NFL Players Who Make the Most of Every Touch

In the midst of an offensive renaissance in the NFL, now's the appropriate time to uncover the most efficient player in football at each respective offensive position. 

We were treated to masterpieces from Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady in 2011, but which elite signal-caller has been the most efficient? 

Fans can't quite agree on the league's best running back, but who's the most productive per touch?

For your analytical enjoyment, I conducted research to find the player who makes the most out of each touch at the quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end position. 

In this study, I used the past two NFL regular seasons. That seemed like the most reasonable time frame to incorporate the most productive players in the game heading into the 2012 season.

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers

Quarterbacks touch the ball on every down (not counting the out-of-style Wildcat plays), so this study had to start with the signal-callers.

Over the last two seasons, no quarterback has been as efficient as Green Bay Packers gunslinger Aaron Rodgers. 

Rodgers has completed 655-of-977 passes, good for a 67 completion percentage. While Drew Brees' 69.7 completion percentage since the start of 2010 is higher and he's thrown for more yards per game, the Packers quarterback trumps the Saints quarterback (and everyone else in the league) in the vast majority of other critical efficiency categories.

Rodgers' 13.1 yards per completion is the highest percentage in the league over the last two seasons. During the researched time period, he's thrown a touchdown every 8.97 completions.

To put those ridiculous numbers into perspective, Rodgers' yards-per-completion average topped Philip Rivers's 12.9, Eli Manning's and Ben Roethlisberger's 12.8 and Tom Brady's 12.6.

Manning threw a touchdown every 11.63 completions, Brees threw a touchdown every 11.5 completions and Brady threw a touchdown every 9.6 completions.

It's clear.

No quarterback is as efficient picking up yardage and zipping touchdown passes than Aaron Rodgers.  

Running Back: LeSean McCoy

With a different running back leading the NFL in rushing yards in each of the last five seasons, this designation was bound to be more intriguing. 

Not surprisingly, the answer wasn't as clear-cut as the quarterback spot. 

It was a toss-up between LeSean McCoy of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arian Foster of the Houston Texans. 

Foster's 5.609 yards per touch was the highest average among all NFL running backs with over 500 touches since 2010. McCoy's 5.438 yards per touch was a close second. One must keep in mind that Foster accumulated 724 touches to McCoy's 606, which potentially skews the numbers.

However, what placed McCoy in the top spot for me was his touchdowns per touch rate. The Eagles' shifty runner has reached the end zone every 20.89 touches over the last two seasons compared to Foster's 24.1 touches.

(Adrian Peterson's scored a touchdown every 20.96 touches, which is hardly stunning.)

Both rates are tremendous, but the nature of the game is putting points on the board, and no running back has done so at a more efficient clip than Shady.

Wide Receiver: Calvin Johnson

No super spoiler here. Calvin Johnson's been the NFL's most efficient wide receiver over the last two seasons, although it's closer than I initially expected. 

Megatron has averaged 16.19 yards per catch since 2010, which actually is far from the highest in the league. DeSean Jackson's the leader in that category at an astounding 19.2 yards per grab. Mike Wallace's average of 18.56 and Jordy Nelson's 16.3 are also higher. 

But Johnson earns the honor on touchdown merit. 

He's hauled in a receiving touchdown every 6.17 receptions, the lowest figure of any wideout who's caught at least 100 passes during the last two seasons.

Insane.

Thanks to a breakout 2011, in which he caught 15 touchdown passes, Nelson averages a touchdown every 6.64 receptions. So right now, he's the second-most efficient wideout in football.

*Rushing statistics weren't factored in. 

Tight End: Rob Gronkowski

The tight end portion of my research didn't take long. 

Rob Gronkowski, on the heels of a record-shattering 2011, blew away the tight end competition. 

He's averaged 14.18 yards per catch and scores a touchdown—ready?—every 4.88 receptions. Tom Brady throwing you the football will help, but the rest of the tight ends who placed just behind Gronk don't exactly have bad quarterbacks on their respective teams. 

Jermichael Finley has a 14.05 yards-per-catch average since 2010, and he's scored a touchdown every 8.44 receptions. 

Jimmy Graham has scored a touchdown every 8.125 catches—normally an amazing figure—and has an average 12.8 yards per reception. 

In the end, Gronk wins.