DeAndre Hopkins Led In Percentage of Team Receiving Yards

by Chase Stuart on February 25, 2015

Good at catching footballs, in the event his team throws one

The Houston Texans finished 31st in pass attempts in 2014, ahead of only the Seattle Seahawks. The Texans were not exactly the beneficiaries of stellar quarterback play, either: Ryan Fitzpatrick handled 64% of the team’s pass attempts, with Case Keenum, Ryan Mallett, and Tom Savage taking the rest.

As a result, the 1,210 yards DeAndre Hopkins gained in 2014 is a lot better than it sounds. Houston threw for just 3,460 yards last year (excluding sacks), which means Hopkins gained 35% of all Texans receiving yards. Antonio Brown led the NFL with 1,698 receiving yards, but even that was just 34% of all Steelers receiving yards.

The table below shows the top 53 leaders in percentage of team receiving yards:

Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Rec	Yds	TD	Perc
1	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	22	76	1210	6	35%
2	Jordy Nelson*	GNB	29	98	1519	13	34.2%
3	Antonio Brown*+	PIT	26	129	1698	13	34%
4	Demaryius Thomas*	DEN	27	111	1619	11	33.9%
5	Julio Jones*	ATL	25	104	1593	6	33.5%
6	Dez Bryant*+	DAL	26	88	1320	16	32.9%
7	Anquan Boldin	SFO	34	83	1062	5	31.2%
8	Golden Tate*	DET	26	99	1331	4	31.1%
9	Eric Decker	NYJ	27	74	962	5	30%
10	Emmanuel Sanders*	DEN	27	101	1404	9	29.4%
11	A.J. Green*	CIN	26	69	1041	6	29.3%
12	Odell Beckham*	NYG	22	91	1305	12	29.2%
13	Mike Evans	TAM	21	68	1051	12	29%
14	Randall Cobb*	GNB	24	91	1287	12	28.9%
15	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	26	85	1318	10	28.8%
16	Alshon Jeffery	CHI	24	85	1133	10	28.1%
17	Vincent Jackson	TAM	31	70	1002	2	27.7%
18	Andre Johnson	HOU	33	85	936	3	27.1%
19	Steve Smith	BAL	35	79	1065	6	26.7%
20	T.Y. Hilton*	IND	25	82	1345	7	26.6%
22	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	23	73	1008	9	26.3%
21	Greg Olsen*	CAR	29	84	1008	6	26.3%
23	DeSean Jackson	WAS	28	56	1169	6	26.2%
24	Rob Gronkowski*+	NWE	25	82	1124	12	26.2%
25	Sammy Watkins	BUF	21	65	982	6	25.5%
26	Travis Kelce	KAN	25	67	862	5	25.1%
27	Calvin Johnson*	DET	29	71	1077	8	25.1%
28	Delanie Walker	TEN	30	63	890	4	23.8%
29	Doug Baldwin	SEA	26	66	825	3	23.6%
30	Martellus Bennett*	CHI	27	90	916	6	22.7%
31	Julian Edelman	NWE	28	92	972	4	22.7%
32	Andrew Hawkins	CLE	28	63	824	2	22.4%
33	Mohamed Sanu	CIN	25	56	790	5	22.2%
34	Brandon LaFell	NWE	28	74	953	7	22.2%
35	Dwayne Bowe	KAN	30	60	754	0	22%
36	Mike Wallace	MIA	28	67	862	10	21.2%
37	Michael Floyd	ARI	25	47	841	6	21.1%
38	Rueben Randle	NYG	23	71	938	3	21%
39	Greg Jennings	MIN	31	59	742	6	20.8%
40	Michael Crabtree	SFO	27	68	698	4	20.5%
41	Kenny Britt	STL	26	48	748	3	20.2%
42	Andre Holmes	OAK	26	47	693	4	20.1%
43	Matt Forte	CHI	29	102	808	4	20%
44	Malcom Floyd	SDG	33	52	856	6	19.9%
45	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	31	63	784	2	19.6%
46	Allen Hurns	JAX	23	51	677	6	19.6%
47	Roddy White	ATL	33	80	921	7	19.4%
48	James Jones	OAK	30	73	666	6	19.3%
49	Torrey Smith	BAL	25	49	767	11	19.2%
50	Kendall Wright	TEN	25	57	715	6	19.1%
51	Antonio Gates	SDG	34	69	821	12	19.1%
52	Jordan Matthews	PHI	22	67	872	8	19%
53	Kenny Stills	NOR	22	63	931	3	18.8%

Why the top 53? Because that’s how far down you need to go to get to Kenny Stills, the Saints leader in team receiving yards. New Orleans was one of just three teams (Jacksonville, San Diego) that failed to have a single player pick up at least 20% of the team’s receiving yards. The Saints really spread the ball around — Stills had 931 yards, Marques Colston 902, and Jimmy Graham 889. Go to a per-game basis to include Brandin Cooks, and New Orleans had four players who gained between 55 and 62.1 receiving yards per game.

On the other side is a team like Denver, where two receivers cracked the top ten. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders each gained hit the 1,400 receiving yards mark, while no other Bronco gained even 500 receiving yards. The duo became just the fourth pair of teammates to gain 1400 yards in a season, joining Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (2005), Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce (2000), and Herman Moore and Brett Perriman (1995).

Overshadowed by all the drama in San Francisco, Anquan Boldin had another strong year. The 2014 49ers were not short on receiving talent, but Boldin still finished with 31.2% of all San Francisco receiving yards.

Finally, both A.J. Green and Odell Beckham both gained over 29% of their team’s receiving yards despite each a quarter of the season. Beckham missed New York’s first four games, while a toe injury sidelined Green for all but 6 snaps against the Falcons in week 2 and then three full games in October.

Tagged as: 2014 Receiving, DeAndre Hopkins

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