D.J. Moore is the best player on the Bears entire roster.

Who cares about JSN, Largent and Biletnikoff?

Since you are such a huge fan of the Lions, Why not start comparing our RB's to Barry Sanders?

What about our Dline compared to Reggie White?

Hey How come our CB's are not comparable to Deion Sanders?!?!?

We need Deacon Jones!!

Get with the program man. 2023!!!! This is the Bears forum! Stop going on and on about the Seahawks or at least post that crap on the correct thread.

No, you do not follow your own reasoning. You say grass is slower than turf/dome. Largent ran 4.7 on grass. So you should say he would run at least 4.6 on turf. The NFL average CB today is 4.5. But you say Largent is too slow to play against today’s CBs.

Largent would do fine today. One of my guys on the Seahawks forum wrote this…

"I'd argue that Largent would be even better today because of the rule changes. Back when he played, DB's could pretty much mug a receiver until the ball was in the air. No 5-yard rule back then. And then when the receivers did catch the ball, DB's were actually allowed to put a serious hit on them without fear of a penalty. Jack Tatum among others were infamous for that. It was a different game back then. (Yes I'm old enough to remember).

Largent didn't rely on speed. He was the best route runner in his era and one of, if not the best in history. He often found himself wide open vs the best CB's in the league.

I don't recall who it was that said it, but one of the top and well regarded CB's in the league at that time was asked straight out who the toughest receiver in the NFL was to cover, and without hesitation he said Largent. There's a lot more to being a great WR in the NFL than just speed.

Largent was an incredible route runner, had amazing hands, and terrific field awareness. One of the best to ever play the game and I felt so privileged to have the honor of watching him play for my favorite team every week. I have no doubt he would have thrived in today's NFL."

And read here what Raymond Berry and Lester Hayes said about Largent…

www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-11-sp-2620-story.html

And if that is not enough, Largent is one of JABF’s all-time favorite receivers.

As far as league average in 1980s, now you are just making up sh*t to contradict what I wrote. The NFL combine started in 1982, and the bulk of Largent’s production was after the late 70’s. You can go back and look up the 40 times for the starting CBs that Largent played against, and they sure as hell were not running 4.8 or 4.9.

So have there been any improvements in artificial turf in the last 50 years? That might also affect the math. Maybe the Tulsa field was a good in 1972 as it is today. I don’t know.

I will give you the 2/100 of one second, if you think that helps your argument on 4.5/4.48 LOL.

Anyway, I don’t have to look up the times of 100 guys – just the BEST that Largent played well against. Did you read what Lester Hayes said about Largent? He ran about 4.3 and said he and Mike Haynes (4.46) couldn’t stop Largent.

Even granted that CBs are a little faster today, the rules favor the  WR. The CB can’t play bump and run all over the place prior to the pass, and they can't knock the guy’s head off after he catches the ball without a penalty. I concur with what that Seahawk fan said about Jack Tatum. He had guys carried off the field on a stretcher with no penalty. You may be too young to remember that.

I agree that speed hurt Largent in that faster guys could chase him down if he had more than about 20 yards to the TD. They can also close the gap if he can’t maintain his separation long enough for the QB to deliver when their timing is a bit off. I guess it comes down to whether these things would have more effect on his performance than the rules changes. I doubt it. But we will never know without a time machine.

I think if Largent could have played with Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, he would be almost unstoppable – Edelman on steroids!

You are right about the 1978 rule change. I thought it was later.  That was a huge change that greatly benefited WRs like Largent. But I’ll just say that it would benefit him as much today as it did in 1980.  

I looked into the other rules changes since 2000. There have been about 60.  Some benefit the defense, but more the offense.  I think the rules on legal tackling and QB protection designed to reduce injuries/concussions have made defenders less violent than in the “old days.” I am not saying it’s bad, but it has changed the game. WRs and QBs overall have it better today.