Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

WIDE RECEIVERS 2006

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 7/3/2009

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, 84 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Harrison IND 510 1 488 1 30.3% 4 28.5% 148 1366 1,719 12 64%
R.Wayne IND 469 2 440 2 30.9% 3 28.2% 137 1314 1,568 9 63%
L.Evans BUF 378 3 357 3 22.7% 7 20.8% 137 1292 1,427 8 60%
C.Johnson CIN 361 4 337 4 17.0% 13 15.1% 152 1375 1,521 7 57%
T.Houshmandzadeh CIN 310 5 291 6 16.6% 15 14.8% 132 1081 1,319 9 68%
T.Glenn DAL 293 6 312 5 20.1% 8 22.2% 111 1047 1,161 6 63%
T.Owens DAL 274 7 284 8 10.2% 23 11.0% 152 1180 1,380 13 56%
L.Fitzgerald ARI 271 8 290 7 18.5% 9 20.7% 111 946 1,109 6 62%
M.Colston NO 250 9 260 9 14.0% 17 15.0% 115 1039 1,132 8 61%
R.Williams DET 250 10 251 10 8.7% 27 8.8% 151 1310 1,320 7 54%
I.Bruce STL 234 11 229 12 10.3% 22 9.8% 126 1098 1,176 3 59%
D.Henderson NO 228 12 248 11 40.7% 1 45.3% 54 745 684 5 59%
M.Furrey DET 225 13 213 16 8.0% 29 7.0% 146 1086 1,210 6 67%
D.Hackett SEA 215 14 223 13 31.1% 2 32.8% 66 610 716 4 68%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
S.Smith CAR 213 15 215 14 6.7% 36 6.8% 139 1166 1,214 8 60%
J.Cotchery NYJ 212 16 198 18 7.7% 33 6.4% 125 961 1,161 6 66%
S.Holmes PIT 212 17 210 17 17.5% 12 17.3% 86 824 884 2 57%
J.Walker DEN 207 18 214 15 8.0% 31 8.6% 126 1084 1,125 8 55%
D.Jackson SEA 190 19 190 20 9.4% 25 9.3% 112 968 982 10 56%
J.Horn NO 186 20 193 19 24.3% 6 25.7% 61 679 683 4 61%
M.Booker MIA 178 21 176 22 12.8% 19 12.6% 90 747 830 6 61%
R.Brown PHI 174 22 165 24 10.9% 21 9.7% 92 816 857 8 50%
R.Caldwell NE 174 23 150 27 9.0% 26 6.1% 102 767 909 4 60%
B.Johnson ARI 172 24 168 23 17.9% 11 17.1% 74 740 712 4 54%
H.Ward PIT 171 25 145 30 4.3% 40 1.7% 127 996 1,070 6 59%
K.Curtis STL 169 26 160 25 24.8% 5 22.9% 57 479 616 4 70%
E.Parker SD 164 27 184 21 18.4% 10 22.2% 70 659 672 0 69%
A.Johnson HOU 161 28 139 32 -0.4% 48 -2.1% 164 1155 1,302 5 63%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
N.Washington PIT 151 29 143 31 16.9% 14 15.3% 69 624 638 4 51%
S.Parker KC 146 30 130 35 14.6% 16 11.6% 68 561 652 1 60%
A.Boldin ARI 146 31 146 29 -0.2% 47 -0.2% 152 1203 1,169 4 55%
L.Coles NYJ 144 32 124 38 -0.9% 49 -2.5% 151 1080 1,205 6 60%
E.Kennison KC 143 33 124 39 5.6% 39 3.2% 101 860 850 5 52%
P.Burress NYG 140 34 124 37 1.9% 45 0.3% 121 988 987 10 52%
R.Curry OAK 136 35 157 26 7.3% 35 10.3% 89 727 757 1 70%
M.Clayton BAL 129 36 130 34 2.1% 44 2.3% 112 938 899 5 60%
D.Stallworth PHI 127 37 134 33 8.0% 30 9.1% 78 725 689 5 49%
C.Henry CIN 124 38 127 36 8.4% 28 8.9% 75 605 663 9 48%
T.Holt STL 121 39 147 28 -4.2% 54 -2.4% 179 1192 1,352 10 52%
J.Jurevicius CLE 118 40 121 41 10.0% 24 10.7% 65 495 597 3 62%
E.Moulds HOU 117 41 98 44 6.6% 37 3.5% 77 557 666 1 74%
B.Jones TEN 114 42 113 42 13.8% 18 13.6% 54 384 520 4 50%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
D.Driver GB 111 43 109 43 -4.4% 55 -4.5% 172 1270 1,257 8 53%
A.Battle SF 106 44 122 40 3.3% 42 5.8% 86 692 693 3 70%
K.McCardell SD 100 45 97 45 12.5% 20 11.7% 51 437 472 0 71%
C.Wilson PIT 95 46 69 57 4.2% 41 -0.3% 69 504 596 1 54%
M.Muhammad CHI 91 47 94 46 -2.7% 52 -2.4% 117 863 883 5 51%
T.Taylor MIN 91 48 73 54 0.3% 46 -2.3% 86 647 705 3 65%
W.Welker MIA 86 49 85 49 -1.1% 50 -1.3% 100 687 736 1 67%
D.Gabriel NE 85 50 69 56 7.8% 32 4.0% 54 428 464 3 56%
D.Branch SEA 81 51 85 50 -2.3% 51 -1.9% 101 725 762 4 52%
B.Wade TEN 81 52 76 53 5.8% 38 4.5% 58 461 477 2 57%
A.Toomer NYG 79 53 88 47 7.4% 34 9.5% 50 360 439 3 64%
D.Mason BAL 79 54 84 51 -3.7% 53 -3.2% 112 750 838 2 61%
V.Jackson SD 67 55 71 55 3.0% 43 3.9% 56 453 446 6 48%
S.Moss WAS 60 56 76 52 -4.9% 57 -2.9% 100 767 722 6 54%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
M.Jones JAC 49 57 86 48 -4.6% 56 1.4% 76 643 570 4 54%
B.Berrian CHI 36 58 54 58 -8.2% 59 -5.9% 102 775 712 6 50%
D.Bennett TEN 36 59 25 61 -7.9% 58 -9.3% 97 737 665 3 47%
T.Brown NE 26 60 16 64 -8.3% 60 -10.1% 76 386 528 4 58%
B.Edwards CLE 25 61 36 59 -10.2% 61 -9.0% 125 884 842 6 49%
A.Bryant SF 8 62 17 63 -11.6% 62 -10.3% 91 733 585 3 44%
J.Galloway TB 5 63 31 60 -12.2% 63 -9.9% 141 1057 920 7 44%
K.Johnson CAR 2 64 23 62 -12.4% 64 -10.4% 128 821 847 4 55%
R.White ATL 0 65 6 66 -12.6% 65 -11.5% 64 509 391 0 47%
R.Williams JAC -7 66 13 65 -13.7% 66 -10.9% 91 616 557 4 57%
M.Robinson MIN -13 67 -4 69 -15.5% 68 -13.5% 58 384 349 4 50%
D.Carter CAR -13 68 3 67 -16.0% 70 -11.8% 51 357 302 3 55%
E.Wilford JAC -14 69 -4 70 -15.1% 67 -13.3% 74 524 459 2 49%
I.Hilliard TB -18 70 -2 68 -16.9% 71 -13.2% 55 339 317 2 62%
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
P.Price BUF -20 71 -41 78 -15.9% 69 -19.3% 77 399 468 3 64%
A.Lelie ATL -28 72 -32 73 -17.9% 72 -18.7% 68 430 391 1 41%
M.Jenkins ATL -35 73 -34 74 -18.1% 73 -17.9% 83 436 475 7 47%
M.Clayton TB -36 74 -30 71 -19.7% 74 -18.5% 65 360 370 1 51%
R.Davis CHI -37 75 -43 79 -21.3% 78 -22.8% 56 303 292 2 39%
A.Randle El WAS -42 76 -37 76 -20.9% 77 -20.0% 63 351 352 3 51%
B.Lloyd WAS -42 77 -38 77 -22.2% 79 -21.1% 58 388 301 0 41%
T.Carter NYG -52 78 -36 75 -26.2% 82 -22.1% 49 253 236 2 45%
R.Moss OAK -52 79 -56 80 -19.9% 75 -20.3% 97 553 514 3 43%
R.Smith DEN -57 80 -31 72 -20.3% 76 -16.9% 94 512 518 3 55%
T.Williamson MIN -68 81 -75 81 -23.8% 80 -25.0% 76 455 395 0 49%
G.Jennings GB -99 82 -82 82 -24.4% 81 -22.3% 105 632 540 3 43%
A.Whitted OAK -122 83 -121 83 -37.9% 84 -37.6% 63 303 213 0 43%
C.Chambers MIA -300 84 -314 84 -37.3% 83 -38.5% 153 677 547 4 39%

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
P.Crayton DAL 187 197 36.2% 38.8% 48 519 588 4 75%
H.Baskett PHI 83 85 12.9% 13.4% 43 464 387 2 51%
J.Reed BUF 81 83 10.4% 11.0% 48 410 403 2 71%
G.Lewis PHI 81 95 16.8% 22.2% 37 348 341 2 65%
M.Bradley CHI 79 85 32.8% 36.4% 23 282 257 3 61%
J.McCareins NYJ 74 66 9.6% 7.1% 39 345 379 1 59%
B.Engram SEA 71 76 14.3% 16.2% 36 290 320 1 67%
R.Martin GB 65 52 6.6% 2.5% 43 358 373 1 49%
B.McMullen MIN 55 56 4.3% 4.8% 42 306 342 2 57%
D.Williams BAL 49 53 1.7% 2.9% 45 396 349 2 49%
K.Washington CIN 45 48 34.3% 36.8% 12 115 145 1 75%
T.Walters ARI 43 31 3.2% -1.1% 35 209 283 2 66%
C.Jackson NE 43 36 15.7% 11.4% 19 152 185 3 68%
T.Copper NO 42 50 -0.3% 1.9% 42 388 340 3 55%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
B.Stokley IND 38 39 34.1% 35.6% 11 85 121 1 73%
J.Gaffney NE 33 24 7.8% 2.3% 20 142 179 1 55%
J.Jones NO 31 31 30.0% 30.5% 10 108 104 1 60%
D.Hall KC 28 24 -3.8% -5.3% 40 204 301 2 65%
K.Walter HOU 25 27 2.7% 3.9% 21 160 170 0 81%
J.Thrash WAS 22 27 0.6% 3.7% 20 151 165 1 60%
M.Floyd SD 16 21 -6.3% -4.6% 32 210 234 3 47%
C.Bradford DET 16 19 -4.8% -3.3% 25 166 184 0 56%
T.Dwight NYJ 14 10 -3.5% -6.3% 19 112 148 0 84%
B.Marshall DEN 14 19 -8.0% -6.2% 37 309 257 2 54%
D.Tyree NYG 12 0 -7.9% -12.5% 33 197 228 2 58%
D.Hagan MIA 8 -1 -9.9% -13.1% 37 221 244 1 57%
M.Stovall TB 6 6 -6.7% -7.2% 13 102 93 0 54%
B.Johnson MIN 5 0 -9.5% -12.6% 19 156 129 0 47%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
C.Holiday ARI 0 -4 -12.8% -16.0% 18 126 107 0 50%
A.Moorehead IND -2 -4 -14.3% -15.7% 16 82 95 1 50%
S.McDonald STL -6 -4 -17.0% -15.5% 19 136 108 1 68%
K.Robinson GB -8 2 -19.3% -11.1% 16 89 84 0 44%
N.Burleson SEA -10 -16 -16.2% -18.5% 37 192 209 2 49%
S.Hurd DAL -11 -6 -26.2% -20.4% 11 75 51 0 45%
B.Smith NYJ -13 -18 -24.3% -29.1% 14 64 70 0 64%
R.Parrish BUF -13 -22 -16.8% -19.6% 40 320 234 2 58%
R.Williams TEN -14 -19 -21.8% -24.7% 21 121 105 0 38%
C.Hankton JAC -17 -14 -33.7% -30.1% 11 48 42 0 45%
M.Williams DET -18 -22 -25.2% -28.0% 18 99 88 1 44%
D.Kircus DEN -20 -16 -22.1% -20.6% 27 187 139 0 33%
PHI -25 -22 -36.8% -33.8% 15 68 48 1 47%
K.Colbert CAR -28 -22 -43.5% -36.9% 12 56 32 0 42%
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate
J.Cribbs CLE -28 -29 -37.9% -39.2% 15 91 49 0 67%
T.Jacobs SF -32 -43 -46.6% -57.4% 12 29 30 0 33%
A.Hakim DET -32 -26 -27.9% -24.9% 27 147 126 0 63%
E.Drummond DET -38 -41 -65.5% -70.1% 10 10 2 0 20%
R.Ferguson GB -40 -40 -51.2% -51.5% 13 31 25 1 38%
R.Gardner KC -40 -37 -63.1% -59.1% 9 17 5 0 22%
D.Givens TEN -43 -42 -40.8% -40.2% 20 104 61 0 40%
S.Moss NYG -45 -47 -61.2% -63.5% 11 25 9 0 45%
J.Morant OAK -51 -47 -66.2% -61.8% 12 70 2 0 58%
D.Northcutt CLE -64 -60 -30.6% -29.4% 45 228 195 0 49%
B.Gilmore SF -95 -103 -51.2% -54.3% 31 150 60 1 26%

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 91 1 95 1 49.6% 4 52.6% 4 18 103 221 1 0 0
J.Walker DEN 63 2 63 2 85.3% 2 85.3% 2 9 123 151 2 1 0
A.Randle El WAS 53 3 49 5 13.8% 5 10.2% 6 19 118 127 3 0 0
C.Chambers MIA 48 4 51 4 68.4% 3 75.5% 3 8 95 115 4 0 0
B.Gilmore SF 48 5 53 3 106.7% 1 124.3% 1 7 94 113 5 0 1
S.Moss WAS 20 6 15 6 9.5% 6 -4.1% 8 7 82 51 6 0 1
S.Smith CAR 15 7 14 7 0.3% 8 -2.2% 7 8 61 39 7 1 1
J.Cotchery NYJ 12 8 13 8 7.3% 7 10.4% 5 5 25 31 8 0 0
P.Price BUF 7 9 8 9 -11.2% 9 -7.5% 9 5 18 18 9 0 0
C.Johnson CIN 5 10 7 10 -24.8% 10 -17.4% 10 6 24 14 10 0 0
M.Clayton TB 3 11 5 11 -28.9% 11 -24.1% 11 5 41 11 11 0 1
R.Williams JAC -1 12 -1 12 -41.2% 12 -41.3% 12 7 33 2 12 0 1
D.Driver GB -2 13 -2 13 -43.6% 13 -43.5% 13 7 16 0 13 0 0
A.Boldin ARI -7 14 -6 14 -62.2% 14 -61.4% 14 5 28 -13 14 0 1
M.Clayton BAL -56 15 -55 15 -175.2% 15 -173.1% 15 7 -30 -124 15 0 0