Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics



WIDE RECEIVERS 2005

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, 89 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
89-S.Smith CAR 497 1 504 1 28.6% 1 29.2% 150 1563 1,713 12 69%
85-C.Johnson CIN 412 2 409 2 19.7% 8 19.5% 155 1432 1,644 9 63%
89-S.Moss WAS 402 3 388 3 25.5% 3 24.2% 134 1483 1,449 9 63%
80-D.Driver GB 351 4 319 7 16.7% 12 14.1% 146 1221 1,490 6 59%
87-E.Kennison KC 344 5 342 4 27.7% 2 27.5% 108 1104 1,200 6 63%
86-H.Ward PIT 325 6 321 6 23.1% 6 22.7% 114 975 1,219 11 61%
87-K.McCardell SD 308 7 274 10 24.0% 5 19.9% 108 917 1,139 10 65%
84-T.Houshmandzadeh CIN 303 8 265 12 21.0% 7 16.8% 115 956 1,180 7 68%
11-L.Fitzgerald ARI 296 9 322 5 10.4% 22 12.5% 165 1409 1,480 10 62%
80-R.Smith DEN 273 10 255 14 15.1% 14 13.3% 126 1105 1,204 6 67%
83-D.Branch NE 262 11 220 19 14.6% 16 10.2% 125 998 1,170 5 62%
83-T.Glenn DAL 252 12 246 15 13.8% 17 13.1% 118 1129 1,148 7 53%
88-M.Harrison IND 251 13 298 8 11.2% 20 15.6% 132 1136 1,229 12 62%
84-J.Galloway TB 243 14 235 17 7.9% 25 7.3% 152 1287 1,319 10 55%
88-E.Parker SD 236 15 214 20 24.7% 4 21.3% 80 725 863 3 71%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
81-T.Holt STL 233 16 274 9 5.9% 31 9.1% 163 1331 1,369 9 63%
81-A.Boldin ARI 221 17 265 13 3.9% 34 7.2% 171 1419 1,412 8 60%
87-R.Wayne IND 218 18 270 11 9.3% 24 14.5% 122 1055 1,129 5 68%
87-J.Jurevicius SEA 214 19 243 16 19.5% 9 23.9% 84 694 856 10 65%
82-J.Smith JAC 190 20 226 18 5.9% 32 9.3% 128 1023 1,116 6 55%
19-E.Wilford JAC 181 21 207 21 19.1% 10 23.7% 74 681 730 7 55%
81-A.Toomer NYG 165 22 137 27 6.0% 30 2.8% 109 684 962 7 55%
85-D.Mason BAL 157 23 141 26 2.9% 40 1.3% 135 1073 1,054 3 64%
18-R.Moss OAK 157 24 143 25 3.8% 37 2.4% 124 1005 1,005 8 48%
81-A.Bryant CLE 154 25 153 23 3.4% 38 3.3% 123 1009 1,005 4 56%
81-T.Owens PHI 133 26 102 35 6.0% 28 1.6% 92 763 778 6 51%
83-D.Stallworth NO 131 27 129 28 0.5% 42 0.3% 129 945 1,002 8 54%
82-D.Jackson SEA 131 28 147 24 17.3% 11 21.0% 55 482 548 3 69%
80-T.Brown NE 128 29 119 29 14.7% 15 12.7% 59 466 570 2 66%
84-B.Engram SEA 128 30 157 22 3.9% 35 7.6% 97 778 818 3 69%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
87-M.Robinson MIN 117 31 115 31 13.6% 18 13.1% 57 515 535 5 54%
18-S.Parker KC 114 32 105 33 12.0% 19 10.0% 58 533 545 3 62%
82-D.Hall KC 112 33 108 32 15.6% 13 14.6% 51 436 488 3 67%
87-D.Givens NE 107 34 83 40 2.1% 41 -1.2% 96 738 748 3 61%
85-D.Gabriel OAK 104 35 88 39 6.0% 29 3.2% 72 554 606 3 51%
81-R.Proehl CAR 96 36 92 37 11.2% 21 10.1% 50 441 471 5 50%
84-J.Porter OAK 92 37 63 47 -4.3% 53 -6.9% 142 941 1,028 8 54%
83-K.Curtis STL 92 38 115 30 -0.6% 43 2.4% 97 801 755 6 62%
81-A.Hakim NO 87 39 96 36 6.6% 27 8.5% 58 489 496 3 59%
15-C.Henry CIN 86 40 72 44 10.1% 23 6.4% 50 422 434 6 62%
83-B.Stokley IND 84 41 102 34 3.9% 36 7.5% 67 543 535 1 61%
87-L.Coles NYJ 82 42 77 43 -4.7% 54 -5.2% 131 845 964 5 56%
83-W.Welker MIA 79 43 67 45 7.3% 26 4.4% 52 434 435 0 56%
11-Ro.Williams DET 78 44 63 49 -2.2% 44 -4.2% 94 687 722 8 48%
19-K.Johnson DAL 72 45 63 48 -4.8% 55 -5.8% 123 839 850 6 58%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
17-P.Burress NYG 72 46 65 46 -7.2% 63 -7.7% 166 1215 1,176 8 46%
17-B.Edwards CLE 71 47 79 41 3.2% 39 4.8% 59 512 473 3 54%
82-J.Reed BUF 69 48 77 42 4.0% 33 5.9% 53 449 441 2 60%
89-T.Taylor MIN 66 49 54 54 -3.0% 47 -4.7% 90 604 657 4 56%
86-B.Finneran ATL 66 50 61 50 -2.3% 45 -3.0% 81 611 615 2 62%
85-A.Lelie DEN 62 51 61 51 -3.5% 49 -3.8% 88 770 646 1 48%
84-C.Chambers MIA 61 52 59 52 -8.0% 65 -8.2% 166 1118 1,170 11 49%
83-L.Evans BUF 61 53 90 38 -4.1% 52 0.0% 92 743 668 7 53%
83-A.Chatman GB 61 54 46 57 -3.6% 51 -5.8% 86 549 637 4 57%
86-M.Booker MIA 52 55 49 55 -5.0% 56 -5.4% 86 686 626 3 45%
12-M.Jenkins ATL 49 56 58 53 -3.6% 50 -1.8% 71 508 509 3 51%
86-R.Brown PHI 46 57 28 65 -5.4% 57 -8.3% 79 571 583 5 54%
12-J.Gage CHI 45 58 48 56 -2.7% 46 -2.2% 55 346 437 2 56%
80-E.Moulds BUF 41 59 43 59 -8.6% 68 -8.5% 129 816 890 4 63%
81-N.Burleson MIN 39 60 24 68 -3.4% 48 -6.8% 52 328 398 1 58%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
84-S.McDonald STL 32 61 44 58 -7.0% 61 -4.8% 74 523 503 0 62%
18-M.Jones JAC 29 62 38 60 -7.1% 62 -5.4% 69 432 473 5 52%
19-T.Williamson MIN 29 63 13 72 -5.5% 58 -9.5% 52 372 369 2 46%
89-R.Ferguson GB 29 64 29 64 -6.4% 60 -6.3% 57 366 416 3 47%
80-C.Wilson PIT 26 65 26 66 -6.1% 59 -6.1% 53 451 364 0 49%
82-A.Randle El PIT 25 66 33 62 -8.1% 67 -6.7% 70 558 493 1 50%
85-C.Bradford HOU 24 67 36 61 -7.9% 64 -5.5% 66 436 450 6 52%
19-I.Hilliard TB 20 68 23 71 -8.1% 66 -7.3% 53 282 383 1 66%
84-R.White ATL 20 69 24 69 -9.1% 70 -8.4% 68 449 476 3 43%
19-D.Henderson NO 15 70 25 67 -9.0% 69 -6.6% 50 343 355 3 44%
83-D.Bennett TEN 13 71 31 63 -11.2% 71 -9.2% 109 738 731 5 53%
83-A.Battle SF 3 72 23 70 -11.9% 72 -6.8% 54 365 330 3 59%
81-J.McCareins NYJ 0 73 -13 76 -12.7% 73 -14.3% 102 713 661 2 42%
80-I.Bruce STL -11 74 10 73 -14.7% 75 -10.9% 71 525 425 3 51%
85-B.Lloyd SF -13 75 4 74 -14.2% 74 -12.2% 109 733 679 6 44%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
88-M.Williams DET -17 76 -20 79 -16.5% 78 -17.2% 57 350 336 2 51%
80-M.Clayton TB -22 77 -14 77 -17.8% 81 -16.0% 55 375 312 1 58%
10-S.Vines DET -24 78 -40 83 -17.1% 79 -19.9% 71 417 415 0 56%
86-J.Gaffney HOU -25 79 -21 80 -16.2% 77 -15.6% 90 492 541 2 61%
11-Re.Williams JAC -26 80 -15 78 -18.2% 82 -15.7% 63 445 348 0 56%
83-K.Colbert CAR -30 81 -29 82 -19.4% 84 -19.2% 55 282 321 2 45%
80-A.Johnson HOU -31 82 -7 75 -16.0% 76 -13.4% 114 688 701 2 55%
80-B.Johnson ARI -41 83 -24 81 -19.8% 85 -16.8% 72 432 406 1 56%
86-D.Northcutt CLE -49 84 -63 85 -20.8% 86 -23.1% 77 441 419 2 55%
83-G.Lewis PHI -53 85 -72 88 -19.2% 83 -21.6% 105 561 582 2 46%
87-M.Muhammad CHI -57 86 -66 87 -17.7% 80 -18.6% 136 750 825 4 47%
87-J.Horn NO -65 87 -55 84 -20.9% 87 -19.6% 103 656 550 1 48%
89-M.Clayton BAL -72 88 -65 86 -23.3% 88 -22.4% 86 459 443 3 51%
80-D.Patten WAS -82 89 -102 89 -32.7% 89 -37.6% 53 217 212 0 42%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
18-D.Hackett SEA 140 153 26.3% 29.9% 43 400 499 2 65%
11-Q.Morgan PIT 106 102 51.4% 48.7% 18 150 291 3 50%
86-T.Dwight NE 85 81 19.7% 18.2% 34 332 339 3 56%
89-D.Looker STL 71 75 22.1% 24.0% 27 237 272 0 85%
84-P.Crayton DAL 71 75 15.1% 16.9% 35 341 311 3 63%
18-K.Robinson MIN 70 57 9.9% 5.9% 37 347 355 1 59%
89-J.Urban SEA 64 64 62.6% 62.9% 10 151 163 0 70%
83-K.Walter CIN 55 57 10.1% 11.1% 29 211 277 2 66%
89-J.Cotchery NYJ 54 59 10.5% 12.7% 31 251 268 0 61%
86-T.Walters IND 49 53 20.2% 23.1% 19 152 194 3 74%
88-D.Armstrong HOU 46 40 36.6% 30.7% 12 115 143 0 75%
82-R.Caldwell SD 42 32 0.1% -3.0% 43 356 333 1 65%
80-B.Berrian CHI 41 30 9.0% 3.4% 25 246 214 0 52%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
81-A.Thurman GB 34 29 16.9% 12.3% 14 92 143 1 50%
18-D.Carter CAR 25 17 7.6% 0.8% 15 103 138 1 33%
82-C.Lee ARI 25 32 5.1% 10.4% 18 152 151 0 61%
80-W.Chrebet NYJ 23 18 0.6% -2.2% 23 153 172 1 65%
88-F.Jackson CLE 20 18 -6.5% -7.2% 41 287 295 1 59%
18-A.Davis NE 15 23 -4.6% -0.4% 24 190 178 1 38%
86-Royd.Williams TEN 15 14 -7.6% -8.1% 39 299 271 2 54%
87-R.Gardner CAR 14 8 -5.9% -8.7% 26 151 186 1 50%
85-M.Boerigter KC 14 13 -2.1% -2.6% 16 119 125 0 50%
80-C.Rogers DET 13 5 -7.6% -10.6% 31 197 221 1 45%
87-A.Whitted OAK 11 11 -6.9% -7.1% 26 183 178 0 54%
19-L.McCoy ARI 9 12 -8.7% -7.0% 30 191 191 1 60%
87-K.Washington CIN 8 5 -7.3% -9.6% 19 101 136 1 53%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
83-J.Thrash WAS 5 -1 -10.3% -13.2% 30 194 187 1 47%
11-R.Parrish BUF 3 0 -10.7% -12.8% 25 148 152 1 60%
85-A.Moorehead IND 2 5 -9.7% -7.0% 11 75 72 0 64%
84-J.Morton SF -4 -5 -14.0% -14.3% 44 288 253 0 48%
84-T.Carter NYG -6 -13 -16.2% -19.9% 24 184 135 0 42%
80-D.Boston MIA -6 -5 -21.0% -18.9% 10 80 53 0 40%
14-T.Devoe DEN -7 -9 -19.5% -21.6% 14 87 70 1 64%
15-J.McAddley SF -8 -7 -20.1% -18.9% 15 125 75 0 47%
80-B.McMullen PHI -9 -6 -15.6% -14.6% 38 268 246 1 47%
81-B.Jones TEN -13 4 -16.0% -11.7% 47 299 297 4 49%
81-P.Warrick SEA -13 -9 -20.0% -17.7% 23 180 128 0 48%
81-C.Horn KC -17 -21 -19.5% -21.4% 31 187 174 0 58%
85-K.Johnson DET -19 -28 -20.2% -23.9% 31 133 175 1 55%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
16-M.Bradley CHI -21 -25 -20.1% -21.8% 36 230 195 0 50%
82-C.Roby TEN -22 -14 -19.7% -17.0% 43 289 228 1 49%
13-J.Mathis HOU -24 -18 -37.6% -31.0% 13 65 44 1 38%
85-T.Murphy GB -24 -22 -38.7% -35.7% 11 36 40 0 45%
89-S.Aiken BUF -25 -23 -41.0% -38.9% 13 57 35 0 31%
18-R.Newhouse ARI -28 -28 -52.2% -51.8% 10 45 16 0 40%
89-D.White ATL -29 -26 -51.6% -47.4% 10 25 18 1 20%
80-R.Hymes BAL -36 -45 -27.8% -31.6% 31 132 141 2 35%
82-B.Gilmore MIA -44 -40 -41.1% -39.1% 20 105 60 1 25%
84-T.Jacobs WAS -53 -49 -39.5% -37.4% 25 100 82 0 44%
81-C.Adams DEN -56 -64 -33.8% -36.8% 36 203 133 0 58%
84-C.Moore BAL -71 -72 -58.3% -58.6% 19 59 22 0 16%
87-T.Calico TEN -83 -74 -39.0% -36.2% 42 191 135 1 52%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards TrueYards TD CatchRate
84-B.Wade CHI -98 -92 -58.6% -55.8% 29 120 29 0 48%

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 5 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards TrueYards Rk TD FUM
85-A.Lelie DEN 62 1 60 1 176.6% 1 172.9% 1 5 84 144 1 0 0
84-T.Houshmandzadeh CIN 49 2 49 2 67.0% 2 66.9% 2 8 62 118 2 1 0
84-T.Carter NYG 29 3 27 3 63.3% 3 56.1% 3 6 46 70 3 0 0
85-C.Johnson CIN 26 4 26 4 52.8% 4 53.3% 4 5 33 62 4 0 0
11-L.Fitzgerald ARI 25 5 23 6 17.8% 6 14.5% 6 8 41 61 5 0 0
83-A.Chatman GB 23 6 21 7 26.2% 5 21.0% 5 8 34 57 6 0 0
81-A.Boldin ARI 22 7 19 9 4.9% 8 -0.3% 8 12 45 56 7 0 0
89-M.Clayton BAL 21 8 23 5 6.6% 7 10.9% 7 8 33 54 8 1 0
82-A.Randle El PIT 20 9 20 8 -7.9% 11 -7.3% 9 12 73 53 9 0 0
18-M.Jones JAC 17 10 16 10 -6.8% 10 -9.7% 11 12 51 37 10 0 0
87-E.Kennison KC 13 11 11 11 -4.5% 9 -9.0% 10 7 43 34 11 0 0
84-C.Chambers MIA 10 12 11 12 -22.7% 12 -20.7% 12 12 90 30 12 1 2
81-C.Adams DEN 1 13 1 13 -32.5% 13 -33.5% 13 5 14 6 13 0 0
82-D.Hall KC -3 14 -4 15 -47.4% 14 -49.9% 15 7 11 -3 14 0 0
83-A.Battle SF -6 15 -3 14 -52.9% 15 -46.7% 14 8 11 -9 15 0 0
80-A.Johnson HOU -16 16 -14 16 -91.1% 16 -83.7% 16 6 10 -34 16 0 1