Homer Jones Is the Leader in Average Length of Receiving Touchdown

by Chase Stuart on March 16, 2014

Jones catches another bomb.

In November, I noted that Chris Johnson was the career leader in average length of rushing touchdown. Since then, he’s actually dropped to number two, as his six rushing touchdowns covered “only” 84 yards in November and December. But what about the career leader in average length of receiving touchdown?

That title belongs to former Giants wide receiver Homer Jones. A star in the late ’60s, 19 of Jones’ 36 career touchdowns went for 50 or more yards. The table below shows all 413 players to record at least 35 receiving touchdowns (including the postseason) from 1940 to 2013. While Jones leads in average touchdown length, I think it makes more sense to sort the list by median touchdown length, although that doesn’t matter much for Jones. For each player listed, I’ve included both their average and median touchdown length, the years they played, and a best guess at their primary position. The table by default shows 50 entries, but you can change that; in addition, the table is fully sortable and searchable.

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Rk	Receiver	Receiver	First Year	Last Year	TDs	Avg	Median
1	Homer Jones	WR	1964	1970	36	49	51
2	Mel Gray	WR	1971	1982	46	43.9	48.5
3	Bob Boyd	WR	1950	1957	28	45.5	47.5
4	Ken Burrough	WR	1970	1981	50	43.3	46.5
5	Bob Hayes	WR	1965	1975	73	41.1	38
6	Frank Pitts	WR	1965	1974	27	38.6	38
7	Carroll Dale	WR	1960	1973	55	38.5	38
8	Mike Wallace	WR	2009	2013	38	36.2	38
9	Elroy Hirsch	WR	1946	1957	59	38	37
10	John Mackey	TE	1963	1972	40	39.6	36
11	Elbert Dubenion	WR	1960	1968	37	39.1	36
12	Don Currivan	WR	1943	1949	26	36	36
13	DeSean Jackson	WR	2008	2013	34	39.7	35.5
14	Harlon Hill	WR	1954	1962	40	38.6	35.5
15	Willie Gault	WR	1983	1993	47	36.9	35
16	Lance Alworth	WR	1962	1972	88	35.6	35
17	Bernard Berrian	WR	2004	2011	26	35.3	34.5
18	Charley Frazier	WR	1962	1970	30	33.7	34.5
19	Cloyce Box	WR	1949	1954	32	37.9	34
20	Ken Kavanaugh	WR	1940	1950	52	37.4	34
21	Don Beebe	WR	1989	1997	26	36.3	34
22	Bake Turner	WR	1962	1970	25	34.8	34
23	Ray Renfro	WR	1952	1963	53	34.4	34
24	Del Shofner	WR	1957	1967	51	35.7	33
25	Wesley Walker	WR	1977	1989	74	34.3	33
26	Don Maynard	WR	1958	1973	90	34.2	32.5
27	Robert Meachem	WR	2008	2013	28	31	32.5
28	Jim Doran	WR	1951	1961	26	32.4	32
29	Joey Galloway	WR	1995	2010	77	32.2	32
30	Hugh Taylor	WR	1947	1954	58	34.7	31.5
31	Dave Williams	WR	1967	1973	25	28.7	31
32	Qadry Ismail	WR	1993	2002	33	35.4	30
33	Stanley Morgan	WR	1977	1990	75	35.1	30
34	Darnay Scott	WR	1994	2002	37	35	30
35	Flipper Anderson	WR	1988	1997	30	33	30
36	Bob Trumpy	TE	1968	1977	35	32.3	30
37	Tony Hill	WR	1977	1986	55	30.4	30
38	Marcus Robinson	WR	1998	2006	44	29.5	29.5
39	Corey Bradford	WR	1998	2006	25	34.9	29
40	Lenny Moore	RB	1956	1967	49	34.6	29
41	Ray Mathews	RB	1951	1960	34	34.4	29
42	Michael Haynes	WR	1988	1997	49	33.6	29
43	John Gilliam	WR	1967	1977	53	32.9	29
44	Johnny Morris	WR	1958	1967	31	32.8	29
45	Jack Snow	WR	1965	1975	45	32.1	29
46	John Greene	WR	1944	1950	26	33.1	28.5
47	Rocket Ismail	WR	1993	2001	28	32.5	28.5
48	Mark Duper	WR	1982	1992	64	32	28.5
49	Jackie Smith	TE	1963	1978	41	33.7	28
50	Alvin Harper	WR	1991	1999	25	33.2	28

Showing 1 to 50 of 413 entries

If you sort the table by career touchdowns, you’ll see that Jerry Rice and Randy Moss have pretty similar averages. Rice caught more short touchdowns, but he holds up pretty well to the man considered one of the all-time great deep threats. In fact, Rice had more career receiving touchdowns of 30+ yards, 40+ yards, 50+ yards, and 60+ yards than any other player in history. Among active players, Mike Wallace, DeSean Jackson, Robert Meachem, Nate Washington, and new Raven Steve Smith have the longest median length of touchdown reception.

What about the players who caught the shortest touchdowns? Wes Welker has caught a lot of short touchdown passes from Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Including the playoffs, 28 of his career 53 touchdown catches were from inside the 7-yard line, the lowest rate of any wide receiver in history. Tampa Bay Mike Williams — you know, the guy who is one of the best Mike Williamses ever — is the only other wide receiver who had at least half of his receiving touchdowns come from inside the 8-yard line.

The positional designations don’t always hold up, especially the farther back in NFL history you go. Colts Hall of Famer Lenny Moore has the longest median length among running backs, but Moore frequently split out wide in Johnny Unitas’ offense. Going the other way, Arizona fullback Larry Centers was an excellent pass catcher, but he wasn’t particularly explosive. Fifteen of his career 29 receiving touchdowns were seven yards or shorter.

The player with the shortest median touchdown length is former Dolphins tight end Bruce Hardy. He was a favorite target of Dan Marino near the goal line, and the numbers back that up: 17 of his 29 career receiving touchdowns came from inside the three-yard line! Hardy never caught a touchdown outside of the red zone in the regular season, but he managed to catch a 50-yarder in the Epic in Miami against the Chargers (you can see video of this inexplicable event here). Two other tight ends actually had average touchdown lengths of less than 7 yards: Chad Lewis, a goal line favorite of Donovan McNabb, and Bubba Franks, a touchdown monster (and little else) during Brett Favre’s prime.

Tagged as: Homer Jones, Jerry Rice, Randy Moss

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