1996 WR Draft

[SoggyHog]

I've always thought the WR class from the 1996 Draft was one of the best of all time. Marvin Harrison and T.O. certainly lead the pack while Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eric Moulds and others had great careers as well. How would you rate the top 10 WR's from that class?

 

1. Terrell Owens

2. Marvin Harrison

3. Mushin Muhammad

4. Joe Horn

5. Keyshawn Johnson

6. Eric Moulds

7. Amani Toomer

8. Terry Glenn

9. Eddie Kennison

10. Bobby Engram

 

Looking at it, this is a very productive class. Not sure if another class can quite compare.

 

GO BILLS!

[John Cocktosten]

TO

Marvin

Moulds

Muhammad

Toomer

Glenn

Key

Horn

 

If Moulds played with the Colts he'd be right up there with TO. He's still #1 on the "Kids made" list though.

[billsfan89]

TO

Marvin

Moulds

Muhammad

Toomer

Glenn

Key

Horn

 

If Moulds played with the Colts he'd be right up there with TO. He's still #1 on the "Kids made" list though.

 

The year Eric Moulds had in 1998 is right up there in terms of great seasons by a WR ever (The football prospectus metrics takes into account times thrown to, QB, and opposite WR threats as well as the basic stats). IF Eric in his prime played 8-10 seasons with Petyton Manning he would have been a Hall of Famer and put up similar numbers to Harrison's (Maybe not as great as Harrison but definitely HOF worthy).

 

So all in all I would rank them

 

TO

Harrison (can't put Moulds ahead of him because of the uncertianty of the hypothetical "if he played with a good QB like Manning")

Moulds (Good career not HOF worthy but borderline and 1998 was a all time season plus the guy had the worst QB's and supporting WR's out of anyone on the list)

Muhammad (Good career not HOF worthy but had better QB's then Moulds and had Steve Smith next to him for a part of his career)

 

Toomer (5 good years for the Giants in the late 1990's and early 2000's and slotted in as a nice slot guy later on in his career plus too he has a Super Bowl title)

Johnson (Super Bowl title two very good years with the Jets, and another two good years with Tampa Bay but other then those 4 years his career was very mediocre would put him over Toomer but attitude program)

Horn (4 really good years for the Saints and 1 other solid year but the rest of his career was bad, Johnson gets ahead of him due to playoff success)

Glenn (Solid pro WR but never had a few decent careers in New England and in Dallas but never was a great WR in his career all the others on the list had at least 1 or two years were they were great Glenn never really had those years)

[Buftex]

TO may have been a better athlete than Marvin Harrison, but I rank Harrison as the #1 guy. The fact that TO's personality limited the greatness of his career is kind of a big issue, for me. Harrison, as it turns out, was kind of a jerk too, but, it never got in the way of his relationship with his teammates....

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

TO may have been a better athlete than Marvin Harrison, but I rank Harrison as the #1 guy. The fact that TO's personality limited the greatness of his career is kind of a big issue, for me. Harrison, as it turns out, was kind of a jerk too, but, it never got in the way of his relationship with his teammates....

 

 

True... and it speaks to that larger commitment to his team that Harrison was on a SB winner... TO never was.

[John Cocktosten]

TO may have been a better athlete than Marvin Harrison, but I rank Harrison as the #1 guy. The fact that TO's personality limited the greatness of his career is kind of a big issue, for me. Harrison, as it turns out, was kind of a jerk too, but, it never got in the way of his relationship with his teammates....

TO had problems with 2 guys during his entire career, McNabb and Garcia. Those two guys have there reputations as well and that is one of the reasons why Garcia can never find a job despite his production.

The fact that TO is 3rd all time in TD's is I need to know. Add to that the performance in the Super Bowl, which was one of the best of all time IMO, he's clear cut #1.

[Pete]

Marvin

TO

Moulds

Toomer

Muhammad

Horn

Glenn

Meshawn

[Buftex]

TO had problems with 2 guys during his entire career, McNabb and Garcia. Those two guys have there reputations as well and that is one of the reasons why Garcia can never find a job despite his production.

The fact that TO is 3rd all time in TD's is I need to know. Add to that the performance in the Super Bowl, which was one of the best of all time IMO, he's clear cut #1.

 

 

TO, third in td's, very productive career...shown the door by three different teams..."thanks, but no thanks" style...are you forgetting the debacle that was TO's career in Dallas? The way it came to an end there? The petulance that caused the Cowboys to get rid of him? He was fine as a Bill...but the guy derailed his own career...

[billsfreak]

True... and it speaks to that larger commitment to his team that Harrison was on a SB winner... TO never was.

Not to mention that Harrison never tore a team apart with his behavior and loud mouth, much less two or three teams. You can't even justify putting anyone on top of this list other than Harrison. Not only does he have a ring, he was the consumate professional, T.O. was anything but that.

[Doc]

Not to mention that Harrison never tore a team apart with his behavior and loud mouth, much less two or three teams. You can't even justify putting anyone on top of this list other than Harrison. Not only does he have a ring, he was the consumate professional, T.O. was anything but that.

Had TO played with a HOF QB his entire career (he played with just 1, Steve Young, for 3 years at the tail end of Young's career), he'd have kept him mouth shut, just like Harrison did. He also would have won at least one SB. TO had a better average per reception and more TD's, despite not having Manning throwing to him for 11 years and despite not playing the majority of his games in a dome.

[trigger]

The number of punks on that list is staggering...even the quiet Marvin Harrison couldn't avoid legal trouble late in his career.

[Buftex]

Had TO played with a HOF QB his entire career (he played with just 1, Steve Young, for 3 years at the tail end of Young's career), he'd have kept him mouth shut, just like Harrison did. He also would have won at least one SB. TO had a better average per reception and more TD's, despite not having Manning throwing to him for 11 years and despite not playing the majority of his games in a dome.

 

 

That is absurd. Owens played in very productive offenses, with very productive QB's, and was, himself, very productive at every stop, except Buffalo. Maybe Manning was a perennial HOF, because he didn't have immature WR's crying in his ears all of the time. I know, TO did us the honor of playing in our beloved city, when absolutely nobody else was interested in him, and, after he had worn out his welcome, but to deny that his personality didn't play a major role in his lack of team success he experienced is in a word, "blind". Part of succeeding in a team sport, is conducting yourself like a teammate...no denying that Owens is/was a supremely gifted athlete...you really think, had he spent ten years with Manning, they would have gotten along? I have serious doubts about that. He couldn't handle it when Romo started using Jason Witten as his "go to" guy, because, as we saw firsthand in Buffalo last season, TO wasn't a reliable receiver any more.

[Stealth]

Marvin Harrison is a thug plain and simple. I dont care about how Owens didn't get along with teammates due to media driven perceived character issues. As far as I know TO has never choked a kid at the pro bowl or shot anyone like Harrison did. Screw that guy. He's a true low life pos,regardless of how "quiet" he was on a football team.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2025485

[metzelaars_lives]

Just looked at Moulds' career stats. Pretty unimpressive first two years. The Hardy is already a bust and will get cut this offseason folks need to get their head examined.

[Coach55]

96 was a good year, but you could pick a lot of great WR classes, its easy to get 5-6 good receivers in a draft:

 

1985 - Rice (HOF), Reed (s/b HOF), Tasker (s/b HOF), Al Toon, Vance Johnson...

1987 - Cris Carter, Haywood Jeffires, Mark Ingram, Stephen Baker, Curtis Duncan, Ricky Nattiel

1988 - Tim Brown (s/b HOF), Irvin (HOF), Sterling Sharpe (would have been HOF, if not for injury), Anthony Miller, Flipper Anderson (336 yds in a game), Brett Perriman, Quinn Early, Michael Haynes

1998 - Randy Moss, Kevin Dyson, Hines Ward, Tim Dwight, Joe Jurevicius

1999 - Donald Driver, Brandon Stokley, Marty Booker, Kevin Johnson, David Boston, Torry Holt

2004 - Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Williams, Lee Evans, Devery Henderson, Bernard Berrian, Jerricho Cotchery

[metzelaars_lives]

96 was a good year, but you could pick a lot of great WR classes, its easy to get 5-6 good receivers in a draft:

 

1985 - Rice (HOF), Reed (s/b HOF), Tasker (s/b HOF), Al Toon, Vance Johnson...

1987 - Cris Carter, Haywood Jeffires, Mark Ingram, Stephen Baker, Curtis Duncan, Ricky Nattiel

1988 - Tim Brown (s/b HOF), Irvin (HOF), Sterling Sharpe (would have been HOF, if not for injury), Anthony Miller, Flipper Anderson (336 yds in a game), Brett Perriman, Quinn Early, Michael Haynes

1998 - Randy Moss, Kevin Dyson, Hines Ward, Tim Dwight, Joe Jurevicius

1999 - Donald Driver, Brandon Stokley, Marty Booker, Kevin Johnson, David Boston, Torry Holt

2004 - Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Williams, Lee Evans, Devery Henderson, Bernard Berrian, Jerricho Cotchery

 

You make a good point, but there are some serious stretches on here- most notably with respect to your 1998 class. And in all seriousness, who is Kevin Johnson? And Steve Tasker should not be in the Hall of Fame.

[Coach55]

You make a good point, but there are some serious stretches on here- most notably with respect to your 1998 class. And in all seriousness, who is Kevin Johnson? And Steve Tasker should not be in the Hall of Fame.

Kevin Johnson was a good receiver for Cleveland between 99-02 he averaged 69 rec, 864 yds and 5 TDs. His career fizzled after he left Cleveland in 03. As for Tasker, he is arguably the best special teams player in the history of the game (7 pro bowls in 12 years).

[thebandit27]

TO may have been a better athlete than Marvin Harrison, but I rank Harrison as the #1 guy. The fact that TO's personality limited the greatness of his career is kind of a big issue, for me. Harrison, as it turns out, was kind of a jerk too, but, it never got in the way of his relationship with his teammates....

 

If you ask me, Harrison is not "kind of a jerk". The real Marvin Harrison is much worse than that...

 

Not to mention that Harrison never tore a team apart with his behavior and loud mouth, much less two or three teams. You can't even justify putting anyone on top of this list other than Harrison. Not only does he have a ring, he was the consumate professional, T.O. was anything but that.

 

Consummate professionals don't kill people and choke kids...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3827402

[Buftex]

If you ask me, Harrison is not "kind of a jerk". The real Marvin Harrison is much worse than that...

 

 

 

Consummate professionals don't kill people and choke kids...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3827402

 

 

Okay, so he is an a**hole...but it never got in the way of his teams success, which was the point...you could argue that, as a football player, he was a consumate pro, not so much off the field. The other guy, TO, may be a great guy off the field, but not always so much on the field, or in the locker room...that is what we were discussing...

[Doc]

That is absurd. Owens played in very productive offenses, with very productive QB's, and was, himself, very productive at every stop, except Buffalo. Maybe Manning was a perennial HOF, because he didn't have immature WR's crying in his ears all of the time. I know, TO did us the honor of playing in our beloved city, when absolutely nobody else was interested in him, and, after he had worn out his welcome, but to deny that his personality didn't play a major role in his lack of team success he experienced is in a word, "blind". Part of succeeding in a team sport, is conducting yourself like a teammate...no denying that Owens is/was a supremely gifted athlete...you really think, had he spent ten years with Manning, they would have gotten along? I have serious doubts about that. He couldn't handle it when Romo started using Jason Witten as his "go to" guy, because, as we saw firsthand in Buffalo last season, TO wasn't a reliable receiver any more.

Give any WR the chance to play for 10 years with Manning, versus Garcia, McNabb, Romo, and Edwardstrick and the choice is clear. And no, Manning's WR's keeping quiet isn't the reason he's a HOF'er. That's silly.

 

As for TO's "lack of team success," his teams made the playoffs in 9 of his 13 full (i.e. not counting the 2005 season in which he was suspended and played in 7 games) seasons. If you're talking SB appearances and wins, in his only appearance he played great, despite breaking his ankle a month before. Not that a lot of great/HOF players haven't won a SB.

 

TO wasn't the reason the Bills sucked on offense last year. Not even close. I can only imagine that the Bills would have rewritten the record books for offensive futility had he not been on the team. And given the lack of a proven #2 WR, I'm more worried about teams being able to shut down the running game than TO taking plays off and dropping passes (which he's done all his career), or calling out his underperforming QB.