Was shooting the breeze with the neighbor over the weekend, and he made a comment about how this upcoming year with Chase, Higgins and Boyd might feature the best trio of receivers that the Bengals have ever had.  This was after he had hydrated with a few brewskis, so I politely told him to pump the brakes.  But, it made me think of what trio of WR's would be considered the best.

There are obviously a LOT of extenuating circumstances surrounding these various groups...from who was playing QB, to who was the offensive coordinator, to how strong the running game was, to how bad the defense was (and forced the offense to play catch-up), to who were other passing targets (RB's and TE's), and even what the rules were at that time.

But, if you had to choose?

Zero chance I rank the current trio ahead of any of them when Chase has not caught an NFL pass yet.

I will have to research and think about it before voting.

Those are some tough choices and I agree with VoR no way any unproven are in the conversation yet. 

2 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Zero chance I rank the current trio ahead of any of them when Chase has not caught an NFL pass yet.

I will have to research and think about it before voting.

Yeah, that was pretty much my take, with regards to Chase.  This guy goes to extremes on a lot of stuff...we're either winning the Super Bowl, or not winning a game.  So, I've learned to take it with a grain of salt.

Chad, TJ and Henry.    If Chris Henry had not passed away, that trio could have been epic.  Chad had the swagger, TJ was reliable, and Chris Henry was just a freak.   The one WR in Bengals history that the opposing defenses had ZERO answer for.   He would have been the best of the three.

From a career numbers perspective, it is Brown, McGee and Collinsworth. McGee is #3 in that group and he is in the Bengals top 10 in yardage.

9 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

From a career numbers perspective, it is Brown, McGee and Collinsworth. McGee is #3 in that group and he is in the Bengals top 10 in yardage.

Yeah, when it comes to career numbers, it makes it things different, in my opinion.  Chad and AJ throw things off so much by being there 10 years.  So, I was just looking at the particular years that a particular trio all played together.

So, for Eddie/Tim/Cris, that's 86-88...for Chad/TJ/Chris, that's 05-08...for AJ/Marvin/Mohamed, that's '12, '13 and '15...etc.

There's various stats you can look at to determine who "the best" is, but a lot of them come back to those extenuating circumstances that I mentioned in the original post.

Chad/TJ/Chris put up some gaudy numbers during their four years together.  809 receptions for 10,455 yards.  But, keep in mind that those teams threw the ball 56% of the time.

The numbers for Eddie/Tim/Cris pale in comparison for their three years, with 336 receptions for 5,960 yards.  But those teams RAN the ball 54% of the time.

Chad's group scored 77 TD's (out of 97 thrown), while Eddie's trio scored 35 (out of 70).  But again, when you factor in those other variables...the running game during Chad's 4 years scored just 45 TD's, while the ground game during Eddie's scored 64 times.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that there was obviously a difference of philosophy when it came to the offense.  One group passed it a LOT more, and maybe even relied on it in the red zone, when the other team may have been more likely to run the ball in for a score.  Like I said...there are a lot of variables.

 

There's one stat, for me, that helped sway my decision.  In fact, once I saw it, it actually made the decision process pretty easy.  Yards per reception.  (And yes, I know this can be a product of the offensive scheme...but, still...)

'86-'88     Eddie...18.4     Tim...18.3     Cris...16.5

'05-'09     Chad...14.5      TJ...11.0     Chris...14.9

And for all of you who'll say that TJ's numbers suffered because he was doing the "dirty work" like a tight end (giving up big plays to be the check down guy, or to get the first down)...I say this...Rodney Holman (as a TE) and James Brooks (as a RB) still had 14.3 and 11.9 yards per reception, respectively, doing the same thing during the '86-'88 years.

And as "unguardable" as we remember Chris Henry being...he, surprisingly, still doesn't match the numbers of that older bunch.

 

@CincySportsFan

 How many times, if any, have the top 2 wide receivers on the Bengals both been over 1,000 yards in the same season?

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

@CincySportsFan

 How many times, if any, have the top 2 wide receivers on the Bengals both been over 1,000 yards in the same season?

I'm assuming you already know the answer?

Chad & TJ in 2006 and 2007

(TJ was short by 44 yards in '05, Eddie Brown was 36 yards in '86)

On 6/14/2021 at 8:21 PM, The Raven said:

Chad, TJ and Henry.    If Chris Henry had not passed away, that trio could have been epic.  Chad had the swagger, TJ was reliable, and Chris Henry was just a freak.   The one WR in Bengals history that the opposing defenses had ZERO answer for.   He would have been the best of the three.

TJ had already left the Bengals before Henry’s passing. So his tragic passing is not what ended that trio, the trio ended because TJ left after 2008. Henry was in the NFL for five seasons, and was always just the number three receiver on the team. Henry had the potential to be great, but I think you are overselling how great. Do to suspensions and all that, he never really ever played to his potential even before his death. Which is why he was basically always the number 3 WR during his five seasons.  
 

Which the Bengals got a receiver very similar to him in size and ability just two years after his death. Which his name was AJ Green, and he dominated and did his thing while going against other teams top corner and double coverage. 
 

I loved Chris Henry and when he was on the field it opened up the whole offense due to his threat to go deep. However, I think you may be overselling how great he was, because while he had the ability he still never really played up to his potential even before his tragic death. 
 

With all that said, when he was able to play. That trio IMO was the best in terms of being able to truly take over a game with those three. The problem was that trio didn’t get a chance to consistently play together.

22 hours ago, CincySportsFan said:

I'm assuming you already know the answer?

Chad & TJ in 2006 and 2007

(TJ was short by 44 yards in '05, Eddie Brown was 36 yards in '86)

No, I did not know the answer. Thank you for posting.

4 hours ago, futurecoach said:

TJ had already left the Bengals before Henry’s passing. So his tragic passing is not what ended that trio, the trio ended because TJ left after 2008. Henry was in the NFL for five seasons, and was always just the number three receiver on the team. Henry had the potential to be great, but I think you are overselling how great. Do to suspensions and all that, he never really ever played to his potential even before his death. Which is why he was basically always the number 3 WR during his five seasons.  
 

Which the Bengals got a receiver very similar to him in size and ability just two years after his death. Which his name was AJ Green, and he dominated and did his thing while going against other teams top corner and double coverage. 
 

I loved Chris Henry and when he was on the field it opened up the whole offense due to his threat to go deep. However, I think you may be overselling how great he was, because while he had the ability he still never really played up to his potential even before his tragic death. 
 

With all that said, when he was able to play. That trio IMO was the best in terms of being able to truly take over a game with those three. The problem was that trio didn’t get a chance to consistently play together.

 I agree with most of what you post here except that Chris Henry did play several seasons with Chad and TJ.

 On a one season basis, the best season for a trio of Bengals receivers has to be 2006 with Chad and TJ both over 1,000 yards and Chris Henry over 600.

Just to give some perspective, as to how some of the extenuating circumstances (such as rules for DB's, number of teams, or league offensive philosophies) can impact stats...

Cris Collinsworth  ('83) - 1130 yards ranked him 11th in league.  Only 13 players had 1000 yards that year receiving.

Cris Collinsworth ('85) - 1125 yards ranked 8th in league.  Only 11 players had 1000 yards.

Eddie Brown ('88) - 1273 yards ranked 3rd in league.  Only 12 players had 1000 yards.

Carl Pickens ('95) - 1234 yards ranked 11th in league.  But 23 players now had 1000 yards.

Chad ('05) - 1440 yards ranked 3rd in league.  24 players had 1000 yards.

Chad ('06) - 1369 yards led the league.  23 players had 1000 yards

Chad ('07) - 1432 yards ranked 3rd in league.  19 players had 1000 yards.

AJ ('12) - 1350 yards ranked 10th in league.  20 players had 1000 yards.

AJ ('13) - 1426 yards ranked 5th in league.  24 players had 1000 yards.