
