Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



TIGHT ENDS 2007

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/3/2009

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.

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 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, 44 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
A.Gates SD 278 1 266 1 30.1% 4 28.3% 117 984 1,235 9 64%
J.Witten DAL 258 2 230 2 21.3% 9 18.3% 141 1145 1,321 7 68%
T.Gonzalez KC 201 3 208 3 13.6% 12 14.4% 154 1172 1,249 5 64%
H.Miller PIT 193 4 201 4 38.5% 1 40.5% 61 566 774 7 77%
D.Lee GB 167 5 168 5 30.9% 3 31.2% 63 575 731 6 76%
T.Scheffler DEN 147 6 145 6 25.8% 5 25.3% 65 549 695 5 75%
C.Cooley WAS 121 7 114 8 9.5% 14 8.5% 110 786 872 8 60%
O.Daniels HOU 121 8 118 7 11.7% 13 11.3% 94 773 798 3 67%
B.Watson NE 103 9 101 10 22.8% 7 22.3% 49 389 512 6 73%
D.Clark CHI 100 10 92 11 16.3% 10 14.5% 66 545 572 4 67%
B.Utecht IND 99 11 103 9 32.9% 2 34.5% 37 364 421 1 84%
M.Pollard SEA 81 12 76 15 25.7% 6 23.3% 35 273 385 2 80%
B.Miller NO 79 13 85 12 21.6% 8 23.7% 38 328 401 2 71%
K.Winslow CLE 78 14 85 13 0.8% 24 1.5% 148 1111 981 5 55%
R.McMichael STL 70 15 63 17 8.5% 17 6.8% 67 429 529 3 58%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Baker NYJ 70 16 62 18 9.3% 15 7.2% 61 409 511 3 67%
D.Clark IND 63 17 79 14 1.8% 23 4.1% 101 616 722 11 57%
J.Shockey NYG 63 18 63 16 2.9% 21 2.9% 93 619 655 3 61%
D.Graham DEN 53 19 50 19 15.9% 11 14.3% 33 246 310 2 73%
A.Smith TB 32 20 34 21 1.8% 22 2.3% 53 385 367 3 60%
M.Gaines BUF 32 21 33 23 6.0% 18 6.4% 35 215 270 2 71%
A.Crumpler ATL 31 22 37 20 -0.4% 26 0.9% 70 444 448 5 60%
M.Lewis JAC 27 23 23 25 -0.3% 25 -1.5% 57 391 390 2 65%
L.Pope ARI 26 24 27 24 3.7% 19 4.0% 34 238 257 5 68%
R.Kelly CIN 26 25 22 26 9.0% 16 6.7% 27 211 192 0 74%
T.Heap BAL 25 26 33 22 3.2% 20 6.3% 34 239 259 1 68%
E.Johnson NO 15 27 7 29 -3.9% 28 -5.6% 63 380 400 2 76%
S.McHugh DET 11 28 9 28 -2.1% 27 -2.9% 29 252 203 0 59%
V.Shiancoe MIN 4 29 0 31 -5.8% 29 -7.2% 43 324 245 1 63%
Z.Miller OAK 4 30 13 27 -6.4% 30 -4.3% 69 444 385 3 64%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.Martin MIA -5 31 -8 33 -8.7% 31 -9.6% 50 303 271 2 68%
V.Davis SF -9 32 6 30 -8.9% 32 -6.3% 85 509 450 4 61%
G.Olsen CHI -10 33 -18 34 -9.6% 33 -11.6% 66 391 339 2 59%
B.Fletcher IND -11 34 -5 32 -13.3% 34 -9.8% 27 143 126 0 67%
G.Wrighster JAC -18 35 -20 35 -17.2% 36 -18.5% 24 123 113 1 71%
R.Royal BUF -19 36 -21 36 -14.7% 35 -15.8% 38 249 169 3 66%
B.Franks GB -24 37 -29 37 -18.3% 37 -20.2% 32 132 133 3 56%
W.Heller SEA -36 38 -34 38 -26.9% 43 -25.5% 26 82 76 3 50%
J.Peelle MIA -39 39 -40 39 -19.4% 38 -19.8% 47 228 185 2 62%
L.Smith PHI -52 40 -53 41 -24.0% 40 -24.5% 44 236 147 1 50%
Q.Sypniewski BAL -63 41 -51 40 -25.4% 42 -21.9% 52 246 155 1 65%
J.King CAR -77 42 -76 43 -21.7% 39 -21.4% 80 406 280 2 58%
B.Scaife TEN -88 43 -69 42 -24.4% 41 -20.5% 78 421 242 1 59%
D.Walker SF -90 44 -86 44 -39.4% 44 -38.2% 42 174 39 1 50%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-24 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Stevens TB 87 87 52.9% 52.7% 21 189 313 4 86%
K.Boss NYG 48 47 44.5% 43.7% 14 118 183 2 64%
B.Celek PHI 45 45 23.5% 23.4% 22 178 221 1 73%
D.Coats CIN 40 37 34.2% 30.8% 16 122 168 0 75%
C.Fitzsimmons DET 34 35 39.5% 41.0% 10 85 135 1 80%
G.Estandia JAC 23 18 15.6% 10.5% 16 136 135 0 56%
J.Madsen OAK 22 24 20.3% 22.2% 12 102 118 1 67%
T.Yoder WAS 21 21 21.4% 21.5% 12 97 108 1 58%
B.Patrick ARI 15 21 8.4% 15.3% 12 73 111 2 58%
A.Fasano DAL 7 3 -2.3% -5.1% 21 143 138 1 67%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
B.Manumaleuna SD -1 0 -7.9% -7.7% 15 86 84 1 67%
B.Hartsock TEN -1 1 -7.8% -6.6% 19 138 115 0 63%
K.Brady NE -2 -3 -9.0% -10.1% 16 70 93 2 56%
J.Putzier HOU -3 -3 -11.5% -12.6% 10 39 48 1 60%
T.Bienemann ARI -8 -6 -17.3% -15.2% 11 46 49 1 64%
M.Schobel PHI -11 -11 -14.5% -14.4% 21 108 104 1 52%
J.Kleinsasser MIN -11 -9 -23.3% -20.6% 10 43 34 1 40%
S.Heiden CLE -33 -36 -33.0% -34.6% 21 104 37 0 57%
D.Wilcox BAL -44 -45 -60.4% -62.4% 11 18 -26 1 55%
M.Matthews NYG -48 -53 -61.1% -67.1% 13 28 -29 0 46%

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