Stefon Diggs, Courtland Sutton, and John Brown Are Making The Most Of It

by Chase Stuart on November 20, 2019

Stefon Diggs currently ranks 6th in the NFL in receiving yards, which is pretty remarkable given that he’s played on the least pass-happy team in the NFL. Minnesota has played 11 games, and ranks 32nd in pass attempts per game and 26th in total pass attempts. Diggs is averaging 2.75 yards for every Vikings pass attempt, the second-best average in the NFL behind Michael Thomas, who is the best receiver in the NFL.

Courtland Sutton is in a similar situation, except unlike Diggs, he is fighting both low volume and poor quarterback play. A second round pick out of SMU last year, Sutton is having his breakout season with a combination of Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen at quarterback. Denver has thrown just 322 passes this season, but Sutton is one of 10 players who have already hit the 800-yard receiving mark. Sutton is averaging 2.50 yards for every Denver pass attempt; perhaps even more impressive is that he’s responsible for 35% of all Broncos receiving yards, 34% of all Denver first downs, and 44% of Broncos receiving touchdowns.

And then there’s John Brown, the breakout star of the Bills. He has 35% of all Bills receiving yards this season and a whopping 40% of all Bills receiving first downs. He is averaging 2.45 receiving yards per Buffalo pass attempt (817 receiving yards, 333 pass attempts).

The graph below shows every player in the NFL this season. The X-Axis shows the number of pass attempts for that team; the Y-Axis shows the number of receiving yards for that play. As you can see, Diggs, Sutton, and Brown really stand out (and next to them are Tyler Lockett at 793 yards on 327 Seahawks pass attempts and DeAndre Hopkins at 745, 333).

The table below shows the top 50 players this season in Receiving Yards per Team Pass Attempt.

Rk	Player	Team	Pos	G	Rec Yds	Tm Att	RY/TPA	% of Tm RecYds
1	Michael Thomas	Saints	WR	10	1141	369	3.09	42%
2	Stefon Diggs	Vikings	WR	11	879	320	2.75	31.9%
3	Courtland Sutton	Broncos	WR	10	805	322	2.50	35.1%
4	John Brown	Bills	WR	10	817	333	2.45	35.5%
5	Mike Evans	Buccaneers	WR	10	993	406	2.45	32.3%
6	Tyler Lockett	Seahawks	WR	10	793	327	2.43	29.2%
7	Amari Cooper	Cowboys	WR	10	886	366	2.42	27.5%
8	Cooper Kupp	Rams	WR	10	846	373	2.27	30.4%
9	DeAndre Hopkins	Texans	WR	10	745	333	2.24	28.6%
10	D.J. Chark	Jaguars	WR	10	796	362	2.20	30%
11	Chris Godwin	Buccaneers	WR	10	887	406	2.18	28.8%
12	Julio Jones	Falcons	WR	10	882	410	2.15	27.6%
13	Darren Waller	Raiders	TE	10	666	313	2.13	26.3%
14	D.J. Moore	Panthers	WR	10	779	374	2.08	31.2%
15	Mark Andrews	Ravens	TE	10	598	293	2.04	26%
16	Jarvis Landry	Browns	WR	10	695	344	2.02	28.7%
17	Kenny Golladay	Lions	WR	10	731	363	2.01	24.6%
18	Travis Kelce	Chiefs	TE	11	833	414	2.01	24%
19	Odell Beckham	Browns	WR	10	692	344	2.01	28.6%
20	Terry McLaurin	Redskins	WR	9	566	294	1.93	28.9%
21	Keenan Allen	Chargers	WR	11	796	417	1.91	25.1%
22	Michael Gallup	Cowboys	WR	8	678	366	1.85	21.1%
23	Allen Robinson	Bears	WR	10	633	346	1.83	31.4%
24	DK Metcalf	Seahawks	WR	10	595	327	1.82	21.9%
25	Marvin Jones	Lions	WR	10	655	363	1.80	22%
26	Jamison Crowder	Jets	WR	10	562	314	1.79	27.8%
27	Zach Ertz	Eagles	TE	10	621	348	1.78	27%
28	Julian Edelman	Patriots	WR	10	716	408	1.75	25.5%
29	George Kittle	49ers	TE	8	541	318	1.70	21.7%
30	DeVante Parker	Dolphins	WR	10	604	362	1.67	26.8%
31	Marquise Brown	Ravens	WR	8	477	293	1.63	20.7%
32	Austin Ekeler	Chargers	RB	11	667	417	1.60	21%
33	Mike Williams	Chargers	WR	10	661	417	1.59	20.8%
34	Davante Adams	Packers	WR	6	537	347	1.55	19.8%
35	JuJu Smith-Schuster	Steelers	WR	10	524	343	1.53	24.5%
36	Robert Woods	Rams	WR	9	566	373	1.52	20.3%
37	A.J. Brown	Titans	WR	10	446	295	1.51	19.1%
38	Larry Fitzgerald	Cardinals	WR	11	593	394	1.51	21.7%
39	Calvin Ridley	Falcons	WR	10	614	410	1.50	19.2%
40	Tyler Boyd	Bengals	WR	10	597	399	1.50	23.6%
41	Deebo Samuel	49ers	WR	9	474	318	1.49	19%
42	Austin Hooper	Falcons	TE	9	608	410	1.48	19%
43	Tyrell Williams	Raiders	WR	8	462	313	1.48	18.3%
44	Chris Conley	Jaguars	WR	10	519	362	1.43	19.5%
45	Dalvin Cook	Vikings	RB	11	455	320	1.42	16.5%
46	Christian McCaffrey	Panthers	RB	10	517	374	1.38	20.7%
47	Randall Cobb	Cowboys	WR	9	495	366	1.35	15.4%
48	Will Fuller	Texans	WR	7	450	333	1.35	17.3%
49	Cole Beasley	Bills	WR	10	449	333	1.35	19.5%
50	Tyreek Hill	Chiefs	WR	7	543	414	1.31	15.7%

What stands out to you?

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