Better Group of WR's? (1995-2004 v.s 2016-Present) (Draft Class)

[BucciMane]

Which group of WR's were/are better? The one's listed aren't every WR drafted between these dates, but ones that rank/ranked among the best at their position. You can factor in ones that aren't listed here. The dates are based on draft class, not their performance during those particular years.




1995-2004:

Antonio Freeman
Keyshawn Johnson
Terry Glenn
Marvin Harrison
Eric Moulds
Mushin Muhammad
Terrell Owens
Joe Horn
Jermaine Lewis
Derrick Mason
Randy Moss
Hines Ward
Tory ****
Donald Driver
Santana Moss
Reggie Wayne
Chad OchoCinco
Steve Smith
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Javon Walker
Andre Johnson
Anquan Boldin
Brandon Lloyd
Larry Fitzgerald
Roy WIlliams
Wes Welker


2005-2016:

Braylon Edwards
Roddy White
Vincent Jackson
Greg Jennings
Brandon Marshall
Calvin Johnson
Dwayne Bowe
Jordy Nelson
DeSean Jackson
Jeremy Maclin
Percy Harvin
Mike Wallace
Demaryius Thomas
Michael Crabtree
Dez Bryant
Golden Tate
Emmanuel Sanders
Antonio Brown
Victor Cruz
A.J. Green
Julio Jones
Josh Gordon
Randall Cobb
Alshon Jeffery
T.Y. Hilton
Odell Bechkam Jr.
Allen Robinson
Amari Cooper

 

[fifth column]

The one with the WR from Rand and

 

[BucciMane]

The one with the WR from Rand and

I think they clearly have the best WR and likely the top two out of both groups. The young depth of the second group is excellent though.

 

[Donald Trumps Twitter]

The greatest wide receiver of all time comes from Marshall

 

[dtownreppin214]

First group has a lot of possession receivers. I respect them b/c they played when you could get your head knocked off going over the middle but I got to go with the second group. Julio, Beckham, Calvin Johnson, AB are too explosive.

 

[Remote]

Hard to say.
The league is different today.

A lot of these speedsters in 2016 might have gotten crushed with the way defenses were allowed to hit you back in 1996. A lot of these specialists/slot WRs with careers today would end up destroyed like Wayne Chrebet was.
But at the same time, it's hard to imagine that physical specimens like Dez Bryant, Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones couldn't have been successful 20-25 years ago. They probably would have beasted in any era under any context.

And I don't think DBs or LBs were necessarily any stronger back then compared to today. Today's defenders are agile and strong as hell. But today's defenders aren't allowed to go at you the same way.

I don't think 2004 is the fairest cutoff.
Pretty much everything since 2000 or 2001 has been highly suspect if you're a QB or WR.

 

[Ohene]

First group has a lot of possession receivers. I respect them b/c they played when you could get your head knocked off going over the middle but I got to go with the second group. Julio, Beckham, Calvin Johnson, AB are too explosive.

Moss > Julio
TO > CJ
Fitzgerald > AB
Smith < Beckham

 

[Remote]

BTW, OP....I noticed Jimmy Smith isn't in your list.

He was a good WR.

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

Moss
Owens
Harrison


That's all I need to see right there....

 

[KOohbt]

Bruh moss and TO are miles ahead of everyone in the second group. That's all I need to see to choose

 

[KOohbt]

The fact that Larry Fitzgerald is better than a lot of the second group now isn't a good sign lol.

 

[Remote]

This may be arbitrary but it's interesting to me.

Larry Fitzgerald's best 100 (ish) game stretch (from age 22-28)
108 games
1,077 targets
635 receptions
8,835 yards
65 TD

Andre Johnson's best 100 (ish) game stretch (from age 23-29)
99 games
981 targets
607 receptions
8,188 yards
46 TD

Now I'm not saying Andre Johnson is better than Larry Fitzgerald (although that's a matter of opinion).
But people love to talk about how great Larry is. You almost never hear anything about how great Andre was.

It seems to me that those two were a lot closer than people might think.

 

[I AM WE ARE]

Which group of WR's were/are better? The one's listed aren't every WR drafted between these dates, but ones that rank/ranked among the best at their position. You can factor in ones that aren't listed here. The dates are based on draft class, not their performance during those particular years.




1995-2004:

Antonio Freeman
Keyshawn Johnson
Terry Glenn
Marvin Harrison
Eric Moulds
Mushin Muhammad
Terrell Owens
Joe Horn
Jermaine Lewis
Derrick Mason
Randy Moss
Hines Ward
Tory ****
Donald Driver
Santana Moss
Reggie Wayne
Chad OchoCinco
Steve Smith
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Javon Walker
Andre Johnson
Anquan Boldin
Brandon Lloyd
Larry Fitzgerald
Roy WIlliams
Wes Welker


2005-2016:

Braylon Edwards
Roddy White
Vincent Jackson
Greg Jennings
Brandon Marshall
Calvin Johnson
Dwayne Bowe
Jordy Nelson
DeSean Jackson
Jeremy Maclin
Percy Harvin
Mike Wallace
Demaryius Thomas
Michael Crabtree
Dez Bryant
Golden Tate
Emmanuel Sanders
Antonio Brown
Victor Cruz
A.J. Green
Julio Jones
Josh Gordon
Randall Cobb
Alshon Jeffery
T.Y. Hilton
Odell Bechkam Jr.
Allen Robinson
Amari Cooper

who is that?

 

[Sly Cookin]

Julio all time yards per game leader

 

[OGBobbyJohnson]

Moss & Rice
Nuff said