Steve Smith: Hall of Famer?

Steve Smith was a very exciting player- and I use the past tense because now he is basically Torry Holt as a Jaguar- who has been a victim of bracket coverage his entire career.
Certainly a more dynamic player than Art f'n Monk.

 

Think the eras have a lot to do with Smith being more dynamic player than Monk. When Monk retired wasn't he 2nd to Largent in receiving yards. he was a big part of 2 Super Bowl winning teams and was still decent on a 3rd. Russ Grimm and Darrell Green are the only others that won 3 with Wash in the HOF. Gibbs was a big reason for the Redskins success but still think Monk was one of the best WR of his era.

 

2005, he was the best in the game.

 

Ravens era Smith is a lot better than Jaguars era Holt.
Smith led the Ravens -- a team that was one of the best in the AFC -- in receptions and receiving yards and was top 25 in the NFL in both categories. His numbers weren't elite, but they were better than Holt's one year in Jacksonville.

As an aside, I'm always glad when someone brings up Torry Holt's time with the Jaguars. It gives me an excuse to post this:

 

He's a compiler?

 

If you're a team's only threat, you get triple-teams and stuff. But you get every ball thrown to you anyway.

If you're on a team loaded with receivers, you get one-on-one coverage. But the QB is spreading the ball all over the place.

Is there any definitive study on whether either situation is ipso facto better/worse for a player's numbers?

 

As I recall Art Monk retired as the NFL's career receptions leader.

 

BTExpress-
That is a very interesting rubric.
Thanks for the idea.

 

I could have sworn Football Outsiders did something on this in the past, to accompany one of their articles on why it's bad to sign a #2 or #3 receiver playing with a dominant #1, but I can't find it. (Maybe it was in one of the books.) I'd be OK with Smith getting in, but if he does, it's solely because he's got the narrative / storyline aspect pushing him past some other candidates. For comparison's sake, Jimmy Smith has similar career numbers and had a similar role (best WR on some good but not championship teams, and some bad teams), and he didn't get the nod. However, he's also got the drug conviction baggage, so who the frig knows.

 

There was a story a few weeks ago that Michael Irvin was very upset when Tim Brown approached him at a Pro Bowl and asked him what Irvin thought about having him at split end that coming offseason.
I think in that era when even the No. 2 corner was still pretty good an argument could made the No. 1's output would suffer, but not in today's NFL of Chris Houstons and Rashean Mathises.

 

Steve Smith says, watch out world, this is my last go-round.

Steve Smith plans to wound, damage, puncture - NFL.com

"It will be a farewell tour for me but let me be very clear: I will wound, damage and puncture a lot of people on my way out," Smith said Tuesday on The Rich Eisen Show.

 

Off the top of my head, I would say two legit receivers is worse on stats. Case in point is the Colts of the 2000s. Harrison had four straight seasons of 100 plus catches when the second option was Jerome Pathon or a young Reggie Wayne. Circa 2003, Wayne comes into his own and Harrison's numbers never come close to what they were. He and Wayne average about the same stats each year. But, could this be a sign that Harrison was aging? Maybe, but his last full season (pro bowl) was 2006. The next year, Wayne, playing sans a legit number two, set career highs for catches and yards. He then goes over 100 catches a year in four of the next six years. Now, 100 catches is not as a rare as it used to be, but it is something.

On the flip side, I remember the Bills busting out one year with Eric Moulds and Peerless Price catching a ton of balls and feeding off each other. Price decamps to Atlanta as a hailed receiving savior and stinks up the joint (I was covering the Falcons back then, so i can say that with some validation, he couldn't do anything to get open and he was further hindered by Vick getting injured and Doug Johnson leading the team for most of the year). Moulds numbers, meanwhile dropped, in Buffalo, but I think he and/or Bledsoe may have been banged up.