NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
Colin Cowherd argued earlier this week that quarterbacks make wide receivers, not vice versa. We take him at his word and look at which teams "make" their wide receivers.
In a hugely enjoyable article earlier this week, Ed Valentine of Big Blue View wrote about a recent Fox Sports Radio talk show in which host Colin Cowherd lit into Giants WR Odell Beckham because "Odell Beckham’s not gonna win you games."
Cowherds argument is basically that quarterbacks make wide receivers, not vice versa, and that he would "trade Odell Beckham in 15 minutes." Here is Cowherd’s full quote:
"Odell Beckham's not gonna win you games. If you could trade Odell Beckham today and get a left tackle, All Pro, you'd do it. You'd do it in a heartbeat.
"I'd trade Odell Beckham in 15 minutes if you could give me a starting right guard and an All-Pro left tackle. Done."
Taking Cowherd by his word, Valentine looks at three tackle/guard combos, one of which is Tyron Smith and Zack Martin, and it doesn't take him long to make up his mind.
It would never happen, but I have to be honest. As great as he is, I would trade Beckham for Smith and Martin in that proverbial heartbeat. Smith is a 25-year-old three-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro and Martin, also 25, has two Pro Bowl appearances in two season and was All-Pro as a rookie.
No can do, Mr. Valentine, no can do.
It's a fun read, but the thing that stuck with me is the idea of a QB making a WR. So today I'm going to try to figure out which teams are particularly adept at "making" a receiver, and for the purposes of this post, I'm going to consider a 1,000+ receiver a "made" receiver.
1,000+ receiving yards in a season is a stat that is correctly labeled as a season milestone for a player who achieves it. When a player puts up those kinds of numbers, he was at least very successful, perhaps even dominant against most opponents.
Last season, 26 NFL players had more than 1,000 receiving yards in the NFL. The Cowboys didn't have any 1,000+ yard receivers last year, but was last season just an injury-plagued fluke for the Cowboys?
Let's extend the scope of this 1,000 receiving-yards analysis a little further, and look at the stats for the last ten years. From 2006 to 2015, 216 receivers surpassed the 1.000+ yard milestone, and 13 of them were Cowboys players. Off the top of your head, how many teams do you think had more 1,000-yard receivers than the Cowboys? More than three? More than five? More than ten?
Before we answer that question, let's first look at how many and which Cowboys players exceeded the 1,000-yard receiving yards milestone over that period.
Dallas Cowboys 1,000+ yard Receivers, 2006 - 2015
Year Player 1
Yards Year Player 1
Player 2
Yards2006
Terrell Owens
1,180
Terry Glenn
1,047
2007
2007
Terrell Owens
1,355
Jason Witten
1,145
2008
2008
Terrell Owens
1,052
- -
- -
2009
2009
Miles Austin
1,320
Jason Witten
1,030
2010
2010
Miles Austin
1,041
Jason Witten
1,002
2011
2011
- -
- -
- -
- -
2012
2012
Dez Bryant
1,382
Jason Witten
1,039
2013
2013
Dez Bryant
1,233
- -
- -
2014
2014
Dez Bryant
1,320
- -
- -
2015
2015
- -
- -
- -
- -
The Cowboys have had players exceed 1,000 receiving yards 13 times in the last ten years. The Cowboys failed to produce a 1,000+ yard receiver only twice over that period. In 2011, the Cowboys didn't have a single player hit that statistical milestone, although Jason Witten (942), Miles Austin (928), and Laurent Robinson (858) all came relatively close. In 2015, the revolving door of the Cowboys trainer room meant only Terrance Williams (840) approached the 1,000 yards.
So how many teams had more 1,000-yard receivers than the Cowboys over the last ten years?
Not a single one.
The Broncos are tied with the Cowboys at 13, the Cardinals and Patriots have 12 each, while the Colts and Packers have 11 each. Over the past seven seasons, the Cowboys have as many 1,000+ yard receivers as the Giants (8) and Eagles (5) combined. So much for that divisional discussion.
With all of that in mind, you've got to wonder, whether there is something all 13 of those Cowboys receivers had in common. Like maybe the guy throwing the ball their way.
Because if Colin Cowherd is right, and QBs make their receivers, then Tony Romo is one of the best around.
Here's the full list of 1,000+ yard receivers over the last 10 years, courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.
1,000+ yard receivers by team, 2006 - 2015
Team # of players Team # of players Team # of players
DAL Team # of players Team # of players Team # of players
13
HOU 8
CLE 4
DEN 13
NYG 8
NYJ 4
ARI 12
TAM 8
CHI 4
NWE 12
CAR 8
SFO 3
IND 11
BUF 6
TEN 3
GNB 11
KAN 6
STL 3
ATL 10
PHI 5
SEA 2
NOR 10
SDG 5
JAX 2
CIN 10
BAL 5
MIN 1
DET 10
MIA 5
OAK 1
PIT 9
WAS 4
Continue reading...