Each day this week NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank will have an Eagles all-time top-10 list. On Monday, we rated quarterbacks and Tuesday was running backs. Today we rank the best wide receivers and pre-WR ends in Eagles history.
What makes this list so tricky is that the Eagles haven’t had a lot of receivers who’ve enjoyed multiple big seasons. Ben Hawkins had one great year. Irving Fryar had two. Fred Barnett and Harold Jackson had two each. T.O. and Jeremy Maclin each had one monster season. But if you’re looking for guys who produced year after year, that’s a really short list.
Only one receiver in Eagles history has had five consecutive seasons with 800 yards – DeSean Jackson. Only one other WR has had a total of five 800-yard seasons – that’s Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael. Only four have had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons – DeSean, Mike Quick, Irving Fryar and Tommy McDonald.
Before we rank our top 10 Eagles receivers, one quick ground rule: For the purposes of this list, I’m including pre-WR “ends” like Pete Retzlaff and Pete Pihos. Back in the day, before pass catchers were called tight ends or wide recevers, there were flankers and split ends and “ends.” We’re not including modern tight ends like Zach Ertz or Brent Celek, but we did consider ends from the 1950s and 1960s before the advent of the wide receiver and tight end position because those guys were close in job description to modern-era wide receivers.
Here’s what we came up with:
10. Jeremy Maclin: Very steady, very consistent receiver who was often overshadowed by teammate DeSean Jackson but was really good in his own right. Despite missing a full season in his prime – he was 25 when he missed all of 2013 – Maclin is seventh in franchise history with 4,771 yards, fifth with 343 catches and sixth with 36 TD catches. Never had fewer than 773 yards in any of his five seasons with the Eagles. Only Pete Retzlaff had more seasons with 750 yards in Eagles history.
9. Terrell Owens: He only played 21 regular-season games in an Eagles uniform – and a Super Bowl – but the impact he made (both good and bad) was enormous. His 2004 season was legendary – 1,200 yards, 14 TDs, 15.6 yards per catch in 14 games, then a miracle recovery from his broken leg and a 9-for-122 in the Super Bowl. Then a huge start to 2005 before his antics ended his brief stay in Philly. Among players who were here more than one year, T.O.’s 94 receiving yards per game is 25 more than anybody else. DeSean Jackson is second at 69. Despite playing just 21 games, T.O. ranks 16th in Eagles history in TD catches. Only 10 Eagles WRs have had more than his 11 100-yard games. And his 122 yards in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville is second-most ever by an Eagles WR in a playoff game, behind Maclin’s 146 vs. the Cowboys in 2009. All we can do is imagine what sort of career T.O. would have had if he hadn’t sabotaged his stay in Philly. But just to make this list after playing just 21 games tells you what an incredible talent he was.
8. Bobby Walston: Walston only had one season with 600 yards, but in his 12 years with the Eagles he piled up 311 catches for 5,363 yards and 46 TDs. He made two Pro Bowls, starred on the 1960 NFL Championship team and played all 148 games the Eagles played from 1951 through 1952. He’s still eighth in team history in yards, 11th in catches and sixth in TDs and his 17.2 average is 5th-highest (minimum 100 catches). During his 12 seasons, he was fourth in the NFL in catches, fifth in yards and sixth in TDs. And he made 80 field goals.
7. Harold Jackson: Another one where I was like … “What do I do with him?”Jackson was only here four years, but he’s the only Eagle in the last 50 years to lead the NFL in receiving yards twice (1,116 in 1969, 1,048 in 1972, both in 14 games). And he did that with a washed-up Norm Snead in 1969 and a terrible John Reaves in 1972. During that four-year span, Jackson’s 3,493 yards were 3rd-most in the NFL and his 215 catches were 2nd-most. The only other Eagle in franchise history to lead the league in receiving twice was Hall of Famer Pete Pihos (in 1953 and 1955). Despite a short stay in Philly, Jackson deserves a spot here.
6. DeSean Jackson: Jackson’s 68.5 yards per game are highest in franchise history (minimum 32 games), his 6,512 yards are 3rd-most in franchise history, his three 1,000-yard seasons are tied for most in franchise history. The only Eagle with six straight 700-yard seasons and one of only three with six total 700-yard seasons (along with Ertz and Pete Retzlaff). D-Jack is also among the best in NFL history at big plays. His 35 TD of 50 yards or more (21 as an Eagle) are second all-time to Jerry Rice’s 38. He averaged 1,085 yards per season as an Eagle, highest in franchise history. You could make a case to move Jackson up a little bit. If not for Chip Kelly inexplicably jettisoning him after the 2013 season, he’d be much higher.
5. Pete Pihos: Pihos was the pre-eminent pass catcher of his generation. During his nine-year Hall of Fame career – from 1947 through 1955 – the passing game became a bigger and bigger part of NFL offenses, and Pihos had more yards than anybody in the NFL during those nine seasons. He was a key figure on the 1948 and 1949 NFL Championship teams and still ranks sixth in Eagles history with his 5,619 yards (Ertz passed him in 2019). Pihos made a ridiculous six Pro Bowls and five 1st-team all-pros. His last four seasons, he was both.
4. Pete Retzlaff: Five-time Pro Bowler, all-pro in 1965, still has the 2nd-most yards in franchise history (7,412), a franchise-record six seasons with 750 or more yards, 47 TD catches. Wasn’t used much on offense his first two seasons, but from 1958 through 1966 – a nine-year span – Retzlaff had the 4th-most yards in the NFL, behind Art Powell (briefly his teammate with the Eagles in 1959), Tommy McDonald (his teammate from 1957 through 1963) and Hall of Famer Raymond Berry. To this day, only three offensive players in Eagles history – Jason Peters, Jason Kelce and Donovan McNabb – have made more Pro Bowls than Retzlaff.
3. Tommy McDonald: After catching just nine passes as a rookie, McDonald was one of the most productive receivers in football during his last six years in Philly. From 1958 through 1963, his 5,271 yards were 3rd-most in the NFL, behind Del Shofner and Raymond Berry, and his 63 TD catches were 15 more than anyone else. McDonald made five Pro Bowls in seven seasons with the Eagles, led the league in TDs twice and yards once. His 19.2 yards-per-catch average is by far the highest in franchise history, nearly a yard higher than Ben Hawkins’ 18.3. McDonald also gets points for 3-for-90 receiving in the 1960 NFL Championship Game win over Vince Lombardi and the Packers, including a 35-yard TD catch from Norm Van Brocklin in the second quarter. That was the longest TD by an Eagle in a championship game until A.J. Brown’s 45-yarder from Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl LVII in February. McDonald was only 29 when he played his last game with the Eagles. He finished his career with the Cowboys, Rams, Falcons and Browns.
2. Harold Carmichael: Carmichael finished his brilliant Hall of Fame career with the Eagles in 1983 with 8,978 yards, and since then nobody has come within 2,400 yards of that figure – DeSean Jackson is closest with 6,512. His 589 catches also remain a franchise record – 10 more than Ertz. He had three 1,000-yard seasons, made four Pro Bowls, caught a ridiculous 79 touchdowns and from 1973 through 1983 – an 11-year span - led the NFL with 549 catches, 8,414 yards and 77 TDs. When the 1983 season ended, Carmichael ranked 5th in NFL history in catches and 7th in both yards and TDs. Carmichael was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
1. Mike Quick: He doesn’t have the most catches, yards or TDs in franchise history. His time as an elite receiver was relatively short. He only played 10 games five times. He only caught 44 passes after his 29th birthday. He’s not a Hall of Famer, like T.O., Pihos, McDonald and Carmichael. But from 1983 through 1987, before the brutal Veterans Stadium concrete turf shredded his knees, Quick was the best receiver in the world. During that five-year period, Quick made five straight Pro Bowls, averaged 1,087 yards and 10 ½ TDs per season, led the NFL in touchdowns and was second to James Lofton (by 11 inches per game) in yards per game. Quick combined speed, power, grace, body control and remarkable hands, and from 1983 through 1985, he averaged 68 catches, 1,236 yards and 11 TDs and made all-pro twice. He remains to this day one of only three players in history with three consecutive seasons with 60 catches, 1,000 yards, nine or more TDs and 17 yards per catch. The others are Lance Alworth and Randy Moss. The only receiver in Eagles history named 1st-team all-pro more than once. The best in Eagles history. And if he played on a grass field? He would have been among the best to ever play.
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