Amani Toomer One Of The Most Underappreciated Wide Receivers In The NFL

As much as it pains me to say this, Amani Toomer is one of the most underappreciated wide receivers in the NFL.

It isn't because he plays for the New York Giants, the reason why it pains me is because he played college football at Michigan.

We will just leave the fact that I'm not a Michigan Wolverines fan.

Toomer's first few years in the league were pretty uneventful receiving wise. He did make some noise on special teams returning three punts for touchdowns in his first two years as a returner.

In his first three years, he caught no more than 30 passes.

In fact, his most receptions in a season was 27 in 1998, but five of them were for touchdowns.

1999 is the season that Toomer started truly make a name for himself. He caught 79 passes for 1,183 yards which resulted in 15 yards per catch and six touchdowns.

From 1999 to 2003, Toomer gained over 1,000 yards receiving.

His best season came in 2002 when he caught 82 passes for 1343 yards, on 16.4 yards per catch. He found the end zone eight times including an 82 yard score which represents a career long.

Since 2004, Toomer has become more of a possession receiver and therefore has seen his yardage totals drop. Even with that, he still is a valuable weapon for the New York Giants.

During that time, Toomer has taken a backseat to players like Jeremy Shockey, Tiki Barber, and Plaxico Burress. Even with that, he is still able to contribute positively to the team.

In 2008, he started 12 games and appeared in all 16. He caught 48 passes for 580 yards which is a 12.1 yard per catch average. He also caught 4 touchdown passes.

The 48 receptions was good for second best, and he was tied for second on the team with the 4 touchdown receptions. 

Entering the 2009 season which will be Toomer's 14th year in the league, he's looking to become the 32nd player in NFL history to have 10,000 receiving yards. 

Although Toomer is considered a seasoned veteran, he still doesn't get the credit he deserves as being a solid receiver with good hands. He continues to do the little things to help the Giants win. 

He doesn't get the recognition he deserves is due to the fact he's more of a possession receiver than a scoring threat in the red zone.

He has never had more than 8 receiving touchdowns in a season and that's part of the reason he doesn't get the credit. The other is because of the flashier players on the team such as the aforementioned Shockey, Burress, and Barber (who retired).

If you're looking for a receiver that goes out there and does his job well, Toomer is one of the more consistent receivers in the NFL. Over the last 10 years, he's averaged 62 catches, 886 yards, five touchdowns, and 13.9 yards per catch.

Not bad numbers at all and it is the reason why he's an underappreciated receiver.

Also throughout this time, he's been catching passes from quarterbacks such as Dave Brown, Danny Kanell, Kent Graham, Kerry Collins, Jesse Palmer, Kurt Warner, and Eli Manning.