2017 Slot vs. Wide: RBs and TEs

July 30, 2018, 11:48 am ET

Photo: USA Today Sports Images

by Scott Kacsmar

Last week, we looked at data from Sports Info Solutions on where wide receivers lined up on their targets and how often quarterbacks threw to a receiver from the slot or out wide. Our next step is to look at running backs and tight ends. You can see last year's study here.

The main difference with these positions is that running backs often line up in the backfield and tight ends often line up at their natural in-line spot. We are very interested in knowing how well they do at those traditional spots and also when they move to the slot or (less common) out wide.

A quick reminder that the player's position is based on where he was on the field rather than where other receivers were lined up. For example, if Travis Kelce is the most outside receiver in a bunch formation that is close to the offensive line, then he and all the other receivers are charted as "Slot." This way we'll know that any back or tight end marked as "Wide" was truly lined up outside the numbers in a spot that has been traditionally reserved for wide receivers.

2017 Running Backs

Here is a breakdown on the success of passes to running backs in 2017. aDOT is the average depth of target.

Backfield passes: 3,075 targets, 2,437 DYAR, 0.7% DVOA, o.4 aDOT.
Slot passes: 321 targets, 348 DYAR, 5.0% DVOA, 4.9 aDOT.
Wide passes: 253 targets, 184 DYAR, -1.0% DVOA, 5.1 aDOT.

The quantity of passes to running backs was up across the board in 2017. That probably shouldn't come as a surprise with close to a full season from Le'Veon Bell, a career season from Todd Gurley, and rookies Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara each catching at least 80 balls. However, success when moving the running back around was not as good as it had been in 2016. DVOA fell from 13.0% to 5.0% on slot passes and from 4.0% to -1.0% on wide passes. We know passing success in general was down last year, but it could perk up again in 2018 if there are fewer injuries to franchise quarterbacks.

Our first table features 61 running backs with at least 25 targets last season. Their splits show how many targets they had out of the backfield, in the slot, and lined up out wide. Some backs also lined up as tight ends, but we excluded that uncommon tactic from the table since the league leader was San Francisco fullback Kyle Juszczyk with just four targets.

Running Backs, Slot vs. Wide, 2017
Player	Team	Targets	Backfield	Slot	Wide	Backfield%	Rk	Slot%	Rk	Wide%	Rk
Isaiah Crowell	CLE	43	43	0	0	100.0%	1	0.0%	50	0.0%	51
Chris Ivory	JAX	29	29	0	0	100.0%	1	0.0%	50	0.0%	51
Orleans Darkwa	NYG	28	28	0	0	100.0%	1	0.0%	50	0.0%	51
Benny Cunningham	CHI	24	24	0	0	100.0%	1	0.0%	50	0.0%	51
Shane Vereen	NYG	53	52	1	0	98.1%	6	1.9%	47	0.0%	51
Frank Gore	IND	36	35	0	1	97.2%	7	0.0%	50	2.8%	44
Mark Ingram	NO	70	68	2	0	97.1%	8	2.9%	42	0.0%	51
Javorius Allen	BAL	55	53	1	1	96.4%	9	1.8%	48	1.8%	50
Leonard Fournette	JAX	48	46	1	1	95.8%	10	2.1%	46	2.1%	49
Wayne Gallman	NYG	48	46	0	2	95.8%	10	0.0%	50	4.2%	38
T.J. Yeldon	JAX	40	38	0	2	95.0%	12	0.0%	50	5.0%	32
C.J. Anderson	DEN	39	37	1	1	94.9%	13	2.6%	44	2.6%	45
Alex Collins	BAL	36	34	2	0	94.4%	14	5.6%	33	0.0%	51
Todd Gurley	LAR	85	80	2	3	94.1%	15	2.4%	45	3.5%	40
Jay Ajayi	2TM	34	32	0	2	94.1%	15	0.0%	50	5.9%	26
Jordan Howard	CHI	32	30	2	0	93.8%	17	6.3%	31	0.0%	51
Kareem Hunt	KC	63	59	0	4	93.7%	18	0.0%	50	6.3%	23
Marshawn Lynch	OAK	30	28	1	1	93.3%	19	3.3%	39	3.3%	41
DeAndre Washington	OAK	44	41	2	1	93.2%	20	4.5%	37	2.3%	46
Player	Team	Targets	Backfield	Slot	Wide	Backfield%	Rk	Slot%	Rk	Wide%	Rk
Damien Williams	MIA	28	26	2	0	92.9%	21	7.1%	27	0.0%	51
Melvin Gordon	LAC	82	76	1	5	92.7%	22	1.2%	49	6.1%	24
Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	38	35	1	2	92.1%	23	2.6%	43	5.3%	28
Kenyan Drake	MIA	49	45	0	4	91.8%	24	0.0%	50	8.2%	20
Jerick McKinnon	MIN	69	63	3	3	91.3%	25	4.3%	38	4.3%	35
Jamaal Williams	GB	34	31	0	3	91.2%	26	0.0%	50	8.8%	17
Bilal Powell	NYJ	33	30	1	2	90.9%	27	3.0%	41	6.1%	25
Charcandrick West	KC	32	29	2	1	90.6%	28	6.3%	31	3.1%	42
Giovani Bernard	CIN	59	53	3	3	89.8%	29	5.1%	36	5.1%	31
Lamar Miller	HOU	45	40	3	2	88.9%	30	6.7%	30	4.4%	34
Joe Mixon	CIN	34	30	4	0	88.2%	31	11.8%	15	0.0%	51
Dion Lewis	NE	34	30	0	4	88.2%	31	0.0%	50	11.8%	11
Marlon Mack	IND	32	28	1	3	87.5%	33	3.1%	40	9.4%	15
Devonta Freeman	ATL	46	40	5	1	87.0%	34	10.9%	19	2.2%	47
Kyle Juszczyk	SF	38	33	3	2	86.8%	35	7.9%	25	5.3%	28
Jamaal Charles	DEN	28	24	4	0	85.7%	36	14.3%	11	0.0%	51
Chris Thompson	WAS	54	46	5	3	85.2%	37	9.3%	22	5.6%	27
Carlos Hyde	SF	87	74	6	7	85.1%	38	6.9%	29	8.0%	21
Theo Riddick	DET	71	60	8	3	84.5%	39	11.3%	16	4.2%	37
Devontae Booker	DEN	38	32	2	4	84.2%	40	5.3%	35	10.5%	14
Player	Team	Targets	Backfield	Slot	Wide	Backfield%	Rk	Slot%	Rk	Wide%	Rk
Jalen Richard	OAK	35	29	5	1	82.9%	41	14.3%	11	2.9%	43
DeMarco Murray	TEN	46	38	6	2	82.6%	42	13.0%	14	4.3%	35
Ameer Abdullah	DET	34	28	3	3	82.4%	43	8.8%	23	8.8%	17
LeSean McCoy	BUF	77	62	12	3	80.5%	44	15.6%	10	3.9%	39
Duke Johnson	CLE	94	75	17	2	79.8%	45	18.1%	6	2.1%	48
Le'Veon Bell	PIT	104	82	17	5	78.8%	46	16.3%	9	4.8%	33
Matt Breida	SF	37	29	4	4	78.4%	47	10.8%	20	10.8%	13
Matt Forte	NYJ	45	35	5	5	77.8%	48	11.1%	17	11.1%	12
Ty Montgomery	GB	29	22	5	2	75.9%	49	17.2%	7	6.9%	22
James White	NE	70	53	5	12	75.7%	50	7.1%	27	17.1%	8
Andre Ellington	2TM	58	43	10	5	74.1%	51	17.2%	7	8.6%	19
Elijah McGuire	NYJ	26	19	2	5	73.1%	52	7.7%	26	19.2%	5
Tevin Coleman	ATL	38	27	4	7	71.1%	53	10.5%	21	18.4%	7
Rex Burkhead	NE	37	26	2	9	70.3%	54	5.4%	34	24.3%	3
Austin Ekeler	LAC	36	25	4	7	69.4%	55	11.1%	17	19.4%	4
Christian McCaffrey	CAR	110	72	24	14	65.5%	56	21.8%	5	12.7%	10
Alvin Kamara	NO	98	64	25	9	65.3%	57	25.5%	4	9.2%	16
Charles Sims	TB	47	30	4	13	63.8%	58	8.5%	24	27.7%	2
Danny Woodhead	BAL	38	22	14	2	57.9%	59	36.8%	1	5.3%	28
J.D. McKissic	SEA	45	23	6	16	51.1%	60	13.3%	13	35.6%	1
D.J. Foster	ARI	26	13	8	5	50.0%	61	30.8%	3	19.2%	5
Tarik Cohen	CHI	67	33	23	11	49.3%	62	34.3%	2	16.4%	9
Minimum 25 targets.

The Rigid: Giants and Jaguars

There were 11 running backs with at least 95.0 percent of their targets coming out of the backfield. Six of those players (three for each team) played for the Jaguars and Giants. Jacksonville may not see any noticeable changes this year with Leonard Fournette and T.J. Yeldon still there as the primary backs, but enter Penn State rookie Saquon Barkley in New York. Barkley's receiving ability has been one of the selling points on why the Giants drafted him No. 2 overall when there were more logical options available. This is going to be on new head coach Pat Shurmur to get Barkley involved in ways that Ben McAdoo just wasn't willing to try with Shane Vereen, Orleans Darkwa, and Wayne Gallman last season. It is also worth noting that the Giants have never had a running back with 60 receptions in a season during the whole Eli Manning era. Barkley's usage will be one of the main stories to track with the Giants this year.

The Flexible

Only eight running backs had fewer than 70 percent of their targets come from the backfield. A few of those players (Charles Sims, J.D. McKissic, and D.J. Foster) should see their roles decrease this season after their teams drafted running backs and Arizona gets the versatile David Johnson back. Danny Woodhead retired after his brief stint with the otherwise rigid Ravens.

Rookies Alvin Kamara (25) and Christian McCaffrey (24) led all backs in slot targets last season, but they had much different levels of success in doing so. We compiled a table of every running back with at least seven targets in either the slot or wide last season. There were only 10 such backs for each category.

Best DYAR and DVOA, Slot and Wide, Running Backs, 2017
Player	Team	Slot					Player	Team	Wide
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets
Alvin Kamara	NO	84	1	48.0%	1	25	J.D. McKissic	SEA	61	1	54.1%	3	16
Duke Johnson	CLE	63	2	46.1%	2	17	Alvin Kamara	NO	38	2	55.7%	1	9
Tarik Cohen	CHI	22	3	4.2%	4	23	Austin Ekeler	LAC	27	3	48.0%	4	7
Andre Ellington	2TM	14	4	10.8%	3	10	Tevin Coleman	ATL	24	4	54.8%	2	7
Le'Veon Bell	PIT	12	5	-3.3%	5	17	Rex Burkhead	NE	24	5	28.8%	5	9
LeSean McCoy	BUF	5	6	-5.5%	6	12	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	16	6	5.6%	6	14
Danny Woodhead	BAL	4	7	-8.7%	7	14	Carlos Hyde	SF	7	7	1.9%	7	7
D.J. Foster	ARI	-14	8	-42.8%	9	8	James White	NE	-3	8	-18.0%	8	12
Christian McCaffrey	CAR	-20	9	-28.3%	8	24	Charles Sims	TB	-4	9	-18.8%	9	13
Theo Riddick	DET	-33	10	-77.2%	10	8	Tarik Cohen	CHI	-37	10	-71.2%	10	11
Minimum seven targets either in the slot or out wide.

Kamara had the most DYAR (84) and highest DVOA (48.0%) on slot targets. He also had the best DVOA on wide targets, but was outdone in DYAR by Seattle's J.D. McKissic, who also led the league with 16 wide targets. McKissic played some wide receiver in college at Arkansas State, and he had some opportunities there last year after Seattle could not find a running back to consistently take the field. C.J. Prosise would likely take McKissic's role as a receiving back if he could ever stay healthy, and the team also drafted Rashaad Penny in the first round.

Duke Johnson was quite impressive for the Browns, which is another reason why I never liked the thought of that team drafting Barkley given Johnson's ability as a receiver. McCaffrey's -20 slot DYAR was only above Theo Riddick's -33 DYAR in Detroit, but he did have 16 DYAR on 14 wide targets. It'll be interesting to see if new offensive coordinator Norv Turner gives any modern thought to using C.J. Anderson in the backfield and McCaffrey in the slot or out wide this year.

Your Move, Matt Nagy

The Bears will be one of the most interesting offenses to track this season under rookie head coach Matt Nagy. He comes from the Andy Reid coaching tree, so passes to running backs are definitely in his wheelhouse, but how will the Bears use their trio of backs? We know Jordan Howard has been a poor receiver in his first two years, but Nagy seems to think he can do more in that department. Just don't expect to move Howard into the slot or out wide as his Backfield% was 93.8 percent. Benny Cunningham was one of four backs with a 100 percent Backfield% last season, but that was under the old coaching staff.

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However, even Kareem Hunt (93.7 percent Backfield%) and Charcandrick West (90.6 percent Backfield%) were rarely ever used in the slot or out wide with Nagy in Kansas City last season. Hunt in particular had zero slot targets. We'll have to see what that does to Tarik Cohen's usage after the rookie had 23 slot targets and 11 wide targets last year. The slot worked pretty well for Cohen, but he had the worst DVOA and DYAR on his wide targets. Still, this is a way for the Bears to get Cohen and Howard on the field together. After adding tight end Trey Burton, and wide receivers Taylor Gabriel and rookie Anthony Miller, the Bears may simply have better legitimate receiving weapons to use this year.

The Elite: Todd Gurley and Le'Veon Bell

Last week, Todd Gurley reset the running back market with a four-year, $60 million contract extension with $45 million guaranteed. Le'Veon Bell had recently turned down an offer of $70 million over five years from the Steelers, and has claimed that he wants to be paid like an elite offensive weapon rather than just a running back.

A comparison of Bell to other receivers would not be a favorable one for him. Even just a comparison of Bell to other running backs as receivers does not speak well for his contract demands. Last season, Bell finished 11th in DYAR and 29th in DVOA among receiving backs. When we break the numbers down here, Bell only had 12 DYAR on 17 slot targets and -3.3% DVOA. His five wide targets produced just 35 yards. That's 22 plays a year after Bell had 20 slot or wide targets in 2016. The versatility is nice, but are the Steelers willing to shell out over $17 million per season for 119 receiving yards from unorthodox spots on the field? Never mind that Bell's rushing value only saw him rank 11th in both DVOA and success rate.

Meanwhile, Gurley had an excellent season as a receiver (No. 2 in DYAR and No. 4 in DVOA) despite the fact that 94.1 percent of his targets came from the backfield. He also happened to lead the league with 12.47 YAC per reception, the second-highest figure in a season since 2006 in ESPN's database. Bell's YAC per reception was down to 8.0 last year, and he did not even rank in the top 20 in our YAC+ study for running backs.

Bell will have to play on the franchise tag in what could very well be his final season in Pittsburgh. Someone may break the bank for him next offseason and outdo the Gurley contract, because he is an excellent combo back (rushing and receiving). But based on all the numbers we have, there's nothing to suggest that Bell is playing the position in a way that no one else can compare to. We're more inclined to save that talk for Rob Gronkowski when looking at the tight ends -- which we'll do now.

2017 Tight Ends

We'll start with a breakdown of success on passes to tight ends in 2017. We did not include plays where the tight end lined up as a running back, but we'll highlight that Indianapolis' Jack Doyle led the league for the second year in a row with nine such targets after six in 2016.

In-line tight end: 1,895 targets, 794 DYAR, -1.0% DVOA, 7.0 aDOT.
Slot: 1,383 targets, 1,029 DYAR, 4.5% DVOA, 9.3 aDOT.
Wide: 245 targets, -10 DYAR, -7.8% DVOA, 9.6 aDOT.

Again, we only have two seasons of this data, and last year was one where an abnormal amount of starting quarterbacks went down. With that said, the success on moving tight ends around really changed from 2016, when DVOA was 1.4% for both slot and wide targets. It increased to 4.5% in the slot in 2017, but fell sharply to -7.8% on wide targets, which also increased a bit in quantity (from 195 to 245).

The following is a large table with 51 tight ends with at least 25 targets. We included the breakdown of their targets as an in-line tight end, in the slot, and out wide. The tight ends are ordered by descending Move%, which is the percentage of total targets that were slot or wide. All 51 tight ends had at least one slot target, though Rhett Ellison was the bottom man with just one. Seven players had zero wide targets, including both returning Houston tight ends (Stephen Anderson and Ryan Griffin). Players needed at least 20 targets for in-line and 10 targets for slot to be ranked for DYAR and DOVA. There just aren't enough wide targets among tight ends to include rankings for DYAR and DVOA. Only seven tight ends had at least 10 wide targets: Jimmy Graham (26), Travis Kelce (20), Evan Engram (17), Rob Gronkowski (16), Julius Thomas (16), Jared Cook (12), and David Njoku (10). Gronkowski easily led the way with 61 DYAR, but consider that he had a league-low -41 DYAR on nine wide targets in 2016.

Tight Ends, Slot vs. Wide, 2017
Player	Team	In-Line					Slot					Wide			Move%	Rk
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	DVOA	Targets	Move%	Rk
Antonio Gates	LAC	-22	--	-36.5%	--	10	42	15	9.9%	14	41	--	--	0	80.4%	1
Jordan Reed	WAS	-12	--	-29.1%	--	8	-5	31	-11.1%	29	21	10	17.3%	6	77.1%	2
Coby Fleener	NO	15	--	25.1%	--	7	92	4	58.0%	2	23	--	--	0	76.7%	3
Trey Burton	PHI	9	--	8.3%	--	8	56	10	35.3%	6	21	20	133.3%	2	74.2%	4
Travis Kelce	KC	66	6	24.7%	6	31	149	2	25.9%	10	68	-1	-8.3%	20	73.9%	5
Jared Cook	OAK	-13	29	-15.0%	32	24	48	13	7.2%	17	52	18	16.8%	12	72.7%	6
Jimmy Graham	SEA	-24	34	-19.7%	35	29	30	17	3.7%	21	41	11	-2.2%	26	69.8%	7
Cameron Brate	TB	27	13	10.2%	10	24	108	3	30.8%	8	46	17	33.9%	6	68.4%	8
Jason Witten	DAL	55	10	22.2%	8	28	4	24	-6.1%	24	57	-7	-92.9%	1	67.4%	9
Greg Olsen	CAR	-12	--	-20.0%	--	13	-26	37	-23.5%	37	25	-5	-94.3%	1	66.7%	10
Zach Miller	CHI	15	--	12.9%	--	12	10	22	0.9%	22	22	-1	-34.3%	1	65.7%	11
A.J. Derby	2TM	-48	--	-58.4%	--	15	0	27	-7.2%	27	21	-21	-108.9%	3	61.5%	12
Lance Kendricks	GB	28	--	23.1%	--	13	-15	34	-20.7%	35	17	-13	-88.2%	2	59.4%	13
Demetrius Harris	KC	-13	--	-20.6%	--	14	-3	28	-9.7%	28	18	-11	-100.3%	2	58.8%	14
Austin Seferian-Jenkins	NYJ	-21	33	-17.0%	33	32	-28	38	-19.1%	34	39	-22	-56.7%	5	57.9%	15
Martellus Bennett	2TM	7	--	-1.9%	--	19	-14	33	-16.4%	33	23	12	55.8%	3	57.8%	16
Eric Ebron	DET	7	23	-4.2%	23	37	1	25	-6.6%	26	40	41	55.1%	9	57.0%	17
Rob Gronkowski	NE	97	3	26.1%	5	47	177	1	54.5%	3	45	61	43.5%	16	56.5%	18
Julius Thomas	MIA	8	22	-3.0%	21	28	16	21	7.7%	15	18	-54	-51.9%	16	54.8%	19
Delanie Walker	TEN	50	11	7.9%	13	49	-17	35	-12.0%	30	56	-18	-81.7%	3	54.6%	20
Player	Team	In-Line					Slot					Wide			Move%	Rk
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	DVOA	Targets	Move%	Rk
Hunter Henry	LAC	75	5	31.4%	3	29	79	6	31.5%	7	32	7	57.9%	2	54.0%	21
Tyler Kroft	CIN	0	24	-7.0%	24	27	21	19	4.9%	19	27	24	120.1%	3	52.6%	22
Jack Doyle	IND	-19	32	-13.8%	29	47	32	16	3.7%	20	47	-10	-40.1%	4	52.0%	23
Zach Ertz	PHI	107	2	23.0%	7	53	49	12	7.4%	16	53	-1	-11.6%	4	51.8%	24
Ed Dickson	CAR	60	8	31.0%	4	22	20	20	10.4%	13	19	-8	-39.1%	3	50.0%	26
Gerald Everett	LAR	-46	--	-54.9%	--	16	1	26	-6.6%	25	13	26	100.0%	3	50.0%	25
Seth DeValve	CLE	16	17	2.5%	16	29	-52	40	-44.2%	40	23	22	64.5%	4	48.2%	27
George Kittle	SF	22	15	2.1%	17	33	46	14	19.6%	12	28	-4	-86.4%	1	46.8%	28
Austin Hooper	ATL	13	20	-1.9%	20	37	58	8	23.6%	11	28	--	--	0	43.1%	29
Evan Engram	NYG	14	19	-4.1%	22	68	-41	39	-28.4%	38	29	5	-3.3%	17	40.4%	30
David Njoku	CLE	40	12	9.4%	11	38	5	23	-2.1%	23	14	-49	-82.1%	10	38.7%	31
Garrett Celek	SF	15	18	3.5%	15	20	83	5	116.6%	1	10	-6	-51.7%	2	37.5%	33
Darren Fells	DET	7	--	-0.1%	--	15	29	--	48.3%	--	8	7	126.2%	1	37.5%	32
Vernon Davis	WAS	-5	26	-9.0%	27	43	72	7	49.6%	4	20	-10	-44.4%	5	36.8%	34
Ricky Seals-Jones	ARI	-2	--	-9.2%	--	17	8	--	14.1%	--	6	10	43.1%	3	34.6%	35
Nick Boyle	BAL	-31	37	-26.5%	37	21	24	--	48.5%	--	7	-30	-113.4%	4	34.4%	36
Benjamin Watson	BAL	-24	35	-14.2%	30	52	23	18	6.5%	18	27	--	--	0	34.2%	37
Tyler Higbee	LAR	-1	25	-7.6%	25	30	-5	30	-13.6%	32	11	-5	-34.5%	3	31.8%	38
Kyle Rudolph	MIN	62	7	9.3%	12	55	49	11	26.9%	9	22	-11	-80.7%	2	30.4%	39
Marcedes Lewis	JAX	26	14	3.8%	14	34	-18	36	-36.9%	39	11	15	50.8%	3	29.2%	40
Player	Team	In-Line					Slot					Wide			Move%	Rk
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	DVOA	Targets	Move%	Rk
Dion Sims	CHI	9	21	0.5%	18	20	-10	--	-26.7%	--	7	-7	-129.6%	1	28.6%	41
Charles Clay	BUF	-36	38	-17.6%	34	54	58	9	39.8%	5	18	0	-6.9%	3	28.0%	42
Stephen Anderson	HOU	-18	30	-14.3%	31	40	-4	29	-12.9%	31	14	--	--	0	25.9%	43
Jesse James	PIT	-5	27	-9.0%	26	48	-13	32	-21.0%	36	14	-4	-159.6%	1	23.8%	44
Jonnu Smith	TEN	-26	36	-28.0%	38	20	-7	--	-39.5%	--	3	-12	-70.1%	3	23.1%	46
O.J. Howard	TB	108	1	45.8%	1	30	-15	--	-39.7%	--	8	8	141.1%	1	23.1%	45
Brent Celek	PHI	-7	28	-12.6%	28	20	-7	--	-27.0%	--	5	--	--	0	20.0%	47
Nick O'Leary	BUF	78	4	40.7%	2	26	0	--	-9.0%	--	5	-5	-102.9%	1	18.8%	48
Jermaine Gresham	ARI	17	16	-0.3%	19	39	-11	--	-27.6%	--	7	16	192.7%	1	17.0%	49
Ryan Griffin	HOU	-19	31	-22.6%	36	20	12	--	156.3%	--	2	--	--	0	9.1%	50
Rhett Ellison	NYG	59	9	20.7%	9	30	3	--	32.4%	--	1	-6	-103.8%	1	6.3%	51
Minimum 25 targets.

Gronk and the Gang

Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, and Hunter Henry were the only tight ends to rank in the top 10 in DYAR both in-line and in the slot. The Chargers are already down Henry in 2018 after he tore his ACL in May. Gronkowski (177) and Kelce (149) easily led the way in slot DYAR too last year, as no tight end but Kelce can really compare to Gronkowski right now. Tampa Bay rookie O.J. Howard actually led the league in in-line DYAR and DVOA thanks to some huge plays with blown coverage, but we'll have to see more from him this year in an offense that still features Cameron Brate, the third tight end to top 100 DYAR from the slot last year.

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Cleveland's Seth DeValve had the worst slot DYAR (-52) and DVOA (-44.2%); the Browns really need to unleash second-year player David Njoku this season. Evan Engram also struggled as a rookie in the slot last year, but fared better in-line where he can afford to be more often this season with Odell Beckham Jr. back in the offense.

Antonio Gates led the way in Move% at 80.4 percent, but he remains unsigned. He could be an option for the Chargers to replace Henry. Coby Fleener is also a free agent with plenty of move experience, but concussions have held him back. The Saints released him in May. By Move%, Trey Burton and Jimmy Graham should fit in well in their NFC North digs with the Bears and Packers. Those can be big upgrades over Zach Miller and Lance Kendricks.

In-line vs. Slot

There were 20 tight ends with at least 20 in-line targets and 20 slot targets. Our last table shows just those players ranked by their difference in DVOA from in-line to slot. The other rankings for DYAR and DVOA are updated to reflect just these 20 players.

Tight Ends, In-Line vs. Slot, 2017
Player	Team	In-Line					Slot					IN-S Dif	Rk
Player	Team	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	DYAR	Rk	DVOA	Rk	Targets	IN-S Dif	Rk
Vernon Davis	WAS	-5	15	-9.0%	15	43	72	5	49.6%	2	20	58.7%	1
Rob Gronkowski	NE	97	2	26.1%	2	47	177	1	54.5%	1	45	28.3%	2
Austin Hooper	ATL	13	12	-1.9%	11	37	58	6	23.6%	7	28	25.5%	3
Jimmy Graham	SEA	-24	19	-19.7%	20	29	30	12	3.7%	14	41	23.4%	4
Jared Cook	OAK	-13	16	-15.0%	18	24	48	9	7.2%	10	52	22.2%	5
Benjamin Watson	BAL	-24	20	-14.2%	17	52	23	13	6.5%	11	27	20.7%	6
Cameron Brate	TB	27	8	10.2%	6	24	108	3	30.8%	4	46	20.6%	7
Kyle Rudolph	MIN	62	5	9.3%	7	55	49	7	26.9%	5	22	17.6%	8
George Kittle	SF	22	9	2.1%	10	33	46	10	19.6%	8	28	17.6%	9
Jack Doyle	IND	-19	17	-13.8%	16	47	32	11	3.7%	13	47	17.5%	10
Tyler Kroft	CIN	0	14	-7.0%	14	27	21	14	4.9%	12	27	11.9%	11
Travis Kelce	KC	66	4	24.7%	3	31	149	2	25.9%	6	68	1.2%	12
Hunter Henry	LAC	75	3	31.4%	1	29	79	4	31.5%	3	32	0.0%	13
Austin Seferian-Jenkins	NYJ	-21	18	-17.0%	19	32	-28	18	-19.1%	18	39	-2.1%	14
Eric Ebron	DET	7	13	-4.2%	13	37	1	16	-6.6%	16	40	-2.5%	15
Zach Ertz	PHI	107	1	23.0%	4	53	49	8	7.4%	9	53	-15.6%	16
Delanie Walker	TEN	50	7	7.9%	8	49	-17	17	-12.0%	17	56	-19.8%	17
Evan Engram	NYG	14	11	-4.1%	12	68	-41	19	-28.4%	19	29	-24.3%	18
Jason Witten	DAL	55	6	22.2%	5	28	4	15	-6.1%	15	57	-28.3%	19
Seth DeValve	CLE	16	10	2.5%	9	29	-52	20	-44.2%	20	23	-46.7%	20
Minimum 20 targets from both positions.

There was some good consistency from 2016 at the extremes for this table. For the second year in a row, Jimmy Graham's DVOA increased by more than 20 percentage points in the slot. He should do really well with Aaron Rodgers this year. In 2016, Vernon Davis had the second-largest DVOA increase in the slot (+28.4%), and he more than doubled that in 2017 with an increase of 58.7 percentage points. The Redskins still have Jordan Reed, but Davis should be a familiar face and viable target for new quarterback Alex Smith. Davis' slot DVOA was higher than all of these players except for Gronkowski, who also finished second in wide DVOA.

Finally, Jason Witten's last season saw him have the second-biggest drop in DVOA when going to the slot (-28.3%). We just wrote last summer that Witten was better suited for a traditional tight end role after he had the biggest drop in the slot in 2016. It's not helpful that Dallas used him even more in the slot in 2017, producing a split of 57 slot targets with -6.1% DVOA and just 28 in-line targets with 22.2% DVOA. Dez Bryant is somewhere nodding (or tweeting) in agreement about that poor Dallas play calling.

After the Hall of Fame weekend, we'll conclude with a look at defenses broken down by wide and slot targets.

Comments

5 comments, Last at 02 Aug 2018, 8:59pm

#1 by Aaron Brooks G… // Jul 30, 2018 - 1:21pm

Look at Detroit, sneakily with two TEs who were positive in DYAR in all three positions.

#2 by LionInAZ // Jul 31, 2018 - 4:39pm

And yet combined, they put up less than 1/3 as many DYAR as Gronkowski...

#3 by LionInAZ // Jul 31, 2018 - 4:45pm

The results suggest there's not much value in lining up RBs outside the backfield, unless it's Alvin Kamara. Only a handful of backs managed to produce positive DYAR or DVOA. Not sure what it means, except that Kamara is a unique talent.