Elevation inc
12-09-2010, 04:27 PM
hmm interesting article about it for sure...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Who-s-the-NFL-s-fastest-receiver-?urn=nfl-293467
During the Week 13 "Sunday Night Football" tilt between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth hypothesized that Steelers receiver Mike Wallace(notes) was the NFL's fastest at his position. It's an easy assumption to make when you see Wallace play; there are very few players in the league who can get downfield to make an impact play as quickly as he can.
But it got us thinking of what might be the best way to measure legitimate receiver speed. We could go by the 40-yard dash times players ran at the scouting combines and at their pro days, but players not wearing pads on varying surfaces? That doesn't really fit the bill when it comes to actual football speed. Perhaps the best way to measure speed that has in-game value is to see which receivers are asked to create the highest number of yards per completion before they even catch the ball -- or, in this case, right when they do catch it. Looking at what we might call "Air Yards" -- the number of yards a ball travels between the time it leaves the quarterback's hand and the moment a receiver catches it -- seems to be a good indicator.
By that standard, Michaels and Collinsworth were almost right; and Wallace does lead the league with 21.7 yards per reception. But for pure downfield speed to catch, one guy stands alone.
Brandon Lloyd(notes), Denver Broncos (16.3 Air Yards per catch)
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Who-s-the-NFL-s-fastest-receiver-?urn=nfl-293467
During the Week 13 "Sunday Night Football" tilt between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth hypothesized that Steelers receiver Mike Wallace(notes) was the NFL's fastest at his position. It's an easy assumption to make when you see Wallace play; there are very few players in the league who can get downfield to make an impact play as quickly as he can.
But it got us thinking of what might be the best way to measure legitimate receiver speed. We could go by the 40-yard dash times players ran at the scouting combines and at their pro days, but players not wearing pads on varying surfaces? That doesn't really fit the bill when it comes to actual football speed. Perhaps the best way to measure speed that has in-game value is to see which receivers are asked to create the highest number of yards per completion before they even catch the ball -- or, in this case, right when they do catch it. Looking at what we might call "Air Yards" -- the number of yards a ball travels between the time it leaves the quarterback's hand and the moment a receiver catches it -- seems to be a good indicator.
By that standard, Michaels and Collinsworth were almost right; and Wallace does lead the league with 21.7 yards per reception. But for pure downfield speed to catch, one guy stands alone.
Brandon Lloyd(notes), Denver Broncos (16.3 Air Yards per catch)