Christian McCaffrey #23 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts before playing against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on December 03, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
I was thinking how Wide Receivers were under under utilized in Super Bowl LVIII. Other than Mecole Hardman scoring the game winning touchdown in overtime, of course. Think about it for a minute. The 49ers leading receiver for the game was running back Christian McCaffrey. And the leading receiver for the Chiefs was tight end Travis Kelce. The 49ers did use a receiver to throw a touchdown pass when Juan Jennings found McCaffrey on a trick play. So there is that.
But Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel only caught three passes each for the 49ers and Hardman, Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling only caught three balls each and Rashee Rice had 39 yards receiving for the Cheifs. We should give the opposing defenses some credit for containing potential big plays.
While we are on the subject of Wide Receivers, we should mention that today is Randy Moss's 47th birthday. When he came up with the Minnesota Vikings he looked like he might become the best ever to play the position. He certainly had all of the skills. One knock on him was that he took plays off if the ball wasn't coming his way. His career had a huge rebirth with the Patriots in 2007 and while he will go down as one of the greatest of all-time, Jerry Rice is still the G.O.A.T.
Let's take a look at Randy Moss and some of the greatest Wide Receivers of all-time with some trivia on Craig Shemon and Company on ESPN Southwest Florida.
Greatest NFL Wide Receivers of All-Time Trivia
- Where did Randy Moss go to school? Marshall
- Who was Randy Moss’s quarterback at Marshall? Chad Pennington
- What receiver had the most catches in 2023? Cee Dee Lamb 135
- Running back Christian McCaffrey was the leading receiver for the 49ers and Tight end Travis Kelce was the leading receiver for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Who was the leading wide receiver (in yardage) in Super Bowl LVIII? Mecole Hardman 57 yards
- Who has the most receiving yards in NFL history? Jerry Rice
- Who was the last receiver to be drafted number one over all? Keyshawn Johnson 1996
- Who has the most receiving yards in a single season? Calvin Johnson 1964 in 2012
- What receiver has the most touchdowns in NFL history? Jerry Rice 208
- What receiver (active) has the highest yards per game average in NFL history? Justin Jefferson 98.3
- What receiver holds the NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions in a season? Randy Moss 2007
