Wide Receiver Rankings: Roddy White Making His Mark

The accepted method of measuring a Quarterback’s production and efficiency is with the 'Passer Rating' formula. Pigskin Heaven has developed a similar rating system for Wide Receivers.

So, what makes a good NFL wide receiver? Well sure, there’s the trifecta of receptions, yards and touchdowns. But there are other factors that separate the great from the merely good, and the good from the mediocre.

How good is your receiver at converting third downs into first downs and keeping the offense where it belongs, on the field. Ball control is important as well, drops and inopportune fumbles can kill that potential game winning drive. How many big plays is your receiver making?

The following are the variables utilized to arrive at the 'Receiver Rating' system and an explanation of why they are included:

1. Receptions – Does he know how to get open?
2. Yards – Can he be the catalyst that drives his offense?
3. Receiving Touchdowns – Does he know how to find the end zone?
4. Big Catches Greater Than 25 yards – Is he a drive-maker?
5. Yards After Catch – What can he do with the ball after he gets it?
6. Dropped Passes – Does he have good hands?
7. 1st down catches on 3rd downs – Is he clutch? Can he keep drives going?
8. Fumbles per reception – Does he have ball control?
9. Receiving Touchdowns as a percentage of team’s total – Is he just lucky to be on a pass-happy team with a great QB or is he 'the' guy in their passing game?
10. Receiving Yards as a percentage of team’s total – See No. 9

Notes:

-To qualify, the receiver had to play in at least nine of the teams’ games through week 14

-Any receiver with less than 25 receptions on the season was excluded

-Roy Williams was excluded due to playing for two different teams during the season

-Variables were adjusted to a ‘per game’ statistic to adjust for injuries, suspensions, etc. Therefore, the numbers accurately reflect the player’s production when they’re actually on the field.

Some superstar receivers actually rank below less than heralded receivers. For example, Bernard Berrian has a higher rating than Randy Moss, even though Moss has more receptions, touchdowns, and yards.

In the passer rating system, a QB who may complete a lot of passes for a lot of yards will still take a hit to his rating if he throws a lot of interceptions or doesn’t complete a high percentage of passes. Similarly, in our Receiver Rating System, if a receiver has very few big catches, is not running for enough yards after the catch, is not catching enough first downs for his team, or fumbles the ball too often, his rating will also go down. 

Through Week 14 action, 73 wide receivers qualified under the parameters set forth (25 receptions and 9 games played minimum).  We now present the Pigskin Heaven Wide Receiver Ratings.

The last two pages are all the total stats used to accumulate the ratings.

Key:

GP – Games Played

PC – Passes Caught

C25+ – Catches Greater Than 25 Yards

Avg. YAC – Average Yards After Catch

DP – Dropped Passes

FD3D – First Downs on Third Down

%FUMPC – Percentage of Fumbles Per Catch

TMTD – Number of Team Touchdowns

TMYDS – Number of Team Yards

Player	Rating
Roddy White	96.09
Anquan Boldin	95.75
Greg Jennings	91.78
Steve Smith	91.27
T.J. Houshmandzadeh	87.88
Calvin Johnson	87.03
Larry Fitzgerald	86.38
Kevin Walter	83.28
Andre Johnson	80
Santana Moss	77.4
Antonio Bryant	75.63
Bernard Berrian	74.1
Hines Ward	73.64
Wes Welker	73.26
Randy Moss	72.54
Reggie Wayne	72.08
Derrick Mason	71.33
Lance Moore	69.72
Dwayne Bowe	69.12
Isaac Bruce	66.83
Vincent Jackson	66.25
Brandon Marshall	65.89
Eddie Royal	65.5
Donald Driver	64.02
Terrell Owens	64.01
Lee Evans	63.84
Jerricho Cotchery	61.16
Laveranues Coles	60.04
Justin Gage	59.51
Matt Jones	59.31
Steve Breaston	58.27
DeSean Jackson	57.47
Donnie Avery	56.61
Chad Johnson	55.69
Muhsin Muhammad	55.57
Greg Camarillo	53.84
Santonio Holmes	53.63
Antwaan Randle El	53.32
Anthony Gonzalez	53.29
Michael Jenkins	52.21
Devin Hester	52.13
Mark Clayton	50.95
Torry Holt	50.28
Marvin Harrison	49.92
Devery Henderson	49.09
Braylon Edwards	48.85
Chansi Stuckey	46.49
Plaxico Burress	45.47
Bryant Johnson	45.35
Brandon Stokley	45.35
Josh Reed	45.27
Brandon Jones	44.81
Nate Washington	44.67
Davone Bess	42.67
Chris Chambers	42.57
Amani Toomer	41.87
Domenik Hixon	39.77
Ike Hilliard	39.29
Rashied Davis	38.15
Patrick Crayton	37.95
Reggie Williams	37.37
Steve Smith (NYG)	36.75
Hank Baskett	36.52
Jabar Gaffney	35.66
Jordy Nelson	34.13
Ted Ginn Jr.	33.93
Jason Avant	32.23
Bobby Engram	29.98
Jerheme Urban	29.35
Bobby Wade	28.03
Michael Clayton	27.12
Dennis Northcutt	25.96
Shaun McDonald	21.05

Player	GP	PC	Rec Yds	TD	C25+
Roddy White	13	78	1249	6	13
Anquan Boldin	11	83	1004	11	7
Greg Jennings	13	66	1131	7	12
Steve Smith	11	61	1075	5	13
T.J. Houshmandzadeh	13	89	885	4	4
Calvin Johnson	13	56	1055	9	13
Larry Fitzgerald	13	83	1148	9	10
Kevin Walter	13	55	851	8	11
Andre Johnson	13	92	1201	5	4
Santana Moss	13	61	876	5	8
Antonio Bryant	13	66	936	5	7
Bernard Berrian	13	41	824	5	10
Hines Ward	13	60	757	6	7
Wes Welker	13	96	1002	1	6
Randy Moss	13	61	841	8	9
Reggie Wayne	13	67	918	5	6
Derrick Mason	13	65	871	4	7
Lance Moore	13	62	774	8	7
Dwayne Bowe	13	67	847	6	7
Isaac Bruce	13	45	695	6	7
Vincent Jackson	13	44	851	6	8
Brandon Marshall	9	63	803	4	7
Eddie Royal	12	69	799	5	5
Donald Driver	13	57	773	4	7
Terrell Owens	13	55	848	6	9
Lee Evans	13	52	913	3	10
Jerricho Cotchery	13	59	702	4	4
Laveranues Coles	13	56	620	6	4
Justin Gage	10	26	471	5	7
Matt Jones	12	65	761	2	3
Steve Breaston	13	67	863	2	6
DeSean Jackson	13	53	775	2	8
Donnie Avery	11	37	517	2	6
Chad Johnson	12	50	507	4	1
Muhsin Muhammad	13	50	694	4	6
Greg Camarillo	11	55	613	2	2
Santonio Holmes	12	44	676	3	5
Antwaan Randle El	13	48	557	3	4
Anthony Gonzales	13	51	608	4	4
Michael Jenkins	13	39	589	3	6
Devin Hester	12	39	522	3	6
Mark Clayton	13	30	494	3	4
Torry Holt	13	50	587	2	2
Marvin Harrison	13	51	583	5	4
Devery Henderson	13	28	668	3	6
Braylon Edwards	13	45	735	3	6
Chansi Stuckey	12	28	309	3	2
Plaxico Burress	10	35	454	4	4
Bryant Johnson	11	34	402	3	4
Brandon Stokley	12	40	429	3	2
Josh Reed	10	41	454	1	0
Brandon Jones	10	36	385	1	2
Nate Washington	13	31	504	3	4
Davone Bess	13	39	433	1	2
Chris Chambers	11	26	357	5	4
Amani Toomer	13	41	505	4	4
Domenik Hixon	11	29	403	1	3
Ike Hilliard	13	38	351	4	1
Rashied Davis	13	33	410	2	3
Patrick Crayton	12	31	409	3	3
Reggie Williams	12	30	295	3	2
Steve Smith (NYG)	13	47	471	1	2
Hank Baskett	12	30	425	3	2
Jabar Gaffney	12	33	378	2	1
Jordy Nelson	13	29	321	2	1
Ted Ginn Jr.	13	48	669	1	4
Jason Avant	12	25	260	2	1
Bobby Engram	10	32	328	0	0
Jerheme Urban	10	25	287	2	1
Bobby Wade	13	42	442	1	1
Michael Clayton	11	31	333	0	2
Dennis Northcutt	10	26	282	0	0
Shaun McDonald	11	35	332	1	2

Player	Avg. YAC	DP	FD3D	% FUMPC	TMTD	TMYDS
Roddy White	4.5	7	25	1.28	14	2860
Anquan Boldin	6.3	3	16	2.41	25	3913
Greg Jennings	5.4	3	16	1.52	15	3026
Steve Smith	5.1	6	15	1.64	13	2476
T.J. Houshmandzadeh	3.7	4	24	0	9	2022
Calvin Johnson	5.9	9	9	3.57	15	2381
Larry Fitzgerald	4.1	1	9	1.2	25	3913
Kevin Walter	5.7	1	11	0	18	3437
Andre Johnson	4.2	4	12	1.09	18	3437
Santana Moss	6.4	7	7	1.64	10	2588
Antonio Bryant	3.8	4	15	0	15	2907
Bernard Berrian	6.9	6	9	0	15	2386
Hines Ward	4.6	7	19	0	16	2587
Wes Welker	5.9	4	13	1.04