The Gipper Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 The name of this topic is familiar because it was said by Buddy Ryan about Cris Carter. But....who is really the King of catching TDs. I could not find anywhere where the percentage of TD to receptions could be found, so I had to do my own research. So, here I took all the HOF receivers and Tight Ends (and some RBs) plus those in the top 10 in career TD and did some of my own computing. Here are those players in terms of TD as a percent of receptions. Starting from lowest pct to highest: Marshall Faulk 4.6 Ozzie Newsome 7.09 Art Monk 7.23 Shannon Sharpe 7.6 Kellen Winslow 8.31 Jackie Smith 8.33 Tony Gonzales 8.37 Michael Irvin 8.66 Charlie Joiner 8.66 Andre Reed 9.14 Tim Brown 9.14 Tom Fears 9.5 James Lofton 9.81 Mike Ditka 10.07 Raymond Berry 10.7 John Mackey 11.48 Marvin Harrison 11.6 Frank Gifford 11.7 John Stallworth 11.73 Cris Carter 11.8 Charley Taylor 12.17 Steve Largent 12.2 Bobby Mitchell 12.5 Jerry Rice 12.7 Fred Biletnikoff 12.9 Lenny Moore 13.22 Dave Caspar 13.75 Don Maynard 13.9 Terrell Owens 14.2 Lynn Swann 15.17 Elroy Hirsch 15.5 Lance Alworth 15.68 Randy Moss 15.9 Dante Lavelli 16.06 Pete Pihos 16.35 Tommy McDonald 16.96 Bob Hayes 19.13 Paul Warfield 19.9 Don Hutson 20.28. BUT....a guy that beats all of the above in this category is not in the HOF, and never has seemed to get a sniff for the HOF. That man: Gary Collins 21.14% of his catches went for TDs. In 331 career catches he caught 70 TDs. Now, I expect he get overlooked because he was on a team with the likes of Jim Brown, Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly. I will check to see some other players not listed above, but I suspect that I will find that it is actually Gary Collins who is the guy that "all he does is catch touchdowns". (Note that in the top ten on this list, 4 of them played for the Browns at some point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Here are the TD% numbers for all other players (besides those mentioned above) who have had 70 or more career TDs: Anquan Boldin 7.44 Reggie Wayne 7.66 Steve Smith 7.97 Torry Holt 8.04 Hines Ward 8.5 Isaac Bruce 8.88 Larry Fitgerald 9.79 Irving Fryar 9.87 Joey Galloway 10.98 Andre Rison 11.3 Calvin Johnson 11.5 Antonio Gates 12.56 top active player in this category. Stanley Morgan 12.92 Harold Jackson 13.12 Harold Carmichael 13.38 Mark Clayton 14.43 Nat Moore 14.5 Wes Walker 16.21 And here are some more currently active receivers and their TD%s: Andre Johnson 6.32 Roddy White 8.1 Brandon Marshall 8.4 Santana Moss 9.01 Marquise Colston 10.21 Greg Jennings 11.4 Plaxico Buress 11.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicopee John Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Interesting numbers, Gip. I haven't spent much time looking for trends, etc., but I do find it interesting that - by and large - the guys with the higher percentages tend to come from a bygone era when the game was all about running the ball, not passing the ball. Guys like Marshall Faulk, to use one example, caught a lot of passes. Some of those passes were more like running play, designed to loosen up a defense. Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, probably, being the most noteworthy of the above. Over the years, the game has become a passing game whereas, earlier decades featured the run and, thus, making TDs a higher % of overall catches because the denominator (number of catches i.e., the number of passes) was lower. Some guys, like Randy Moss (from memory) had a high percentage of TDs in an era where teams are pass crazy. Just a first blush thought as quickly running through the names and the numbers. Might be a cultural underpinning. OK the bulls eye is on my back................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 And finally, some familiar names......other former/current Browns: (minimum 35 career TD catches) Webster Slaughter 7.81 Reggie Rucker 9.84 Miles Austin 10.34 Braylon Edwards 11.14 Michael Jackson 13.03 I guess, bottom line, if you know of someone who you think may have had a better TD/Reception ration in their career,...someone who had more than a cup of coffee, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Interesting numbers, Gip. I haven't spent much time looking for trends, etc., but I do find it interesting that - by and large - the guys with the higher percentages tend to come from a bygone era when the game was all about running the ball, not passing the ball. Guys like Marshall Faulk, to use one example, caught a lot of passes. Some of those passes were more like running play, designed to loosen up a defense. Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, probably, being the most noteworthy of the above. Over the years, the game has become a passing game whereas, earlier decades featured the run and, thus, making TDs a higher % of overall catches because the denominator (number of catches i.e., the number of passes) was lower. Some guys, like Randy Moss (from memory) had a high percentage of TDs in an era where teams are pass crazy. Just a first blush thought as quickly running through the names and the numbers. Might be a cultural underpinning. OK the bulls eye is on my back................... Yea, except for Moss all of the Top 10 seem to be from prior to the 70s.... And while WRs TD %s were up.....completion % were lower, Int. rates were higher. It used to be bombers delight....a much more downfield game. Now the shorter passing game is in vogue. Moss being in there though I think speaks to his talents. And note that Carter is really just sort of in the middle of this group. I mean, Michael (tee hee) Jackson has a higher TD %. I guess the statisticians don't put much faith in this stat....I could find it no where. But QB TD% is important, why shouldn't receiver TD% also be? Further note: top active player in this stat has about the same percent as Jerry Rice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Also note: I would have thought that Tight Ends would be more on the high side of this....but the top TE in the first list is Dave Caspar, and he is a way down. Hell, Ozzie Newsome has the lowest TD/Rec. ratio of all HOF WRS and TES. Though the active leader is a TE. I would have thought TEs would be big end zone targets and would be getting the TDS. Not really so much. Though a big target like Plaxico Burress is high up in the rankings...at least of actives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andeftw Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 And here are some more currently active receivers and their TD%s: Andre Johnson 6.32 Roddy White 8.1 Brandon Marshall 8.4 Santana Moss 9.01 Marquise Colston 10.21 Greg Jennings 11.4 Plaxico Buress 11.5 That's going to keep going down as long as he plays for those suckers in Minnesota... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaporTrail Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Here are the TD% numbers for all other players (besides those mentioned above) who have had 70 or more career TDs: Anquan Boldin 7.44 Reggie Wayne 7.66 Steve Smith 7.97 Torry Holt 8.04 Hines Ward 8.5 Isaac Bruce 8.88 Larry Fitgerald 9.79 Irving Fryar 9.87 Joey Galloway 10.98 Andre Rison 11.3 Calvin Johnson 11.5 Antonio Gates 12.56 top active player in this category. Stanley Morgan 12.92 Harold Jackson 13.12 Harold Carmichael 13.38 Mark Clayton 14.43 Nat Moore 14.5 Wes Walker 16.21 Is this a typo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andeftw Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Is this a typo? It should be...Welker has 50 TDs on 890 career receptions, 5.6% TDs in terms of receptions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombo Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Is this a typo? Nope ... Wesley Walker, the former Jets speed merchant. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WalkWe00.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tour2ma Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 BUT....a guy that beats all of the above in this category is not in the HOF, and never has seemed to get a sniff for the HOF. That man: Gary Collins 21.14% of his catches went for TDs. In 331 career catches he caught 70 TDs. Surprising... I remember Gary being great running the post pattern... and that was back when posts were actually on the goal line... two of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondwave Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 This speaks volumes as to how dominant a player Randy Moss (and Terrell Owens) was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naberius_Cerbera Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Not taking away from the freakness of Randy Moss, but longtime teammate Cris Carter at 11.8, not far off Jerry Rice's 12.7, also shows the ridiculous deep ball talent in Minnesota through their careers there, with Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham (also with C-Squared prior in Philly), and Dante Culpepper. Not many QBs in history hit the deep ball better than those 3. Not taking away from CC, either, the Buckeye had the smoothest wheels and clutchest hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondwave Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Not taking away from the freakness of Randy Moss, but longtime teammate Cris Carter at 11.8, not far off Jerry Rice's 12.7, also shows the ridiculous deep ball talent in Minnesota through their careers there, with Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham (also with C-Squared prior in Philly), and Dante Culpepper. Not many QBs in history hit the deep ball better than those 3. Not taking away from CC, either, the Buckeye had the smoothest wheels and clutchest hands... Moss never played with Moon. Also, Cunningham was gift-wrapped a career rejuvenation for a year (with CC and a rookie Moss, the most fun I've ever had watching a team). Culpepper was great for that 5 year span, but his career dried up quickly once he no longer had Moss attracting triple coverage on just about every play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Is this a typo? No, there was a WR named Wesley Walker that played for the Jets in the 70s/80s. Not to be confused with Wes Welker. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WalkWe00.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorta Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Surprising... I remember Gary being great running the post pattern... and that was back when posts were actually on the goal line... two of them. Yeah, and in regard to the OP, yo don't get in the HOF with only 300 career receptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Yeah, and in regard to the OP, yo don't get in the HOF with only 300 career receptions. I don't know if Collins career got cut short for some reason. He only played 10 years. Like I said though, he was perhaps the product of the talent around him. With Jim Brown/Leroy Kelly/Paul Warfield/Milt Morin also getting a bunch of touches Collins only got the leftovers apparently. That is what being the #2 WR gets you. But he did the most with them. Though I will note that his main running mate, Paul Warfield had only 427 career receptions in 13 years. With 85 TDs. If Collins had played another 3 years and only averaged about 33 catches and 5 TDs per year, he would have matched Warfield's numbers. (but Warfield killed it with his yardage: 8565 yds.) Better yet, compare him to Lynn Swann: Swann had 336 receptions and only 51 TDs and 5462 yards. So you can get in the HOF with those numbers? Collins had 331 receptions 70 TD and 5299 yards. Only 5 catches and 163 less yards....but 19 more TDs.....By these measurements, Collins had the better career. (Also....in checking Collins did have shoulder and rib injuries that curtailed his career.....and he and new coach Nick Skorich also did not apparently get along) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Let's also say this: Jesus wouldn't it be nice to have a WR duo like Gary Collins and Paul Warfield on the Browns now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I was expecting this to be a thread about why we need to draft Devin Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I was expecting this to be a thread about why we need to draft Devin Smith If he could be anywhere near as good as Paul Warfield, go get him. (Why does everything have to be an Ohio State/Michigan thing with you? Gary Collins, the primary subject of this thread went to Maryland....though, 2 of the top 6 in the statistic I created for this did go to Ohio St. Lavelli/Warfield) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 With me!? Haha. Ok. I forgot about the AJ Hawk and Ted Ginn threads I started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryfine Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 The name of this topic is familiar because it was said by Buddy Ryan about Cris Carter. But....who is really the King of catching TDs. I could not find anywhere where the percentage of TD to receptions could be found, so I had to do my own research. So, here I took all the HOF receivers and Tight Ends (and some RBs) plus those in the top 10 in career TD and did some of my own computing. Here are those players in terms of TD as a percent of receptions. Starting from lowest pct to highest: Marshall Faulk 4.6 Ozzie Newsome 7.09 Art Monk 7.23 Shannon Sharpe 7.6 Kellen Winslow 8.31 Jackie Smith 8.33 Tony Gonzales 8.37 Michael Irvin 8.66 Charlie Joiner 8.66 Andre Reed 9.14 Tim Brown 9.14 Tom Fears 9.5 James Lofton 9.81 Mike Ditka 10.07 Raymond Berry 10.7 John Mackey 11.48 Marvin Harrison 11.6 Frank Gifford 11.7 John Stallworth 11.73 Cris Carter 11.8 Charley Taylor 12.17 Steve Largent 12.2 Bobby Mitchell 12.5 Jerry Rice 12.7 Fred Biletnikoff 12.9 Lenny Moore 13.22 Dave Caspar 13.75 Don Maynard 13.9 Terrell Owens 14.2 Lynn Swann 15.17 Elroy Hirsch 15.5 Lance Alworth 15.68 Randy Moss 15.9 Dante Lavelli 16.06 Pete Pihos 16.35 Tommy McDonald 16.96 Bob Hayes 19.13 Paul Warfield 19.9 Don Hutson 20.28. BUT....a guy that beats all of the above in this category is not in the HOF, and never has seemed to get a sniff for the HOF. That man: Gary Collins 21.14% of his catches went for TDs. In 331 career catches he caught 70 TDs. Now, I expect he get overlooked because he was on a team with the likes of Jim Brown, Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly. I will check to see some other players not listed above, but I suspect that I will find that it is actually Gary Collins who is the guy that "all he does is catch touchdowns". (Note that in the top ten on this list, 4 of them played for the Browns at some point). I liked Gary Collins in that tv show he was in about vampires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted March 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 I liked Gary Collins in that tv show he was in about vampires. You mean Barnabas Collins. But there was an actor name Gary Collins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Collins_(actor) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudfly Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 You mean Barnabas Collins. But there was an actor name Gary Collins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Collins_(actor) I think he's talking about The 6th Sense, which was a horror series in the 70's....I used to love that stuff.... And I remember Barnabus too.....Dark Shadows.....I was young and Mom didn't like me to watch that one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Gary Collins and Paul Warfield as a receiving duo on the Browns would be devastating to any secondary.. I think they both could've excelled in any era... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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