Leaders in Percentage of Team Targets

by Chase Stuart on August 13, 2017

On Friday, I wrote about Rob Moore’s 1997 season, when he set the still-standing record for targets in a year. Moore had 208 targets, but as alluded to in that post, he did not set the record for percentage of team targets in a season, which is simply targets divided by team pass attempts (excluding sacks).

That honor belongs to Brandon Marshall, who was targeted on 40% of all passes for the 2012 Bears, and wound up with a post-1978 record 46% of the Bears receiving yards that year. Remarkably, Marshall saw over 30% of his team’s targets on three different teams, and saw 29% of a fourth franchise’s targets in a season (2015 Jets). The table below shows all players since 1992 with at least 30% (okay, 29.5%) of their team’s targets in a season:

Rk	Player	Team	Year	Tar	Tm Pass	Perc	RANY/A	Rec	Yd	TD
1	Brandon Marshall	CHI	2012	192	485	39.6%	-0.83	118	1508	11
2	Sterling Sharpe	GNB	1993	189	528	35.8%	-0.76	112	1274	11
3	Marvin Harrison	IND	2002	205	591	34.7%	0.74	143	1722	11
4	Rob Moore	ARI	1997	208	602	34.6%	-0.97	97	1584	8
5	Roddy White	ATL	2008	148	434	34.1%	1.30	88	1382	7
6	Herman Moore	DET	1995	206	605	34%	1.62	123	1686	14
7	Andre Johnson	HOU	2006	163	481	33.9%	-0.66	103	1147	5
8	Marvin Harrison	IND	1999	184	546	33.7%	1.64	115	1663	12
9	Rod Smith	DEN	2001	172	511	33.7%	-0.48	113	1343	11
10	Steve Smith	CAR	2005	150	449	33.4%	1.05	103	1563	12
11	Michael Irvin	DAL	1995	165	494	33.4%	1.49	111	1603	10
12	David Boston	ARI	2001	175	526	33.3%	0.53	98	1598	8
13	Randy Moss	MIN	2002	185	558	33.2%	-0.36	106	1347	7
14	Randy Moss	MIN	2003	172	520	33.1%	1.92	111	1632	17
15	Brandon Marshall	DEN	2007	170	515	33%	0.57	102	1325	7
16	Eric Moulds	BUF	2004	152	461	33%	-0.68	88	1043	5
17	Jimmy Smith	JAX	2001	176	534	33%	-0.15	112	1373	8
18	Herman Moore	DET	1996	178	541	32.9%	-0.61	106	1296	9
19	Antonio Brown	PIT	2015	193	590	32.7%	0.44	136	1834	10
20	Julio Jones	ATL	2015	203	621	32.7%	-0.09	136	1871	8
21	Laveranues Coles	WAS	2004	168	514	32.7%	-1.60	90	950	1
22	Muhsin Muhammad	CHI	2005	136	418	32.5%	-1.90	64	750	4
23	Cris Carter	MIN	2000	161	495	32.5%	1.74	96	1274	9
24	Jimmy Smith	JAX	1999	173	535	32.3%	0.63	116	1636	6
25	Yancey Thigpen	PIT	1997	149	466	32%	0.29	79	1398	7
26	Hines Ward	PIT	2001	145	454	31.9%	0.77	94	1003	4
27	Lee Evans	BUF	2006	137	431	31.8%	-0.21	82	1292	8
28	Chad Johnson	CIN	2004	170	536	31.7%	-0.75	95	1274	9
29	Isaac Bruce	STL	1995	199	632	31.5%	-0.51	119	1781	13
30	Herman Moore	DET	1997	170	540	31.5%	-0.09	104	1293	8
31	Brett Perriman	DET	1996	170	541	31.4%	-0.61	94	1021	5
32	Joey Galloway	TAM	2005	152	487	31.2%	-0.42	83	1287	10
33	Isaac Bruce	STL	1996	150	481	31.2%	-1.25	84	1338	7
34	Steve Smith	CAR	2008	129	414	31.2%	1.02	78	1421	6
35	Laveranues Coles	NYJ	2006	152	488	31.1%	-0.07	91	1098	6
36	Vincent Jackson	TAM	2013	160	514	31.1%	-1.02	78	1224	7
37	Reggie Wayne	IND	2012	195	628	31.1%	-0.29	106	1355	5
38	Roddy White	ATL	2010	179	577	31%	0.47	115	1389	10
39	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	2015	192	619	31%	-0.35	111	1521	11
40	Marty Booker	CHI	2002	168	543	30.9%	-0.78	97	1189	6
41	Anquan Boldin	SFO	2013	129	417	30.9%	0.79	85	1179	7
42	Carl Pickens	CIN	1996	174	563	30.9%	0.13	100	1180	12
43	Anquan Boldin	ARI	2003	165	534	30.9%	-1.17	101	1377	8
44	Tony Martin	ATL	1998	131	424	30.9%	1.55	66	1181	6
45	Steve Smith	CAR	2003	142	460	30.9%	0.37	88	1110	7
46	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	2010	173	561	30.8%	-2.02	90	1137	6
47	Andre Johnson	HOU	2008	171	555	30.8%	0.75	115	1575	8
48	Sterling Sharpe	GNB	1992	162	527	30.7%	0.30	108	1461	13
49	Cris Carter	MIN	1995	197	642	30.7%	0.67	122	1371	17
50	Peerless Price	ATL	2003	141	460	30.7%	-1.68	64	838	3
51	Terrell Owens	SFO	2001	155	506	30.6%	1.47	93	1412	16
52	Andre Rison	KAN	1997	151	493	30.6%	0.25	72	1092	7
53	Tim Brown	OAK	1997	162	529	30.6%	1.05	104	1408	5
54	Tony Martin	SDG	1995	165	540	30.6%	-0.17	90	1224	6
55	Torry Holt	STL	2003	183	600	30.5%	0.06	117	1696	12
56	Keyshawn Johnson	TAM	2001	180	592	30.4%	-0.43	106	1266	1
57	Rod Smith	DEN	2000	173	569	30.4%	1.91	100	1602	8
58	Joe Horn	NOR	2000	151	497	30.4%	0.57	94	1340	8
59	A.J. Green	CIN	2012	164	540	30.4%	-0.10	97	1350	11
60	A.J. Green	CIN	2013	178	587	30.3%	0.45	98	1426	11
61	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	2014	184	607	30.3%	1.53	111	1619	11
62	Roddy White	ATL	2011	180	594	30.3%	0.85	100	1296	8
63	Terance Mathis	ATL	1999	154	509	30.3%	0.07	81	1016	6
64	Torry Holt	STL	2006	179	592	30.2%	0.99	93	1188	10
65	O.J. McDuffie	MIA	1998	165	546	30.2%	0.19	90	1050	7
66	Laveranues Coles	WAS	2003	159	527	30.2%	-0.46	82	1204	6
67	Hines Ward	PIT	2004	108	358	30.2%	0.80	80	1004	4
68	Jimmy Smith	JAX	1997	152	504	30.2%	1.64	82	1324	4
69	Michael Irvin	DAL	1993	143	475	30.1%	1.92	88	1330	7
70	Andre Johnson	HOU	2014	146	485	30.1%	0.14	85	936	3
71	Hines Ward	PIT	2005	114	379	30.1%	1.27	69	975	11
72	Brandon Marshall	MIA	2011	141	469	30.1%	-0.32	81	1214	6
73	Eric Moulds	BUF	2000	164	546	30%	0.62	94	1326	5
74	Mike Evans	TAM	2016	173	578	29.9%	-0.19	96	1321	12
75	Chris Chambers	MIA	2005	166	556	29.9%	-0.15	82	1118	11
76	Muhsin Muhammad	CAR	2004	160	536	29.9%	0.60	93	1405	16
77	Cris Carter	MIN	1996	167	561	29.8%	0.38	96	1163	10
78	Plaxico Burress	NYG	2005	166	558	29.7%	0.28	76	1214	7
79	Marty Booker	CHI	2001	157	528	29.7%	-0.36	100	1071	8
80	Jimmy Smith	JAX	2002	137	462	29.7%	0.04	80	1027	7
81	Terrell Owens	DAL	2006	150	506	29.6%	0.90	85	1180	13
82	Pierre Garcon	WAS	2013	181	611	29.6%	-0.83	113	1346	5
83	Chad Johnson	CIN	2003	154	520	29.6%	0.52	90	1355	10
84	Marvin Harrison	IND	2000	169	571	29.6%	2.01	102	1413	14
85	Brett Perriman	DET	1995	179	605	29.6%	1.62	108	1488	9
86	Antonio Brown	PIT	2014	181	612	29.6%	1.67	129	1698	13
87	Carl Pickens	CIN	1998	154	521	29.6%	0.00	82	1023	5
88	Jerry Rice	SFO	1994	151	511	29.5%	2.69	112	1499	13

The target hog to appear most frequently on this list? That’s Football Perspective favorite and former Jacksonville Jaguar Jimmy Smith. Also noteworthy: the top five players by RANY/A among the group of receivers who saw at least 30% of their team’s targets: Rice, Harrison, Moss, and Irvin are the first four of those names. That’s arguably the top four receivers since 1992. The fifth? Rod Smith.

As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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