Previously at Total Pro Sports, we did a video on 10 NFL wide receivers who owe their entire careers to a specific quarterback. Essentially, that wideout would have been an average Joe or a nobody without the luxury of playing with an all-time great signal-caller.
Well, we’re going to give receivers the extra love for this list. With that said, here are 10 NFL quarterbacks who whole all of their career success to one specific wide receiver.
Steve Young: Jerry Rice
Young deserves every bit of credit from shedding the “bust” label that plagued him during his early years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Young masterfully replaced Joe Montana as “the guy” in San Francisco and helped the 49ers to a fifth Super Bowl Championship in the 1994 season.
That cemented Young’s legacy and spot in the Hall of Fame. You can easily argue that Young was the second-best QB of the ‘90s behind Brett Favre.
But let’s also be realistic: The dude owes his career to Jerry Rice.
Young got nothing going in his two seasons as the Bucs’ starter. Once he was paired with Rice in San Fran, Young went off. Life is that much easier when the greatest wideout in NFL history is your go-to guy.
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Consider that Rice had 149 yards and three receiving touchdowns in the 49ers’ Super Bowl 29 blowout win over the San Diego Chargers — the day where Young finally got the monkey off his back. Also keep in mind that Rice put up over 1K receiving each year where Young was San Fran’s main QB, except for 1997 when the former was limited to two games.
Young could have been a very-good QB without Rice. But a two-time MVP, seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time completion percentage leader, four-time passing touchdowns leader, Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Famer? Not possible without Rice.
So yes, Young largely owes his career to Rice.
Matt Ryan: Julio Jones
We can hear the screams of many angry Falcons fans. FANS, that is, not actual falcon birds.
But what if we let our friends at StatMuse show you Ryan’s stats throughout his career without Julio Jones? 73 touchdowns, 50 — that’s FIVE-ZERO — interceptions and a passer rating of 88.0. Not MVP-caliber now is it?
Ryan’s best statistical season without Jones came in 2010, when he tossed 3,705 yards and 28 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Wanna hear something funny? Ryan only had Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White and 1K rusher Michael Turner as his weapons that year. LOL.
Another funny stat: Ryan threw for 4,000 yards in 10 of his 14 seasons with the Falcons. Jones was on the Falcons in each of those 10 seasons. As well, Ryan’s eight best single-season passer rating numbers were all while as a member of the Falcons.
There is no way he would’ve won MVP in 2016 without Jones and his 1,409 receiving yards. And the Falcons don’t get oh-so-close to winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl without arguably the best receiver of his era.
Jones missed seven games in 2020 to injury and was traded to the Tennessee Titans in 2021. Ryan was never the same without Jones on a full-time basis. A trade to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 only resulted in the worst season of Ryan’s career — and it’s largely because he didn’t have an in-his-prime Julio to feed him the football.
Daunte Culpepper: Randy Moss
Culpepper was the Minnesota Vikings’ main starter from 2000 to ‘04. In that span, he was a three-time Pro Bowler who tossed a league-leading 33 passing yards in 2000 and a league-leading 4,717 passing yards in ‘04.
Culpepper also led Minny to two playoff appearances, including the 2000 NFC Championship Game. But let’s take a quick moment and consider why Culpepper was so good for a five-year period.
OH yeah, because he had the second-best receiver of all-time to throw to! You know, Randy Moss? The greatest deep threat ever? The guy who averaged nearly 16 yards per reception during his time with the Vikings?
Consider that Moss caught 15 TD passes in 2000 — almost half of Culpepper’s total. Can we also mention that Randall Cunningham and Tom Brady had their best individual seasons with Moss as their WR1? It’s just something that GOAT receivers do.
And then when Moss was traded to Oakland in 2005, Culpepper’s career imploded. He had six TDs and 12 picks in seven game appearances that year.
Culpepper was subsequently traded to the Miami Dolphins, making just four starts and continuing to show he couldn’t do anything without Moss. Culpepper had short stints in Detroit and Oakland that went nowhere.
Dave Krieg: Steve Largent
Krieg played for the Seahawks from 1980 to ‘91. Let’s just say he wouldn’t have lasted that long as Seattle’s starting QB without Hall of Fame wideout Steve Largent.
Krieg didn’t become the Seahawks’ full-time starter until his fifth season in 1984. That year, Largent went off for 74 catches, 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns. Without Largent, Krieg wouldn’t have thrown a career-high 32 TDs that year.
Krieg had his best years when Largent was at the top of his game and a sure threat for 1K receiving. Largent retired after the 1989 season, and then the three-time Pro Bowl QB was never the same.
Over the next two years without Largent, Krieg threw 26 touchdowns against 32 interceptions.
To Krieg’s credit, he had one solid year with the Kansas City Chiefs as their starter in 1992 and with the Detroit Lions in 1994 — though Barry Sanders was the main reason for Detroit’s success that year.
But Krieg didn’t put up all-world numbers once Largent retired. He went on to endure disappointing stops in Arizona and Chicago before playing out his final two years as a backup in Tennessee.
Hey, at least Krieg had Largent for a large chunk of his career.
Andy Dalton: A.J. Green
Do you think it’s a coincidence that the Bengals were football’s worst team in 2019 with Dalton as their starting QB…and without Green for the entire season?
During his nine-year run as the Bengals starting QB, Dalton was a solid-but-never-elite QB. Yes, he was a three-time Pro Bowler who helped Cincy to three playoff berths and a pair of AFC North division crowns.
But maybe it’s because during his run as the Bengals, Green was a borderline top-five receiver in the game?
From 2011 to 2017, Green recorded over 60 receptions and over 900 receiving yards each year. Green would have hit 1K receiving seven years in a row to begin his career if he didn’t miss six games in the 2016 season.
Injuries limited Green to nine games in 2018. Dalton also missed time and was limited to 11 games, and his play was nothing close to the Pro Bowl form we saw in Cincy some years earlier.
Green missed the entire 2019 season to injury. That year, Dalton completed 59.5 percent of pass attempts — the second-worst mark of his career — with 16 TDs against 14 interceptions.
Furthermore, the 78.3 passer rating was the worst mark of Dalton’s career up to that point. At 2-14, the Bengals locked up the first overall pick and selected Joe Burrow — who quickly turned the franchise into a juggernaut.
Dalton’s subsequent play in Dallas, Chicago and New Orleans left a ton to be desired. It’s almost as if this guy wasn’t able to really produce without a Hall of Fame-caliber wideout at his disposal. Hmmm…
Matt Schaub: Andre Johnson
Schaub was the Houston Texans’ main starting QB from 2007 to 2013. And woof, where in the world would he have gone if he didn’t have a Hall of Famer to throw the football too?
Schaub broke out in 2009 by leading Houston to a 9-7 record, which marked the franchise’s first winning season. He led the NFL with 4,770 passing yards and threw a career-high 29 touchdowns.
Schaub can thank Andre Johnson for that. The latter finished as the NFL’s leading receiver for the second straight year, having racked up 1569 yards. So yeah.
Schaub’s second Pro Bowl nod came in 2012 when the Texans won the AFC South with a 12-4 record. Johnson too was the reason for Schaub’s success that year, racking up 112 catches for 1,598 yards and four touchdowns.
Schaub stunk it up big-time in 2013 and lost his starting job, and Houston parted ways after the season. Schaub spent the remainder of his career as a backup — not exactly surprising since he no longer had Andre Johnson to throw to.
If it weren’t for Johnson, Schaub would’ve been a starter in Houston for two years MAX. The perennial Pro Bowl pass-catcher simply made Schaub look better than he actually was. Kudos, Andre.
Mark Brunell: Jimmy Smith
Brunell spent nine seasons with the Jaguars. He was their main starting QB for eight years from 1995 to 2002. He helped them to four playoff appearances and two AFC title game appearances — including in 1996, just the club’s second year of existence.
But the three-time Pro Bowler and 1996 passing yards champion was never really elite. His numbers made him look better than he actually was thanks to star wideout Jimmy Smith — who recorded seven-straight 1,000-yard seasons from 1996 to 2002.
Consider that Brunell barely averaged over 200 passing yards per game as a Jaguar. With Jacksonville, he never topped 20 TD passes in a season, and he never surpassed 4K passing yards after the ‘96 season. And in his nine years as a Jaguar, Brunel’s passer rating exceeded 90 once.
Smith was a monster who also helped Brunell’s successor, Byron Leftwich, enjoy his best years as a QB. So yeah, without the vastly underrated Smith as his go-to guy, Brunell would not have lasted in the NFL as long as he did.
Marc Bulger: Torry Holt
Bulger took over as the St. Louis Rams’ starting quarterback in 2003, replacing an injured Kurt Warner. Bulger never looked back, earning his first career Pro Bowl nod after throwing 3,845 yards and 22 touchdowns against as many picks.
Bulger can thank Torry Holt for that, because the latter led the NFL in receptions that year with 117 and in receiving yards with 1,696. Put it this way: Bulger averaged 256.3 passing yards per game that year, and Holt averaged 106 receiving yards per game. That’s basically accounting for 40 percent of Bulger’s passing yards in any given contest.
Without Holt, Bulger wouldn’t have led theRams to consecutive playoff appearances in 2003 and 04. It’s also no coincidence that after Holt’s final Pro Bowl season in 2007, Bulger went 3-20 over the 2008 and ‘09 seasons with 16 touchdowns against 19 interceptions.
If he didn’t have Holt to throw to, Bulger would not have been a two-time Pro Bowler — nor would he have been a starting QB for seven years.
Jake Delhomme: Steve Smith Sr.
Delhomme unexpectedly broke out for the Carolina Panthers in 2003, winning 10 of 15 starts despite throwing for a mere 3,219 yards and 19 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. Not elite numbers, but they would’ve been worse without Steve Smith Sr.
That year, Smith hauled in 88 receptions for 1,110 yards and seven touchdowns. The duo helped Carolina to an unexpected trip to Super Bowl 38, where they dropped a last-second heartbreaker to the New England Patriots.
Delhomme’s lone Pro Bowl selection came in 2005, not-so-coincidentally when Smith earned the receiving triple crown, having led the NFL in catches, receiving yards and TD receptions. Carolina advanced to the NFC title game, where they fell to the Seattle Seahawks.
Carolina won the NFC South with a 12-4 record in 2008…even though Delhomme completed less than 60 percent of his pass attempts for 15 touchdowns and 12 picks. Hmm we wonder why they did so well with mediocre QB play? Oh yeah, largely because Smith had 78 catches for 1,421 yards and six touchdowns.
Then Delhomme imploded in the Divisional Round loss to the Arizona Cardinals — throwing FIVE interceptions in a 33-13 blowout loss.
Delhomme’s final season with the Panthers in 2009 was a nightmare, as he went 4-7-0 with eight touchdowns against 18 picks. Delhomme started four games for the Cleveland Browns in 2010, throwing two TDs against a whopping seven interceptions.
It’s as if Delhomme was hardly able to function without Smith Sr. huh?
Jeff Garcia: Terrell Owens
Following the retirement of Steve Young, Garcia took over as the 49ers’ starting QB in 2000.
Thanks to the presence of Terrell Owens, the transition from backup to starter was an easy one for Garcia. He earned three straight Pro Bowl nods from 2000 to ‘02, leading the 49ers to a pair of postseason appearances.
In that three-year span, T.O. surpassed the 90-catch and 1,300-yard marks each season. He also tallied 42 total touchdowns over that span — leading the league in TD receptions over the 2002 and ‘06 seasons.
In 2004, Garcia signed a four-year deal with the Cleveland Browns worth $25 million. He recorded a then-career low passer rating of 76.7 and had just 10 touchdowns against nine interceptions.
Garcia bounced around the league and wound up helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the NFC South division crown in 07, though the defense was the catalyst of that club.
After leaving San Fran, Garcia never threw more than 13 TD passes in a season — and he never hit 3,000 passing yards again. He can thank Mr. Owens for that brief run of success on the west coast, and for essentially stealing money from the Browns.
What other NFL QBs owe their entire career to a specific wide receiver?
