OT: Fitz or AB?

[Fk_Pitt]

today I saw a quote from Larry, where he said Antonio Brown deserves the MVP this year. He has single handedly won 3-4 games for the Steelers.

So it had me thinking. Obviously two different receivers. Who would you take in their prime? AB or Fitz?

When it's said and done, AB should be right there with Larry, 2nd behind Jerry Rice in career stats.

 

[President Stache]

I think Fitz is one of the all time greatest if not the best in the history of football. AB is right up there, but as a total receiver, size, speed, strength, blocking, hands... Fitz may be the all time best

 

[FieldHouse12]

Fitz is by far a better teammate and more of a leader.
Brown has freak skills as well but needs to win a championship to be considered better than fitz.

 

[jtownknowitall]

Just wondering how you would know Fitz is a better teammate. Have you played with both?

 

[FieldHouse12]

Brown has shown plenty of times in the past that he cares more about his stats than anything else.
Please.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

AB

 

[Swervin27]

AB and it's not even close.

 

[Pitt-Chains]

Fitz is by far a better teammate and more of a leader.
Brown has freak skills as well but needs to win a championship to be considered better than fitz.

Didn't AB admit to running the wrong routes because the ball wasn't thrown his way.. you'd never see Larry do the same.

 

[Pitt-Chains]

AB and it's not even close.

Have them switch teams... feel the same ?

 

[Burgh15]

I love Fitzgerald and he is one of the greatest receivers of all time, but AB is on another level and is the easy choice.

 

[Swervin27]

Have them switch teams... feel the same ?

Hypothetical what ifs don't change facts.

 

[Burgh15]

Didn't AB admit to running the wrong routes because the ball wasn't thrown his way.. you'd never see Larry do the same.

Uh, no.

 

[BFo8]

Fitzgerald had Warner for only a few years, would’ve liked to have seen what numbers he could’ve put up with a good QB for the majority of his career.

 

[steel_curtain]

Fitzgerald had Warner for only a few years, would’ve liked to have seen what numbers he could’ve put up with a good QB for the majority of his career.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-This. Fitzgerald has played with 16 different QB's in Arizona, 16!!!!!

-Ill take Fitz all day, every day, over all of them, including big time over Randy no block Moss, except for maybe Jerry Rice. 11 Pro Bowls and counting. Top 3 All Time in yards and Receptions. And as much as Steeler nation hates Bellichick, even Bellichick said he is probably the best ever, even over Rice.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-This. Fitzgerald has played with 16 different QB's in Arizona, 16!!!!!

-Ill take Fitz all day, every day, over all of them, including big time over Randy no block Moss, except for maybe Jerry Rice. 11 Pro Bowls and counting. Top 3 All Time in yards and Receptions. And as much as Steeler nation hates Bellichick, even Bellichick said he is probably the best ever, even over Rice.

Why don't his peers vote him much higher when the yearly top 100 lists come out?

 

[steel_curtain]

Why don't his peers vote him much higher when the yearly top 100 lists come out?

-What peers? He's 34, playing with 2 backup QB's this season no one on this board has ever heard of, and is still 11th in the entire NFL for WR yards and on his way to another probowl.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Fitz is by far a better teammate and more of a leader.
Brown has freak skills as well but needs to win a championship to be considered better than fitz.

Because of fitz’s championship?

 

[steelcurtain55.]

-What peers? He's 34, playing with 2 backup QB's this season no one on this board has ever heard of, and is still 11th in the entire NFL for WR yards and on his way to another probowl.

Have you watched the NFL network over the past 10 years? If so, they do a piece called the top 100 players of ___. It's voted on by current NFL players.

 

[Pitt-Chains]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-This. Fitzgerald has played with 16 different QB's in Arizona, 16!!!!!

-Ill take Fitz all day, every day, over all of them, including big time over Randy no block Moss, except for maybe Jerry Rice. 11 Pro Bowls and counting. Top 3 All Time in yards and Receptions. And as much as Steeler nation hates Bellichick, even Bellichick said he is probably the best ever, even over Rice.

I'll take Larry as well..
Larry's stats would be better even with Landry Jones...

This just in.. Troy Polalamo is still trying to catch Larry..

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The problem with Fitz in comparison, and this is too his favor I guess, put him in his entire career with an HOF QB throwing to him, and a great running game to support him.

I can't imagine his numbers

 

[Pittx9]

That's really tough. I mean AB is having one of the most historic 5 year stretches in NFL history. He puts up crazy numbers like it's nothing. When you're talking Larry in his prime though, i don't think you can look past just how great he was. They are both 2 of the greatest ever. I do think AB should be THE choice for MVP this season though.

 

[pitt2533]

Very tough choice. I would gladly take either one of them on my team. I would say that Fitz is clearly the better person. Fitz has also had the disadvantage of being on much worse teams overall with much worse QBs during his career than Brown has.

But Brown is a special WR. He is on a historic run right now that puts him as one of the best WRs ever.

I think Fitz is one of the best ever also.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

The problem with Fitz in comparison, and this is too his favor I guess, put him in his entire career with an HOF QB throwing to him, and a great running game to support him.

I can't imagine his numbers

I started the thread so I will chime in.

There is no wrong answer on this. And I will start by saying that I have NEVER been a huge fan of AB. He's a clown. We all know it. But one can't deny his greatness. I've watched him not only put up ridiculous record setting numbers...but he also does dramatic things when the game is on the line. He is special. So much so that I honestly do not know a Steeler who has ever dominated games like him. And I go back to the 70's. The only dominant Steeler that I would put in the same class is James Harrison. But Harrison only was that dominant for a year or two. The only way to stop Harrison in his prime was to hold him. He was held on every play.
And that brings me to LF. You could throw to him on every down if you wanted to. If he's doubled, it doesn't matter. He will get it. Larry has done it consistently for an entire career. His non strength is after the catch. Yet he's terribly underrated there.

If AB does what he's been doing for another 2 years or so, he may be the most dominant Steeler ever.

I'd still take LF over AB. Because of ability. And character.

 

[NCanton Panther]

I started the thread so I will chime in.

There is no wrong answer on this. And I will start by saying that I have NEVER been a huge fan of AB. He's a clown. We all know it. But one can't deny his greatness. I've watched him not only put up ridiculous record setting numbers...but he also does dramatic things when the game is on the line. He is special. So much so that I honestly do not know a Steeler who has ever dominated games like him. And I go back to the 70's. The only dominant Steeler that I would put in the same class is James Harrison. But Harrison only was that dominant for a year or two. The only way to stop Harrison in his prime was to hold him. He was held on every play.
And that brings me to LF. You could throw to him on every down if you wanted to. If he's doubled, it doesn't matter. He will get it. Larry has done it consistently for an entire career. His non strength is after the catch. Yet he's terribly underrated there.

If AB does what he's been doing for another 2 years or so, he may be the most dominant Steeler ever.

I'd still take LF over AB. Because of ability. And character.

I’d take AB over LF but agree with you that there is no wrong answer.

Only thing I would contest is your end note alluding to an issue with AB’s character, same as what some others have raised as a concern. Yeah without a doubt AB likes to showboat with the TD celebrations whereas we all know LF quietly hands the ball to the official. I’m no fan of all these excessive TD celebrations, but I don’t think it translates into a character issue for AB. I’ve never heard any large claims of AB being a bad team mate, not a team player, or other detriment to the team. You don’t hear of him even remotely getting into trouble outside of the game like so many others, everyone raves about his work ethic, etc. Man, if AB has a black mark because of character, the Steelers would be well served to have a few more guys with those character issues.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I’d take AB over LF but agree with you that there is no wrong answer.

Only thing I would contest is your end note alluding to an issue with AB’s character, same as what some others have raised as a concern. Yeah without a doubt AB likes to showboat with the TD celebrations whereas we all know LF quietly hands the ball to the official. I’m no fan of all these excessive TD celebrations, but I don’t think it translates into a character issue for AB. I’ve never heard any large claims of AB being a bad team mate, not a team player, or other detriment to the team. You don’t hear of him even remotely getting into trouble outside of the game like so many others, everyone raves about his work ethic, etc. Man, if AB has a black mark because of character, the Steelers would be well served to have a few more guys with those character issues.

Good point on his work ethic. Very good point.

When I talk about character, nothing has reared its ugly head this year. Perhaps he has learned. Last year and previous years, there was something that seemingly happened weekly. Sideline tantrums. Social media flaps. Typical stuff you get from WR primadonnas. Then there was the contract rewrites (which turned out to be $$ advances) the Rooneys had to give him because he needed the money. These are all types of strains that he put on the organization that you would never see out of LF.

No wrong answer here though. I think these guys will retire #2 and #3 all time in the key statistical measures.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

What years was Larry considered to the best WR in football?

 

[H2P-2007]

Larry Legend in a landslide.

As posters above have said, switch the teams that they have played for and I dont think we are even having this discussion.

 

[303vND]

I love AB - he’s a special talent but if you give me one game I had to win with everything else equal(supporting cast, career prime, etc.), I’m taking Fitz. I’ve seen AB dominate in one playoff game(last year v. the Dolphins), I’ve seen Fitz dominate an entire playoff season. They both have out of this world skills but Fitz can go up and get everything - AB is limited due to his size.

 

[rmf05]

Fitz. What a crime it is that he has been subjected to the QB's that he has had. I wouldn't say that he is better than AB. They are different types of WR. Fitz was asked to become a slot WR a few years ago which is a difficult transition apparently per the NFL Network bio that they did on him a few weeks ago (everyone needs to watch it!). I can't imagine AB making the sacrifices that Larry made for the betterment of the team.

AB is faster/quicker than Larry. Aside from that, Larry seems better in most every other aspect. The NFL Network program stated that Larry went 3 years and over 300 catches between drops at one point!

Two reasons that his peers may not rank him among the top 100, if that is in fact true, is that the Cardinals have very few high profile, nationally televised games. He also doesn't draw attention to himself like most receivers do.

I think AB gets a bad rap though because of his flashiness and obviously he's as stupid as bag of hammers. I've met him a few times at the downtown gym he used to work out at. Nobody works as hard as he does, which goes unmentioned. He is self-made. I doubt he lasts long enough to break Jerry and Larry's records but as freakish as both those guys were in their professional approach to being NFL receivers, AB is an absolute nut job. He's the WR version of Harrison.

 

[Consultant Panther]

The problem with Fitz in comparison, and this is too his favor I guess, put him in his entire career with an HOF QB throwing to him, and a great running game to support him.

I can't imagine his numbers

Exactly! His numbers are great as is. If he had a HOF QB for all his career, his numbers would be off the chart. It's amazing that Fitz has been as great as he has been with the QBs he's had.

 

[SempleFest06]

AB and it is not particularly close. 4 of his past 5 seasons eclipse the top season for Fitz. Larry is an all time great, very good and very consistent, but he never had the Peak like AB is having right now.

As far as QBs go, Fitz didnt have Big Ben but he did have Kurt Warner (HOF) AND Carson Palmer (top10 all time in TDs) for 10 seasons. 5 with each. Those guys threw for over 4k yards regularly. Not exactly like he was playing on the Browns

 

[NTOP]

Fitz. What a crime it is that he has been subjected to the QB's that he has had. I wouldn't say that he is better than AB. They are different types of WR. Fitz was asked to become a slot WR a few years ago which is a difficult transition apparently per the NFL Network bio that they did on him a few weeks ago (everyone needs to watch it!). I can't imagine AB making the sacrifices that Larry made for the betterment of the team.

AB is faster/quicker than Larry. Aside from that, Larry seems better in most every other aspect. The NFL Network program stated that Larry went 3 years and over 300 catches between drops at one point!

Two reasons that his peers may not rank him among the top 100, if that is in fact true, is that the Cardinals have very few high profile, nationally televised games. He also doesn't draw attention to himself like most receivers do.

I think AB gets a bad rap though because of his flashiness and obviously he's as stupid as bag of hammers. I've met him a few times at the downtown gym he used to work out at. Nobody works as hard as he does, which goes unmentioned. He is self-made. I doubt he lasts long enough to break Jerry and Larry's records but as freakish as both those guys were in their professional approach to being NFL receivers, AB is an absolute nut job. He's the WR version of Harrison.

I watch Steelers games now ONLY to see Brown. He's the most entertaining WR I've ever seen, just amazing. Fitz will always be my favorite, though...great player, great person.

 

[H2P-2007]

How many people on here that have picked AB are not Steelers fans?

How many that picked Larry are Steelers fans?

I wonder if our perceptions are changed by that. I am not a Steelers fan and I (as stated above) think its Larry and its not close.

 

[jtownknowitall]

Have them switch teams... feel the same ?

If AB went to Pitt and Larry Fitzgerald went to Central Michigan would you feel the same?

 

[rmf05]

I think the only people who are biased here are the goobs who are saying it isn't close one way or the other or maybe they just don't know what they're talking about. Like some have mentioned, these are probably the two best WR's to ever play the game. Its a great question to ponder. In the end, they are different types of players. Brown likely would never submit to playing the role that Fitz has and while Fitz used to play the role in Zona's offense that AB does now, he didn't quite put up AB numbers (AB has a better QB and doesn't have another HoF WR to compete with for targets).

 

[steel_curtain]

What years was Larry considered to the best WR in football?

-Its about consistency, not 1 hit wonders.

-The guy is about to be 2nd All time in receiving yards and receptions in 1 more year in the NFL playing for frigging Arizona. Ill let that sink in for everyone else. He had Josh Skelton throwing him the ball for almost half the season in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Antonio Brown would be crying I need more yards and Im not playing, trade me.

 

[steel_curtain]

AB and it is not particularly close. 4 of his past 5 seasons eclipse the top season for Fitz. Larry is an all time great, very good and very consistent, but he never had the Peak like AB is having right now.

As far as QBs go, Fitz didnt have Big Ben but he did have Kurt Warner (HOF) AND Carson Palmer (top10 all time in TDs) for 10 seasons. 5 with each. Those guys threw for over 4k yards regularly. Not exactly like he was playing on the Browns

-Well, besides the fact Palmer missed almost the entire season in 2014, and played 6 games this year, you may be onto something. Warner played 10 games total in 2005 and 6 games total in 2006. So the garbage you posted has totally misled everyone else.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I think the only people who are biased here are the goobs who are saying it isn't close one way or the other or maybe they just don't know what they're talking about. Like some have mentioned, these are probably the two best WR's to ever play the game. Its a great question to ponder. In the end, they are different types of players. Brown likely would never submit to playing the role that Fitz has and while Fitz used to play the role in Zona's offense that AB does now, he didn't quite put up AB numbers (AB has a better QB and doesn't have another HoF WR to compete with for targets).

I think the biggest bias, at least for me, is because I get to see AB every week. Because I see it week in and week out, I can't imagine anyone dominating like AB. And then he takes it a step further when the game is on the line. I'm no AB fan. And I'm certainly no Ben fan. But to me, AB is becoming the most dominant Steeler ever. That's blasphemy to say in this town. But Swann, Stallworth, Bradshaw, Ham, Lambert, Franco, and even Green didn't dominate like this guy does. The only one who may have is Blount. He was so dominant that they had to change the rules of the game forever.

That said...I still take Fitz!!

 

[SempleFest06]

-Well, besides the fact Palmer missed almost the entire season in 2014, and played 6 games this year, you may be onto something. Warner played 10 games total in 2005 and 6 games total in 2006. So the garbage you posted has totally misled everyone else.

Has Ben ever missed a game before?

 

[steel_curtain]

I think the biggest bias, at least for me, is because I get to see AB every week. Because I see it week in and week out, I can't imagine anyone dominating like AB. And then he takes it a step further when the game is on the line. I'm no AB fan. And I'm certainly no Ben fan. But to me, AB is becoming the most dominant Steeler ever. That's blasphemy to say in this town. But Swann, Stallworth, Bradshaw, Ham, Lambert, Franco, and even Green didn't dominate like this guy does. The only one who may have is Blount. He was so dominant that they had to change the rules of the game forever.

That said...I still take Fitz!!

-The Most dominant Steeler EVER? Over Mean Joe Greene and the Steel Curtain, the best defense in NFL history? Holy shit.... When the hell has the Steelers had the #1 offense in the NFL? And when is Brown and Bell ever going to win 1 superbowl, let a lone 4?

-This current Super offense of Pittsburgh had these point totals in our last 4 losses in the NFL playoffs

-17 points vs New England
-16 points vs Denver
-17 points vs Baltimore
-23 points vs Denver

-The juggernaut Steelers offense has a total of 3 total playoff wins dating back to 2010.

-Hopefully for Steeler nations sake and we dont get our doors blown off by New England again, the Steelers juggernaut offense of Ben-Brown-Bell can muster more than 20 points in a defeat.