Is Marvin Harrison the NFL's best active Wide Receiver?

Written by Nate Dunlevy on 20 July 2008.

It has been stated recently that Marvin Harrison is not the best wide receiver in the NFL right now. Some have speculated that he has slipped. Other names like Smith, Johnson, Owens, and Holt have been elevated over Harrison. 18to88.com has decided to compare the numbers of these receivers (and Reggie Wayne) over just the past three seasons to see if these claims have merit. Harrison has clearly had a more illustrious career than any of these men, but this question is not about his career, but if he is still the best wideout in the game. We have compared the yards, receptions, yards per catch, touchdowns, games played and DPAR for the receivers. DPAR is a stat that attempts to measure how much more successful a player is than a replacement player would be. A discussion of DPAR can be found here. The raw data is:

2004	Yards	Catches	TDs	YPC	Games played	DPAR
Marvin Harrison	1113	86	15	12.9	16	28.6
Chad Johnson	1274	95	9	13.4	16	24
Torry Holt	1372	94	10	14.6	16	34.9
Steve Smith	60	6	0	10	1	0
Terrell Owens	1200	77	14	15.6	14	31.9
Reggie Wayne	1210	77	12	15.7	16	44

2005	Yards	Catches	TDs	YPC	Games played	DPAR
Marvin Harrison	1146	82	12	14	15	26
Chad Johnson	1432	97	9	14.8	16	36.8
Torry Holt	1372	102	9	13	14	21.7
Steve Smith	1563	103	12	15.2	16	46.7
Terrell Owens	763	47	6	16.2	7	13.2
Reggie Wayne	1055	83	5	12.7	16	22.4

2006	Yards	Catches	TDS	YPC	Games played	DPAR
Marvin Harrison	1366	95	12	14.4	16	44.3
Chad Johnson	1369	87	7	15.7	16	31.4
Torry Holt	1188	93	10	12.8	16	22.4
Steve Smith	1166	83	8	14	14	11.6
Terrell Owens	1180	85	13	13.9	16	27.4
Reggie Wayne	1310	86	8	15.2	16	46

3 year averages	Yards	Catches	TDS	YPC	Games played	DPAR
Marvin Harrison	1208	88	13	13.8	16	33.0
Chad Johnson	1358	93	8	14.6	16	30.7
Torry Holt	1311	96	10	13.6	15	26.3
Steve Smith	930	64	7	14.5	10	19.4
Terrell Owens	1048	70	11	15.0	12	24.2
Reggie Wayne	1192	82	8	14.5	16	37.5

This data yields the following observations:

1. In terms of yards, Harrison ranked 5^th, 4^th, and 2^nd. Both Chad Johnson and Torry Holt have averaged more yards per season than Harrison. Smith and Owens were both hurt by injuries or off the field fights with teammates. Injuries are of course part of the discussion, because writers such as Peter King have questioned the 'physical' slipping of Harrison. Reggie Wayne ranks the lowest of the receivers in total yards.

2. In terms of catches, Harrison ranked 3^rd, 5^th, and 1^st. It's important to note that Harrison was better last year than in any of the previous years. Again, he ranks behind Johnson and Holt in terms of average catches per season.

3. # 88 ranked 1^st, 1^st and 2^nd in touchdowns. No receiver has had more scores than Harrison over the past 3 years. Only Terrell Owens is in #88s class when it comes to catching scores. Marvin has scored 14 more TDs over the past three years than Chad Johnson. He has 10 more scores than Holt. He has 19 more scores than Steve Smith. Despite not being a big physical receiver, Harrison has scored more TDs than TO. Harrison dominates this category. Wayne is tied for fourth in average TDs.

4. TO's strongest category is yards per catch. Harrison is 5^th out of 6, but still managed to beat Torry Holt.

5. Harrison is durable. Steve Smith is not.

6. Harrison is second overall in the DPAR category behind only Reggie Wayne.

So is there any single receiver who is clearly superior right now to Marvin Harrison?

Last year, the answer was clearly no. Over the past three years, some players have passed Harrison from time to time in some categories. Holt is clearly the lesser player. He's caught a handful of extra passes, for a few more yards. His YPC is lower than Harrison's, and he hasn't caught nearly the touchdown passes.

Steve Smith's numbers are skewed by injuries. If we take just the average of his two (mostly) healthy seasons, he looks solid compared to #88, but note the drop off last year. True, he missed two games to injury, but surely that must be a consideration. The expectation is that Marvin will suffer physically due to his age, but it is clearly Smith who has struggled.

Chad Johnson is a tremendous wideout with a great quarterback. He seems to have problems finding the end zone. Johnson's YPC is phenomenal, but his touchdown numbers are shockingly low considering that he has so many publicized dances.

TO and Marvin are from the same draft class. Owens is nearly as productive as Marvin when he plays. He is, however, a team killer and a loves to throw his QBs under the bus. His numbers aren't superior to Marvin's in most categories, but he is the only wideout who's TD numbers approach Harrison's.

Reggie Wayne's numbers are largely posted for the effect of seeing how another big play receiver plays in. Wayne's presence does make it easier for Harrison to avoid double teams, but he also receives a tremendous number of throws. In terms of straight DPAR, Reggie Wayne is the most valuable of all of these receivers. Harrison is second.

Conclusion: The results are muddled. No one has a clear across the board advantage on Harrison. Chad Johnson would be the closest, but his TD numbers are shockingly low. Some have suggested that Torry Holt is a better receiver than Harrison, but neither last year's nor the aggregate numbers support this conclusion. He catches a handful more balls and yards for a worse YPC and far fewer scores. Harrison lags ever so slightly in some of the quantitative stats, but clearly has more scores. Harrison is just as productive as he has ever been, and despite his advancing age had arguably his second best season last year. There simply is no evidence that Marvin is slipping. He is still the best wide receiver in the NFL.

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