Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



WIDE RECEIVERS 2002

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, 86 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
88-M.Harrison IND 478 1 468 1 16.8% 12 16.2% 205 1722 2,027 11 70%
81-A.Toomer NYG 402 2 411 2 24.9% 4 25.6% 134 1343 1,466 8 61%
86-H.Ward PIT 378 3 368 4 18.0% 11 17.2% 160 1329 1,560 12 70%
87-L.Coles NYJ 373 4 384 3 22.9% 6 24.0% 134 1264 1,403 5 66%
87-J.Horn NO 329 5 302 8 14.7% 15 12.4% 150 1314 1,465 7 59%
80-P.Burress PIT 323 6 336 5 14.6% 16 15.7% 144 1325 1,441 8 54%
80-D.Driver GB 313 7 330 6 21.6% 9 23.5% 113 1064 1,206 9 62%
84-J.Porter OAK 303 8 305 7 41.5% 2 41.8% 70 688 901 10 73%
86-D.Northcutt CLE 289 9 288 10 61.0% 1 60.9% 50 604 745 5 78%
80-J.Rice OAK 283 10 282 11 10.4% 19 10.2% 150 1211 1,419 7 61%
81-P.Price BUF 278 11 292 9 10.2% 20 11.3% 148 1252 1,399 10 64%
81-T.Holt STL 277 12 243 14 9.9% 21 7.2% 160 1302 1,404 5 57%
87-E.Kennison KC 270 13 259 13 24.2% 5 22.7% 92 906 996 2 58%
81-T.Owens SF 246 14 268 12 7.1% 28 8.8% 159 1300 1,377 13 63%
85-D.Mason TEN 219 15 222 15 9.8% 22 10.1% 125 1020 1,116 6 63%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
80-W.Chrebet NYJ 218 16 199 16 21.8% 7 18.8% 80 691 838 9 64%
85-C.Johnson CIN 216 17 195 17 7.1% 27 5.1% 137 1166 1,212 5 50%
80-I.Bruce STL 202 18 189 20 8.0% 25 6.6% 130 1075 1,093 8 61%
80-R.Smith DEN 184 19 169 24 3.3% 37 2.0% 147 1027 1,207 5 61%
87-E.McCaffrey DEN 177 20 194 18 9.2% 23 11.2% 103 903 923 2 67%
85-A.Lelie DEN 170 21 179 22 30.6% 3 32.8% 53 525 571 2 66%
83-D.Stallworth NO 168 22 160 26 18.9% 10 17.4% 69 594 682 8 61%
80-C.Conway SD 162 23 180 21 9.1% 24 11.7% 94 852 842 5 61%
85-D.Bates MIN 161 24 144 30 12.6% 17 10.0% 80 689 755 4 63%
81-K.Robinson SEA 159 25 190 19 1.4% 40 4.1% 141 1240 1,156 5 55%
84-B.Engram SEA 158 26 168 25 16.3% 13 18.2% 72 619 675 0 69%
82-J.Smith JAC 156 27 153 29 1.9% 38 1.7% 138 1027 1,100 7 58%
81-Q.Morgan CLE 152 28 173 23 6.8% 29 9.5% 97 964 859 7 58%
87-R.Wayne IND 151 29 142 32 14.7% 14 13.0% 72 716 673 4 68%
81-T.Brown OAK 147 30 144 31 1.7% 39 1.3% 127 930 1,053 2 64%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
83-J.Jurevicius TB 135 31 138 33 21.6% 8 22.2% 52 423 521 4 71%
19-K.Johnson TB 133 32 156 27 -0.7% 44 1.5% 140 1079 1,098 7 54%
86-B.Finneran ATL 129 33 129 34 3.8% 35 3.8% 101 838 830 6 55%
84-R.Moss MIN 127 34 98 41 -4.1% 59 -6.1% 186 1349 1,389 8 58%
80-P.Warrick CIN 117 35 118 36 5.4% 32 5.6% 83 617 698 6 66%
80-E.Moulds BUF 112 36 153 28 -4.9% 62 -2.0% 179 1283 1,334 10 55%
87-M.Muhammad CAR 109 37 126 35 -0.3% 43 1.6% 109 843 884 4 59%
84-B.Schroeder DET 105 38 114 37 5.1% 33 6.7% 77 595 635 6 47%
86-A.Freeman PHI 102 39 95 42 4.1% 34 2.9% 80 600 649 4 58%
87-R.Proehl STL 102 40 91 45 6.6% 30 4.6% 70 466 579 4 61%
89-T.Taylor BAL 98 41 93 43 -2.3% 49 -2.7% 118 869 909 6 52%
86-D.Patten NE 97 42 90 46 -2.5% 51 -3.3% 120 824 922 6 51%
87-T.Pinkston PHI 97 43 64 54 -2.1% 48 -5.7% 113 798 885 7 53%
82-J.Reed BUF 94 44 110 38 7.9% 26 11.3% 59 514 513 2 63%
81-B.Shaw JAC 94 45 79 50 3.8% 36 1.1% 73 525 601 2 60%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
87-R.Gardner WAS 92 46 89 47 -4.4% 60 -4.6% 141 1006 1,045 8 50%
84-S.Jefferson ATL 87 47 69 52 11.9% 18 6.8% 49 394 417 1 55%
88-D.Thompson WAS 85 48 87 48 -0.9% 45 -0.6% 93 773 716 4 57%
89-T.Streets SF 84 49 109 39 -3.2% 55 -0.4% 109 762 848 5 66%
82-D.Jackson SEA 81 50 103 40 -3.4% 57 -0.9% 112 877 837 4 55%
83-T.Glenn GB 81 51 72 51 -3.2% 54 -4.2% 106 817 811 2 53%
83-S.Moss NYJ 78 52 79 49 5.7% 31 5.9% 54 437 464 4 59%
89-S.Smith CAR 73 53 92 44 -2.9% 52 -0.2% 97 867 711 3 56%
83-D.Bennett TEN 68 54 50 59 1.3% 41 -2.3% 63 478 492 2 52%
81-F.Sanders ARI 65 55 55 56 0.8% 42 -1.2% 58 400 488 2 59%
84-C.Chambers MIA 62 56 67 53 -5.0% 63 -4.3% 100 735 746 3 52%
88-A.Bryant DAL 56 57 46 61 -4.8% 61 -6.3% 93 735 666 6 47%
83-D.Branch NE 55 58 53 58 -2.0% 47 -2.5% 68 489 503 2 63%
87-K.Dyson TEN 54 59 54 57 -2.9% 53 -2.8% 69 460 528 4 59%
84-T.Houshmandzadeh CIN 49 60 40 66 -3.5% 58 -5.3% 69 492 512 1 59%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
87-K.McCardell TB 48 61 60 55 -6.6% 66 -5.0% 100 670 712 6 61%
82-A.Randle El PIT 48 62 43 62 -3.3% 56 -4.3% 65 484 483 2 72%
80-B.Stokley BAL 47 63 28 67 -1.5% 46 -5.9% 52 357 407 2 46%
85-T.Dwight SD 43 64 48 60 -6.6% 67 -6.0% 93 623 647 3 54%
81-T.Gaylor ATL 42 65 42 64 -2.3% 50 -2.3% 54 385 394 3 46%
80-J.Pathon NO 37 66 28 68 -6.5% 65 -8.1% 80 523 551 5 54%
87-A.Davis CLE 35 67 41 65 -6.4% 64 -5.3% 72 420 510 6 51%
84-J.Galloway DAL 32 68 12 70 -9.2% 68 -11.3% 120 908 799 6 51%
80-T.Brown NE 30 69 24 69 -10.0% 69 -10.5% 141 890 938 3 69%
86-M.Booker CHI 21 70 42 63 -11.1% 70 -9.4% 167 1169 1,102 6 58%
89-D.Boston ARI 7 71 -11 74 -11.4% 71 -14.5% 75 512 498 1 43%
85-C.Bradford HOU 5 72 10 71 -12.1% 72 -11.5% 106 697 670 7 42%
80-J.Morton KC 0 73 -12 75 -12.7% 73 -15.0% 64 397 406 1 45%
81-R.Dugans CIN -5 74 -14 78 -13.5% 74 -15.2% 73 421 446 2 64%
85-K.Johnson CLE -14 75 1 72 -14.1% 75 -12.6% 120 703 758 5 56%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
80-D.White CHI -16 76 -4 73 -14.9% 76 -13.3% 94 658 565 4 54%
81-A.Hakim DET -20 77 -18 79 -15.7% 77 -15.5% 82 541 491 4 45%
84-J.Walker GB -24 78 -12 76 -18.6% 80 -15.6% 50 319 292 1 46%
89-R.Ferguson GB -29 79 -13 77 -19.8% 82 -15.9% 52 293 290 3 42%
83-Q.Ismail IND -32 80 -45 83 -17.4% 78 -19.4% 84 462 495 3 52%
86-J.Gaffney HOU -41 81 -29 80 -19.2% 81 -17.3% 81 483 447 1 51%
83-J.Stokes SF -42 82 -38 82 -22.5% 83 -21.5% 55 332 284 1 58%
88-S.Anderson DET -48 83 -32 81 -23.0% 84 -19.6% 57 322 306 1 44%
80-J.Thrash PHI -49 84 -62 84 -18.2% 79 -19.8% 107 635 639 6 49%
83-J.McAddley ARI -101 85 -90 85 -30.8% 85 -28.8% 69 362 305 1 36%
88-M.Robinson CHI -108 86 -111 86 -39.5% 86 -40.1% 53 244 168 3 40%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
85-M.Boerigter KC 148 155 34.7% 37.1% 38 420 472 8 53%
86-R.Dixon NYG 114 127 26.4% 30.6% 36 372 407 2 61%
83-D.Terrell CHI 99 102 97.4% 101.5% 10 127 219 3 90%
88-I.Hilliard NYG 97 106 13.8% 16.4% 47 386 440 2 57%
88-Q.McCord ATL 93 99 46.8% 50.7% 19 253 263 1 58%
80-J.McKnight MIA 80 78 9.7% 9.0% 46 528 410 2 63%
88-E.Parker SD 73 75 16.4% 17.2% 30 268 311 1 57%
11-K.Kasper ARI 70 77 21.4% 25.0% 24 180 270 3 63%
82-D.Hall KC 65 59 12.5% 10.2% 35 322 306 3 57%
81-C.Walsh MIN 57 51 26.1% 22.5% 19 172 203 1 74%
86-T.Walters IND 41 41 7.1% 7.2% 25 207 228 0 72%
84-C.Wilson SF 39 50 9.6% 15.6% 22 166 201 1 68%
86-Ja.Reed NO 32 23 -3.4% -5.9% 47 360 325 3 45%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
88-K.Hankton CAR 29 27 8.0% 6.7% 17 146 156 0 53%
88-T.Mathis PIT 28 24 -3.5% -5.0% 39 218 291 3 59%
86-O.Gadsden MIA 26 30 -1.1% 0.6% 29 228 225 0 55%
81-R.Hymes BAL 22 16 11.1% 5.0% 13 123 109 0 46%
87-D.Givens NE 19 15 2.4% -1.0% 15 92 133 1 60%
85-D.McCants WAS 19 10 -6.8% -9.7% 41 256 295 2 51%
80-R.Swinton DAL 19 17 12.0% 8.9% 10 63 90 0 70%
86-K.Williams TB 16 22 6.8% 14.1% 11 77 92 1 64%
87-J.Dawson HOU 13 21 -8.3% -5.6% 39 286 257 0 54%
88-T.Edwards STL 10 7 -7.2% -9.2% 24 157 172 2 75%
85-D.Scott DAL 8 8 -9.4% -9.4% 35 218 217 1 63%
83-D.Farmer CIN -4 -1 -16.3% -13.3% 15 115 95 0 60%
84-P.Johnson JAC -6 -6 -15.8% -15.9% 24 187 145 2 38%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
19-N.Poole ARI -7 -2 -17.2% -14.2% 22 108 121 1 59%
83-W.Jackson WAS -9 -10 -20.2% -20.8% 14 58 82 1 50%
84-M.Lewis NO -9 -15 -19.8% -24.3% 19 200 94 0 42%
16-K.Campbell MIN -10 -8 -16.5% -15.6% 32 176 192 3 41%
82-M.Jenkins ARI -14 -22 -16.8% -19.5% 43 250 248 1 51%
87-Daryl Jones NYG -16 -21 -28.2% -32.5% 15 88 61 0 47%
88-A.Black HOU -23 -25 -35.8% -37.1% 12 52 48 0 50%
83-R.Johnson BAL -24 -30 -24.3% -27.2% 26 114 131 1 38%
88-C.Carter MIA -25 -23 -30.9% -29.1% 17 66 76 1 47%
88-J.Williams SEA -33 -32 -34.1% -33.3% 20 99 78 0 45%
87-K.Rambo DAL -35 -35 -28.0% -27.9% 33 211 135 0 42%
82-K.Swayne NYJ -37 -37 -52.5% -52.2% 12 78 21 0 42%
82-I.Byrd CAR -37 -24 -28.1% -22.7% 31 164 141 1 45%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
82-R.Caldwell SD -38 -38 -23.7% -23.8% 43 208 225 3 51%
87-L.Foster DET -40 -32 -29.8% -26.5% 30 152 132 1 47%
84-J.Hunter BAL -46 -47 -65.5% -66.4% 11 35 3 0 45%
86-J.McCareins TEN -52 -64 -26.1% -29.4% 48 301 237 2 40%
82-M.Westbrook CIN -52 -60 -36.5% -39.9% 26 94 101 2 31%
81-D.Hayes NE -59 -51 -37.6% -34.4% 31 133 105 2 39%
84-F.Mitchell PHI -59 -62 -43.8% -45.3% 24 105 67 0 50%
82-G.Crowell DET -66 -80 -30.9% -35.1% 47 201 196 1 47%
80-J.Green DET -67 -65 -53.7% -52.7% 21 94 34 0 24%
83-K.Lockett JAC -67 -60 -34.0% -31.5% 42 205 158 4 38%
81-A.Merritt CHI -73 -79 -48.7% -51.6% 26 106 57 0 54%
82-D.Alexander MIN -74 -75 -34.8% -35.0% 39 134 163 2 36%
84-C.Doering WAS -76 -80 -36.2% -37.5% 42 192 150 2 43%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
80-W.Jackson ATL -79 -80 -39.7% -40.3% 39 199 120 0 46%
87-D.Ward MIA -87 -81 -41.1% -38.9% 39 172 121 0 49%

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 5 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards TrueYards Rk TD FUM
82-A.Randle El PIT 95 1 90 1 57.5% 14 53.0% 14 19 134 228 1 0 0
80-J.Thrash PHI 84 2 85 2 31.2% 18 31.5% 18 18 126 207 2 2 0
86-H.Ward PIT 83 3 83 3 79.6% 11 79.6% 10 12 142 199 3 0 0
80-J.Morton KC 74 4 74 4 109.2% 4 109.4% 4 10 124 176 4 0 0
80-C.Conway SD 61 5 62 5 153.6% 1 158.1% 1 7 53 116 8 2 0
86-D.Northcutt CLE 59 6 57 6 143.8% 2 137.6% 2 7 91 139 5 1 0
89-T.Taylor BAL 52 7 45 9 46.6% 15 33.9% 17 11 105 127 6 0 0
81-T.Owens SF 50 8 53 7 98.4% 7 107.4% 6 7 79 119 7 1 0
84-C.Chambers MIA 48 9 48 8 96.7% 8 97.5% 7 6 78 114 9 0 0
80-D.Driver GB 42 10 41 11 87.0% 10 83.0% 9 8 70 101 10 0 0
82-T.Wilkins STL 41 11 43 10 102.7% 5 108.6% 5 6 56 97 11 0 0
84-E.Conwell STL 41 12 37 15 87.5% 9 73.9% 11 6 30 67 21 1 0
84-R.Moss MIN 38 13 36 16 100.3% 6 93.2% 8 5 49 91 13 0 0
88-D.Thompson WAS 38 14 39 13 23.6% 20 24.0% 20 10 77 95 12 0 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards TrueYards Rk TD FUM
85-T.Dwight SD 36 15 40 12 40.8% 16 48.3% 15 12 97 76 18 1 1
12-C.Chandler CHI 35 16 37 14 36.6% 17 42.6% 16 6 35 85 15 0 0
80-J.McKnight MIA 35 17 36 17 61.2% 13 66.3% 13 7 58 83 16 0 0
83-S.Moss NYJ 34 18 35 18 116.1% 3 119.9% 3 5 44 81 17 0 0
82-D.Hall KC 31 19 30 21 12.4% 21 9.9% 22 11 54 86 14 0 0
81-K.Robinson SEA 31 20 31 19 23.8% 19 24.5% 19 8 56 75 19 0 0
87-L.Coles NYJ 30 21 30 20 73.1% 12 73.0% 12 6 39 72 20 0 0
87-E.Kennison KC 22 22 22 22 10.9% 22 11.2% 21 7 58 55 22 0 0
80-P.Warrick CIN 7 23 6 23 -13.3% 23 -14.4% 23 5 22 18 23 0 0
81-T.Brown OAK 3 24 4 24 -29.1% 24 -25.3% 24 6 19 9 24 0 0
80-B.Stokley BAL 1 25 0 25 -34.5% 25 -37.9% 25 6 33 6 25 0 1
88-A.Bryant DAL -7 26 -7 26 -57.2% 26 -58.3% 26 6 40 -12 26 0 1
80-R.Smith DEN -9 27 -8 27 -76.5% 27 -70.7% 27 6 9 -15 27 0 0