Old players get yards, young players catch tds (1 Viewer)

[Ryan99]

This is as of week 12, after the Thanksgiving games but before the rest of the games (I apologize, but it's black Friday morning and I'm at home, bored).

Top players by receiving yards:

Calvin Johnson

Andre Johnson

Reggie Wayne

Wes Welker

Roddy White

By receptions:

Jason Witten

Welker

Wayne

Calvin Johnson

Andre Johnson

By targets:

Wayne

Calvin Johnson

Welker

Witten

Andre Johnson

By receiving TDs:

Gronkowski (10)

AJ Green (10)

Brandon Marshall (8)

James Jones (8)

Jimmy Graham (8)

Eric Decker (8)

No player with fewer than 5 full seasons experience is in the top 5 for rec yards / recs / targets, and every one of them is an established star receiver. Among the top 6 TD catchers only Marshall and James Jones have more than 2 full years experience, and of the two only Marshall is an established big time player. Is this coincidence?

In 2011 the top TD catchers were Gronk, Calvin Johnson, Jordy Nelson, Laurent Robinson and Graham. With the exception of CJ, all were young or not heavily used previously. The top players for receiving yards were CJ, Welker, Cruz, Fitzgerald and Steve Smith. Only one player was not an older, established star receiver.

If who gets TDs is just random, than you'd expect the guys with the most targets / receptions to lead the way, yet that doesn't seem to be the case. There does seem to be a trend to use young or lesser known players as the primary red zone target. Is this purposely built into the game plan as a form of deception, or a result of the bigger name receivers receiving more attention around the goal line?

 

[Leroy Hoard]

If who gets TDs is just random, than you'd expect the guys with the most targets / receptions to lead the way, yet that doesn't seem to be the case. There does seem to be a trend to use young or lesser known players as the primary red zone target. Is this purposely built into the game plan as a form of deception, or a result of the bigger name receivers receiving more attention around the goal line?

Very interesting take and you provided stats to back it. I'm thinking it is the redzone blanket that guys like Calvin get that makes coaches draw up plays for the backup TE or FB (who sometimes is a recent draft pick).I play in a TD heavy league and I will remember this stuff going forward.

 

[glumpy]

Nice analysis! I think your outlier here is James Jones--he's been getting more looks than usual with Jordy and Jennings out, and I expect that to change.

 

[FUBAR]

This is as of week 12, after the Thanksgiving games but before the rest of the games (I apologize, but it's black Friday morning and I'm at home, bored).Top players by receiving yards:Calvin JohnsonAndre JohnsonReggie WayneWes WelkerRoddy WhiteBy receptions:Jason WittenWelkerWayneCalvin JohnsonAndre JohnsonBy targets:WayneCalvin JohnsonWelkerWittenAndre JohnsonBy receiving TDs:Gronkowski (10)AJ Green (10)Brandon Marshall (8)James Jones (8)Jimmy Graham (8)Eric Decker (8)No player with fewer than 5 full seasons experience is in the top 5 for rec yards / recs / targets, and every one of them is an established star receiver. Among the top 6 TD catchers only Marshall and James Jones have more than 2 full years experience, and of the two only Marshall is an established big time player. Is this coincidence?In 2011 the top TD catchers were Gronk, Calvin Johnson, Jordy Nelson, Laurent Robinson and Graham. With the exception of CJ, all were young or not heavily used previously. The top players for receiving yards were CJ, Welker, Cruz, Fitzgerald and Steve Smith. Only one player was not an older, established star receiver.If who gets TDs is just random, than you'd expect the guys with the most targets / receptions to lead the way, yet that doesn't seem to be the case. There does seem to be a trend to use young or lesser known players as the primary red zone target. Is this purposely built into the game plan as a form of deception, or a result of the bigger name receivers receiving more attention around the goal line?

Interesting take. A few other things come up just looking at the list. The guys with the most yards, only White and Welker have another star receiver with them, and Welker's pair have missed games. Most TDs - only Green and Marshall are the undisputed top receiver on the team. 4 of these guys are physical freaks, the others have HOF QBs. if you look at the guys with 7 TDs: Cruz, Cobb, Colston, VJax, TSmith, we find that only VJax is the unquestioned top receiver on his team, and there becomes a better mix of established and young players.So, if you want to score TDs, be a young athletic freak with a HOF QB and another star receiver on your team. If you want yardage, be an established player without a top receiver across from you. It may help to have a HOF QB but it isn't a requirement as long as your QB has a good arm. Not exactly earth shattering, but it's worth considering.