Which Receivers Played On The Most Efficient Passing Offenses?

by Chase Stuart on June 9, 2018

On Thursday, I posted a methodology to determine which wide receivers played on the most pass-happy teams, and yesterday, I posted another method of examining the same concept. Today, we will use the same approach to measure which receivers played in the most efficient passing offenses.

Efficiency is defined using Relative ANY/A, which is Team ANY/A minus League Average ANY/A. Let’s use Jerry Rice as an example. You will not be surprised to see that he generally played on very efficient passing offenses. In 1995, Rice had 1,848 receiving yards, which was 8.1% of his career receiving yardage. The 1995 49ers had a Relative ANY/A of +1.19 which means 8.1% of Rice’s career RANY/A grade is going to have a weight of +1.19. Do this calculation for every season of his career, and you see that Rice had a career RANY/A of +1.57.

The table below shows the career RANY/A grades for all receivers with at least 5,000 receiving yards:

Rk	Receiver	Rec Yd	First Yr	Last Yr	RANY/A	HOF
13	Jerry Rice	22895	1985	2004	1.57	Yes
62	Terrell Owens	15934	1996	2010	0.82	Yes
234	Larry Fitzgerald	15545	2004	2017	-0.21	Likely
34	Randy Moss	15292	1998	2012	1.18	Yes
118	Isaac Bruce	15208	1994	2009	0.38	No
102	Tony Gonzalez	15127	1997	2013	0.52	Likely
112	Tim Brown	14934	1988	2004	0.41	Yes
220	Steve Smith	14731	2001	2016	-0.12	Not El.
16	Marvin Harrison	14580	1996	2008	1.51	Yes
28	Reggie Wayne	14345	2001	2014	1.34	Not El.
169	Andre Johnson	14185	2003	2016	0.14	Not El.
168	James Lofton	14004	1978	1993	0.14	Yes
101	Cris Carter	13899	1987	2002	0.54	Yes
197	Anquan Boldin	13779	2003	2016	0.03	Not El.
145	Henry Ellard	13777	1983	1998	0.24	No
95	Torry Holt	13382	1999	2009	0.56	No
128	Andre Reed	13198	1985	2000	0.34	Yes
151	Steve Largent	13089	1976	1989	0.21	Yes
207	Irving Fryar	12785	1984	2000	-0.05	No
85	Art Monk	12721	1980	1995	0.63	Yes
83	Jason Witten	12448	2003	2017	0.64	Not El.
103	Jimmy Smith	12287	1995	2005	0.51	No
209	Brandon Marshall	12215	2006	2017	-0.06	Not El.
50	Charlie Joiner	12146	1969	1986	0.95	Yes
111	Hines Ward	12083	1998	2011	0.42	No
136	Derrick Mason	12061	1997	2011	0.29	No
61	Michael Irvin	11904	1988	1999	0.83	Yes
164	Don Maynard	11834	1958	1973	0.16	Yes
232	Calvin Johnson	11619	2007	2015	-0.18	Likely
39	Antonio Gates	11508	2003	2017	1.11	Not El.
228	Muhsin Muhammad	11438	1996	2009	-0.15	No
68	Rod Smith	11389	1995	2006	0.77	No
91	Keenan McCardell	11373	1992	2007	0.61	No
154	Chad Johnson	11059	2001	2011	0.19	No
256	Joey Galloway	10950	1995	2010	-0.45	No
119	Roddy White	10863	2005	2015	0.37	Not El.
66	Gary Clark	10856	1985	1995	0.78	No
131	Stanley Morgan	10716	1977	1990	0.32	No
203	Keyshawn Johnson	10571	1996	2006	-0.02	No
93	Harold Jackson	10372	1969	1983	0.57	No
137	Santana Moss	10283	2001	2014	0.29	Not El.
38	Lance Alworth	10266	1962	1972	1.11	Yes
141	Andre Rison	10205	1989	2000	0.27	No
63	Donald Driver	10137	1999	2012	0.81	No
120	Shannon Sharpe	10060	1990	2003	0.37	Yes
217	Eric Moulds	9995	1996	2007	-0.08	No
12	Wes Welker	9924	2005	2015	1.63	Not El.
70	Antonio Brown	9910	2010	2017	0.77	Likely
139	Drew Hill	9831	1979	1993	0.28	No
21	Marques Colston	9759	2006	2015	1.39	Not El.
213	Amani Toomer	9497	1996	2008	-0.07	No
80	DeSean Jackson	9487	2008	2017	0.66	Not El.
264	Rob Moore	9368	1990	1999	-0.57	No
19	Raymond Berry	9275	1955	1967	1.48	Yes
176	Herman Moore	9174	1991	2001	0.1	No
233	Anthony Miller	9148	1988	1997	-0.19	No
30	Charley Taylor	9110	1964	1977	1.28	Yes
89	Vincent Jackson	9080	2005	2016	0.62	Not El.
155	Tony Martin	9065	1990	2001	0.19	No
54	Julio Jones	9054	2011	2017	0.91	Likely
138	Harold Carmichael	8985	1971	1984	0.29	No
11	Mark Clayton	8974	1983	1993	1.63	No
35	Fred Biletnikoff	8974	1965	1978	1.18	Yes
49	Wes Chandler	8966	1978	1988	0.95	No
206	Roy Green	8965	1979	1992	-0.03	No
214	Ricky Proehl	8878	1990	2006	-0.07	No
9	Mark Duper	8869	1983	1992	1.74	No
156	Terry Glenn	8823	1996	2006	0.19	No
153	Terance Mathis	8809	1990	2002	0.19	No
278	Mark Carrier	8763	1987	1998	-0.87	No
130	Joe Horn	8744	1996	2007	0.32	No
105	John Stallworth	8723	1974	1987	0.46	Yes
167	Johnnie Morton	8719	1994	2005	0.14	No
92	Cliff Branch	8685	1972	1984	0.61	No
79	Demaryius Thomas	8653	2010	2017	0.66	Not El.
252	Laveranues Coles	8609	2000	2009	-0.39	No
23	Paul Warfield	8565	1964	1977	1.37	Yes
187	Plaxico Burress	8499	2000	2012	0.06	No
170	Billy Howton	8459	1952	1963	0.14	No
100	Tommy McDonald	8410	1957	1968	0.54	Yes
116	Eddie Kennison	8345	1996	2007	0.38	No
173	Wesley Walker	8306	1977	1989	0.12	No
46	Greg Jennings	8291	2006	2015	1	Not El.
160	Carroll Dale	8277	1960	1973	0.18	No
225	Curtis Conway	8230	1993	2004	-0.15	No
133	Ernest Givins	8215	1986	1995	0.31	No
152	A.J. Green	8213	2011	2017	0.2	Not El.
245	Jeff Graham	8172	1991	2001	-0.3	No
165	Eric Martin	8161	1985	1994	0.16	No
235	Sterling Sharpe	8134	1988	1994	-0.22	No
195	Webster Slaughter	8111	1986	1998	0.04	No
263	Haven Moses	8091	1968	1981	-0.56	No
198	Mike Wallace	8072	2009	2017	0.02	Not El.
243	Art Powell	8046	1960	1968	-0.29	No
261	Bill Brooks	8001	1986	1996	-0.51	No
4	Don Hutson	7991	1935	1945	2.24	Yes
71	Tony Hill	7988	1977	1986	0.77	No
158	Ozzie Newsome	7980	1978	1990	0.19	Yes
45	Bobby Mitchell	7954	1958	1968	1.01	Yes
182	Jackie Smith	7918	1963	1977	0.07	Yes
22	Jimmy Orr	7914	1958	1970	1.38	No
15	Jordy Nelson	7848	2008	2017	1.54	Not El.
17	Drew Pearson	7822	1973	1983	1.49	No
159	Bobby Engram	7751	1996	2009	0.19	No
175	Anthony Carter	7733	1985	1994	0.11	No
250	Chris Chambers	7648	2001	2010	-0.34	No
276	Brian Blades	7620	1988	1998	-0.86	No
140	Pierre Garcon	7568	2008	2017	0.27	Not El.
230	Greg Olsen	7556	2007	2017	-0.16	Not El.
36	Nat Moore	7546	1974	1986	1.16	No
190	Roy Jefferson	7539	1965	1976	0.06	No
106	Gary Garrison	7538	1966	1977	0.45	No
72	Dez Bryant	7459	2010	2017	0.76	Not El.
57	Ed McCaffrey	7422	1991	2003	0.86	No
20	Bob Hayes	7414	1965	1975	1.42	Yes
87	Pete Retzlaff	7412	1956	1966	0.63	No
204	Wayne Chrebet	7365	1995	2005	-0.02	No
56	Otis Taylor	7306	1965	1974	0.88	No
40	Boyd Dowler	7270	1959	1971	1.1	No
53	Antonio Freeman	7251	1995	2003	0.91	No
212	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	7237	2001	2011	-0.07	No
273	Dwayne Bowe	7208	2007	2015	-0.75	Not El.
283	Lionel Taylor	7195	1960	1968	-1.63	No
14	Rob Gronkowski	7179	2010	2017	1.55	Likely
199	Darrell Jackson	7132	2000	2008	0	No
222	Carl Pickens	7129	1992	2000	-0.12	No
269	Ken Burrough	7102	1970	1981	-0.68	No
52	Isaac Curtis	7101	1973	1984	0.92	No
201	Vernon Davis	7072	2006	2017	-0.01	Not El.
178	Reggie Rucker	7065	1970	1981	0.09	No
81	John Gilliam	7056	1967	1977	0.65	No
7	Elroy Hirsch	7029	1946	1957	1.86	Yes
184	Shawn Jefferson	7023	1991	2003	0.07	No
229	Pat Tilley	7005	1976	1986	-0.16	No
97	Jake Reed	6999	1992	2002	0.55	No
255	J.T. Smith	6974	1979	1990	-0.44	No
110	Derrick Alexander	6971	1994	2002	0.43	No
224	Nate Washington	6954	2006	2015	-0.15	Not El.
51	Marshall Faulk	6875	1994	2005	0.93	Yes
144	Michael Crabtree	6870	2009	2017	0.25	Not El.
104	Gene Washington	6856	1969	1979	0.46	No
177	Jeremy Maclin	6835	2009	2017	0.09	Not El.
180	Ahmad Rashad	6831	1972	1982	0.08	No
200	T.Y. Hilton	6827	2012	2017	0	Not El.
77	Charley Hennigan	6823	1960	1966	0.7	No
32	Jimmy Graham	6800	2010	2017	1.23	Not El.
248	Larry Centers	6797	1991	2003	-0.32	No
27	Dwight Clark	6750	1979	1987	1.34	No
281	Frank Sanders	6749	1995	2003	-0.91	No
37	Kellen Winslow	6741	1979	1987	1.16	Yes
142	Frank Lewis	6724	1971	1983	0.27	No
282	Marty Booker	6703	1999	2009	-0.92	No
33	Cris Collinsworth	6698	1981	1988	1.21	No
67	Deion Branch	6644	2002	2012	0.78	No
74	Mel Gray	6644	1971	1982	0.74	No
171	Willie Gault	6635	1983	1993	0.13	No
259	Jerricho Cotchery	6623	2004	2015	-0.48	Not El.
188	Al Toon	6605	1985	1992	0.06	No
147	Brett Perriman	6589	1988	1997	0.24	No
143	Michael Haynes	6588	1988	1997	0.25	No
73	Heath Miller	6569	2005	2015	0.74	Not El.
236	Henry Marshall	6545	1976	1987	-0.24	No
2	Dante Lavelli	6488	1946	1956	3.13	Yes
75	Ricky Sanders	6477	1986	1995	0.72	No
44	Del Shofner	6470	1958	1967	1.04	No
254	Mike Quick	6464	1982	1990	-0.41	No
216	Quinn Early	6448	1988	1999	-0.08	No
109	Golden Tate	6419	2010	2017	0.43	Not El.
183	Sammy White	6400	1976	1985	0.07	No
231	Ike Hilliard	6397	1997	2008	-0.17	No
210	Carlos Carson	6372	1980	1989	-0.06	No
134	Troy Brown	6366	1993	2006	0.31	No
96	Max McGee	6346	1954	1967	0.56	No
161	Stephone Paige	6341	1983	1991	0.17	No
114	Haywood Jeffires	6334	1987	1996	0.4	No
185	Steve Jordan	6307	1982	1994	0.07	No
227	Sean Dawkins	6291	1993	2001	-0.15	No
246	Alfred Jenkins	6267	1975	1983	-0.32	No
240	Darnay Scott	6193	1994	2002	-0.27	No
174	Emmanuel Sanders	6156	2010	2017	0.12	Not El.
135	Jeremy Shockey	6143	2002	2011	0.3	No
31	Eddie Brown	6134	1985	1991	1.25	No
215	Steve Watson	6112	1979	1987	-0.08	No
202	Ronnie Harmon	6076	1986	1997	-0.02	No
266	Red Phillips	6044	1958	1967	-0.62	No
10	Lenny Moore	6039	1956	1967	1.66	Yes
192	Santonio Holmes	6030	2006	2014	0.06	Not El.
258	Louis Lipps	6019	1984	1992	-0.46	No
60	Jack Snow	6012	1965	1975	0.84	No
272	Lee Evans	6008	2004	2011	-0.72	No
223	Sonny Randle	5996	1959	1968	-0.12	No
247	Brandon Lloyd	5989	2003	2014	-0.32	Not El.
88	Doug Baldwin	5945	2011	2017	0.62	Not El.
211	Bobby Joe Conrad	5902	1959	1969	-0.06	No
179	Billy Wilson	5902	1951	1960	0.09	No
208	Todd Christensen	5872	1981	1988	-0.05	No
257	Todd Heap	5869	2001	2012	-0.46	No
268	DeAndre Hopkins	5865	2013	2017	-0.64	Not El.
47	James Jones	5861	2007	2015	0.98	Not El.
267	Jessie Hester	5850	1985	1995	-0.62	No
55	Freddie Solomon	5846	1975	1985	0.88	No
98	Eric Decker	5816	2010	2017	0.54	Not El.
76	Mike Ditka	5812	1961	1972	0.71	Yes
150	Riley Odoms	5755	1972	1983	0.21	No
244	Roy Williams	5715	2004	2011	-0.29	No
58	John Jefferson	5714	1978	1985	0.86	No
262	Gail Cogdill	5696	1960	1970	-0.52	No
172	Vance Johnson	5695	1985	1995	0.13	No
218	Jabar Gaffney	5690	2002	2012	-0.1	No
260	Danny Abramowicz	5686	1967	1974	-0.49	No
271	Antonio Bryant	5685	2002	2009	-0.71	No
29	Dallas Clark	5665	2003	2013	1.33	Not El.
108	Owen Daniels	5661	2006	2015	0.44	Not El.
121	Keith Byars	5661	1986	1998	0.36	No
84	Nate Burleson	5630	2003	2013	0.64	Not El.
251	Delanie Walker	5621	2006	2017	-0.37	Not El.
125	Dave Parks	5619	1964	1973	0.35	No
82	Pete Pihos	5619	1947	1955	0.65	Yes
1	Mac Speedie	5602	1946	1952	3.48	No
3	John Taylor	5598	1987	1995	2.25	No
194	Eric Metcalf	5572	1989	2001	0.04	No
226	Ben Coates	5555	1991	2000	-0.15	No
181	Mark Jackson	5551	1986	1994	0.07	No
43	Malcom Floyd	5550	2004	2015	1.05	Not El.
279	Braylon Edwards	5522	2005	2012	-0.87	No
249	Rich Caster	5515	1970	1981	-0.34	No
5	Ray Renfro	5508	1952	1963	2.05	No
59	Chris Burford	5505	1960	1967	0.85	No
270	Chris Calloway	5497	1990	2000	-0.7	No
26	Jerry Smith	5496	1965	1977	1.35	No
123	Ben Watson	5485	2004	2017	0.35	Not El.
41	Lynn Swann	5462	1974	1982	1.07	Yes
193	Reggie Langhorne	5446	1985	1993	0.06	No
117	Bernie Casey	5444	1961	1968	0.38	No
122	Buddy Dial	5436	1959	1966	0.36	No
25	Frank Gifford	5434	1952	1964	1.35	Yes
157	Frank Clarke	5426	1957	1967	0.19	No
205	Bob Tucker	5421	1970	1980	-0.03	No
196	Marcus Allen	5411	1982	1997	0.03	Yes
8	Tom Fears	5397	1948	1956	1.81	Yes
115	Michael Jackson	5393	1991	1998	0.4	No
274	Gary Ballman	5366	1963	1973	-0.84	No
126	Bobby Walston	5363	1951	1962	0.34	No
238	Fred Barnett	5362	1990	1997	-0.25	No
86	Flipper Anderson	5357	1988	1995	0.63	No
24	Brandon Stokley	5339	1999	2013	1.35	Not El.
148	Alshon Jeffery	5338	2012	2017	0.24	Not El.
48	Gary Collins	5299	1962	1971	0.97	No
241	Rocket Ismail	5295	1993	2001	-0.27	No
265	Elbert Dubenion	5294	1960	1967	-0.58	No
191	Wesley Walls	5291	1989	2003	0.06	No
94	Keith Jackson	5283	1988	1996	0.57	No
242	Peerless Price	5281	1999	2007	-0.28	No
69	Miles Austin	5273	2007	2015	0.77	Not El.
166	Brandon LaFell	5263	2010	2017	0.15	Not El.
65	Russ Francis	5262	1975	1988	0.79	No
253	Bob Chandler	5243	1971	1981	-0.4	No
275	Kellen Winslow	5236	2004	2013	-0.85	Not El.
18	John Mackey	5236	1963	1972	1.49	Yes
237	Hugh Taylor	5233	1947	1954	-0.24	No
162	Dave Casper	5216	1974	1984	0.17	Yes
127	Tim McGee	5203	1986	1994	0.34	No
6	Brent Jones	5195	1987	1997	2	No
124	Mike Pritchard	5187	1991	1999	0.35	No
221	Tiki Barber	5183	1997	2006	-0.12	No
186	Kevin House	5169	1980	1987	0.07	No
42	Randall Cobb	5141	2011	2017	1.06	Not El.
239	Qadry Ismail	5137	1993	2002	-0.26	No
280	Kenny Britt	5137	2009	2017	-0.88	Not El.
277	Elbie Nickel	5131	1947	1957	-0.87	No
113	Frank Wycheck	5126	1993	2003	0.41	No
149	Charle Young	5106	1973	1985	0.21	No
163	Mickey Shuler	5100	1978	1991	0.16	No
219	Jimmie Giles	5084	1977	1989	-0.11	No
99	Hakeem Nicks	5081	2009	2015	0.54	Not El.
129	Yancey Thigpen	5081	1992	2000	0.33	No
78	O.J. McDuffie	5074	1993	2000	0.67	No
132	Ted Ginn	5072	2007	2017	0.32	Not El.
90	Roger Carr	5071	1974	1983	0.61	No
107	Johnny Morris	5059	1958	1967	0.45	No
146	Duriel Harris	5055	1976	1985	0.24	No
64	Raymond Chester	5013	1970	1981	0.8	No
189	Jim Colclough	5001	1960	1968	0.06	No

None of the Hall of Fame receivers have negative RANY/A grades, although Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson will probably change that.

Here’s a look at the 23 receivers with 8,000 career receiving yards and played on below-average passing teams:

Rk	Receiver	Rec Yd	First Yr	Last Yr	RANY/A	HOF
234	Larry Fitzgerald	15545	2004	2017	-0.21	Likely
220	Steve Smith	14731	2001	2016	-0.12	Not El.
207	Irving Fryar	12785	1984	2000	-0.05	No
209	Brandon Marshall	12215	2006	2017	-0.06	Not El.
232	Calvin Johnson	11619	2007	2015	-0.18	Likely
228	Muhsin Muhammad	11438	1996	2009	-0.15	No
256	Joey Galloway	10950	1995	2010	-0.45	No
203	Keyshawn Johnson	10571	1996	2006	-0.02	No
217	Eric Moulds	9995	1996	2007	-0.08	No
213	Amani Toomer	9497	1996	2008	-0.07	No
264	Rob Moore	9368	1990	1999	-0.57	No
233	Anthony Miller	9148	1988	1997	-0.19	No
206	Roy Green	8965	1979	1992	-0.03	No
214	Ricky Proehl	8878	1990	2006	-0.07	No
278	Mark Carrier	8763	1987	1998	-0.87	No
252	Laveranues Coles	8609	2000	2009	-0.39	No
225	Curtis Conway	8230	1993	2004	-0.15	No
245	Jeff Graham	8172	1991	2001	-0.3	No
235	Sterling Sharpe	8134	1988	1994	-0.22	No
263	Haven Moses	8091	1968	1981	-0.56	No
243	Art Powell	8046	1960	1968	-0.29	No
261	Bill Brooks	8001	1986	1996	-0.51	No

You will not be surprised to see Joey Galloway on there at -0.45, at least not if you have been paying attention.

Tagged as: WR Project

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