Lord Lucan
Footballguy
Anyone who is a regular on here will know that from time to time someone will ask a question about a WR match-up with a CB. Of course, in the media, this is overblown and misunderstood; invariably reporters will speculate about the "match-up" between one team's star WR and the opposition's top CB without actually working out which side each tends to line up on (not to mention zone defenses).
However, a little knowledge CAN be helpful on occasions in this context. For instance, I've lost count of the number of times it's been asked on here who Champ Bailey would be covering (the usual answer being that he lines up on the left side, from the defense point of view), but that would have been really important knowledge to consider a couple of years ago, for instance, when Manning focussed on Wayne's match-up with Darrent Williams rather than Harrison's vs Champ, with the result that Wayne had a tremendous day whereas Harrison had a quiet one.
That was an outcome that should have been predictable, because the Colts are one team that does have an offensive pattern in terms of which WR lines up on which side (or rather they did when Marvin was healthy) - Wayne is on the left side much more often and Harrison on the right. Not all offenses are like that of course, most have every WR lining up on different sides for different plays, and you can't predict all match-ups as a result.
However, I thought the shark pool might be interested in some research I did towards the end of last season; I originally did it for betting purposes but it might be of interest to some people who like playing match-ups. If the formatting comes out ok, the table below should show the player's name (mostly WRs but I've thrown a few TEs in there too), and the number of catches made on the left side, right side and over the middle, followed by the percentages in each case. The theory is that it tends to be more set in stone for many teams as to which side CBs cover, so this table should help us work out which WR is likely to line up against which CB most. If you think this sort of info is irrelevant, go ask any long-suffering Saints fan who was forced to endure the WR lining up on the left side running rings round Jason David last year.
Of course, the info below is likely to prove out of date this year, but I can update it 1 or 2 weeks into the season if there is enough interest.
left right middle %left %right %middle
K Curtis 57 18 2 74.0 23.4 2.6
R Williams (Ten) 40 14 1 72.7 25.5 1.8
R Parrish 24 8 3 68.6 22.9 8.6
L Evans 36 18 1 65.5 32.7 1.8
R Wayne 68 34 2 65.4 32.7 1.9
I Bruce 22 8 5 62.9 22.9 14.3
L Fitzgerald 62 32 6 62.0 32.0 6.0
A Johnson 37 14 9 61.7 23.3 15.0
D Stallworth 28 15 3 60.9 32.6 6.5
R Williams (Det) 38 23 2 60.3 36.5 3.2
B Edwards 48 27 5 60.0 33.8 6.3
C Cooley 39 22 5 59.1 33.3 7.6
L Coles 32 18 5 58.2 32.7 9.1
J Porter 25 15 4 56.8 34.1 9.1
S McDonald 44 28 7 55.7 35.4 8.9
J Galloway 30 21 6 52.6 36.8 10.5
N Burleson 26 19 5 52.0 38.0 10.0
C Chambers 18 11 6 51.4 31.4 17.1
D Jackson 23 21 2 50.0 45.7 4.3
B Stokley 20 17 3 50.0 42.5 7.5
R White 41 37 5 49.4 44.6 6.0
M Colston 48 34 16 49.0 34.7 16.3
K Winslow 40 31 11 48.8 37.8 13.4
D Bowe 34 29 7 48.6 41.4 10.0
A Battle 24 21 5 48.0 42.0 10.0
A Gates 36 25 14 48.0 33.3 18.7
A Boldin 34 26 11 47.9 36.6 15.5
D Mason 49 44 10 47.6 42.7 9.7
S Smith (Car) 41 41 5 47.1 47.1 5.7
B Marshall 48 51 3 47.1 50.0 2.9
J Cotchery 38 37 7 46.3 45.1 8.5
V Jackson 19 21 1 46.3 51.2 2.4
D Patten 25 24 5 46.3 44.4 9.3
T Holt 43 44 6 46.2 47.3 6.5
A Randle El 24 21 7 46.2 40.4 13.5
S Holmes 24 27 1 46.2 51.9 1.9
M Booker 23 23 4 46.0 46.0 8.0
B Berrian 32 37 2 45.1 52.1 2.8
D Carter 17 14 7 44.7 36.8 18.4
T Ginn 15 17 2 44.1 50.0 5.9
J Jurevicius 22 21 7 44.0 42.0 14.0
DJ Hackett 14 16 2 43.8 50.0 6.3
H Ward 31 27 13 43.7 38.0 18.3
B Johnson 20 25 1 43.5 54.3 2.2
T Gonzalez 43 42 14 43.4 42.4 14.1
O Daniels 23 20 10 43.4 37.7 18.9
J Reed 22 24 5 43.1 47.1 9.8
C Johnson (Cin) 40 50 3 43.0 53.8 3.2
J Shockey 24 25 8 42.1 43.9 14.0
R Williams (Jax) 16 18 4 42.1 47.4 10.5
I Hilliard 26 24 12 41.9 38.7 19.4
P Burress 29 34 7 41.4 48.6 10.0
D Clark 24 24 10 41.4 41.4 17.2
D Northcutt 18 19 7 40.9 43.2 15.9
T Owens 33 39 9 40.7 48.1 11.1
TJ Houshmandzadeh 45 54 13 40.2 48.2 11.6
M Muhammad 16 22 2 40.0 55.0 5.0
G Jennings 21 26 6 39.6 49.1 11.3
W Welker 44 55 13 39.3 49.1 11.6
R Curry 21 29 5 38.2 52.7 9.1
A Toomer 22 30 7 37.3 50.8 11.9
R Moss 35 58 5 35.7 59.2 5.1
K Walter 22 32 11 33.8 49.2 16.9
S Moss 20 39 2 32.8 63.9 3.3
J Witten 30 48 18 31.3 50.0 18.8
C Johnson (Det) 15 29 4 31.3 60.4 8.3
E Wilford 14 26 5 31.1 57.8 11.1
B Wade 16 31 7 29.6 57.4 13.0
M Jenkins 15 21 17 28.3 39.6 32.1
D Driver 23 39 20 28.0 47.6 24.4
J Gage 15 34 6 27.3 61.8 10.9
M Clayton 13 33 2 27.1 68.8 4.2
P Crayton 13 30 7 26.0 60.0 14.0
J Jones (GB) 12 33 2 25.5 70.2 4.3
S Rice 7 22 2 22.6 71.0 6.5
R Brown 13 42 6 21.3 68.9 9.8
B Engram 19 61 14 20.2 64.9 14.9
D Branch 9 38 2 18.4 77.6 4.1
A Gonzales 6 26 5 16.2 70.3 13.5
M Harrison 3 16 1 15.0 80.0 5.0
However, a little knowledge CAN be helpful on occasions in this context. For instance, I've lost count of the number of times it's been asked on here who Champ Bailey would be covering (the usual answer being that he lines up on the left side, from the defense point of view), but that would have been really important knowledge to consider a couple of years ago, for instance, when Manning focussed on Wayne's match-up with Darrent Williams rather than Harrison's vs Champ, with the result that Wayne had a tremendous day whereas Harrison had a quiet one.
That was an outcome that should have been predictable, because the Colts are one team that does have an offensive pattern in terms of which WR lines up on which side (or rather they did when Marvin was healthy) - Wayne is on the left side much more often and Harrison on the right. Not all offenses are like that of course, most have every WR lining up on different sides for different plays, and you can't predict all match-ups as a result.
However, I thought the shark pool might be interested in some research I did towards the end of last season; I originally did it for betting purposes but it might be of interest to some people who like playing match-ups. If the formatting comes out ok, the table below should show the player's name (mostly WRs but I've thrown a few TEs in there too), and the number of catches made on the left side, right side and over the middle, followed by the percentages in each case. The theory is that it tends to be more set in stone for many teams as to which side CBs cover, so this table should help us work out which WR is likely to line up against which CB most. If you think this sort of info is irrelevant, go ask any long-suffering Saints fan who was forced to endure the WR lining up on the left side running rings round Jason David last year.
Of course, the info below is likely to prove out of date this year, but I can update it 1 or 2 weeks into the season if there is enough interest.
left right middle %left %right %middle
K Curtis 57 18 2 74.0 23.4 2.6
R Williams (Ten) 40 14 1 72.7 25.5 1.8
R Parrish 24 8 3 68.6 22.9 8.6
L Evans 36 18 1 65.5 32.7 1.8
R Wayne 68 34 2 65.4 32.7 1.9
I Bruce 22 8 5 62.9 22.9 14.3
L Fitzgerald 62 32 6 62.0 32.0 6.0
A Johnson 37 14 9 61.7 23.3 15.0
D Stallworth 28 15 3 60.9 32.6 6.5
R Williams (Det) 38 23 2 60.3 36.5 3.2
B Edwards 48 27 5 60.0 33.8 6.3
C Cooley 39 22 5 59.1 33.3 7.6
L Coles 32 18 5 58.2 32.7 9.1
J Porter 25 15 4 56.8 34.1 9.1
S McDonald 44 28 7 55.7 35.4 8.9
J Galloway 30 21 6 52.6 36.8 10.5
N Burleson 26 19 5 52.0 38.0 10.0
C Chambers 18 11 6 51.4 31.4 17.1
D Jackson 23 21 2 50.0 45.7 4.3
B Stokley 20 17 3 50.0 42.5 7.5
R White 41 37 5 49.4 44.6 6.0
M Colston 48 34 16 49.0 34.7 16.3
K Winslow 40 31 11 48.8 37.8 13.4
D Bowe 34 29 7 48.6 41.4 10.0
A Battle 24 21 5 48.0 42.0 10.0
A Gates 36 25 14 48.0 33.3 18.7
A Boldin 34 26 11 47.9 36.6 15.5
D Mason 49 44 10 47.6 42.7 9.7
S Smith (Car) 41 41 5 47.1 47.1 5.7
B Marshall 48 51 3 47.1 50.0 2.9
J Cotchery 38 37 7 46.3 45.1 8.5
V Jackson 19 21 1 46.3 51.2 2.4
D Patten 25 24 5 46.3 44.4 9.3
T Holt 43 44 6 46.2 47.3 6.5
A Randle El 24 21 7 46.2 40.4 13.5
S Holmes 24 27 1 46.2 51.9 1.9
M Booker 23 23 4 46.0 46.0 8.0
B Berrian 32 37 2 45.1 52.1 2.8
D Carter 17 14 7 44.7 36.8 18.4
T Ginn 15 17 2 44.1 50.0 5.9
J Jurevicius 22 21 7 44.0 42.0 14.0
DJ Hackett 14 16 2 43.8 50.0 6.3
H Ward 31 27 13 43.7 38.0 18.3
B Johnson 20 25 1 43.5 54.3 2.2
T Gonzalez 43 42 14 43.4 42.4 14.1
O Daniels 23 20 10 43.4 37.7 18.9
J Reed 22 24 5 43.1 47.1 9.8
C Johnson (Cin) 40 50 3 43.0 53.8 3.2
J Shockey 24 25 8 42.1 43.9 14.0
R Williams (Jax) 16 18 4 42.1 47.4 10.5
I Hilliard 26 24 12 41.9 38.7 19.4
P Burress 29 34 7 41.4 48.6 10.0
D Clark 24 24 10 41.4 41.4 17.2
D Northcutt 18 19 7 40.9 43.2 15.9
T Owens 33 39 9 40.7 48.1 11.1
TJ Houshmandzadeh 45 54 13 40.2 48.2 11.6
M Muhammad 16 22 2 40.0 55.0 5.0
G Jennings 21 26 6 39.6 49.1 11.3
W Welker 44 55 13 39.3 49.1 11.6
R Curry 21 29 5 38.2 52.7 9.1
A Toomer 22 30 7 37.3 50.8 11.9
R Moss 35 58 5 35.7 59.2 5.1
K Walter 22 32 11 33.8 49.2 16.9
S Moss 20 39 2 32.8 63.9 3.3
J Witten 30 48 18 31.3 50.0 18.8
C Johnson (Det) 15 29 4 31.3 60.4 8.3
E Wilford 14 26 5 31.1 57.8 11.1
B Wade 16 31 7 29.6 57.4 13.0
M Jenkins 15 21 17 28.3 39.6 32.1
D Driver 23 39 20 28.0 47.6 24.4
J Gage 15 34 6 27.3 61.8 10.9
M Clayton 13 33 2 27.1 68.8 4.2
P Crayton 13 30 7 26.0 60.0 14.0
J Jones (GB) 12 33 2 25.5 70.2 4.3
S Rice 7 22 2 22.6 71.0 6.5
R Brown 13 42 6 21.3 68.9 9.8
B Engram 19 61 14 20.2 64.9 14.9
D Branch 9 38 2 18.4 77.6 4.1
A Gonzales 6 26 5 16.2 70.3 13.5
M Harrison 3 16 1 15.0 80.0 5.0
