The answer, of course, is probably not.  Or more like, almost certainly not. Many have tried, and none have come all that close.  Jones has leapfrogged Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Randy Moss — the three leaders in receiving yards through age 27 — but those three stars also serve as a reminder of how difficult it is to maintain greatness into your mid 30s.

The graph below shows the career receiving yards by Rice and Jones through Age X, with each age shown on the X-Axis, and career receiving yards through that age on the Y-Axis.  As you can see, Jones has a slight lead, and he’s had it for, well, his whole career (since Rice’s first season was at age 23, while Jones’s first year was at age 22):

For most players, comparing them at the same age is useful, but not so for Rice. It makes more sense to compare player to Rice by seasons rather than age, since Rice was so good for so long into his career (and started at an older age). And if you compare them through 8 seasons, the graph looks a lot closer:

I think it makes more sense to compare Jones from ages 22 to 29 to Rice from 23 to 30 than Rice from 22 to 29, considering how good Rice was later in his career. After all, he is the record holder for receiving yards at ages 32, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, and 42.  By way of comparison, the leaders in the 2018 NFL season at ages 32, 33, and 36 (let’s just forget 39 through 42, the “lol” years) were Julian Edelman with 850, Jordy Nelson with 739, and well, nobody at age 36.  Those three years, Rice had 1,499, 1848, and 1,157, respectively.

Even with a one year edge on Rice, Jones doesn’t really have much of a chance to catch him.  Jones needs 12,165 more receiving yards in his career to break Rice’s mark.  As it stands, the career leader in receiving yards after turning 30, ignoring Rice, is Tim Brown with 8,858 (Rice had nearly 5,000 more yards, with 13,823). Even if we spot Jones an extra age 29 season — i.e., look at the players with the most receiving yards from age 29+ — that only gets Brown to  10,200 yards.  If we let Jones repeat his age 28 and 29 seasons, would he have a chance?  Well, the leader in receiving yards in ages 28+ is still Brown, with 11,509 yards.  Which … would still leave Jones shy of Rice.

Think about that for a second.  Jones is the career leader in receiving yards through the end of age 29.  If we project him to gain, from ages 30 through the end of his career, as many receiving yards as the guy with the most receiving yards from age 28 through the end of his career other than Rice… that still is not enough to get him the record.

Remarkable.

You probably know that the next year was Rice’s most remarkable feat. Nobody in NFL history other than Rice gained any yards at age 40 or later, but that year, Rice gained 1,211 yards in Oakland in 2002.

You probably also know that Rice didn’t stop there: he gained 869 yards in 2003 at the age of 41.

And you know that Rice also played at age 42, where he gained 429 yards.  By way of reference, Larry Fitzgerald will be 42 in 2025, by which point in time he may already have been in Canton for a year.

So yes, Rice gained more receiving yards at age 39, 40, 41, and 42 than anyone else in NFL history.  But you probably already knew that.  But did you know that three other times Rice gained more yards than anyone else at any age in NFL history?

Rice gained 1,499 yards in 1994 at age 32, the most in NFL history.  In fact, 1499 yards remains the most by by any player not named Rice at age 32 or older.

Rice then gained a whopping 1,848 receiving yards in 1995, at 33 years old, at the time an NFL record and still the most yards by any player older than 27 years of age.

Oh, and at 36, Rice picked up 1,157 receiving yards, the most of any player at that age, too.

So the single-season record holders in receiving yards at age 32, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, and 42 are all Rice.

Only two other players hold the record for most receiving yards at age X for two different ages (no other player has done it for three).  Can you name them?  While you think about that, the graph below shows the receiving yards leaders by age:

Okay, time’s up. The table below shows the player with the most receiving yards at each age.

What stands out to you?