How does Dwayne Bowe rank among the elite WR's?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Sorry, didn't want this getting overlooked in the other thread. Then again, people will probably ignore it anyway - I know some of you will appreciate this.


I keep seeing people say that Dwayne Bowe isn't an elite WR. So I decided to do some research to see how he matches up statistically over his 5 years in the league.

What I found, is that statistically, Bowe is the 10th best WR of the last 5 years.

I found 9 other WR's that either had better yardage totals, better TD numbers or both. He was 10th in yardage, tied for 6th in TD's.

Here's the list. (Yardage/TD's) Bolded players have fewer or same TD's as Bowe.


Larry Fitzgerald - 6480/49

Roddy White - 6422/42

Reggie Wayne - 6234/36

Wes Welker - 6105/31

Calvin Johnson - 5872/49

Andre Johnson - 5703/35

Greg Jennings - 5539/46

Steve Smith - 5353/29

Marques Colston - 5202/40

Dwayne Bowe - 4927/36


Personally, I think that's impressive on its own.

Especially when you consider the only guy on this list who is younger is Megatron. I'd be curious to see how he matches up to the same players during each of their first 5 seasons.

Anyway, when you compare Bowe's number's to the #1 yardage and #1 TD's - he's not nearly as far off as it seems.

It comes down to 19.41 yard a game, and .16 TD's per game.

Factor in that Bowe is missing something the other 9 have - solid QB play.

After looking at this, its hard for me to say Dwayne Bowe is NOT an elite WR, considering how his numbers match up to the "elite" and never having the benefit of decent QB play.

I'm pretty confident in saying that with solid QB play, Bowe would easily make up 19.41 yards and .16 TD's a game.

Like him or not, he's an elite WR - and has shown it over his 5 years in the league.

Dude deserved elite money.

Or, tl;dr - **** him.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by lcarus

Yep. With White, I'd really like to say Bowe is better but damn, White has the numbers. And I don't think Ryan is that great.

Like we've been discussing, Roddy White plays in an offense that throws the ball around a shit ton. Rod led the league in targets last season because of this. 45 more chances coming his way compared to Bowe.

Ryan is a top 15 QB. Way better than Matt.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by Toad King

Well, personally, I STILL wouldn't say Bowe is as good as Fitz, Megatron or Andre J. Those guys are elite deep threats, Bowe is not.

He's definitely as good as Roddy White. Probably better, since he's just as fast and easily bigger and stronger.

One thing people aren't talking about, though, is that Andre Johnson is hurt all the time. Bowe is never hurt.

I just keep thinking that those teams would never trade those players for Bowe straight up.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Toad King

Well, personally, I STILL wouldn't say Bowe is as good as Fitz, Megatron or Andre J. Those guys are elite deep threats, Bowe is not.

He's definitely as good as Roddy White. Probably better, since he's just as fast and easily bigger and stronger.

One thing people aren't talking about, though, is that Andre Johnson is hurt all the time. Bowe is never hurt.

He's never had a QB that could get him the deep ball accurately.

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by Toad King

Like we've been discussing, Roddy White plays in an offense that throws the ball around a shit ton. Rod led the league in targets last season because of this. 45 more chances coming his way compared to Bowe.

Ryan is a top 15 QB. Way better than Matt.

Thats all true, but hell theyre both pretty great, so its splitting hairs I guess

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

He's never had a QB that could get him the deep ball accurately.

That's true, but Megatron and AJ ran 4.3s.

Again, that's not really a knock on Bowe. He's Michael Irvin, not Randy Moss.

And before someone calls me out on comparing Bowe to a HOFer, go look up Irvin's first 5 years.

[OnTheWarpath15]

I really wish there was a way to factor QB play into this.

I'm honestly shocked that there are people that honestly think that Bowe couldn't make up the difference in production (again, 19 yards a game, .16 TD's) with even decent QB play, much less solid or elite QB play.

There's not a WR in the game who has done more with less.

But hey, we have Baldwin and an abundance of Welker clones.

We're better off without him. /CP

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by Toad King

That's true, but Megatron and AJ ran 4.3s.

Again, that's not really a knock on Bowe. He's Michael Irvin, not Randy Moss.

And before someone calls me out on comparing Bowe to a HOFer, go look up Irvin's first 5 years.

I don't consider it homerish to think Bowe could be a HOFer when he's done. Staying here could hurt those odds, depending on how long we stick with you know who...

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Toad King

And before someone calls me out on comparing Bowe to a HOFer, go look up Irvin's first 5 years.

I had seen it before, but it deserves to be posted.

Irvin - 4969/25

Bowe - 4927/36

[Messier]

I'm actually starting to think that if Bowe had been on the Giants this whole time he would be considered a top three WR, and a few years from being considered borderline HOF material.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Toad King

That's true, but Megatron and AJ ran 4.3s.

Again, that's not really a knock on Bowe. He's Michael Irvin, not Randy Moss.

And before someone calls me out on comparing Bowe to a HOFer, go look up Irvin's first 5 years.

It's sad that a disclaimer needs to be posted whenever one compares players on Chiefs Planet.

I made the point a few months ago that Jerry Rice was a WR whose first few years in the league were plagued by dropped passes, which is something people around here obviously give a huge periody shit about.

As soon as I say the words "Jerry Rice", a disconnect in the argument forms. They ignore my point about dropped passes completely and immediately latch onto "Jerry Rice." Now all of a sudden I'm equating Bowe's career to Jerry Rice according to them.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I had seen it before, but it deserves to be posted.

Irvin - 4969/25

Bowe - 4927/36

Math fail.

4364/27 for Irvin.

Bowe is ahead of his pace.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Toad King

Math fail.

4364/27 for Irvin.

Bowe is ahead of his pace.

****, I went last five years instead of first five by accident.

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by Toad King

Math fail.

4364/27 for Irvin.

Bowe is ahead of his pace.

Now Bowe just needs those 3 elusive rings. Sadly he'll never get one if he stays here. Sad but probably true...

[jd1020]

Is it really fair to compare Bowes first 5 years against someone else's first 5 years where the first 3 he didn't even start?

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by SNR

It's sad that a disclaimer needs to be posted whenever one compares players on Chiefs Planet.

I made the point a few months ago that Jerry Rice was a WR whose first few years in the league were plagued by dropped passes, which is something people around here obviously give a huge periody shit about.

As soon as I say the words "Jerry Rice", a disconnect in the argument forms. They ignore my point about dropped passes completely and immediately latch onto "Jerry Rice." Now all of a sudden I'm equating Bowe's career to Jerry Rice according to them.

"How ****ING DARE YOU compare Bowe to the GREAT JERRY RICE!? The man carried boulders up steep mountains in a knapsack! A knapsack FFS!"