Everything is set up for this to be the Year of the Receiver in the NFL. Receivers were the stars of the off-season and draft. Rulesmakers laid out a green carpet for receivers by emphasizing more yellow flags against defensive backs.
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Moreover, it is the Year of the Big Receiver. At Soldier Field Sunday, Bears’ fans won’t be able to miss the two young, 6-foot-3-inch receivers of the Detroit Lions–last year’s first-round draft choice, Charles Rogers, and this year’s first-rounder, Roy Williams.
The Bears are going bigger themselves, with 6-4 Justin Gage and 6-3 David Terrell trying to replace Marty Booker, who’s only 6 feet.
Next week, the Bears will face the Packers and 6-3 Javon Walker. The week after that it’s 6-4 Randy Moss and the Vikings, who added 6-4 ex-Bear receiver Marcus Robinson. Then it’s 6-3 Terrell Owens and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Owens dominated the off-season as the most sought-after commodity on the market. The Baltimore Ravens thought they had made a deal to get him from San Francisco until the league reneged on it, and he landed in Philadelphia.
The Dallas Cowboys added 6-4 receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the Miami Dolphins signed 6-2, 250-pound receiver David Boston and the New England Patriots took a stab at reviving the career of 6-2 former Michigan receiver Marquise Walker. Boston got hurt and Walker was released, but it seemed like the thing to do.
In the draft, 6-3 Larry Fitzgerald went first among receivers to Arizona, then Williams to Detroit, then 6-4 Reggie Williams to Jacksonville, then 6-4 Michael Clayton to Tampa Bay and 6-2 Rashaun Woods to San Francisco. Buffalo also took 5-11 Lee Evans in the first round. He’s the fastest of the bunch and may have looked the best during exhibition games.
Atlanta added 6-5 Michael Jenkins in the second round to snag passes from Michael Vick and Carolina added 6-2 Keary Colbert.
As if these big receivers already can’t out-jump shorter defensive backs, rulesmakers are making sure nobody touches them beyond the legal five-yard chuck area. A “point of emphasis” for officials this season is to enforce a 1978 rule designed to allow receivers to roam freely in the secondary.
“It used to be that you could be real physical with the receivers running across the middle or running crossing routes, and you knock them down, try to tie them up and bump them. But boy, they’re going to be real strict on where you’re doing that,” Lions coach Steve Mariucci said. “It’s going to benefit every team and hurt every team.”
The idea took flight after last year’s AFC title game in which the Indianapolis Colts thought the New England Patriots battered them around illegally. The rematch, under new guidelines, opened the 2004 season Thursday night.
After the first two exhibition games, officials had whistled 40 illegal-contact penalties compared to only four after two games last year. They had called 60 defensive holding penalties compared to 23 after two weeks last year. Defensive pass interference calls were down, 36-33, probably because the flags were thrown before the passes were thrown.
The league did not have up-to-date exhibition game penalty numbers, maybe because they quit counting. They evidently made their point with their “point of emphasis.”
As Oakland defensive back Ray Buchanan said, “If you have bad breath, they throw the flag.”
Green Bay cornerbacks drew seven flags for pass interference or holding in an exhibition game against New Orleans. Rookie Packers cornerbacks Ahmad Carroll and Joey Thomas were whistled for a combined 114 yards in penalties.
Said Packers safety Darren Sharper: “If the NFL wants to see more points scored, how about you just don’t play any defenses out there? Just let the offenses go out there and play by themselves, because that’s what they’re trying to do.”
Points went down from 43.3 per game in 2002 to 41.7 last season. Net passing yards went down from 424.5 to 400.9, the lowest league-wide average since 1992.
“They’re always talking about making the game more exciting for the fans,” Detroit defensive coordinator Dick Jauron said. “Now they are a little bit upset because the points are down. I think it will be hard [for defenses]. But that’s the nature of the game, and it just adds to the challenge.”
Big receivers aren’t entirely new. When Jauron played 30 years ago, he had to cover 6-8 Eagles receiver Harold Carmichael.
“It seems like it goes in cycles,” Jauron said. “For a while there were small, fast receivers, so defensively you had to go and try to match them up with smaller faster corners. Now it turns around and you have these giant receivers and it’s hard to find giant defensive backs. A lot of jump balls downfield, even if they’re not caught, result in big plays because of pass interference.
“Obviously the officials are the best that there are, but they’ve been told to watch it because it’s felt it didn’t get called enough. So they’re sending a strong message to their officials. If there’s a question, they’ll lean toward seeing it as a foul.”
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It all adds up in favor of receivers. It’s not like receivers are just being discovered. It’s not like the passing game has just been invented. But in the 45 years of the Most Valuable Player award, through all the great years of Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin and Steve Largent and Lance Alworth and James Lofton and John Stallworth and Lynn Swann and Charlie Joiner and Don Maynard and Raymond Berry and Paul Warfield and Fred Biletnikoff and Charley Taylor, there never has been an MVP receiver.
Maybe this is the year.