DeAndre Hopkins and Percentage of Team Receiving Yards

by Chase Stuart on December 17, 2014

Would you believe this guy is good at catching footballs?

Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is having a fine year. While his 69 receptions is tied for only 24th in this era where catching passes is easier than ever, he’s averaging an impressive 16.9 yards per reception. No player with more than 50 receptions has a higher yards per catch average, which is why Hopkins ranks 9th in receiving yards despite ranking 24th in receptions.

But 9th is still just 9th, which is a long cry from 1st. But consider that the Texans are just 31st in pass attempts this year: in that light, ranking 9th looks a lot more impressive. And then consider the state of the Houston quarterback play. The Texans actually rank above average in yards per attempt, but there’s a reason that statistic is misleading: that reason is DeAndre Hopkins.

Houston passers (Ryan Fitzpatrick, mostly, with some Ryan Mallett and Tom Savage cameos) are averaging 7.4 yards per attempt, but that is the result of a 10.7 Y/A average on passes to Hopkins and 6.2 yards per attempt on all other passes.

So start with a player who ranks 9th in receiving yards, adjust for the fact that he’s on the team with the second fewest passes in football, and then consider that his quarterbacks are terrible on passes to everyone else on his team. That’s how you end up with Hopkins being responsible for a league-high 38.6 percent of his team’s receiving yards.

Rk	Player	Tm	Yards	Team	Perc
1	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	1167	3020	38.6%
2	Julio Jones	ATL	1428	4176	34.2%
3	Jordy Nelson	GNB	1320	3897	33.9%
4	Antonio Brown	PIT	1498	4460	33.6%
5	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	1389	4156	33.4%
6	Dez Bryant	DAL	1148	3448	33.3%
7	Golden Tate	DET	1224	3824	32%
8	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	1207	3915	30.8%
9	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	1261	4156	30.3%
10	A.J. Green	CIN	959	3161	30.3%
11	T.Y. Hilton	IND	1345	4512	29.8%
12	Anquan Boldin	SFO	920	3089	29.8%
13	Mike Evans	TAM	948	3361	28.2%
14	Alshon Jeffery	CHI	1027	3682	27.9%
15	Rob Gronkowski	NWE	1093	3939	27.7%
16	Vincent Jackson	TAM	931	3361	27.7%
17	Eric Decker	NYJ	720	2600	27.7%
18	Randall Cobb	GNB	1076	3897	27.6%
19	Greg Olsen	CAR	960	3513	27.3%
20	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	952	3513	27.1%
21	Odell Beckham	NYG	972	3650	26.6%
22	Steve Smith	BAL	926	3479	26.6%
23	Sammy Watkins	BUF	850	3351	25.4%
24	Travis Kelce	KAN	747	2954	25.3%
25	Julian Edelman	NWE	972	3939	24.7%
26	DeSean Jackson	WAS	957	3905	24.5%
27	Calvin Johnson	DET	935	3824	24.5%
28	Andre Johnson	HOU	737	3020	24.4%
29	Mohamed Sanu	CIN	758	3161	24%
30	Mike Wallace	MIA	804	3411	23.6%
31	Delanie Walker	TEN	793	3372	23.5%
32	Martellus Bennett	CHI	857	3682	23.3%
33	Doug Baldwin	SEA	669	2914	23%
34	Andrew Hawkins	CLE	763	3335	22.9%
35	Dwayne Bowe	KAN	667	2954	22.6%
36	Keenan Allen	SDG	783	3649	21.5%
37	Malcom Floyd	SDG	777	3649	21.3%
38	Michael Crabtree	SFO	652	3089	21.1%
39	James Jones	OAK	646	3084	20.9%
40	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	722	3458	20.9%

We can also do the same thing with yards from scrimmage, although you will probably not be surprised to see the leader there:

Rk	Player	Tm	Rush	Rec	YFS	Team	Perc
1	DeMarco Murray	DAL	1687	395	2082	5501	37.8%
2	Matt Forte	CHI	932	745	1677	4960	33.8%
3	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	1278	765	2043	6115	33.4%
4	Arian Foster	HOU	1127	294	1421	4935	28.8%
5	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	1133	331	1464	5277	27.7%
6	Julio Jones	ATL	1	1428	1429	5530	25.8%
7	Justin Forsett	BAL	1128	233	1361	5336	25.5%
8	Jamaal Charles	KAN	950	235	1185	4722	25.1%
9	Golden Tate	DET	30	1224	1254	4997	25.1%
10	Antonio Brown	PIT	13	1498	1511	6115	24.7%
11	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	0	1389	1389	5714	24.3%
12	Eddie Lacy	GNB	940	396	1336	5541	24.1%
13	Jordy Nelson	GNB	0	1320	1320	5541	23.8%
14	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	0	1167	1167	4935	23.6%
15	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	44	1261	1305	5714	22.8%
16	Andre Ellington	ARI	660	395	1055	4639	22.7%
17	T.Y. Hilton	IND	20	1345	1365	6059	22.5%
18	LeSean McCoy	PHI	1132	112	1244	5609	22.2%
19	Jeremy Hill	CIN	877	205	1082	4985	21.7%
20	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	0	1207	1207	5609	21.5%
21	Alshon Jeffery	CHI	33	1027	1060	4960	21.4%
22	Lamar Miller	MIA	829	217	1046	4994	20.9%
23	Mike Evans	TAM	0	948	948	4537	20.9%
24	Dez Bryant	DAL	0	1148	1148	5501	20.9%
25	Joique Bell	DET	726	309	1035	4997	20.7%
26	Vincent Jackson	TAM	0	931	931	4537	20.5%
27	Alfred Morris	WAS	948	136	1084	5392	20.1%
28	Rob Gronkowski	NWE	0	1093	1093	5465	20%
29	Randall Cobb	GNB	31	1076	1107	5541	20%
30	Odell Beckham	NYG	35	972	1007	5049	19.9%
31	Anquan Boldin	SFO	4	920	924	4704	19.6%
32	Julian Edelman	NWE	94	972	1066	5465	19.5%
33	Frank Gore	SFO	804	106	910	4704	19.3%
34	A.J. Green	CIN	2	959	961	4985	19.3%
35	Calvin Johnson	DET	0	935	935	4997	18.7%
36	Greg Olsen	CAR	0	960	960	5143	18.7%
37	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	0	952	952	5143	18.5%
38	Chris Ivory	NYJ	739	115	854	4660	18.3%
39	Fred Jackson	BUF	457	404	861	4716	18.3%
40	Sammy Watkins	BUF	3	850	853	4716	18.1%

DeMarco Murray is having a monster year, and he’s responsible for just over 3 out of every 8 yards gained by the Cowboys. The only surprise might be seeing Le’Veon Bell all the way down at … #3; that’s the result of the Steelers leading the league in offensive yards. On a percentage basis, the always versatile (if slightly less-hyped) Matt Forte cuts just in front of Bell.

Tagged as: DeAndre Hopkins

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