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Keyshawn Johnson career statistics

Keyshawn provides us with an example of how much more savvy the fantasy football community is now versus five years ago. Five years ago, if a WR had 1266 yards and 1 TD, he would've been a bargain in the next year's drafts. But I don't see any evidence of that happening with Keyshawn this year. It looks to me like he's being ranked about the same place he'd have been ranked if he had had 6 or 7 scores last year, which I think is completely appropriate.

In the Keenan McCardell comment, I noted that the top WRs on Jon Gruden-coached teams have almost always been very productive from a fantasy standpoint. Let's reprint the list:

Year   Tm     #1 Wide Receiver     Rank     #2 Wide Receiver     Rank
-----------+-----------------------------+---------------------------
1990  sfo  |  Jerry Rice              1  |  John Taylor            21
1992  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         1  |  Robert Brooks         101
1993  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         3  |  Mark Clayton           68
1994  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         2  |  Robert Brooks          44
1995  phi  |  Calvin Williams        43  |  Fred Barnett           44
1996  phi  |  Irving Fryar            5  |  Chris Jones            30
1997  phi  |  Irving Fryar           10  |  Freddie Solomon        61
1998  oak  |  Tim Brown              15  |  James Jett             28
1999  oak  |  Tim Brown              11  |  James Jett             61
2000  oak  |  Tim Brown              11  |  Andre Rison            43
2001  oak  |  Tim Brown               9  |  Jerry Rice             10

Of course, Gruden has had some all-time greats to work with, so it's unclear how much influence he has actually had. It doesn't take a genius to get the ball to Tim Brown, after all. The only thing that really does recommend Gruden as being particularly WR-friendly is the revival of Irving Fryar. Fryar looked to be on his last legs going into the 96 season, but the Eagles -- with Gruden as offensive coordinator -- got two straight top 10 seasons out of him (he had finished 21st the season before and was 33 years old). I'd say Gruden's record with his #1 WRs is encouraging for Keyshawn fans, but not overwhelmingly so.

For trivia purposes, here's a list of all WRs since 1970 with over 1000 yards and three or fewer TDs.

                                        --- the next yr --
Name                 Year    RecYD  TD     G  RecYD  TD
---------------------------+------------+----------------+
Keyshawn Johnson     2001  |  1266   1  |   ?     ?   ?  |
Art Monk             1985  |  1226   2  |  16  1068   4  |  
Frank Sanders        1998  |  1145   3  |  16   954   1  |  
Keenan McCardell     1996  |  1129   3  |  16  1164   5  |  
Drew Pearson         1974  |  1087   2  |  14   822   8  |  
Frank Lewis          1979  |  1082   2  |  15   648   6  |  
Ernest Givins        1986  |  1062   3  |  12   933   6  |  
Michael Irvin        1998  |  1057   1  |   4   167   3  |  
Henry Ellard         1991  |  1052   3  |  16   727   3  |  
Pat Tilley           1981  |  1040   3  |   9   465   2  |  
Reggie Langhorne     1993  |  1038   3  |   0     0   0  |  
Johnnie Morton       1998  |  1028   2  |  16  1129   5  |  
Irving Fryar         1991  |  1014   3  |  15   791   4  |  
Henry Ellard         1996  |  1014   2  |  16   485   4  |  
Charles Johnson      1996  |  1008   3  |  13   568   2  |  
Brian Blades         1991  |  1003   2  |   6   256   1  |  
Mark Carrier         1995  |  1002   3  |  16   808   6  |  
Sammy White          1981  |  1001   3  |   7   503   5  |  
---------------------------+------------+----------------+