Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



WIDE RECEIVERS 2009

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 1/4/2010

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 452 2 455 2 39.6% 1 39.9% 108 1167 1,371 9 63% 0
W.Welker NE 423 3 363 5 20.3% 12 15.5% 162 1348 1,672 4 76% 1
M.Austin DAL 397 4 418 3 28.4% 5 30.5% 124 1320 1,372 11 65% 1
R.Moss NE 395 5 347 6 21.9% 9 17.7% 137 1264 1,513 13 61% 2
R.Wayne IND 372 6 381 4 18.2% 13 18.9% 149 1264 1,533 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 321 8 306 9 13.3% 18 12.1% 157 1220 1,479 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 271 11 324 8 8.8% 29 12.9% 153 1092 1,429 13 63% 0
R.Meachem NO 268 12 249 15 39.2% 2 35.7% 64 722 814 9 70% 2
A.Johnson HOU 257 13 290 10 6.2% 35 8.6% 171 1569 1,489 9 59% 1
D.Driver GB 242 14 267 12 13.0% 19 15.6% 112 1061 1,126 6 63% 1
M.Wallace PIT 232 15 224 16 29.7% 4 28.2% 72 756 789 6 54% 1
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
G.Jennings GB 223 16 255 14 10.5% 26 13.8% 119 1113 1,112 4 57% 0
M.Floyd SD 219 17 217 18 23.3% 7 22.9% 76 776 819 1 59% 0
C.Ochocinco CIN 213 18 220 17 8.0% 30 8.7% 128 1047 1,151 9 56% 2
A.Collie IND 209 19 200 20 15.8% 15 14.6% 90 676 906 7 67% 0
D.Jackson PHI 208 20 194 23 9.9% 28 8.3% 117 1167 1,056 9 54% 2
K.Walter HOU 196 21 211 19 22.5% 8 25.4% 70 611 741 2 76% 0
D.Mason BAL 179 22 174 26 4.2% 37 3.7% 134 1028 1,131 7 54% 0
B.Marshall DEN 178 23 174 25 2.4% 38 2.1% 154 1120 1,226 10 66% 0
H.Nicks NYG 177 24 155 30 17.6% 14 13.8% 74 790 736 6 64% 2
P.Harvin MIN 174 25 186 24 12.1% 22 13.7% 91 790 831 6 66% 1
J.Cotchery NYJ 170 26 197 21 10.2% 27 13.8% 96 821 859 3 59% 0
S.Breaston ARI 162 27 196 22 12.7% 20 17.9% 82 712 761 3 67% 0
M.Manningham NYG 159 28 142 33 7.6% 33 5.4% 99 825 874 5 58% 1
J.Avant PHI 157 29 155 29 20.7% 11 20.2% 58 587 616 3 71% 1
B.Hartline MIA 156 30 144 32 21.8% 10 19.3% 56 506 597 3 55% 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
P.Crayton DAL 149 31 150 31 15.3% 16 15.4% 67 622 654 5 55% 0
D.Henderson NO 148 32 156 28 10.7% 24 12.0% 83 804 733 2 61% 0
J.Maclin PHI 145 33 138 36 7.7% 32 6.8% 91 762 790 4 60% 0
J.Gaffney DEN 144 34 138 35 8.0% 31 7.1% 87 732 779 2 62% 0
R.White ATL 141 35 79 47 -1.7% 48 -6.5% 165 1153 1,258 11 52% 1
G.Camarillo MIA 141 36 133 37 11.5% 23 10.1% 71 552 682 0 70% 0
K.Britt TEN 140 37 140 34 10.6% 25 10.7% 75 701 695 3 56% 1
A.Boldin ARI 120 38 170 27 -0.6% 45 4.3% 128 1034 991 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 109 40 125 38 0.7% 40 2.6% 103 812 826 3 61% 2
L.Coles CIN 104 41 97 43 5.5% 36 4.2% 76 514 620 5 57% 0
C.Chambers KC 99 42 79 46 1.1% 39 -1.7% 92 730 732 5 49% 0
M.Thomas JAC 97 43 101 41 7.2% 34 8.1% 62 453 541 1 77% 0
D.Bess MIA 97 44 89 45 -1.3% 47 -2.3% 113 760 839 2 67% 2
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 91 46 102 40 -0.5% 43 1.0% 91 765 741 4 52% 1
D.Hester CHI 86 47 97 42 -0.6% 44 0.9% 90 757 711 3 63% 1
B.Edwards CLE 67 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 55 50 51 51 -4.6% 54 -5.1% 88 717 634 2 61% 1
A.Randle El WAS 53 51 46 52 -3.7% 50 -4.9% 75 532 563 0 67% 1
S.Smith CAR 51 52 37 56 -7.6% 57 -9.0% 128 954 891 7 51% 1
J.Edelman NE 48 53 22 60 -0.9% 46 -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 41 55 67 49 -9.0% 60 -6.7% 135 911 970 3 59% 2
D.Anderson HOU 39 56 46 53 -3.3% 49 -1.7% 53 370 396 0 72% 0
C.Schilens OAK 33 57 27 59 -4.1% 52 -5.5% 51 365 359 2 57% 0
J.Jones GB 31 58 36 57 -5.9% 55 -4.7% 61 440 412 5 52% 0
R.Williams DAL 30 59 40 55 -8.1% 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
J.Knox CHI 16 61 32 58 -10.2% 61 -7.5% 80 527 527 5 56% 0
N.Washington TEN 14 62 20 63 -10.7% 62 -9.9% 95 576 614 6 49% 1
L.Evans BUF 11 63 -15 71 -11.2% 63 -14.7% 95 612 612 7 46% 0
C.Johnson DET 11 64 22 61 -11.7% 65 -10.7% 137 988 927 5 49% 3
M.Jenkins ATL 7 65 4 65 -11.6% 64 -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 -12.5% 67 -11.6% 120 906 771 3 58% 2
T.Holt JAC -13 68 -9 67 -14.3% 68 -13.7% 102 722 629 0 50% 1
S.Stroughter TB -15 69 -25 72 -16.0% 71 -18.1% 58 319 353 1 53% 0
T.Owens BUF -19 70 -9 68 -14.9% 69 -13.7% 109 829 662 5 50% 1
T.Ginn MIA -19 71 -35 73 -15.8% 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.Gage TEN -37 73 -45 75 -19.7% 74 -21.4% 67 383 371 3 42% 0
J.Morgan SF -37 74 4 66 -18.6% 72 -12.0% 81 527 456 3 64% 0
D.Northcutt DET -43 75 -49 77 -21.8% 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 -48 77 -11 70 -20.0% 75 -14.4% 86 625 462 2 56% 1
D.Branch SEA -60 78 -53 78 -22.7% 78 -21.5% 79 437 397 2 57% 0
I.Bruce SF -72 79 -60 79 -30.9% 85 -28.0% 49 264 214 0 43% 0
D.Avery STL -73 80 -46 76 -22.4% 77 -18.8% 97 589 498 5 48% 1
M.Bradley KC -77 81 -84 83 -30.9% 86 -32.6% 57 320 229 2 42% 0
B.Wade KC -77 82 -102 87 -26.6% 82 -31.1% 75 367 337 2 49% 0
M.Massoquoi CLE -78 83 -86 84 -23.2% 79 -24.2% 95 624 489 3 36% 1
B.Gibson STL -92 84 -77 82 -29.7% 84 -26.9% 69 349 306 1 49% 2
D.Amendola STL -98 85 -70 81 -31.3% 88 -26.1% 64 326 283 1 69% 1
C.Stuckey CLE -99 86 -88 85 -31.2% 87 -29.0% 66 318 291 2 45% 0
B.Johnson DET -102 87 -98 86 -27.4% 83 -26.8% 87 417 413 3 40% 0
L.Murphy OAK -105 88 -131 88 -26.2% 81 -29.6% 96 521 477 4 35% 0
E.Royal DEN -139 89 -134 89 -34.8% 89 -34.1% 79 345 305 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 41.8% 43.1% 40 437 507 6 68% 0
K.Washington BAL 159 155 31.1% 29.8% 48 431 532 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 21.1% 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 57 63 17.1% 20.1% 24 214 242 1 71% 0
D.Williams BAL 48 50 18.5% 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 -1.0% -0.7% 45 291 362 1 60% 0
M.Kelly WAS 36 38 -1.7% -1.1% 41 347 319 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 16 15 6.1% 5.3% 11 96 90 1 73% 0
B.Finneran ATL 15 12 -0.8% -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 -2.2% -6.1% 14 110 99 0 50% 0
R.Martin STL 10 12 -1.6% 0.6% 12 99 91 0 50% 0
D.Hixon NYG 10 3 -8.1% -11.1% 28 187 188 1 54% 0
A.Davis HOU 8 1 -3.5% -11.8% 11 59 84 0 55% 0
B.Engram KC 6 9 -5.2% -1.9% 10 61 73 0 50% 0
D.Jarrett CAR 5 3 -10.4% -11.6% 31 196 202 1 55% 0
J.Hill SF -2 5 -13.8% -8.9% 17 90 109 2 53% 0
J.Urban ARI -4 -3 -14.7% -14.0% 29 186 166 0 62% 0
B.Lloyd DEN -9 -9 -18.6% -18.9% 18 117 103 0 44% 0
D.Clowney NYJ -10 -6 -18.7% -16.2% 22 191 126 1 64% 1
N.Hughes JAC -11 -11 -25.2% -24.9% 12 70 56 1 42% 0
K.Curtis PHI -15 -16 -24.8% -26.2% 15 77 76 0 40% 0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM
K.Burton STL -17 4 -17.5% -11.4% 44 253 258 0 57% 0
D.Williams DET -19 -20 -31.4% -31.7% 13 52 56 0 46% 0
H.Baskett IND -23 -34 -36.3% -47.7% 12 34 45 0 42% 0
K.Moore CAR -28 -32 -44.5% -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 -47.0% -41.9% 12 63 29 0 58% 0
R.Brown PHI -33 -31 -30.7% -29.4% 24 155 101 0 38% 0
T.Watkins OAK -36 -41 -38.6% -41.8% 19 90 60 0 42% 0
B.Robiskie CLE -37 -35 -36.2% -35.3% 20 106 73 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% 39 170 195 0 59% 0
J.Higgins OAK -53 -59 -27.7% -29.5% 45 263 207 0 42% 0
L.Long KC -79 -71 -39.0% -36.3% 38 177 127 0 55% 0
D.Butler SEA -91 -93 -40.1% -40.8% 42 175 135 0 36% 0
D.Heyward-Bey OAK -106 -127 -45.4% -51.9% 40 124 107 1 23% 0
J.Cribbs CLE -115 -132 -52.7% -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 1 115.8% 4 124.3% 4 18 207 264 1 1 0
P.Harvin MIN 83 2 85 2 61.0% 9 63.3% 10 15 135 200 2 0 0
D.Jackson PHI 69 3 69 3 65.1% 8 65.3% 8 12 137 155 3 1 1
C.Johnson DET 68 4 64 4 164.6% 2 153.8% 2 7 73 141 4 0 0
R.Meachem NO 50 5 52 5 69.9% 6 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 45.4% 11 45.1% 11 12 86 113 6 0 0
T.Owens BUF 36 8 35 8 77.2% 5 71.7% 6 6 54 87 8 1 0
M.Wallace PIT 32 9 33 9 143.6% 3 151.7% 3 5 48 75 9 0 0
W.Welker NE 29 10 30 10 59.6% 10 64.2% 9 5 36 70 10 0 0
T.Ginn MIA 23 11 24 11 34.0% 13 37.2% 13 7 48 56 11 0 0
L.Murphy OAK 20 12 20 13 69.0% 7 67.1% 7 6 31 48 13 0 0
B.Marshall DEN 20 13 21 12 32.5% 14 37.2% 14 7 39 49 12 0 0
S.Smith CAR 17 14 16 14 43.0% 12 37.8% 12 5 22 42 14 0 0
E.Weems ATL 7 15 10 15 -25.8% 15 -20.3% 15 8 53 22 15 0 0
D.Hester CHI -35 16 -35 16 -157.4% 16 -155.7% 16 6 -1 -78 16 0 1