We all know Jimmy Smith didn’t catch a pass in the first 5 years of his NFL career, but I wanted to match him up with other WRs from that time frame to see where he ranks.

Jimmy didn’t catch his 1st pass until 1995, but here are the WRs with the most receiving yards from 1992-2005:
1. J.Rice - 13,823
2. T.Brown - 13,382
3. M. Harrison - 12,331
4. J.Smith - 12,287
5. I.Bruce - 12,278
6. C.Carter - 11,074
7. R.Smith - 10,877
8. McCardell - 10,680
9. T.Owens - 10,535
10. R.Moss - 10,174

*If Jimmy would have played those first 5 years based on his career averages from his first 5 years with Jacksonville, he would have added another 6,540 receiving yards, with another 445 receptions and 35 TDs.

Here are the WR All-Time rankings, if Smith would have played those first 5 seasons.

Receiving Yards:
1. J.Rice - 22,895
2. J.Smith - 18,827
3. Fitzgerald - 17,492
4. T.Owens - 15,934
5. R. Moss - 15,292

Receptions:
1. Rice - 1549
2. Fitzgerald - 1432
3. Gonzalez - 1325
4. J.Smith - 1307
5. Witten - 1228

Receiving TD - Smith would rank 11th all-time as of 2024. 

*He would be a first ballot Hall of Famer. 

Even if you don’t skew Smith’s numbers, he still ranks 4th in receiving yards from 1992 to 2005, and he didn’t even catch his first pass until week 9 of the 1995 season. Crazy…

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