keggerz Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Fitzgerald turns 30 on August 31st. I decided to run some numbers and compare Fitz to Jerry Rice prior to both turning 30. All numbers for Rice are prior to him turning 30 in week 7 in 1992 (numbers include 6 weeks from 92). Also, all numbers are generated by QBs...any pass attempts/ yards/TDs/INTs by RBs, WRs, etc have been backed out. Regular season numbers only. Games Played Fitzgerald 140 Rice 114 Receptions Fitzgerald 764 (5.46/game played) Rice 549 (4.82/game played) Receiving Yards Fitzgerald 10,413 (74.38/game played) Rice 9349 (82.01/game played) Receiving Touchdowns Fitzgerald 77 Rice 95 % of completions caught FItzgerald 25.02% Rice 23.24% % of passing yards caught Fitzgerald 30.03% Rice 31.83% % of passing TDs caught Fitzgerald 43.02% Rice 47.50% The following stat is absolutely insane, especially when you realize that Fitz has 215 more receptions and 1064 more receiving yards than Rice did before age 30. Passer Rating Fitzgerald's QBs 77.1 Rice's 93.5* *Only 8 QBs in NFL history have a career passer rating higher than the 93.5 Rice's QBs combined for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripleshot Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Good food for thought there. Part of Rice's legacy was how long he played at an elite level. I suspect Fitz may well do the same. I often wonder if Rice's QBs had more to do with his success, vice versa, or whether it was more mutual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pratts Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I often wonder if Rice's QBs had more to do with his success, vice versa, or whether it was more mutual. It would be interesting to see what Rice's numbers were like with QB's other than Montana/Young. Like Steve Bono or Jeff Kemp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 It would be interesting to see what Rice's numbers were like with QB's other than Montana/Young. Like Steve Bono or Jeff Kemp. That would be a bit harder to do, and I'm not sure if there's enough games played with those guys to make it worth it but when I get a chance I'll give it a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Other than the obvious "they're really good" thing and the fact that Fitz is turning 30 soon and Rice was obviously solid past this age, I'm curious as to why you decided to compare these two. Two completely different types of WRs IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron2112 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Rice played with three League MVP QB's... doubt anyone else has. Kind of incredible when you think of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 Other than the obvious "they're really good" thing and the fact that Fitz is turning 30 soon and Rice was obviously solid past this age, I'm curious as to why you decided to compare these two. Two completely different types of WRs IMO. when I realized Larry had 10k+ I wanted to see how that compared to Rice at the same age...then I just went a bit farther with the other stats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 It would be interesting to see what Rice's numbers were like with QB's other than Montana/Young. Like Steve Bono or Jeff Kemp. I didn't dig deep enough to see how many catches/yds/TDs Rice had with QBs not named Montana/Young but I did dig deep enough to get the passer rating for those other QBs in the games that Rice played in prior to turning 30...82.37 is the combined passer rating for Matt Cavanaugh, Jeff Kemp, Mike Moroski, Bill Musgrave & Steve Bono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Good read...thanks Kegz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goopster24 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Great stuff, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAUgrad Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Kinda seems like your sayting that Fitz is better than Rice. Interesting relationship statistically between the two for sure. I believe that they are very much the same kind of WR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Interesting comparison but Jerry Rice was way better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloroform Rx Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I think the value of Jerry Rice and those QB's go hand in hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 You should do a comparison to Roddy White. My guess is that he would be all over this like White on Rice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 While I'm sure Rice helped those QBs he played with, there should be no doubt that the QBs he played with were much better than any of the ones Fitz played with, except maybe Kurt Warner. I'm not saying Fitz is better than Rice, and I really do not think Keg is saying that either. It was also different eras, and SF ran the ball plenty and played good defense too. Think of all the garbage time stats Fitz is getting when the Cards are losing big and trying to come back. Good job Keg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Kinda seems like your sayting that Fitz is better than Rice. Interesting relationship statistically between the two for sure. I believe that they are very much the same kind of WR. Honestly can't even believe I just read that. Interesting comparison but Jerry Rice was way better. Agreed. Better and a completely different type of WR in a different era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripleshot Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Fitz career stats sneak up on you the same way Sjax's do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Fitz career stats sneak up on you the same way Sjax's do. His stats should actually be much, much better IMO. If he only had consistent QB play every year.... dude's a mega-stud, just not in Rice territory (not that anyone else really is either). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 His stats should actually be much, much better IMO. If he only had consistent QB play every year.... dude's a mega-stud, just not in Rice territory (not that anyone else really is either). what do you think Fitz would have to work on to get closer to being as good as Rice was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 FWIW, I wasn't trying to say that Fitz is better than Rice...this was just about raw stats and raw stats only... Jerry Rice is the all-time leader in receptions (1,549) and receiving yards (22,895) and I think it's safe to say most if not all NFL fans look at those two records as unbreakable...but based on what Fitz has done so far -- much with dregs at QB -- if he stays healthy he has a real shot of taking down not one but both of those records. All he needs to average is 87.23 (5.45/game) catches per season over the next 9 yrs to break the record...if he plays 10 more years then it's just 78.5 (4.91/game) catches per season. Yardage wise he would probably need to play 10 yrs and average 1248.2/yr to get the record. I know they are from different eras, but if and when someone breaks Rice's records it's going to be big news...no matter how much more a pass oriented league it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripleshot Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 As great as the first half of Rice's career was, it was his equally great second half that separates him so much from the pack. That kind of sustained excellence is extremely rare. It wouldn't surprise me if Fitz played as well throughout his 30s, but damn, the Cards need to make sure he has a decent QB for all of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 As great as the first half of Rice's career was, it was his equally great second half that separates him so much from the pack. That kind of sustained excellence is extremely rare. It wouldn't surprise me if Fitz played as well throughout his 30s, but damn, the Cards need to make sure he has a decent QB for all of it. Yep, he had 1000 catches AFTER the age of 30...not including Rice only 7 other receivers in NFL history have 1000 or more catches in their career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 what do you think Fitz would have to work on to get closer to being as good as Rice was? I'm not sure that's even possible. Rice was rather unassuming from the physical aspect who refined every aspect of his game relentlessly. That's actually one spot where I see similarities: Fitz is a tireless worker both on the field, in the weight room and in the film room. It says something when other active WRs go to you for off-season training advice. That said, Rice was other-worldly in his route-running, hands, ability to stay healthy, big game ability, reliability, everything. I'm not sure Fitz could work any harder to get to Rice's level. I'm not sure anyone ever will. And I'm no Niners fan, FWIW. It's like comparing Marilyn Monroe to Olivia Wilde. Sure, both are beautiful.... but in different ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron2112 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I think they're quite a bit alike. Has Fitz ever missed a start? Fitzgerald has been amazing in the postseason. In six games he's put together 42 receptions for 705 yards(16.79 avg) and 9 TD's... he caught at least one touchdown in five of those games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I think they're quite a bit alike. Has Fitz ever missed a start? Fitzgerald has been amazing in the postseason. In six games he's put together 42 receptions for 705 yards(16.79 avg) and 9 TD's... he caught at least one touchdown in five of those games. He missed 3 games in 2006 and 1 in 2007. Fitz is durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.