RootOffs / Larry Fitzgerald IS NOT the best WR in the NFL
Created on 19/1/09 in NFL / Philadelphia Eagles | Tags: eagles, mcnabb
taekneek (banned) says:
I'm not sure who YOU saw out there catching 150 yards worth of passes and 3 TD's on Sunday, but I saw Larry Fitzgerald. I wasn't crazy about the guy until I saw how amazing he was the entire year in 2008. Course we all know his hot hands didn't stop with the regular season. Let's just take a look at his three post season games so far this month.
Against Atlanta Falcons: 6 catches, 101 yards, 1 TD.
Against Carolina Panthers: 8 catches, 166 yards, 1 TD.
Against Philadelphia Eagles: 9 catches, 152 yards, 3TD.
I don't see how you can not see that Fitz is the best receiver in the NFL right now. The only other WR you could argue is Andre Johnson, and even he only had slightly more yardage. It is true that Fitz has the legendary Kurt Warner throwing to him, but that is erroneous on all accounts.
The point is that Fitzgerald is the reason the Cardinals are in the playoffs and even in the Super Bowl! Without him they have Boldin and two average running-backs that can't break through the line for huge games. The biggest factor in my opinion is that Fitz had been the NFL playoff MVP so far this season. I'll close round 1 with the table below, and I hope it wakes you up.
Most receiving yards, single postseason
Year-----Player-----------------------Team----------Games-------Yards
2008-----Larry Fitzgerald-------Cardinals-----------3------------419
1988-----Jerry Rice-----------------49ers--------------3------------409
2003-----Steve Smith------------Panthers------------4------------404
1983-----Charlie Brown---------Redskins------------3------------401
Andre Johnson.
Andre Johnson managed to have more receptions and yards than Fitzgerald even though Johnson had the worse QB
Fitzgerald benefited from Warner, one of the best QBs in the league and the last 10 years.
However, Johnson's QB was Sage Rosenfels and Matt Schuab.
If you think about it, its is AMAZING how Johnson got these stats. Let's take a look:
Johnson: The only pro bowl reciever of his team. Defenses constantly double cover and even triple cover him. His Qb was Rosenfels and Schaub. How did Johnson post up all these ridiculous stats even while being double and triple covered??? Cause he was the best WR in 2008.
Fitzgerald: One of two pro bowl recievers no his team. Warner, one of the best in the 90s and still one of the best today is his QB. They throw a lot more than the Texans, and Fitzgerald does not face double and triple coverage not nearly as much as much as Johnson.
As you can see, Johnson had it much harder for him, but he still had the better season than Fitzgerald.
Johnson: 115 catches 1575 receiving yards 8 touchdowns
Fitzgerald: 96 catches 1431 receiving yards 12 touchdowns
I'm glad you actually picked a comparable WR. The problem is that Johnson even though Johnson led the NFL in yards and catches, it was not as impressive as Fitz's stats. My question is, are you familiar with yards per catch? This is the biggest difference in their stats being compared:
Larry Fitzgerald: 96 catches, 1431 yards, 12 TD's, 14.96 yards per catch***
Andre Johnson: 115 catches, 1575 yards, 8 TD's, 13.68 yards per catch
Do you see the difference? If Fitzgerald had not been splitting time with another pro bowl receiver in Boldin and had matched Johnson's 115 catches, he would've finished the season with 1720 yards receiving on the year. If he would've gained those 20 extra catches, he would've almost broken Jerry Rice's record of 1848 yards in 1995.
Another hole in your logic is the idea that Johnson's stats were even more amazing because he had such a poor QB in Houston. This is also false. Ask yourself this question. Do the Texans have any other good players besides Steve Slaton and Andre Johnson? My point is, if you are desperately trying to win games like the Texans, who are you going to give the football? Why do you think Johnson had so many catches? Mainly because no one else on that team could catch a football and score a touchdown like Johnson.
Fitzgerald's stats are so remarkable because he shares the passes with the other pro-bowl wideout on the Cardinals, Anquan Boldin. Lots of times when there are multiple studs on the same team, their stats aren't as impressive because they are sharing the ball so much. Fitzgerald wants the ball, Boldin wants the ball, Edge wants the ball...IT NEVER ENDS! Do you really think Fitz wasn't double and triple covered this year? He was the biggest threat on that team!
The Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl this year because of Larry Fitzgerald's ability to catch everything that Warner throws to him. Let's just try to forget about the 5 dropped passes Johnson had this year and the 1 that Fitzgerald had. His season was amazing and now he is showing everyone in the world that he is one of the best in the game, boosting some of the best playoff stats in history. I cannot wait to see how the Pittsburgh secondary plans to cover him. I mean come on, 419 receiving yards in 3 games in the playoffs against the leagues best teams! And he hasn't even played in the Super Bowl yet! He will be facing the NFL's top pass defense and some of the league's hardest-hitting defensive backs, but his ability to gain yards after the catch despite taking big shots is what sets him apart.
You see, the problem with your logic is that Fitzgerald was not nearly as double or triple covered as Johnson. As you said, the Texans do not have the same amount of pro bowlers in their offense which allows defenses to focus more attention to Johnson.
I would also like to point out to you that if Anquan Boldin was not hurt, he would probably have had more catches, yards, and touchdowns.
You do realize that in regular season, the Cardinals will not give the ball to Edge, no matter how badly he wanted it? They were strictly a passing team.
In the regular season, Fitzgerald normally faced single and double coverage as Boldin was there. However, John faced a lot of double and some triple coverages.
Fitzgerald's success in the postseason was largely due to the fact that opposing defenses did not double cover or triple cover Fitzgerald as much as they should have. The Falcons are just flat out mediocre on pass defense.The Panthers werent even prepared for Fitzgerald, and did not think too much about double or triple covering him. The Eagles relied too much on Asante Samuel and an aging Brian Dawkins.
I have to repeat, Fitzgerald was not nearly triple covered or double covered as Johnson. Doing so would cause Boldin to be open. Johnson still managed to have an extremely productive season even while the whole defense is focused on him.
Is that the basis for your argument? Are you saying that in your opinion the entire reason Johnson was better was because he was tripled covered more than Fitzgerald? All you are stating is a generalization and opinion. No one sits and documents how many times a certain player was single/double/ or triple covered throughout the season.
You neglected to give a good explanation to why Fitz averaged almost 2 yards per catch more than Johnson. The fact that Johnson had twenty more catches throughout the season just proves that 1) he was thrown the ball more often and 2) he was not double and triple covered nearly as much as you think. Just face it, both players are stud receivers and will always be double covered most times, but that is not what you should be basing your entire argument on.
When it comes to the playoffs, excuses are like assholes...everyone has one. Making excuses for why defenses could not cover Fitzgerald and allowed him to catch over 400 yards worth of passes and 5 touchdowns is not getting anywhere. Did you happened to think that those defenses could not cover him because he's just THAT GOOD. It's like the Chargers secondary trying to cover Randy Moss...he's just too much for them. Saying that the Falcons defense is mediocre, the Panthers "weren't ready" for Fitz, and the Eagles only had 2 guys to cover him are all poor excuses.
The point is that Larry Fitzgerald didn't destroy these defenses all year because they suck, it's because he one of the most talented players in the game. When looking at their career stats, it is clear that Fitzgerald is only going to get better and better as every year comes and goes. Andre Johnson however is great one year and hurt/plays poorly the next. I realize that this is not very relevant to our topic of conversation, but it is important to point out how consistent Fitz is.
To finish this thing up, hopefully I have swayed you by some of my arguments. I would definitely say that Fitzgerald and Johnson are the top 2 receivers in the NFL easily. Johnson does well being the "lone ranger" per say on the Houston Texans, causing him to rake in tons of yardage on a yearly basis. However, being that Larry Fitzgerald has to share ball time with another pro bowl receiver (Boldin), it is even more impressive that he rakes in the impressive stats he does. Making him the main reason why the Cardinals were so good this year in the regular season, playoffs, and now the SUPER BOWL! I have no doubt that Larry Fitzgerald was the best WR in the NFL in 2008, and will be the face of the Cardinals for years to come.
Good luck in the voting sir!
OOHHH I forgot to write about the payrds per catch thing in my second argument.
Well, here. As Schuab does not throw deep, nor can he throw deep balls well, Johnson mostly runs short to medium routes.
Warner, on the other hand, throws good deep balls that Fitzgerald can catch.
Now, I dont have to choose one receiver. Randy Moss should also be considered better than Fitzgerald. This is the man who was compared to Jerry Rice. Even with a QB like Daunte Culpepper, Moss still torched defenses, and no one figured out how to stop him.
Now, lets compare Fitzgerald's first 5 years in the NFL to Moss's first 5 years in the NFL:
Fitzgerald:
04- 58 catches 780 yards 8 touchdowns
05- 103 catches 1409 yards 10 touchdowns
06- 69 catches 946 yards 6 touchdowns
07-100 catches 1409 yards 10 touchdowns
08- 96 catches 1431 yards 12 touchdowns
Moss:
98- 69 catches 1313 yards 17 touchdowns
99- 80 catches 1413 yards 11 touchdowns
00- 77 catches 1437 yards 15 touchdowns
01- 82 catches 1233 yards 10 touchdowns
02- 106 catches 1347 yards 7 touchdowns
Keep in mind that Moss played with Cris Carter.
Fitzgerald totals to: 426 catches 5975 yards 14.0 Y/R 46 touchdowns
Moss totals to: 414 catches 6737 yards 16.27 Y/R 60 touchdowns
Reggie Wayne from 2004-2008, also outplayed Fitzgerald
Wayne totals to: 432 catches 6230 yards 14.42 Y/R 42 touchdowns
Keep in mind that Wayne played with Harrison.
Dont take so much from Fitzgerald's playing in the playoffs. It's like what Eli did last year. But Eli seems like he's back to his old self.
Just because Fitzgerald played well the last 3 games doesnt mean he's the best.
I hear too much crap about how Fitzgerald is the best receiver ever, and people start comparing him to Rice, and there is just all this crap.
I MEAN COME ON!!!! AFTER 3 GAMES YOU ALREADY DUB THIS GUY THE BEST WR IN THE NFL???
UUUHHHH.... WHEN DOES IT EVER TAKE 3 GAMES TO NAME ANY PLAYER THE BEST IN THEIR POSITION???
3 games of great playing... thats it. He is not the best WR in the NFL.
Two years ago, Chad Johnson had 3 straight games of amazing playing. IN those 3 games, he combined for 573 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns, 24 catches, and a 23.88 Y/R average.
So remember, this has happened before. Only Chad did it a lot better. Not saying Chad is better than Fitzgerald, just saying Chad played 3 amazing games, but you and I both know that Chad is not the best WR in the league.
