Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics

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WIDE RECEIVERS 2008

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 8/28/2012

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.

The simple version: DYAR means a wide receiver with more total value. DVOA means a wide receiver with more value per play.

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.
  • DPI lists the number of plays and yards where the receiver drew Defensive Pass Interference. These plays are incorporated into DVOA and DYAR, but are not included in the totals for Passes or Yards.

Clicking on a player's name will bring you to his FO player page with advanced stats through the most recent season.

RECEIVING: Minimum 50 passes, 79 players ranked

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
A.Johnson HOU 510 1 480 1 23.5% 5 21.3% 171 1,575 1,901 8 67% 1 5/67
R.White ATL 413 2 374 5 23.3% 6 20.0% 148 1,383 1,542 7 59% 1 4/89
L.Fitzgerald ARI 407 3 419 2 20.1% 7 21.1% 154 1,431 1,611 12 62% 1 5/55
S.Smith CAR 382 4 410 3 23.8% 4 26.4% 131 1,442 1,417 6 61% 1 2/3
V.Jackson SD 378 5 396 4 33.9% 2 36.2% 100 1,098 1,217 7 59% 1 4/111
R.Wayne IND 340 6 335 6 19.9% 8 19.4% 130 1,128 1,351 6 63% 0 2/22
H.Ward PIT 296 7 299 7 17.1% 11 17.4% 125 1,047 1,246 7 66% 1 2/81
A.Bryant TB 294 8 287 8 14.3% 15 13.6% 138 1,253 1,325 7 60% 1 1/33
C.Johnson DET 273 9 243 12 10.5% 21 8.0% 150 1,331 1,360 12 52% 2 3/58
A.Boldin ARI 268 10 246 11 13.6% 16 11.4% 127 1,038 1,236 11 70% 3 1/22
D.Mason BAL 261 11 252 10 15.1% 14 14.1% 121 1,048 1,151 5 67% 2 0/0
S.Breaston ARI 253 12 236 14 15.7% 13 13.7% 113 1,006 1,102 3 68% 0 1/21
G.Jennings GB 249 13 263 9 10.1% 22 11.4% 140 1,291 1,255 9 57% 1 1/25
A.Gonzalez IND 244 14 221 17 26.6% 3 22.9% 79 664 867 4 72% 0 0/0
L.Moore NO 238 15 201 20 13.3% 18 9.3% 120 930 1,097 10 66% 0 0/0
K.Walter HOU 233 16 237 13 17.9% 10 18.3% 95 899 964 8 63% 0 1/7
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
D.Henderson NO 219 17 211 18 37.5% 1 35.6% 56 793 680 3 57% 1 0/0
B.Berrian MIN 206 18 228 15 13.5% 17 16.3% 95 964 945 7 51% 0 6/127
L.Evans BUF 202 19 224 16 12.6% 19 15.2% 102 1,025 950 3 62% 2 2/33
W.Welker NE 198 20 205 19 4.4% 31 5.0% 150 1,165 1,239 3 75% 1 0/0
D.Driver GB 193 21 189 22 8.5% 25 8.1% 116 1,012 1,026 5 64% 0 1/7
M.Jenkins ATL 184 22 179 23 16.8% 12 15.9% 81 777 782 3 62% 0 0/0
T.J.Houshmandzadeh CIN 178 23 133 32 3.8% 34 -0.4% 137 904 1,142 4 67% 0 0/0
M.Muhammad CAR 162 24 157 25 6.3% 28 5.7% 107 923 934 5 61% 2 1/14
I.Bruce SF 162 25 196 21 6.3% 29 10.3% 108 835 934 7 56% 0 3/38
R.Moss NE 150 26 150 28 2.1% 38 2.1% 125 1,011 1,051 11 55% 3 2/32
I.Hilliard TB 145 27 152 26 18.6% 9 20.1% 59 424 593 4 81% 1 0/0
D.Hixon NYG 145 28 115 36 12.1% 20 7.0% 73 596 693 2 59% 0 2/36
L.Coles NYJ 141 29 159 24 1.8% 40 3.6% 115 839 1,005 7 61% 1 5/66
E.Royal DEN 127 30 133 31 -0.2% 45 0.4% 129 980 1,016 5 71% 1 1/6
J.Reed BUF 126 31 151 27 8.0% 27 12.0% 79 597 681 1 71% 0 0/0
J.Gage TEN 125 32 143 30 8.3% 26 11.1% 74 651 673 6 46% 0 1/36
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
M.Colston NO 120 33 120 34 4.1% 33 4.1% 88 760 760 5 53% 1 1/10
M.Jones JAC 113 34 144 29 0.8% 42 4.5% 107 761 850 2 61% 1 1/39
J.Cotchery NYJ 106 35 132 33 -0.8% 48 2.1% 111 858 880 5 64% 2 1/6
A.Randle El WAS 100 36 81 45 1.9% 39 -0.8% 87 593 705 4 61% 0 0/0
C.Johnson CIN 98 37 61 53 -0.1% 44 -4.9% 97 540 784 4 55% 0 2/16
P.Burress NYG 98 38 102 40 5.6% 30 6.3% 66 454 583 4 53% 0 3/49
B.Marshall DEN 96 39 116 35 -6.0% 58 -4.6% 181 1,265 1,309 6 57% 3 3/86
S.Smith NYG 92 40 93 42 1.6% 41 1.7% 82 577 663 1 70% 1 0/0
J.Urban ARI 91 41 93 41 9.3% 23 9.7% 51 448 473 4 67% 0 0/0
S.Moss WAS 91 42 114 37 -4.4% 54 -2.3% 138 1,044 1,025 6 57% 1 1/21
D.Bess MIA 91 43 102 39 2.9% 36 4.8% 76 567 609 1 72% 0 0/0
H.Baskett PHI 89 44 83 43 8.6% 24 7.3% 51 439 470 3 65% 1 1/20
T.Owens DAL 83 45 65 52 -5.0% 56 -6.6% 139 1,052 1,003 10 50% 1 2/25
D.Northcutt JAC 82 46 78 48 3.1% 35 2.4% 68 545 543 2 65% 1 0/0
A.Toomer NYG 79 47 67 51 -1.9% 50 -3.6% 88 580 720 4 55% 1 4/46
B.Jones TEN 79 48 78 47 4.1% 32 4.0% 62 449 502 1 66% 0 1/32
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
G.Camarillo MIA 77 49 109 38 -0.4% 47 4.6% 83 613 627 2 66% 0 0/0
P.Crayton DAL 77 50 79 46 2.3% 37 2.6% 69 551 534 4 57% 1 0/0
N.Washington PIT 74 51 54 57 -0.3% 46 -3.5% 78 631 593 3 51% 0 0/0
C.Chambers SD 65 52 71 49 0.4% 43 1.7% 64 462 498 5 52% 0 2/26
B.Johnson SF 60 53 82 44 -2.7% 52 1.0% 75 546 575 3 60% 0 0/0
J.Avant PHI 50 54 42 61 -0.9% 49 -2.8% 57 377 420 2 56% 0 1/8
B.Stokley DEN 50 55 70 50 -5.2% 57 -2.3% 85 525 620 3 58% 0 0/0
D.Jackson PHI 50 56 52 58 -7.3% 61 -7.1% 120 912 832 2 52% 1 1/12
J.Gaffney NE 49 57 61 54 -3.2% 53 -0.8% 65 468 491 2 58% 0 0/0
S.Holmes PIT 48 58 34 64 -7.2% 60 -8.7% 114 821 779 5 48% 2 1/12
J.Nelson GB 42 59 45 60 -2.2% 51 -1.5% 54 366 391 2 61% 0 0/0
R.Williams JAC 40 60 38 62 -4.9% 55 -5.3% 63 364 479 3 59% 0 1/11
M.Clayton BAL 40 61 46 59 -6.4% 59 -5.4% 82 695 574 3 50% 0 1/14
D.Bowe KC 38 62 61 55 -9.7% 66 -7.8% 157 1,022 1,082 7 55% 0 1/22
T.Ginn MIA 33 63 61 56 -8.2% 63 -4.3% 93 791 638 2 60% 3 0/0
D.Hester CHI 32 64 36 63 -8.4% 64 -7.9% 92 667 655 3 57% 1 3/83
Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
M.Harrison IND 30 65 23 65 -9.3% 65 -10.0% 107 636 761 5 56% 1 2/24
M.Clayton TB 24 66 19 67 -7.7% 62 -8.6% 61 484 424 1 62% 1 0/0
T.Holt STL 16 67 18 68 -11.0% 68 -10.7% 119 796 776 3 54% 0 1/12
K.Robinson SEA 10 68 5 69 -10.5% 67 -11.6% 58 400 375 2 53% 0 0/0
D.Branch SEA -3 69 21 66 -13.3% 69 -8.2% 59 412 374 4 51% 0 1/5
B.Wade MIN -12 70 4 70 -14.4% 70 -12.1% 89 645 549 2 60% 2 0/0
K.Curtis PHI -16 71 -9 73 -15.8% 71 -14.4% 63 390 385 2 52% 0 0/0
R.Davis CHI -19 72 -5 72 -16.2% 74 -13.5% 67 445 408 2 52% 0 0/0
B.Engram SEA -24 73 -32 74 -16.5% 76 -17.8% 80 489 465 0 59% 1 1/9
R.Williams DAL -26 74 -70 77 -16.5% 75 -23.0% 82 430 508 2 44% 0 2/23
D.Avery STL -28 75 -2 71 -16.0% 72 -12.9% 104 684 641 3 52% 0 3/35
M.Bradley CHI -34 76 -43 75 -19.4% 77 -21.2% 63 380 361 3 48% 0 0/0
B.Edwards CLE -37 77 -76 78 -16.0% 73 -19.7% 138 873 833 3 40% 0 2/31
S.McDonald DET -47 78 -55 76 -21.8% 78 -23.4% 66 339 350 1 53% 1 0/0
J.McCareins TEN -102 79 -104 79 -30.5% 79 -30.9% 73 416 315 0 42% 2 1/16

RECEIVING, OTHERS: 10-49 passes

Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
M.Floyd SD 203 206 60.0% 61.0% 37 465 527 4 73% 0 0/0
C.Stuckey NYJ 131 137 24.0% 25.7% 45 359 484 3 71% 0 0/0
R.Meachem NO 114 111 64.5% 62.3% 20 289 289 3 60% 0 1/19
M.Austin DAL 107 101 49.7% 46.1% 23 278 298 3 57% 0 0/0
A.Battle SF 78 100 12.2% 19.1% 42 318 373 0 57% 0 3/80
J.Hill SF 73 84 9.9% 13.2% 40 317 371 2 75% 1 1/5
J.Jones GB 72 92 18.0% 26.3% 30 274 299 1 67% 0 0/0
S.Moss NYG 66 66 45.3% 45.4% 15 153 190 2 80% 0 0/0
D.Anderson HOU 60 53 13.5% 10.2% 29 241 276 2 66% 0 0/0
S.Johnson BUF 46 56 25.9% 34.4% 14 102 165 2 71% 0 0/0
G.Lewis PHI 45 49 3.2% 4.7% 35 247 298 1 54% 0 1/27
D.Patten NO 43 38 14.9% 11.4% 20 162 191 1 55% 0 0/0
M.Sims-Walker JAC 42 22 5.4% -3.0% 30 217 249 0 53% 0 0/0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
R.Brown PHI 37 25 0.6% -3.6% 35 252 280 1 51% 0 0/0
J.L.Higgins OAK 36 43 -1.5% 0.7% 42 366 314 4 52% 0 0/0
H.Douglas ATL 33 20 -1.5% -5.9% 39 320 286 1 59% 0 0/0
B.Lloyd CHI 31 42 -4.6% -1.8% 49 364 363 2 53% 0 0/0
S.Rice MIN 24 26 -3.5% -2.7% 31 141 251 4 48% 0 1/20
D.Jackson DEN 23 22 0.3% -0.2% 21 190 175 1 57% 0 0/0
N.Burleson SEA 22 23 16.9% 18.2% 9 60 93 1 56% 0 1/14
S.Aiken NE 19 18 8.2% 7.1% 11 101 100 0 73% 0 0/0
A.Allison MIN 14 20 -5.1% -1.7% 21 109 167 0 48% 0 2/72
E.Doucet ARI 11 12 -4.5% -3.8% 17 90 131 0 82% 0 0/0
C.Henry CIN 9 -20 -10.3% -18.0% 46 220 324 2 41% 0 2/49
D.Hall STL 9 11 -6.0% -4.3% 18 105 118 0 67% 0 0/0
L.Naanee SD 8 10 -2.8% -1.2% 11 64 80 0 73% 0 0/0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
D.Darling KC 7 0 -9.8% -12.5% 33 247 212 1 52% 0 0/0
C.Schilens OAK 6 6 -10.3% -10.2% 32 226 221 2 47% 0 0/0
J.Walker OAK 5 -7 -10.7% -15.5% 32 196 217 1 47% 0 0/0
R.Martin GB 4 6 -10.5% -9.6% 26 149 169 1 58% 0 0/0
D.Jarrett CAR 2 10 -11.0% -5.7% 19 119 123 0 53% 0 0/0
A.Davis HOU 2 4 -11.6% -10.6% 28 213 182 0 46% 0 0/0
D.Williams BAL -2 1 -14.0% -11.8% 23 180 139 1 57% 0 0/0
L.Hawkins TEN -3 -3 -15.7% -16.2% 12 68 74 0 58% 0 0/0
M.Furrey DET -6 -18 -15.1% -19.8% 35 181 194 0 51% 0 0/0
J.Morgan SF -7 4 -14.6% -11.6% 43 319 265 3 47% 0 0/0
J.Porter JAC -12 -15 -17.3% -18.7% 29 181 188 1 38% 0 2/30
D.Stanley STL -13 -15 -27.2% -29.0% 12 119 55 1 50% 1 0/0
D.J.Hackett CAR -17 -19 -20.5% -21.4% 28 190 151 0 46% 1 1/20
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
K.Colbert DET -23 -30 -23.4% -27.0% 27 116 138 1 44% 0 0/0
A.Chatman CIN -23 -22 -21.7% -21.3% 32 196 173 0 69% 1 1/10
L.Sweed PIT -24 -20 -46.2% -41.1% 10 64 23 0 60% 1 0/0
A.Caldwell CIN -26 -35 -30.1% -36.3% 19 78 83 0 58% 0 0/0
K.Burton STL -26 -22 -24.9% -23.1% 29 172 136 1 45% 0 0/0
G.Holt CIN -27 -33 -41.6% -48.3% 11 26 36 1 27% 0 0/0
B.Finneran ATL -28 -39 -22.1% -25.9% 36 169 198 1 58% 1 0/0
B.McMullen SEA -30 -18 -33.7% -25.6% 18 124 71 0 39% 1 1/16
T.Williamson JAC -31 -36 -43.7% -48.5% 13 30 36 1 38% 0 0/0
J.Standeford DET -35 -51 -26.0% -31.9% 34 244 163 0 44% 1 0/0
D.Thomas WAS -36 -48 -30.2% -36.0% 27 120 115 0 56% 0 0/0
M.Kelly WAS -39 -41 -60.1% -62.7% 11 18 9 0 27% 0 0/0
J.Hardy BUF -41 -29 -37.6% -30.3% 24 87 74 2 38% 0 0/0
Player Team DYAR YAR DVOA VOA Passes Yards EYds TD Catch
Rate		 FUM DPI
J.Webb KC -44 -37 -51.3% -45.5% 13 46 28 0 38% 0 1/7
W.Franklin KC -48 -42 -51.2% -46.2% 17 83 31 0 41% 0 0/0
J.Thrash WAS -50 -52 -44.0% -45.1% 22 81 56 1 41% 0 0/0
J.Galloway TB -54 -58 -39.8% -41.5% 28 138 83 0 46% 0 0/0
B.Smith NYJ -56 -51 -51.9% -48.4% 19 71 34 0 63% 0 0/0
D.Looker STL -63 -51 -30.7% -27.2% 47 271 192 2 49% 2 2/35
R.Parrish BUF -63 -45 -29.9% -24.9% 45 232 205 1 53% 0 1/5
C.Taylor SEA -65 -61 -45.7% -43.9% 25 98 64 0 36% 0 1/10
R.Curry OAK -68 -73 -31.2% -32.6% 47 181 198 2 38% 0 1/11
S.Steptoe CLE -81 -97 -40.3% -45.9% 41 182 118 0 46% 1 0/0
D.Stallworth CLE -88 -98 -39.2% -42.3% 45 170 140 1 38% 0 0/0
A.Lelie OAK -90 -90 -37.7% -37.5% 45 197 160 2 24% 0 1/41
M.Booker CHI -120 -125 -44.2% -45.4% 49 211 133 2 29% 0 0/0

RUSHING BY WIDE RECEIVERS: Minimum 4 carries

Player Team DYAR Rk YAR Rk DVOA Rk VOA Rk Runs Yards TD FUM
J.Cribbs CLE 120 1 106 1 31.2% 7 22.7% 9 29 167 1 0
D.Jackson PHI 68 2 63 3 47.2% 5 41.2% 6 17 96 1 0
B.Smith NYJ 60 3 64 2 40.9% 6 46.4% 5 12 113 0 1
M.Clayton BAL 58 4 56 4 153.5% 2 145.2% 2 6 81 1 0
T.Ginn MIA 49 5 50 5 162.3% 1 164.2% 1 5 73 2 0
D.Hester CHI 44 6 44 6 129.1% 3 132.2% 3 5 61 0 0
E.Royal DEN 34 7 39 7 18.6% 12 26.5% 7 11 109 0 0
H.Douglas ATL 34 8 32 9 19.2% 11 17.0% 11 12 69 1 0
D.Avery STL 32 9 30 10 30.2% 8 25.7% 8 9 59 1 0
A.Caldwell CIN 30 10 34 8 67.1% 4 82.0% 4 5 53 0 0
T.Owens DAL 28 11 23 11 29.5% 9 17.0% 10 7 33 0 0
N.Washington PIT 13 12 10 13 20.2% 10 5.1% 12 5 18 0 0
A.Boldin ARI 11 13 15 12 -13.5% 13 -6.4% 13 9 67 0 1