Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



TIGHT ENDS 2003

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/26/2008

Tight ends are ranked according to DYAR, or Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. This gives the value of the performance on plays where this TE caught the ball, compared to a replacement-level TE in the same game situations 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 TE 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.

Equivalent Yards (EqYds), listed in red, translate DVOA into a yards per attempt figure. This provides an easy comparison: in general, players with more Equivalent Yards (EqYds) than standard yards played better than standard stats would otherwise indicate, while players with fewer Equivalent Yards (EqYds) than standard yards played worse than standard stats would otherwise indicate. Equivalent Yards (EqYds) 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 the tight end, 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.

The simple version: DYAR means a tight end with more total value. DVOA means a tight end with more value per play.

RECEIVING: Minimum 25 passes, 42 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
88-T.Gonzalez KC 240 1 230 2 26.7% 4 25.3% 106 915 1,117 10 67%
84-S.Sharpe DEN 220 2 233 1 28.8% 2 31.0% 94 770 991 8 66%
88-I.Mili SEA 149 3 145 3 27.0% 3 26.0% 62 492 691 5 74%
40-J.Kleinsasser MIN 126 4 129 4 26.5% 5 27.4% 59 401 588 5 78%
80-J.Shockey NYG 106 5 98 5 14.7% 10 13.0% 71 562 637 3 69%
89-M.Schobel CIN 97 6 95 7 46.8% 1 45.8% 30 332 362 2 80%
81-M.Pollard IND 92 7 96 6 15.8% 9 16.7% 57 544 536 3 70%
82-B.Williams NO 87 8 83 8 13.5% 11 12.6% 62 436 540 5 66%
85-A.Gates SD 79 9 73 9 22.3% 6 20.2% 42 394 396 2 57%
89-C.Lewis PHI 70 10 63 11 20.2% 8 17.5% 40 293 369 1 58%
88-E.Kinney TEN 66 11 63 10 9.4% 13 8.9% 58 393 473 3 71%
88-J.Weaver SF 57 12 52 12 9.3% 14 7.8% 53 437 415 1 66%
44-D.Clark IND 51 13 43 14 9.5% 12 6.9% 42 340 365 1 69%
82-T.Jones BAL 47 14 50 13 21.7% 7 23.7% 25 159 238 3 76%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
81-R.McMichael MIA 38 15 30 16 -0.3% 20 -1.8% 83 598 549 2 59%
82-D.Graham NE 32 16 23 20 0.8% 17 -1.3% 62 409 403 4 61%
89-F.Wycheck TEN 31 17 26 17 7.4% 15 5.2% 29 165 245 2 59%
86-M.Ricks DET 28 18 31 15 -0.1% 19 0.5% 61 434 395 2 61%
88-C.Fauria NE 28 19 22 22 1.9% 16 0.1% 45 285 315 2 62%
82-J.Witten DAL 27 20 26 18 0.6% 18 0.2% 54 347 345 1 65%
88-B.Franks GB 21 21 25 19 -0.3% 21 1.1% 44 241 296 4 68%
88-A.Becht NYJ 20 22 8 24 -2.5% 23 -5.4% 58 356 405 4 69%
83-A.Crumpler ATL 20 23 23 21 -3.3% 24 -2.6% 80 552 463 3 55%
86-T.Stewart CIN 14 24 14 23 -1.4% 22 -1.2% 33 212 224 0 64%
84-M.Campbell BUF 8 25 8 25 -5.0% 25 -5.0% 50 339 299 1 68%
82-B.Miller HOU 7 26 4 27 -5.6% 26 -6.2% 65 355 361 4 62%
86-K.Mangum CAR 2 27 7 26 -6.4% 27 -3.6% 29 199 166 0 59%
85-E.Conwell NO -8 28 -8 29 -10.1% 29 -10.3% 44 290 219 2 59%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
86-T.Heap BAL -15 29 -31 36 -9.3% 28 -11.6% 112 693 576 3 51%
86-D.Campbell DAL -15 30 -6 28 -14.8% 33 -10.0% 31 195 139 1 65%
82-L.Smith PHI -18 31 -18 31 -12.8% 30 -13.0% 46 321 233 1 59%
85-W.Walls GB -19 32 -14 30 -15.9% 35 -13.6% 33 222 143 1 61%
80-K.Brady JAC -24 33 -29 35 -15.2% 34 -17.1% 46 280 200 1 63%
84-J.Peelle SD -29 34 -25 33 -24.4% 37 -22.0% 25 133 80 1 64%
88-D.Clark CHI -31 35 -28 34 -14.0% 32 -13.6% 71 434 313 2 62%
85-F.Jones ARI -32 36 -24 32 -13.1% 31 -11.6% 88 517 393 5 63%
86-B.Manumaleuna STL -40 37 -42 37 -20.6% 36 -21.1% 45 238 167 3 64%
82-C.Fitzsimmons DET -47 38 -50 38 -24.5% 38 -25.6% 40 160 127 3 58%
85-K.Dilger TB -54 39 -54 39 -27.0% 40 -27.0% 41 244 113 2 54%
88-D.Jolley OAK -68 40 -62 40 -26.5% 39 -24.7% 53 258 150 1 58%
85-B.Kozlowski ATL -76 41 -73 41 -48.7% 42 -47.1% 27 87 -11 0 37%
82-S.Heiden CLE -77 42 -79 42 -42.1% 41 -43.0% 31 134 18 0 58%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
49-A.Walker SF 37 40 32.5% 35.5% 13 116 159 1 62%
83-M.Rivers NYG 32 30 14.0% 12.4% 22 155 199 0 77%
87-G.Wrighster JAC 32 34 15.4% 16.8% 20 150 189 2 65%
80-T.Yoder TB 25 24 22.0% 21.3% 11 68 125 2 64%
86-C.Baker NYJ 21 21 11.2% 10.9% 18 137 142 0 78%
85-D.Lee MIA 21 21 18.7% 18.3% 11 110 114 1 64%
87-C.Cleeland STL 17 15 9.0% 7.4% 16 145 123 0 63%
89-J.Holloway HOU 15 12 14.2% 10.9% 10 84 90 0 80%
89-D.Lyman CHI 6 10 0.0% 3.9% 13 80 88 0 85%
87-D.Martin GB -1 -1 -7.8% -8.0% 17 79 102 2 76%
82-T.Johnson OAK -1 -7 -8.0% -11.8% 24 128 122 1 58%
84-S.Meier TEN -3 -2 -9.3% -8.7% 19 159 103 0 68%
84-J.Tuman PIT -8 -8 -13.4% -13.9% 19 113 90 1 63%
88-R.Dudley TB -9 -8 -18.0% -16.9% 11 42 48 1 64%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
85-J.Riemersma PIT -9 -4 -12.6% -9.5% 23 138 120 2 43%
83-J.Norman SD -12 -10 -21.6% -19.3% 12 72 43 1 50%
87-S.Bush ARI -14 -16 -19.9% -21.6% 17 71 64 1 65%
82-M.Seidman CAR -18 -23 -29.9% -35.8% 10 35 28 0 50%
82-R.Kelly CIN -20 -19 -20.5% -20.0% 21 81 83 1 62%
89-Z.Flemister WAS -21 -28 -24.9% -31.0% 17 89 54 0 53%
88-R.Royal WAS -36 -34 -54.7% -52.5% 11 47 -14 0 45%
89-D.Carswell DEN -36 -34 -39.6% -37.8% 17 53 15 1 35%
82-V.Shiancoe NYG -40 -41 -33.1% -33.4% 23 56 44 2 43%
83-D.Moore BUF -42 -49 -40.1% -45.3% 18 82 16 2 39%
89-D.Sanders CLE -42 -42 -33.3% -33.2% 21 95 45 1 71%
84-J.Wiggins CAR -43 -43 -38.5% -37.8% 20 80 22 1 40%
86-J.Stevens SEA -44 -51 -40.5% -45.3% 19 72 16 0 32%

Any tight end rushing numbers are listed on the wide receiver page for that particular year.