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Shouldn't this guy be in the HOF?

Shouldn’t this guy be in the HOF?

In Brad Oremland’s latest post on wide receivers — and you should really be following the whole series — we got into a bit of a debate on Charlie Joiner in the comments. I’m not ready to provide my full analysis, but I thought I would start with presenting some data. And the quickest and easiest starting point is a gray ink test based on receiving yards.

The way it works is simple. For finishing first in a category, a player gets 10 points; for finishing 2nd, he gets 9 points; for 3rd, he gets 8 points, and so on. I did the same thing when analyzing Eli Manning and whether or not he was HOF-worthy (spoiler: he was not).

Joiner does not fare terribly here, but he doesn’t do all that well, either. He ranked 4th in receiving yards in 1980, so that is worth 7 points. His 6th-place finish the next year is worth 5 points, and his 3rd-place finish in 1976 is worth 8 points. That totals 20 points: it’s ahead of a number of HOF receivers (Lynn Swann, Fred Biletnikoff, Paul Warfield, Art Monk, Charley Taylor, and Andre Reed being the most notable), but it also ranks behind a lot of really good receivers not in the Hall of Fame. That includes contemporaries like Cliff Branch, Harold Jackson, and Drew Pearson. The table below shows every player with at least 14 points of Gray Ink:

RkReceiverPtsHOFLast Yr
1Jerry Rice105Yes2004
1Don Hutson105Yes1945
3Randy Moss56Not El.2012
3Lance Alworth56Yes1972
5Jim Benton55No1947
6Marvin Harrison49Yes2008
7Torry Holt46No2009
7Steve Largent46Yes1989
9James Lofton45Yes1993
10Mac Speedie43No1952
11Don Maynard42Yes1973
12Billy Wilson41No1960
13Michael Irvin40Yes1999
14Reggie Wayne39Not El.2014
14Billy Howton39No1963
16Andre Johnson38Not El.2015
16Chad Johnson38Not El.2011
16Raymond Berry38Yes1967
16Del Shofner38No1967
20Calvin Johnson37Not El.2015
21Larry Fitzgerald35Not El.2015
21Jimmy Smith35No2005
21Henry Ellard35No1998
24Gary Clark34No1995
24John Gilliam34No1977
24Pete Pihos34Yes1955
27Isaac Bruce33No2009
27Sterling Sharpe33No1994
27Harold Jackson33No1983
30Art Powell32No1968
31Tim Brown31Yes2004
31Dante Lavelli31Yes1956
33Elroy Hirsch30Yes1957
34Drew Pearson29No1983
34Tommy McDonald29Yes1968
36Antonio Brown28Not El.2015
36Gary Garrison28No1977
36Lenny Moore28Yes1967
39Demaryius Thomas27Not El.2015
39Cliff Branch27No1985
39Lionel Taylor27No1968
42Terrell Owens26No2010
42Ken Burrough26No1981
42Otis Taylor26No1975
42Harlon Hill26No1962
42Joe Carter26No1945
47Brandon Marshall25Not El.2015
47Steve Smith25Not El.2015
47Drew Hill25No1993
47Wes Chandler25No1988
47John Stallworth25Yes1987
47Mal Kutner25No1950
47Perry Schwartz25No1946
47Bill Smith25No1939
55Rod Smith24No2006
55Herman Moore24No2002
55John Jefferson24No1985
55Gene Washington24No1979
55Hugh Taylor24No1954
60Roddy White23Not El.2015
60Wes Welker23Not El.2015
60Mel Gray23No1982
60Charley Hennigan23No1966
64Andre Rison22No2000
64Bob Hayes22Yes1975
64Warren Wells22No1970
67Tom Fears21Yes1956
67Ray McLean21No1947
67Charley Malone21No1942
70Joe Horn20No2007
70Kellen Winslow20Yes1987
70Charlie Joiner20Yes1986
70Bobby Mitchell20Yes1968
74Roy Green19No1992
74Mike Quick19No1990
74Ken Kavanaugh19No1950
74Gaynell Tinsley19No1940
74Bill Hewitt19Yes1943
79Julio Jones18Not El.2015
79Anquan Boldin18Not El.2015
79Harold Carmichael18No1984
79George Sauer18No1970
79Bill Groman18No1965
79Eggs Manske18No1940
79Harry Ebding18No1937
86Irving Fryar17No2000
86Andre Reed17Yes2000
86Mark Clayton17No1993
86Rich Caster17No1982
86Buddy Dial17No1966
86Johnny Blood17Yes1938
92Cris Carter16Yes2002
92Art Monk16Yes1995
92Mark Duper16No1992
92Carlos Carson16No1989
92Charley Taylor16Yes1977
92Cloyce Box16No1954
92Bob Mann16No1954
92Billy Dewell16No1949
92Wilbur Moore16No1946
101Anthony Miller15No1997
101Isaac Curtis15No1984
101Fred Biletnikoff15Yes1978
101Paul Warfield15Yes1977
101Luke Johnsos15No1936
106Muhsin Muhammad14No2009
106Antonio Freeman14No2003
106Frank Lewis14No1983
106Lynn Swann14Yes1982
106Ahmad Rashad14No1982
106Roy Jefferson14No1976
106Homer Jones14No1970
106Sonny Randle14No1968
106Pete Retzlaff14No1966
106Al Baldwin14No1950
106Dick Todd14No1948
106Jeff Barrett14No1938

Note that this is really quick and dirty. I combined the AFL and NFL seasons, along with the AAFC and NFL seasons, which is probably not the best way to handle things. I didn’t adjust for era, so players in smaller leagues get big advantages (hi, Jim Benton!) especially during weaker times like during WW II (hi, Jim Benton!). I don’t adjust for games played, which is not ideal. For example, Terrell Owens fares poorly here, but he averaged 109 yards per game during a 7-game 2005 season, led the league in yards per game in 2000 but missed two games, and ranked 2nd in ’02 when he also missed two games. Another reason Owens doesn’t do well is he was more of a touchdown guy than a yards guy, and this only looks at touchdowns. Ditto Cris Carter, who doesn’t do well here but also doesn’t get any credit for his high reception totals. This list is probably much better (and, for what it’s worth, Joiner only rises to 60 on that one).

A receiving yards Gray Ink table is just the start of a conversation, not the end, but I do find the numbers interesting. Jerry Rice and Don Hutson magically have the same number, which is neat. Another cool feature: you can compare across positions. Rice and Hutson each have 105 points, while Peyton Manning had 102 points using ANY/A, but that was before a 7-point season in 2014; as a result, he would slightly beat out both Rice and Hutson, which is kind of crazy.

Along with Benton, it’s another Rams receiver — Torry Holt — at the top of the list among non-HOF wide receivers. The knock on Holt is that he played in a pass-heavy offense, as did Joiner, but he was the opposite of Joiner when it came to longevity. Holt only played 11 years, but he never had less than 700 receiving yards in a season. I’d call that a feature, not a bug, but the lack of a few 400- and 500-yard seasons leaves him at #13, and not #3, on the all-time receiving yards list.

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