Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



WIDE RECEIVERS 1999

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/18/2008

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.

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 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.

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, 82 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
J.Smith JAC 454 1 464 2 19.5% 11 20.2% 177 1636 1,818 6 66%
C.Carter MIN 439 2 426 3 26.5% 7 25.3% 136 1239 1,561 15 66%
R.Moss MIN 432 3 403 4 27.2% 6 24.5% 138 1413 1,522 12 58%
I.Bruce STL 430 4 485 1 31.6% 4 37.2% 119 1165 1,426 12 65%
Ti.Brown OAK 397 5 393 5 22.6% 9 22.3% 146 1367 1,500 7 62%
M.Harrison IND 350 6 348 7 10.0% 27 9.8% 193 1663 1,774 12 60%
P.Jeffers CAR 334 7 363 6 30.6% 5 34.3% 101 1082 1,112 13 62%
M.Robinson CHI 328 8 303 9 16.1% 17 13.8% 149 1400 1,412 9 56%
M.Westbrook WAS 326 9 331 8 22.6% 8 23.3% 115 1194 1,232 9 57%
Key.Johnson NYJ 273 10 276 11 11.0% 23 11.3% 147 1170 1,340 8 61%
S.Dawkins SEA 269 11 228 20 16.2% 16 11.8% 114 992 1,158 7 51%
T.Martin MIA 260 12 277 10 16.6% 15 18.5% 117 1037 1,108 7 57%
G.Crowell DET 259 13 251 15 10.2% 26 9.4% 147 1333 1,308 7 55%
T.Dwight ATL 251 14 254 14 51.7% 1 52.4% 50 669 688 7 64%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
A.Connell WAS 248 15 262 12 12.7% 20 14.2% 121 1132 1,162 7 51%
D.Mayes SEA 238 16 227 21 17.4% 14 16.0% 102 829 995 10 61%
T.Glenn NE 237 17 217 23 13.5% 19 11.3% 116 1147 1,087 4 59%
A.Hakim STL 235 18 241 16 44.6% 2 46.0% 56 677 682 8 64%
M.Muhammad CAR 235 19 262 13 6.6% 34 8.8% 156 1253 1,339 9 62%
J.Morton DET 234 20 229 19 9.4% 28 8.9% 133 1129 1,208 5 60%
I.Hilliard NYG 231 21 220 22 12.2% 21 11.0% 121 996 1,097 5 60%
E.Moulds BUF 228 22 236 17 11.6% 22 12.5% 117 994 1,100 7 56%
D.Scott CIN 225 23 213 24 10.6% 25 9.4% 123 1022 1,118 7 55%
B.Schroeder GB 207 24 207 25 9.3% 29 9.2% 123 1053 1,074 6 60%
K.Poole NO 207 25 198 26 18.4% 13 17.0% 85 796 849 6 49%
J.Horn KC 206 26 190 28 32.7% 3 29.3% 59 586 674 6 59%
A.Toomer NYG 202 27 232 18 5.7% 35 8.5% 138 1183 1,191 6 57%
S.Jefferson NE 201 28 192 27 19.6% 10 18.1% 78 698 804 6 51%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
E.McCaffrey DEN 199 29 163 31 8.0% 31 4.3% 125 1018 1,076 7 57%
A.Freeman GB 184 30 179 30 4.7% 36 4.3% 134 1074 1,132 7 55%
Y.Thigpen TEN 174 31 180 29 19.1% 12 20.3% 68 648 702 4 56%
Rod.Smith DEN 172 32 147 32 3.1% 38 0.9% 139 1020 1,140 5 57%
A.Hastings NO 132 33 126 33 14.3% 18 13.0% 64 564 594 2 63%
J.Reed MIN 128 34 114 35 7.5% 33 5.3% 79 643 705 2 56%
J.Graham SD 126 35 117 34 1.8% 39 0.7% 116 968 894 2 49%
O.Gadsden MIA 110 36 105 37 4.3% 37 3.6% 85 680 689 7 52%
T.Wilkins IND 107 37 108 36 7.8% 32 8.0% 68 564 582 5 62%
Tr.Brown NE 104 38 96 39 10.9% 24 9.2% 55 471 511 2 65%
J.Green TB 95 39 92 41 -0.7% 41 -1.0% 102 806 783 4 56%
K.Lockett KC 91 40 92 42 8.4% 30 8.6% 57 426 484 2 60%
R.Ismail DAL 89 41 90 43 -3.9% 45 -3.8% 132 1097 962 6 61%
T.Owens SF 82 42 104 38 -2.0% 43 0.9% 98 754 749 5 61%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
J.Jett OAK 67 43 66 46 -1.9% 42 -2.1% 78 529 604 2 49%
J.Armour BAL 65 44 56 51 -2.7% 44 -4.0% 87 538 625 5 43%
T.Holt STL 60 45 94 40 -4.3% 46 0.4% 96 788 678 6 54%
T.Mathis ATL 60 46 90 44 -7.5% 55 -5.0% 153 1016 1,043 6 53%
H.Ward PIT 59 47 67 45 -5.3% 50 -4.3% 101 638 733 7 60%
Kev.Williams BUF 58 48 31 57 1.6% 40 -4.8% 51 381 413 0 61%
C.Bradford GB 55 49 61 49 -5.0% 48 -4.2% 90 637 666 5 41%
D.Alexander KC 53 50 30 59 -6.3% 51 -9.1% 105 832 747 2 51%
W.Chrebet NYJ 48 51 54 52 -4.9% 47 -3.9% 81 631 573 3 59%
K.Dyson TEN 44 52 56 50 -7.2% 53 -5.7% 103 658 720 5 52%
D.Chiaverini CLE 44 53 62 48 -5.2% 49 -2.1% 77 493 541 5 58%
Q.Ismail BAL 42 54 45 53 -8.9% 57 -8.6% 142 1105 973 6 48%
C.Pickens CIN 37 55 33 55 -8.5% 56 -8.9% 108 737 774 7 53%
O.J.McDuffie MIA 33 56 30 58 -7.3% 54 -7.8% 79 516 554 3 54%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
T.Edwards PIT 28 57 17 60 -9.6% 58 -10.8% 117 714 789 5 52%
P.Johnson BAL 27 58 64 47 -7.1% 52 0.8% 58 526 428 3 50%
Kev.Johnson CLE 16 59 36 54 -11.1% 59 -9.2% 134 980 870 7 49%
B.Engram CHI 15 60 -19 67 -11.4% 61 -14.3% 148 950 969 4 59%
A.Reed BUF 9 61 0 63 -11.4% 60 -12.7% 92 536 601 1 57%
D.Ward NYJ 1 62 2 62 -12.5% 62 -12.2% 55 325 341 3 40%
J.Rice SF -5 63 33 56 -13.2% 63 -9.4% 124 830 806 5 54%
T.Small PHI -9 64 -5 64 -13.8% 64 -13.4% 100 655 611 5 49%
R.Wetnight CHI -14 65 -30 72 -15.6% 68 -18.9% 60 277 373 1 63%
P.Price BUF -15 66 -23 68 -15.3% 67 -16.8% 69 393 434 3 45%
E.Mills DAL -17 67 -15 65 -16.8% 70 -16.5% 53 325 299 0 57%
E.Kennison NO -19 68 -16 66 -14.6% 66 -14.3% 129 835 770 6 47%
K.McCardell JAC -19 69 6 61 -14.4% 65 -12.2% 147 893 903 5 53%
R.Moore ARI -25 70 -27 70 -15.8% 69 -16.2% 97 621 604 5 38%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
W.Jackson CIN -27 71 -24 69 -18.1% 72 -17.6% 64 369 361 2 48%
J.Galloway SEA -31 72 -43 73 -20.4% 73 -23.2% 53 335 283 1 42%
C.Hawkins PIT -34 73 -28 71 -20.4% 74 -18.9% 55 285 311 0 55%
J.Lewis BAL -52 74 -51 74 -24.0% 77 -23.8% 58 281 297 2 43%
C.Johnson PHI -62 75 -79 79 -23.5% 76 -26.5% 71 414 373 1 48%
C.Conway CHI -62 76 -69 76 -22.8% 75 -24.0% 79 426 406 4 56%
F.Sanders ARI -65 77 -61 75 -18.0% 71 -17.7% 152 955 893 1 52%
B.Emanuel TB -74 78 -72 78 -29.8% 79 -29.4% 52 238 238 1 42%
D.Boston ARI -76 79 -69 77 -24.8% 78 -23.7% 81 473 398 2 49%
R.Anthony TB -92 80 -96 80 -32.6% 80 -33.4% 60 296 240 1 50%
L.Shepherd CLE -111 81 -130 82 -37.9% 82 -42.1% 59 274 194 0 39%
J.J.Stokes SF -137 82 -101 81 -34.2% 81 -28.6% 79 431 316 3 43%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
J.Tucker DAL 101 107 15.9% 17.5% 46 439 437 2 50%
B.Shaw PIT 98 102 17.3% 18.2% 43 387 413 3 65%
M.Pritchard SEA 72 64 6.4% 4.3% 48 375 411 2 54%
R.Proehl STL 69 68 5.9% 5.7% 49 349 403 0 67%
J.German ATL 66 72 34.3% 38.3% 20 219 213 3 60%
M.Irvin DAL 55 63 21.0% 26.0% 20 167 214 3 50%
C.Calloway ATL 53 44 3.6% 0.8% 42 314 341 1 52%
M.Hatchette MIN 42 35 17.3% 12.2% 19 180 178 2 47%
K.Stewart PIT 42 33 28.2% 19.1% 16 113 146 1 56%
T.Simmons NE 42 39 4.0% 2.9% 33 276 266 2 58%
D.Hayes CAR 34 37 1.4% 2.9% 29 270 246 2 38%
I.Byrd TEN 29 23 2.8% -0.6% 25 261 195 2 56%
V.Brisby NE 29 24 -1.1% -3.3% 34 266 247 0 53%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
H.Moore DET 27 24 -0.9% -2.2% 31 197 231 2 52%
J.Jurevicius NYG 27 14 -3.6% -7.8% 38 318 281 1 47%
C.Brazzell DAL 21 22 14.9% 15.8% 11 114 92 0 45%
R.Carruth CAR 19 26 -3.2% 0.6% 26 200 189 0 54%
S.Slutzker NO 16 16 0.2% -0.3% 18 164 128 1 61%
M.Cody ARI 15 14 3.6% 2.5% 11 60 97 1 55%
E.Baker ATL 9 12 -4.9% -2.6% 14 118 107 0 50%
M.Lyons PIT 8 5 -4.7% -7.9% 13 81 96 0 62%
M.Brooks CHI 2 -4 -11.5% -14.8% 27 160 171 0 52%
C.Penn SD 2 -2 -12.1% -13.3% 38 257 244 1 45%
I.Fryar WAS -1 -2 -12.9% -13.2% 46 254 308 2 57%
M.Booker CHI -2 -13 -13.5% -17.4% 34 219 212 3 56%
D.Jells PHI -5 -7 -14.8% -15.7% 29 180 177 2 34%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
E.G.Green IND -9 -6 -15.4% -14.5% 44 287 262 0 48%
D.McDonald TB -13 -12 -25.0% -24.1% 15 96 67 1 60%
C.Jordan GB -14 -16 -31.6% -34.3% 10 60 40 0 30%
R.Barlow JAC -15 -15 -19.4% -19.5% 28 202 155 0 57%
B.Davis BAL -15 -8 -25.8% -20.0% 15 121 69 0 40%
D.Douglas PHI -19 -24 -28.3% -32.2% 16 79 70 1 50%
Karl.Williams TB -20 -20 -20.9% -21.1% 33 176 168 0 64%
A.Cooper DEN -22 -18 -30.6% -27.9% 17 98 66 0 53%
Q.Early NYJ -22 -26 -30.8% -34.1% 17 83 65 0 35%
Y.Green MIA -23 -19 -20.0% -18.7% 40 234 220 0 45%
B.Stablein DET -24 -35 -25.2% -31.4% 26 119 118 2 42%
E.Metcalf CAR -26 -12 -28.5% -20.1% 22 121 94 1 50%
D.Griffin CIN -27 -25 -29.7% -29.1% 21 112 87 0 57%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
A.Rison KC -28 -31 -20.9% -21.8% 44 218 237 0 48%
C.Sanders TEN -29 -27 -20.7% -20.3% 48 336 251 1 42%
T.Mickens OAK -30 -31 -22.3% -22.6% 40 261 206 0 50%
J.Ogden DAL -30 -22 -27.6% -23.8% 27 144 120 0 44%
N.Brown PHI -32 -31 -23.9% -23.5% 36 188 185 1 50%
M.Harris SF -32 -29 -46.7% -43.6% 14 66 29 0 43%
C.Jones SD -34 -39 -36.9% -41.0% 19 90 63 1 53%
D.Mason TEN -37 -38 -38.1% -38.7% 19 89 63 0 42%
L.Dawsey NO -40 -37 -28.9% -27.9% 33 196 141 1 48%
W.Blackwell PIT -54 -41 -32.5% -27.9% 36 186 142 1 56%
W.McGarity DAL -58 -62 -56.4% -59.3% 19 70 22 0 37%
B.Still ATL -66 -44 -48.4% -36.5% 25 110 53 0 40%
J.Pathon IND -72 -72 -41.6% -41.7% 33 163 97 0 42%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
D.Patten NYG -87 -80 -55.5% -52.1% 28 115 37 0 32%

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 5 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards TrueYards Rk TD FUM
R.Ismail DAL 57 1 62 1 47.6% 3 54.2% 3 13 110 139 1 1 0
I.Bruce STL 41 2 45 2 102.7% 1 115.8% 1 5 32 98 2 0 0
G.Crowell DET 29 3 31 3 86.8% 2 94.3% 2 5 38 70 3 0 0
T.Dwight ATL 22 4 25 4 38.2% 4 48.1% 4 5 28 54 4 1 0
J.Lewis BAL 3 5 2 5 -26.2% 5 -30.7% 5 5 11 11 5 0 0
M.Westbrook WAS -3 6 -5 6 -45.1% 6 -51.5% 6 7 35 -2 6 0 1
Key.Johnson NYJ -6 7 -8 7 -69.7% 7 -75.7% 7 5 6 -13 7 0 0
D.Boston ARI -17 8 -15 8 -110.5% 8 -100.9% 8 5 0 -37 8 0 0