The 5 Greatest Quarterback-Wide Receiver Combos
A List of 5 Great Quarterback-Wide Receiver Combos in NFL History
Throughout the history of the National Football League, there is no question that players have become bigger, faster and stronger.
During the last 20-30 years, the game has progressively moved towards a game which has a heavy emphasis on the pass, and during that time there have been some great quarterback and wide receiver combinations that have evolved.
In this article, we will discuss some of the greatest combos to consistently hook up on the passing game.
1. Tom Brady and Randy Moss
Although these two didn’t have nearly as many touchdowns as some of the others on this list, that is because they were together for the shortest period of time, from 2007-2010.
However, it can be easily argued that Moss is who got the Patriots over the hump in the 2007 season, which led them to an undefeated season before bowing out to the Giants in the Super Bowl 17-14.
During the 2007 campaign, Moss accounted for 23 of Brady’s 50 touchdown passes- that is 46 percent of his touchdowns for anyone who may be keeping score!
This led Brady to setting what at the time was the single season touchdown record in 2013.
Manning later broke the record with 55. Moss was with the Patriots from 2007-2010 and he managed double digit touchdown seasons in three of them.
In 2010, he only lasted four games with the Patriots before getting traded back to the Vikings, where he spent the majority of his career.
Since we are on the subject of Peyton Manning, and Manning and Brady were arguably the greatest quarterbacks of the 2010s, we will get to him next.
2. Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne
While Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne didn’t play together their entire careers as they were part of different draft classes, they still played together for pretty much the entire 2000s, 2001-2010 to be exact.
Manning entered the draft in 1998 and Wayne was selected in the 2001 draft.
During those 10 years they played together, Wayne averaged just under a touchdown every other game and they even won a Super Bowl together in 2006.
The two had their best year together in 2007, when Wayne had the most yards for his career (1,5010) and also tied his career for the second most touchdowns (10).
While Manning and Wayne produced phenomenal numbers, they did not always get along as teammates- they would even occasionally fight during practice and games.
Just like many other quarterbacks of this era, Manning had decent speed for a quarterback while Wayne was able to turn the burners on at any time.
Now on to somebody less spectacular but efficient!
3. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice
Some dub Joe Montana the greatest quarterback to ever play in the National Football League, largely due to the fact that he made four Super Bowls and won them all - and Jerry Rice is one of the greatest wide receivers of all-time, too!
Montana and Jerry Rice were together for three of them so it should only be appropriate that they go together on pretty much any list which dubs them the greatest quarterback-wide receiver combinations of all time.
During their time together, Rice and Montana connected on 386 catches for 6,710 yards- an average of 17.4 yards per catch.
They had only a 4.7 40 yard dash time and scored 64 touchdowns in the span of seven years, according to statumuse.com this is considered to be impressive with someone at that speed.
4. Troy Aikman-Michael Irving
If you're going to talk about greats from multiple teams from the 1980s, you don’t leave out the team literally dubbed as America’s team.
Troy Aikman and Michael Irving were direct rivals with Montana and Rice. While drug use did have an impact on Irving’s career it did not stop them from having some superb seasons together.
During this era, the Dallas Cowboys won three super bowls in four years (1993, 1994 and 1996) and played 10 years together in total.
The other major offensive piece of the puzzle in the Cowboys’ offense of this era was Emmit Smith, who was a rare power running back, meaning that he can just bulldoze through linebackers while continuing to get upfield.
Over the course of 10 years, Aikman and Irving hooked up 641 times for 9,949 and 54 touchdowns.
The duo could have gone longer, however Irvin got into a series of issues with drugs and sometimes Aikman would do the supportive thing with his teammate and be there with him in court.
5. Matt Ryan-Julio Jones
The one blemish on this quarterback-wide receiver combination compared to the others is that they never won a Super Bowl.
However, they did come extremely close, and they famously got up 28-3 with only 2:12 in the third, only to squander it and lose in overtime to the Patriots for the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.
This is also the game where Julio Jones made one of most infamous catches when Ryan threw the ball over a New England defender. Although nobody was around him, Jones planted his feet, stayed on the ground and then fell over out of bounds with the grace of a ballerina.
However, that doesn’t mean that Ryan and Jones didn’t also flourish together outside of that catch, as they played 134 games together, averaging just over 15 yards a catch and scoring 60 touchdowns during his time with the Atlanta Falcons.
Ryan and Jones are still currently playing in the league. However, they have not been together for a few years as Ryan just went to the Indianapolis Colts this offseason, while Jones went to the Tennessee Titans just before the start of the 2021 season.
