Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics


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WIDE RECEIVERS 2009

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 3/19/2010

Wide receivers are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this WR caught the ball, compared to replacement level, adjusted for situation and opponent and then translated into yardage. DYAR (and its cousin, YAR, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here.

The other statistic given is DVOA, or Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. This number represents value, per play, over an average WR in the same game situations. The more positive the DVOA rating, the better the player's performance. DVOA (and its cousin, VOA, which isn't adjusted based on opponent) is further explained here.

Effective Yards, listed in red, translate DVOA into a yards per attempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, players with more Effective Yards than standard yards played better than standard stats would otherwise indicate, while players with fewer Effective Yards than standard yards played worse than standard stats would otherwise indicate. Effective Yards are not the best way to measure total value because they are more dependent on usage than DYAR.

DYAR and DVOA include all passes intended for the receiver, both complete and incomplete. Catch Rate represents the percentage of passes to this receiver completed. This is a reference to incomplete passes, not dropped passes: dropped passes are not specified in publicly available play-by-play, and unfortunately we cannot yet correct for this.

  • We cannot yet fully separate the performance of a receiver from the performance of his quarterback. Be aware that one will affect the other.
  • These statistics measure only passes thrown to a receiver, not performance on plays when he is not thrown the ball, such as blocking and drawing double teams.
  • All fumbles are considered equal, whether recovered by the offense or defense.
  • Because his runs primarily come as the quarterback in the Wildcat (a.k.a. Flash) formation, Josh Cribbs' rushing value in 2009 is rated as a quarterback, not as a wide receiver.
  • Clicking on a player's name will bring you to his FO player page with advanced stats through 2008.

The simple version: DYAR means a wide receiver with more total value. DVOA means a wide receiver with more value per play.

RECEIVING: Minimum 50 passes, 89 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
S.Rice MIN 476 1 487 1 35.4% 3 36.5% 121 1312 1,508 8 69% 1
V.Jackson SD 448 2 451 2 38.7% 2 39.1% 109 1170 1,371 9 63% 0
W.Welker NE 424 3 363 5 20.3% 12 15.5% 162 1348 1,673 4 76% 1
M.Austin DAL 396 4 418 3 28.3% 5 30.5% 124 1320 1,371 11 65% 1
R.Moss NE 395 5 347 6 21.9% 10 17.7% 137 1264 1,514 13 61% 2
R.Wayne IND 373 6 381 4 18.2% 13 18.9% 149 1264 1,534 10 67% 0
M.Colston NO 331 7 335 7 25.3% 6 25.8% 107 1074 1,197 9 65% 2
S.Smith NYG 320 8 306 9 13.2% 18 12.1% 157 1220 1,477 7 68% 0
H.Ward PIT 281 9 266 13 14.0% 17 12.6% 137 1169 1,272 6 69% 2
S.Holmes PIT 278 10 287 11 12.7% 21 13.5% 138 1248 1,302 5 57% 0
L.Fitzgerald ARI 272 11 324 8 8.8% 30 12.9% 153 1092 1,429 13 63% 0
R.Meachem NO 267 12 249 15 39.2% 1 35.7% 64 722 814 9 70% 2
A.Johnson HOU 261 13 293 10 6.3% 35 8.7% 172 1576 1,501 9 59% 1
D.Driver GB 242 14 267 12 12.9% 19 15.6% 112 1061 1,125 6 63% 1
C.Ochocinco CIN 234 15 240 16 9.7% 27 10.3% 129 1073 1,195 9 57% 2
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
M.Wallace PIT 232 16 224 17 29.6% 4 28.2% 72 756 788 6 54% 1
G.Jennings GB 224 17 255 14 10.6% 26 13.8% 119 1113 1,113 4 57% 0
M.Floyd SD 219 18 217 18 23.2% 7 22.9% 76 776 819 1 59% 0
A.Collie IND 209 19 200 21 15.8% 15 14.6% 90 676 907 7 67% 0
D.Jackson PHI 198 20 188 23 9.0% 29 7.9% 116 1156 1,036 9 53% 2
K.Walter HOU 196 21 211 20 22.6% 8 25.4% 70 611 742 2 76% 0
J.Cotchery NYJ 185 22 212 19 11.7% 22 15.4% 97 827 888 4 60% 0
D.Mason BAL 180 23 174 26 4.2% 36 3.7% 134 1028 1,131 7 54% 0
B.Marshall DEN 179 24 175 25 2.3% 38 2.1% 155 1127 1,232 10 66% 0
H.Nicks NYG 176 25 155 30 17.5% 14 13.8% 74 790 736 6 64% 2
P.Harvin MIN 175 26 186 24 11.6% 23 13.1% 93 803 845 6 67% 1
S.Breaston ARI 163 27 196 22 12.7% 20 17.9% 82 712 762 3 67% 0
M.Manningham NYG 158 28 142 34 7.5% 33 5.4% 99 825 873 5 58% 1
J.Avant PHI 157 29 155 29 20.6% 11 20.2% 58 587 616 3 71% 1
B.Hartline MIA 156 30 144 32 21.9% 9 19.3% 56 506 598 3 55% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Maclin PHI 153 31 144 33 8.6% 31 7.4% 92 773 808 4 61% 0
P.Crayton DAL 149 32 150 31 15.2% 16 15.4% 67 622 653 5 55% 0
D.Henderson NO 148 33 156 28 10.8% 24 12.0% 83 804 734 2 61% 0
J.Gaffney DEN 143 34 138 36 7.8% 32 7.1% 87 732 778 2 62% 0
R.White ATL 141 35 79 47 -1.7% 48 -6.5% 165 1153 1,258 11 52% 1
K.Britt TEN 140 36 140 35 10.7% 25 10.7% 75 701 695 3 56% 1
G.Camarillo MIA 132 37 125 37 9.6% 28 8.4% 72 552 676 0 69% 0
A.Boldin ARI 120 38 170 27 -0.6% 45 4.3% 128 1034 992 5 66% 3
M.Sims-Walker JAC 114 39 102 39 0.4% 41 -1.1% 111 870 882 7 57% 2
N.Burleson SEA 110 40 125 38 0.8% 40 2.6% 103 812 826 3 61% 2
D.Bess MIA 104 41 95 43 -0.7% 46 -1.7% 114 771 856 2 68% 2
C.Chambers KC 99 42 79 46 1.1% 39 -1.7% 92 730 731 5 49% 0
M.Thomas JAC 98 43 101 41 7.4% 34 8.1% 62 453 542 1 77% 0
L.Coles CIN 97 44 90 45 4.1% 37 2.8% 77 514 616 5 56% 0
B.Berrian MIN 93 45 92 44 0.0% 42 -0.1% 92 618 737 4 60% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
P.Garcon IND 92 46 102 40 -0.4% 43 1.0% 91 765 742 4 52% 1
D.Hester CHI 88 47 99 42 -0.6% 44 1.0% 91 764 719 3 64% 1
B.Edwards CLE 68 48 58 50 -3.9% 51 -5.2% 95 680 729 4 47% 1
D.Bowe KC 57 49 68 48 -4.4% 53 -2.9% 87 589 646 4 54% 1
E.Bennett CHI 54 50 51 51 -4.7% 54 -5.1% 88 717 633 2 61% 1
A.Randle El WAS 53 51 46 52 -3.8% 50 -4.9% 75 532 563 0 67% 1
S.Smith CAR 51 52 37 56 -7.6% 57 -9.0% 128 954 892 7 51% 1
J.Edelman NE 49 53 22 61 -0.8% 47 -7.3% 54 359 404 1 69% 0
M.Muhammad CAR 41 54 46 54 -6.8% 56 -6.1% 89 581 631 1 60% 0
T.Houshmandzadeh SEA 40 55 67 49 -9.1% 60 -6.7% 135 911 969 3 59% 2
D.Anderson HOU 40 56 46 53 -3.2% 49 -1.7% 53 370 397 0 72% 0
C.Schilens OAK 33 57 27 60 -4.1% 52 -5.5% 51 365 359 2 57% 0
J.Jones GB 30 58 36 57 -5.9% 55 -4.7% 61 440 412 5 52% 0
R.Williams DAL 30 59 40 55 -8.2% 58 -6.7% 86 597 585 7 44% 1
A.Caldwell CIN 27 60 21 62 -8.3% 59 -9.2% 80 447 540 3 64% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
C.Johnson DET 19 61 29 59 -11.0% 63 -10.1% 138 1001 944 5 49% 3
J.Knox CHI 15 62 32 58 -10.2% 61 -7.5% 80 527 527 5 56% 0
N.Washington TEN 14 63 20 63 -10.8% 62 -9.9% 95 576 614 6 49% 1
L.Evans BUF 12 64 -15 71 -11.1% 64 -14.7% 95 612 613 7 46% 0
M.Jenkins ATL 7 65 4 65 -11.5% 65 -12.0% 90 635 547 1 56% 0
A.Bryant TB 3 66 -10 69 -12.2% 66 -14.1% 87 600 545 4 45% 0
S.Moss WAS 1 67 10 64 -12.6% 67 -11.6% 120 906 770 3 58% 2
T.Holt JAC -13 68 -9 67 -14.3% 68 -13.7% 102 722 629 0 50% 1
S.Stroughter TB -16 69 -25 72 -16.0% 71 -18.1% 58 319 353 1 53% 0
T.Owens BUF -18 70 -9 68 -14.8% 69 -13.7% 109 829 664 5 50% 1
T.Ginn MIA -20 71 -35 73 -15.9% 70 -18.5% 78 454 468 1 49% 0
M.Clayton BAL -36 72 -43 74 -18.8% 73 -20.1% 74 480 420 2 46% 1
J.Morgan SF -36 73 4 66 -18.4% 72 -12.0% 81 527 458 3 64% 0
J.Gage TEN -38 74 -45 75 -19.8% 74 -21.4% 67 383 370 3 42% 0
D.Northcutt DET -43 75 -49 76 -21.7% 76 -23.0% 63 357 321 1 56% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
M.Clayton TB -44 76 -65 80 -24.3% 80 -29.9% 48 230 242 1 33% 0
M.Crabtree SF -47 77 -11 70 -19.8% 75 -14.4% 86 625 464 2 56% 1
D.Branch SEA -60 78 -53 78 -22.7% 78 -21.5% 79 437 398 2 57% 0
I.Bruce SF -72 79 -60 79 -30.9% 85 -28.0% 49 264 214 0 43% 0
D.Avery STL -75 80 -49 77 -22.7% 77 -19.2% 98 592 501 5 49% 1
M.Bradley KC -77 81 -84 83 -30.9% 86 -32.6% 57 320 229 2 42% 0
B.Wade KC -78 82 -102 87 -26.7% 82 -31.1% 75 367 336 2 49% 0
M.Massoquoi CLE -79 83 -86 84 -23.3% 79 -24.2% 95 624 488 3 36% 1
B.Gibson STL -93 84 -77 82 -29.7% 84 -26.9% 69 349 306 1 49% 2
D.Amendola STL -97 85 -70 81 -31.2% 87 -26.1% 64 326 283 1 69% 1
C.Stuckey CLE -100 86 -88 85 -31.2% 88 -29.0% 66 318 290 2 45% 0
B.Johnson DET -101 87 -98 86 -27.3% 83 -26.8% 87 417 414 3 40% 0
L.Murphy OAK -106 88 -131 88 -26.3% 81 -29.6% 96 521 476 4 35% 0
E.Royal DEN -139 89 -134 89 -34.9% 89 -34.1% 79 345 304 0 47% 0

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
J.Jones HOU 171 175 41.9% 43.1% 40 437 508 6 68% 0
K.Washington BAL 159 155 31.0% 29.8% 48 431 531 2 71% 0
J.Nelson GB 129 131 39.6% 40.5% 31 320 391 2 71% 0
L.Naanee SD 103 107 32.8% 34.8% 29 242 336 2 83% 0
B.Stokley DEN 93 89 21.0% 19.7% 33 327 362 4 58% 0
C.Henry CIN 70 65 26.6% 24.2% 23 236 247 2 52% 0
L.Moore NO 58 57 24.6% 24.3% 19 153 212 2 74% 0
E.Doucet ARI 58 63 17.2% 20.1% 24 214 242 1 71% 0
D.Williams BAL 48 50 18.7% 19.9% 17 142 197 1 47% 0
D.Aromashodu CHI 45 61 0.8% 5.5% 43 298 342 4 56% 0
J.Reed BUF 43 44 -0.9% -0.7% 45 291 363 1 60% 0
M.Kelly WAS 35 38 -1.9% -1.1% 41 347 318 0 61% 0
D.Thomas WAS 34 26 -3.5% -5.5% 47 325 349 3 53% 0
M.Stovall TB 28 14 -5.1% -9.0% 47 366 342 1 51% 0
S.Hurd DAL 23 23 8.1% 8.3% 12 121 122 1 58% 0
L.Robinson STL 21 31 -1.0% 4.7% 23 167 179 1 57% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
M.Booker ATL 17 2 -6.0% -11.8% 32 181 227 1 50% 0
G.Lewis MIN 15 15 6.0% 5.3% 11 96 90 1 73% 0
B.Finneran ATL 15 12 -0.7% -3.1% 16 111 127 0 69% 0
S.Aiken NE 14 28 -8.5% -4.3% 41 326 293 2 49% 0
L.Hawkins TEN 11 7 -2.3% -6.1% 14 110 99 0 50% 0
R.Martin STL 10 12 -1.8% 0.6% 12 99 91 0 50% 0
D.Hixon NYG 9 3 -8.2% -11.1% 28 187 187 1 54% 0
A.Davis HOU 8 1 -3.6% -11.8% 11 59 84 0 55% 0
B.Engram KC 6 9 -5.3% -1.9% 10 61 73 0 50% 0
D.Jarrett CAR 5 3 -10.5% -11.6% 31 196 201 1 55% 0
J.Hill SF -1 5 -13.6% -8.9% 17 90 110 2 53% 0
J.Urban ARI -4 -3 -14.7% -14.0% 29 186 167 0 62% 0
B.Lloyd DEN -9 -9 -18.7% -18.9% 18 117 103 0 44% 0
D.Clowney NYJ -10 -6 -18.5% -16.2% 22 191 126 1 64% 1
N.Hughes JAC -11 -11 -25.2% -24.9% 12 70 56 1 42% 0
K.Burton STL -14 6 -16.6% -10.9% 45 253 268 0 56% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
K.Curtis PHI -15 -16 -24.9% -26.2% 15 77 76 0 40% 0
D.Williams DET -19 -20 -31.3% -31.7% 13 52 56 0 46% 0
H.Baskett IND -23 -34 -36.2% -47.7% 12 34 45 0 42% 0
K.Moore CAR -28 -32 -44.4% -49.1% 12 59 31 0 50% 0
B.Clark TB -31 -49 -32.5% -44.5% 18 65 80 0 33% 0
B.Smith NYJ -32 -28 -46.8% -41.9% 12 63 29 0 58% 0
R.Brown PHI -34 -31 -30.9% -29.4% 24 155 101 0 38% 0
T.Watkins OAK -36 -41 -38.7% -41.8% 19 90 60 0 42% 0
B.Robiskie CLE -37 -35 -36.4% -35.3% 20 106 72 0 35% 0
J.Galloway NE -40 -64 -38.5% -54.4% 20 67 67 0 35% 0
M.Furrey CLE -44 -59 -26.4% -31.1% 39 170 194 0 59% 0
J.Higgins OAK -53 -59 -27.8% -29.5% 45 263 207 0 42% 0
L.Long ARI -85 -78 -40.4% -38.1% 39 177 125 0 54% 0
D.Butler SEA -91 -93 -40.1% -40.8% 42 175 135 0 36% 0
D.Heyward-Bey OAK -107 -127 -45.5% -51.9% 40 124 107 1 23% 0
J.Cribbs CLE -115 -132 -52.8% -58.6% 37 139 64 1 54% 2

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 5 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards EYds Rk TD FUM
B.Smith NYJ 127 1 134 1 115.4% 4 124.3% 3 18 207 263 1 1 0
P.Harvin MIN 78 2 79 2 69.9% 8 70.4% 7 13 122 188 2 0 0
D.Jackson PHI 69 3 69 3 64.6% 9 65.3% 9 12 137 154 3 1 1
C.Johnson DET 54 4 51 5 123.2% 3 115.3% 4 6 60 128 4 0 0
R.Meachem NO 51 5 52 4 70.1% 7 73.3% 5 6 82 121 5 0 0
J.Morgan SF 46 6 46 7 180.2% 1 179.1% 1 5 61 109 7 0 0
M.Thomas JAC 46 7 46 6 45.2% 11 45.1% 11 12 86 112 6 0 0
T.Owens BUF 36 8 35 8 76.0% 5 71.7% 6 6 54 86 8 1 0
M.Wallace PIT 32 9 33 9 143.4% 2 151.7% 2 5 48 74 9 0 0
W.Welker NE 29 10 30 10 59.2% 10 64.2% 10 5 36 69 10 0 0
T.Ginn MIA 23 11 24 11 34.4% 13 37.2% 13 7 48 56 11 0 0
L.Murphy OAK 21 12 20 12 70.3% 6 67.1% 8 6 31 49 12 0 0
S.Smith CAR 17 13 16 14 43.0% 12 37.8% 12 5 22 42 13 0 0
B.Marshall DEN 16 14 17 13 29.0% 14 34.8% 14 6 32 39 14 0 0
E.Weems ATL 7 15 10 15 -25.9% 15 -20.3% 15 8 53 22 15 0 0
D.Hester CHI -40 16 -39 16 -207.2% 16 -205.0% 16 5 -8 -89 16 0 1