NFL 10,000 Yard Receivers: Conclusion

This is part eight of a series profiling every player with at least 10,000 career receiving yards in the NFL and AFL. Previous posts:

Part one (Maynard, Alworth, H.Jackson, Joiner, Largent, Lofton, Morgan, Monk, Rice)
Part two (Ellard, Clark, Reed, Fryar, Irvin, Carter, T.Brown, Rison)
Part three (Bruce, J.Smith, Harrison, Sharpe, Owens, McCardell, R.Smith, R.Moss)
Part four (K.Johnson, Holt, Galloway, Muhammad, Gonzalez, Mason, Ward, Ch.Johnson, Wayne, S.Smith, Driver)
Part five (Fitzgerald, A.Johnson, Boldin, S.Moss, Witten, White, Gates, Megatron, Marshall)
Part six (Why aren't there more modern receivers with 10,000 yards?)
Part seven (A.Brown, D.Jackson, Jones, Hopkins, Green, Evans, Kelce, Adams, Allen, Hill, Diggs, Cooper)

This is the final post in the series, focusing on stats and trivia regarding the receivers in the 10,000 Yard Club. We'll break down all 57 players by yardage, first downs, TDs, Hall of Fame status, team affiliation, height, weight, BMI, which members of the club were teammates, and which receivers were mentioned most often outside their own profiles. Let's begin with the list, organized by receiving yardage.

Stats

Receiving Yards

1. Jerry Rice, 22,895
2. Larry Fitzgerald, 17,492
3. Terrell Owens, 15,934
4. Randy Moss, 15,292
5. Isaac Bruce, 15,208
6. Tony Gonzalez, 15,127
7. Tim Brown, 14,934
8. Steve Smith, 14,731
9. Marvin Harrison, 14,580
10. Reggie Wayne, 14,345
11. Andre Johnson, 14,185
12. James Lofton, 14,004
13. Cris Carter, 13,899
14. Anquan Boldin, 13,779
15. Henry Ellard, 13,777
16. Julio Jones, 13,703
17. Torry Holt, 13,382
18. DeAndre Hopkins, 13,295
19. Andre Reed, 13,198
20. Steve Largent, 13,089
21. Mike Evans, 13,052
22. Jason Witten, 13,046
23. Travis Kelce, 13,002
24. Irving Fryar, 12,785
25. Art Monk, 12,721
26. Davante Adams, 12,633
27. Brandon Marshall, 12,351
28. Antonio Brown, 12,291
29. Jimmy Smith, 12,287
30. Charlie Joiner, 12,146
31. Hines Ward, 12,083
32. Derrick Mason, 12,061
33. Keenan Allen, 12,051
34. Michael Irvin, 11,904
35. Antonio Gates, 11,841
36. Don Maynard, 11,834
37. Calvin Johnson, 11,619
38. Stefon Diggs, 11,504
39. Muhsin Muhammad, 11,438
40. Rod Smith, 11,389
41. Keenan McCardell, 11,373
42. Tyreek Hill, 11,363
43. DeSean Jackson, 11,263
44. Chad Johnson, 11,059
45. Joey Galloway, 10,950
46. Roddy White, 10,863
47. Gary Clark, 10,856
48. Stanley Morgan, 10,716
49. Keyshawn Johnson, 10,571
50. A.J. Green, 10,514
51. Harold Jackson, 10,372
52. Santana Moss, 10,283
53. Lance Alworth, 10,266
54. Andre Rison, 10,205
55. Donald Driver, 10,137
56. Shannon Sharpe, 10,060
57. Amari Cooper, 10,033

Cooper passed 10,000 yards in the final regular-season game of his career. Sharpe reached the mark in his penultimate game.

Nineteen of these players — exactly one-third — have fewer than half as many yards as Jerry Rice.

Receiving First Downs

figures estimated prior to 1991

Top 10

1. Jerry Rice, 1,092
2. Larry Fitzgerald, 904
3. Tony Gonzalez, 864
4. Reggie Wayne, 759
5. Marvin Harrison, 758
6. Terrell Owens, 742
7. Tim Brown, 739
8. Cris Carter, 723
9. Isaac Bruce, 716
10. Randy Moss, 704

Nine of these ten are also among the top 10 in receiving yards. Cris Carter replaces Steve Smith.

Henry Ellard probably had more first down receptions than Moss. Ellard played half of his career before first downs were an official stat. In those years, my formula estimates that he gained 320 first downs. That's a 76% first down rate. But we know that from 1991-98, Ellard actually had an 88% first down rate. If he produced first downs at a similar rate in the first half of his career, he would have 716 in his career, tied with Isaac Bruce for 9th all-time.

Ellard notwithstanding, this list rewards great speed less than the yardage list does. Looking at this top 10 — not just the players, but also the order — I notice a lot of players with great hands and a lot of talent for boundary plays, for keeping their toes in on the sidelines.

Bottom Five (among the 10k Club)

53. Stanley Morgan, 467
54. Amari Cooper, 466
55. Harold Jackson, 461
56. Lance Alworth, 449
57. DeSean Jackson, 432

Here are the speedsters. Other than Cooper and maybe Alworth, these aren't the guys you throw to on 3rd-and-5. They're the ones you target when you're down 14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter — or up 7 and looking to put the game away.

Receiving Touchdowns

Top 10

1. Jerry Rice, 197
2. Randy Moss, 156
3. Terrell Owens, 153
4. Cris Carter, 130
5. Marvin Harrison, 128
6. Larry Fitzgerald, 121
7. Davante Adams, 117
8. Antonio Gates, 116
9. Tony Gonzalez, 111
10. Mike Evans, 108

Only six of these ten are also among the top 10 in yardage. Carter, Adams, Gates, and Evans replace Isaac Bruce, Tim Brown, Steve Smith, and Reggie Wayne. Brown (100) is close.

There are only 13 players in NFL history with half as many receiving TDs as Jerry Rice: the ten above, plus Steve Largent, Brown, and Don Hutson.

Bottom Seven (among the 10k Club)

t51. Keenan McCardell, Roddy White, and Jason Witten, 63
t54. Muhsin Muhammad, 62
t54. Shannon Sharpe, 62
56. Donald Driver, 61
57. DeSean Jackson, 58

These are mostly '00s guys. I think a lot of coaches went through a period where they were less reliant on the long ball but still preferred to run near the goal line. I already mentioned this in the series, but Jackson is last among 10,000-yard receivers in both TDs and first downs. He occasionally went to extreme lengths to avoid scoring TDs.

Hall of Fame

Among the 57 players with at least 10,000 receiving yards, 20 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 14 are not yet eligible, and 23 have been passed over by the voters so far.

HOF: Don Maynard, Lance Alworth, Charlie Joiner, Steve Largent, James Lofton, Art Monk, Jerry Rice, Andre Reed, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Tim Brown, Isaac Bruce, Marvin Harrison, Shannon Sharpe, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Tony Gonzalez, Andre Johnson, Antonio Gates, Calvin Johnson

Alworth, Largent, Rice, Harrison, Moss, and Gonzalez were all chosen to the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team.

Not eligible: Larry Fitzgerald, Jason Witten, Antonio Brown, DeSean Jackson, Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Mike Evans, Travis Kelce, Davante Adams, Keenan Allen, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Amari Cooper

Fitzgerald and Witten are both eligible for the first time this year, and both are finalists, but as of this writing the results have not been announced, so they haven't had an opportunity to be elected.

Among these players, I think it is obvious that Fitzgerald, Witten, and Jones will be elected, and that Jackson, Green, and Cooper will not. Brown will probably get in, but his appalling behavior will turn off some voters, so I don't think his induction is guaranteed. I'm reluctant to make predictions about active players, since we don't know how perceptions might shift in the next few years, but I think Hopkins, Evans, and Kelce are all likely to get in eventually. Kelce will probably be elected on the first ballot. Beyond that, I think it's just too early to make any predictions with confidence.

Passed over: Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan, Henry Ellard, Gary Clark, Irving Fryar, Andre Rison, Jimmy Smith, Keenan McCardell, Rod Smith, Keyshawn Johnson, Torry Holt, Joey Galloway, Muhsin Muhammad, Derrick Mason, Hines Ward, Chad Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Steve Smith, Donald Driver, Anquan Boldin, Santana Moss, Roddy White, Brandon Marshall