Great Hands

In a recent column, NFL.com/Network analyst Bucky Brooks ranked the pass catchers with the best hands and ball skills. Hands. It's mystifying that the ability to catch a football is often held with low regard. Scouts and personnel often gloss over an inability to consistently catch a football if the player is fast, athletic, and explosive. Even though it is so hard to display that speed, athleticism, and explosiveness without the ball. The Minnesota Vikings selected South Carolina receiver Troy Williamson with the seventh pick of the 2005 NFL Draft. He couldn't catch. At all! But, he sure was fast. Fast loses it's appeal when the ball is sitting on the field after another drop. Williamson had a terrible set of hands. The Vikings even sent him to a Nike facility specializing in vision and hand-eye coordination. It didn't help. But, he sure was fast. Bucky Brooks was a receiver with the Buffalo Bills in the mid-'90s. He practiced alongside one of the best pass catchers of his generation in Andre Reed. Brooks has spent the last decade as a scout and football analyst. He appreciates the often forgotten skill of catching the football. He put together a nice list:

10. Keenan Allen  WR  San Diego Chargers
  9. Antonio Gates  TE  San Diego Charges
  8. Dez Bryant  WR  Dallas Cowboys
  7. Jordan Cameron  TE  Cleveland Browns
  6. Jordy Nelson  WR  Green Bay Packers
  5. Jimmy Graham  TE  New Orleans Saints
  4. Julio Jones  WR  Atlanta Falcons
  3. Alshon Jeffery  WR  Chicago Bears
  2. A.J. Green  WR  Cincinnati Bengals
  1. Larry Fitzgerald  WR  Arizona Cardinals

It's difficult to question any on the list. Keenan Allen might be a surprise. It might be considered a bold move to include a receiver with a single year of NFL experience in such select company. After watching Allen for three, too short, years at Cal, it's really no surprise here. It's interesting to note that all three tight ends on the list have significant basketball experience in their past. Their positioning and ball skills in football reveal an athlete that might know something about rebounding in basketball. A.J. Green is so smooth. His spot in Brooks' rankings is deserved. That's why it was so stunning to see him drop a possible touchdown in the playoffs against the San Diego Chargers this past January. The Chargers had control of that game. Green scores there and it might be a different game. Green may never live down that drop. As Brooks says, Larry Fitzgerald "remains the gold standard on this list." It's an absolute treat to watch Fitzgerald play football.

It wasn't surprising to see any of these ten pass catchers on Bucky Brooks' list. It was surprising to not see Greg Jennings and Anquan Boldin. I guess that you have to draw the line somewhere. Jennings and Boldin would be on my list. Perhaps at the expense of Gates and Cameron. It was a weekly pass-catching tutorial when Boldin and Fitzgerald were on the field together for the Cardinals.

Thinking about the great hands of today has me remembering the incredible hands of Cris Carter. No one ever caught the football better.