Question

Isaac Bruce is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. As a rookie, Bruce caught only 21 passes, but he came back in his second year and moved up to 119. Who is the only other receiver who’s played in an NFL season, then come back and put up 98 more receptions the next year? This player, remarkably, spent the first three years of his career playing on the same team as Bruce (but his big receiving season came with a different franchise).

Answer

Mike Furrey. Furrey caught 20 passes as a rookie but later was moved to safety. In 2005, he played in all 16 games but didn’t catch a pass. In the 2006 season, Furrey signed with Detroit and caught 98 passes for 1,086 yards and 6 TDs (with former Rams coach Mike Martz as his offensive coordinator). Two other wide receivers who’ve improved by over 90 catches (and both did it after seasons where they suffered season-ending injuries in Week 1): Steve Smith (6 to 103 catches in 2003-04) and Keenan Allen (6 to 102 in 2016-17). Jordy Nelson went from 0 to 97 in the 2015-16 seasons, but Nelson suffered his torn ACL in a preseason game.