Lately I have been looking over an interesting stat that often gets overlooked when researching certain criteria at your WR position. I am going to focus on the WR's that had double digit stats in a category that doesn't often get noticed, when your comparing who to grab in your drafts this summer. I am focusing on catches of twenty plus yards, and who the leaders of this category are. This area of a WR's game is important when determining who may be the better, or more explosive WR in this department, for those extra yardage points. Tiebreaker goes to the WR that caught the least amount of balls to reach their 2008 totals.
- Steve Smith - Rec: 78, Rec of 20+ yards: 23 - since 2007: 32
Steve Smith is one WR who should continue his dominance in the yards department.
- Calvin Johnson - Rec: 78, Rec of 20+ yards: 21 - since 2007: 33
- Greg Jennings - Rec: 80, Rec of 20+ yards: 21 - since 2007: 34
- Larry Fitzgerald - Rec: 96, Rec of 20+ yards: 20 - since 2007: 39
- Andre Johnson - Rec: 115, Rec of 20+ yards: 20 - since 2007: 28
- Roddy White - Rec: 88, Rec of 20+ yards: 18 - since 2007: 37
- Desean Jackson - Rec: 62, Rec of 20+ yards: 17 - Rookie
- Chad Ochocinco - Rec: 53, Rec of 20+ yards: 16 - since 2007: 43
- Vincent Jackson - Rec: 59, Rec of 20+ yards: 16 - since 2007: 26
- Antonio Bryant - Rec: 83, Rec of 20+ yards: 16 - since 2007: 16
- Brandon Marshall -Rec: 104, Rec of 20+ yards: 16 - sice 2007: 29
- Braylon Edwards - Rec: 55, Rec of 20+ yards: 15 - since 2007: 36
- Kevin Walter - Rec: 60, Rec of 20+ yards: 15 - since 2007: 23
- Terrell Owens - Rec: 69, Rec of 20+ yards: 15 - since 2007: 37
- Santana Moss - Rec: 79, Rec of 20+ yards: 15 - since 2007: 26
- Hines Ward - Rec:81, Rec of 20+ yards: 15 - since 2007: 22
- Isaac Bruce - Rec: 61, Rec of 20+ yards: 14 - since 2007: 27
- Randy Moss - Rec: 69, Rec of 20+ yards: 14 - since 2007: 32
- Devery Henderson - Rec: 32, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 21
- Justin Gage - Rec: 34, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 23
- Michael Jenkins - Rec: 53, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 17
- Lee Evans - Rec: 63, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 25
- Donald Driver - Rec: 74, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 27
- Steve Breaston - Rec: 77, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 14
- Reggie Wayne - Rec: 82, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 38
- Wes Welker - Rec: 111, Rec of 20+ yards: 13 - since 2007: 23
- Marques Colston - Rec: 47, Rec of 20+ yards: 12 - since 2007: 26
- Muhsin Muhammad - Rec: 65, Rec of 20+ yards: 12 - since 2007: 20
- Laverneus Coles - Rec: 70, Rec of 20+ yards: 12 - since 2007: 21
- Derrick Mason - Rec: 80, Rec of 20+ yards: 12 - since 2007: 19
- Dwayne Bowe - Rec: 86, Rec of 20+ yards: 12 - since 2007: 25
- Jericho Cotchery - Rec: 71, Rec of 20+ yards: 11 - since 2007: 29
- Santonio Holmes - Rec: 55, Rec of 20+ yards: 10 - since 2007: 25
- Anqaun Boldin - Rec: 89, Rec of 20+ yards: 10 - since 2007: 24
- T.J Houshmanzadeh - Rec: 92, Rec of 20+ yards: 10 - since 2007: 19
Notable players who caught 30 or more balls and didn't make the list are: Lance Moore - 8, Eddie Royal - 8, Anthony Gonzalez - 7, Devin Hester - 9, Roy Williams - 6, Nate Washington -7, Chris Chambers - 4, Tedd Ginn - 7, Mark Clayton - 9, Torry Holt - 9
When you are at a cross-roads in your decision making, take a look back at these players like Chad Ocho Cinco who has been the most explosive WR since 2007. This stat is an underestimated way of finding the players that can give your points a boost in the yards or YAC (yards after the catch) category. As we take a look at the rankings last year, we can clearly see that Steve Smith was the leader in 2008, but if you look at the overall totals since 07, your top 10 rankings would be:
With Carson Palmer back, Chad is back in business as a true playmaker.
- Chad Ocho Cinco - 43
- Larry Fitzgerald - 39
- Reggie Wayne - 38
- Roddy White / Terrell Owens - 37
- Braylon Edwards - 36
- Greg Jennings - 34
- Calvin Johnson - 33
- Steve Smith / Randy Moss - 32
- Jerricho Cothchery - 29
- Andre Johnson - 28
There is alot more to fantasy decision making then a player who goes long all the time, but food for thought never really hurts your research. In this article we can clearly see some names like Cotchery, Edwards and Ocho Cinco need to be considered as legit play-makers when filling your WR core.
