Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



WIDE RECEIVERS 2003

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/7/2009

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.

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, 85 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
R.Moss MIN 482 1 484 2 22.6% 8 22.8% 172 1632 1,823 17 65%
T.Holt STL 474 2 506 1 21.2% 9 23.5% 183 1694 1,839 12 64%
D.Mason TEN 419 3 433 3 27.0% 4 28.4% 134 1310 1,477 8 72%
C.Johnson CIN 363 4 364 4 16.4% 12 16.5% 154 1355 1,551 10 58%
M.Harrison IND 300 5 295 5 13.5% 15 13.0% 142 1273 1,377 10 66%
J.McCareins TEN 268 6 284 6 27.0% 5 29.4% 82 813 945 7 57%
H.Ward PIT 260 7 263 7 8.2% 25 8.4% 157 1188 1,400 10 61%
D.Jackson SEA 253 8 235 8 12.2% 19 10.5% 130 1137 1,200 9 52%
B.Engram SEA 243 9 235 9 30.5% 2 29.1% 74 631 815 6 70%
S.Moss NYJ 238 10 234 10 13.2% 16 12.8% 117 1104 1,100 10 63%
C.Chambers MIA 232 11 193 17 9.7% 23 5.9% 130 963 1,188 11 49%
A.Davis CLE 226 12 231 11 31.4% 1 32.3% 62 576 751 5 65%
A.Boldin ARI 219 13 213 12 4.0% 30 3.6% 165 1377 1,391 8 61%
K.McCardell TB 207 14 211 13 6.9% 28 7.2% 138 1182 1,171 8 61%
R.Wayne IND 206 15 208 14 11.2% 21 11.4% 107 838 1,008 7 64%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.Northcutt CLE 183 16 168 23 13.0% 17 10.7% 92 721 853 2 67%
K.Johnson TB 179 17 177 19 19.6% 10 19.1% 73 601 716 3 62%
E.Kennison KC 176 18 169 22 9.9% 22 9.0% 99 854 895 5 57%
J.Horn NO 174 19 199 16 3.9% 31 6.2% 130 973 1,115 10 60%
I.Bruce STL 172 20 201 15 5.7% 29 8.9% 119 981 1,014 5 58%
T.Walters IND 171 21 156 25 27.8% 3 24.2% 52 456 598 3 69%
J.Walker GB 171 22 192 18 17.0% 11 20.6% 74 716 721 9 55%
B.Shaw BUF 164 23 173 20 12.7% 18 14.1% 86 732 769 4 65%
D.Givens NE 164 24 171 21 25.5% 6 27.2% 55 510 591 6 62%
P.Warrick CIN 160 25 148 26 3.9% 32 2.6% 125 833 1,027 7 66%
D.Bennett TEN 153 26 140 28 23.5% 7 20.2% 54 504 572 4 59%
R.Smith DEN 152 27 160 24 3.8% 33 4.6% 114 846 977 3 65%
J.Morton KC 146 28 138 29 7.0% 26 5.9% 93 734 822 4 55%
D.Boston SD 145 29 136 30 3.6% 34 2.6% 115 877 939 7 61%
A.Johnson HOU 142 30 129 33 2.5% 38 1.1% 119 976 972 4 55%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
L.Coles WAS 140 31 117 37 -1.2% 43 -3.1% 158 1204 1,199 6 52%
T.Owens SF 138 32 135 32 -0.7% 41 -1.0% 145 1102 1,144 9 55%
T.Streets SF 131 33 122 34 6.9% 27 5.5% 85 595 737 7 55%
M.Robinson BAL 129 34 143 27 14.2% 14 17.1% 62 451 582 6 50%
R.Ferguson GB 125 35 136 31 15.1% 13 17.4% 59 520 552 4 64%
D.Driver GB 113 36 121 35 3.4% 35 4.5% 86 621 739 2 60%
F.Mitchell PHI 110 37 100 39 11.6% 20 9.3% 59 498 531 2 59%
S.Smith CAR 107 38 120 36 -3.0% 47 -1.8% 141 1078 1,063 7 62%
K.Robinson SEA 107 39 112 38 -1.1% 42 -0.5% 119 896 906 4 55%
A.Lelie DEN 99 40 79 44 3.0% 36 -0.1% 81 628 659 2 46%
D.McCants WAS 95 41 89 41 8.6% 24 7.3% 55 360 505 6 49%
D.Branch NE 90 42 86 42 -1.3% 44 -1.8% 103 803 779 3 55%
M.Muhammad CAR 85 43 82 43 -1.8% 45 -2.2% 100 841 761 3 54%
T.Glenn DAL 82 44 91 40 -2.0% 46 -0.9% 97 761 749 5 55%
T.Brown NE 74 45 78 45 3.0% 37 3.7% 60 472 497 4 67%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
T.Edwards JAC 68 46 69 48 1.3% 39 1.5% 62 487 497 3 56%
K.Johnson CLE 64 47 69 46 -4.1% 48 -3.4% 95 634 698 3 61%
A.Randle El PIT 57 48 50 49 0.5% 40 -1.2% 56 364 440 1 66%
I.Hilliard NYG 57 49 69 47 -5.6% 53 -4.1% 102 611 745 6 59%
J.Pathon NO 47 50 48 50 -4.8% 50 -4.8% 79 557 561 3 56%
J.Smith JAC 39 51 40 51 -8.4% 54 -8.2% 112 807 795 4 48%
B.Finneran ATL 36 52 28 54 -4.2% 49 -6.2% 54 368 404 2 48%
J.Gaffney HOU 36 53 34 53 -4.8% 51 -5.3% 57 402 426 2 60%
R.Proehl CAR 28 54 35 52 -5.3% 52 -3.6% 52 389 355 4 52%
P.Burress PIT 26 55 26 55 -10.0% 57 -9.9% 123 853 826 4 48%
A.Bryant DAL 23 56 18 59 -9.0% 55 -9.9% 83 550 554 2 47%
D.Stallworth NO 12 57 20 58 -9.9% 56 -8.2% 55 487 371 3 45%
D.Looker STL 11 58 26 56 -10.7% 58 -8.3% 75 495 494 3 63%
E.Moulds BUF 11 59 -21 69 -11.4% 60 -15.0% 121 780 771 1 53%
C.Wilson SF 9 60 5 62 -10.8% 59 -11.7% 63 396 424 2 56%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Porter OAK 3 61 6 61 -12.0% 61 -11.3% 57 361 364 1 49%
J.Rice OAK 2 62 -1 65 -12.4% 62 -12.7% 124 859 791 2 51%
J.Galloway DAL 1 63 24 57 -12.5% 63 -8.7% 83 672 510 2 41%
N.Burleson MIN 0 64 9 60 -12.8% 64 -10.6% 57 455 361 2 51%
Q.Morgan CLE -1 65 -8 67 -12.8% 65 -13.9% 80 509 504 3 49%
J.Reed BUF -6 66 -19 68 -13.4% 67 -14.9% 104 591 661 2 56%
A.Toomer NYG -7 67 -29 73 -13.3% 66 -15.1% 152 1057 952 5 41%
T.Taylor BAL -11 68 0 64 -14.2% 68 -12.6% 90 632 555 3 43%
M.Booker CHI -15 69 4 63 -14.6% 69 -12.2% 105 715 633 4 50%
T.Brown OAK -16 70 -2 66 -14.9% 70 -13.0% 93 563 555 2 55%
T.Carter NYG -17 71 -23 70 -17.1% 74 -18.6% 52 309 287 0 50%
D.Hall KC -21 72 -28 72 -17.2% 75 -18.7% 60 423 348 1 67%
T.Pinkston PHI -23 73 -28 71 -16.0% 71 -16.8% 85 575 523 2 42%
D.Thompson MIA -24 74 -42 76 -17.7% 77 -21.6% 59 359 345 0 44%
C.Bradford HOU -31 75 -33 74 -18.9% 78 -19.4% 62 460 352 4 39%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Conway NYJ -33 76 -58 80 -16.7% 72 -19.7% 102 640 620 2 45%
J.Thrash PHI -36 77 -47 78 -17.7% 76 -19.1% 92 558 535 1 53%
P.Price ATL -48 78 -40 75 -16.9% 73 -16.2% 141 888 854 3 46%
C.Rogers DET -49 79 -44 77 -24.0% 80 -22.9% 52 243 276 3 42%
B.Johnson ARI -57 80 -53 79 -21.8% 79 -21.3% 77 438 419 1 45%
B.Schroeder DET -86 81 -75 81 -26.9% 83 -24.9% 80 397 367 2 45%
R.Gardner WAS -109 82 -118 83 -24.8% 81 -25.7% 115 600 572 5 51%
D.White CHI -118 83 -97 82 -26.9% 82 -24.3% 107 583 505 3 46%
D.Terrell CHI -134 84 -131 84 -32.5% 84 -32.0% 85 366 352 1 52%
A.Hakim DET -200 85 -193 85 -35.8% 85 -35.0% 108 449 408 4 45%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Lee TB 104 123 15.5% 20.7% 46 432 453 2 72%
S.Anderson DET 90 77 25.1% 19.7% 31 325 328 2 55%
K.Campbell MIN 87 93 12.5% 14.3% 44 519 410 4 57%
E.Parker SD 75 63 18.3% 13.4% 31 244 309 3 58%
N.Poole ARI 64 66 29.6% 30.7% 19 177 219 1 68%
M.Lewis NO 62 71 20.0% 24.6% 24 219 248 1 50%
B.Stokley IND 62 63 10.5% 10.9% 32 211 307 3 69%
M.Hatchette JAC 51 49 10.5% 9.4% 28 203 254 2 54%
J.Gage CHI 51 63 6.7% 11.5% 35 338 287 2 49%
T.Calico TEN 49 43 1.5% -0.3% 43 297 353 4 42%
C.Doering PIT 48 54 7.3% 9.8% 30 240 267 1 60%
J.Stokes 2TM 43 44 16.2% 17.4% 19 154 183 0 79%
K.Osgood SD 37 37 1.4% 1.4% 33 278 272 2 39%
K.Washington CIN 36 32 -3.0% -4.1% 47 299 354 4 47%
P.Johnson WAS 31 32 0.3% 0.9% 28 170 237 1 54%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.Ward BAL 25 21 14.9% 11.0% 13 106 109 1 54%
J.Jurevicius TB 19 15 -2.2% -4.5% 24 118 173 2 50%
T.Dwight SD 16 0 -6.3% -12.7% 31 193 232 0 45%
B.Wade CHI 15 22 -1.3% 3.2% 18 137 134 0 67%
A.Freeman GB 14 15 -3.8% -3.7% 22 141 154 0 64%
D.Armstrong HOU 13 9 0.3% -3.6% 13 75 102 1 54%
R.Swinton DAL 8 17 -6.0% 2.1% 15 100 106 0 60%
A.Moorehead IND 6 5 -5.3% -6.3% 10 101 79 0 70%
A.King CLE 4 6 -9.6% -7.5% 14 88 103 0 64%
D.Patten NE 3 6 -11.0% -9.0% 21 140 141 0 43%
B.Lloyd SF 1 -1 -12.4% -13.2% 30 212 203 2 47%
J.Farris ATL -5 0 -16.7% -13.1% 15 100 83 2 40%
W.Chrebet NYJ -6 -5 -14.3% -14.1% 44 289 274 1 61%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
K.Williams TB -6 -5 -16.9% -16.5% 17 114 104 0 41%
B.Johnson NE -7 -7 -15.3% -15.1% 34 209 217 2 47%
M.Boerigter KC -8 -15 -16.5% -20.0% 26 158 157 0 42%
R.Curry OAK -11 -16 -25.6% -30.9% 10 31 53 0 50%
M.Furrey STL -12 -7 -17.1% -15.3% 33 197 197 0 61%
D.Tyree NYG -14 -24 -18.6% -23.1% 31 211 166 0 52%
F.Sanders BAL -15 -7 -20.2% -16.4% 28 170 141 0 50%
J.McKnight MIA -21 -13 -19.0% -16.7% 43 285 238 2 53%
W.Ponder NYG -22 -32 -38.4% -49.9% 11 35 37 0 64%
D.Bates MIN -22 -17 -22.1% -19.8% 29 151 158 1 52%
A.Merritt CHI -23 -26 -43.7% -46.5% 10 50 27 0 30%
E.McCaffrey DEN -24 -16 -22.1% -19.0% 34 195 173 0 56%
A.Bannister SEA -24 -24 -38.2% -37.6% 12 61 42 1 25%
D.Kircus DET -27 -18 -44.2% -32.9% 12 53 30 0 25%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.McAddley ARI -29 -29 -42.7% -42.4% 12 53 36 0 33%
C.Coleman BUF -30 -30 -34.9% -35.0% 17 69 66 0 47%
S.Jefferson DET -31 -32 -49.4% -50.6% 11 46 23 0 55%
K.Swayne NYJ -36 -35 -60.0% -58.8% 10 29 9 1 20%
B.Gilmore ARI -40 -47 -23.7% -25.6% 45 213 238 2 38%
Q.McCord ATL -44 -41 -37.3% -35.4% 23 121 81 0 39%
T.Gardner NO -59 -59 -69.7% -70.3% 15 29 -3 0 20%
A.Whitted OAK -66 -64 -50.1% -49.1% 24 106 46 1 29%
S.McDonald STL -85 -77 -65.9% -60.7% 21 62 4 0 48%
C.Hankton JAC -90 -91 -42.3% -42.8% 41 166 114 0 41%
R.Caldwell SD -123 -127 -59.8% -61.5% 34 80 31 0 24%

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 5 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards EYds Rk TD FUM
P.Warrick CIN 65 1 69 1 39.8% 10 44.6% 8 15 143 157 1 0 0
T.Dwight SD 61 2 57 3 69.7% 4 62.2% 5 9 88 146 2 0 0
R.Smith DEN 59 3 59 2 68.9% 5 69.6% 3 10 98 141 3 0 0
D.Northcutt CLE 53 4 56 4 37.6% 11 42.0% 10 12 83 130 4 0 0
S.Moss NYJ 42 5 41 5 41.0% 8 38.9% 11 10 67 102 6 0 0
D.Hall KC 40 6 40 6 14.9% 14 13.9% 13 16 73 113 5 0 0
J.Morton KC 40 7 37 7 71.1% 3 63.3% 4 7 100 96 7 0 0
K.Campbell MIN 28 8 29 8 11.3% 16 12.8% 14 10 71 70 9 0 1
R.Caldwell SD 26 9 26 9 75.4% 1 75.1% 1 5 39 62 10 0 0
A.Boldin ARI 26 10 26 10 72.0% 2 72.3% 2 5 40 61 12 0 0
J.Thrash PHI 25 11 24 12 50.7% 7 48.2% 7 5 53 54 14 0 0
T.Taylor BAL 24 12 25 11 2.0% 17 2.8% 17 11 62 62 11 0 0
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards EYds Rk TD FUM
A.Davis CLE 23 13 24 13 51.3% 6 54.0% 6 5 28 56 13 0 0
D.Driver GB 19 14 20 14 40.2% 9 42.4% 9 5 51 47 15 0 0
T.Brown NE 19 15 16 17 16.1% 12 8.2% 16 6 25 47 16 0 0
A.Whitted OAK 16 16 17 15 15.7% 13 22.1% 12 6 37 29 21 0 0
L.Coles WAS 15 17 11 20 -11.2% 20 -18.0% 20 10 39 41 17 0 0
A.Randle El PIT 14 18 12 19 -18.4% 21 -21.7% 21 14 75 75 8 0 1
A.Lelie DEN 14 19 16 16 1.8% 18 8.8% 15 8 43 37 18 0 0
B.Wade CHI 13 20 12 18 1.5% 19 -1.4% 18 5 14 33 19 0 0
R.Moss MIN 13 21 9 21 12.7% 15 -2.1% 19 6 18 32 20 0 0
S.Smith CAR 6 22 7 22 -27.0% 22 -26.2% 22 11 42 21 22 0 0
H.Ward PIT 5 23 5 23 -30.1% 23 -29.5% 23 10 36 17 23 0 0