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On the surface, Kenny Britt didn’t have a remarkable season. He had just 1,002 yards, to go along with 68 receptions and 5 touchdowns. But then again, every receiver is playing in a different environment, and Britt’s environment was very, very bad.

The three teams with the worst passing stats in 2016 — from a cumulative perspective — were Buffalo, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The Bills had a below-average passing offense but rank at the bottom because the team threw the fewest passes in the league, which makes is tough for a receiver to produce good stats. The 49ers were in the bottom 10 in ANY/A and were one of just four teams that didn’t hit the 500-attempt mark. And the Rams were — by a large margin — the worst passing team in the NFL from an efficiency standpoint, thanks in part to Jared Goff having one of the worst rookie seasons ever.

Green grabbing a bunch of ACY

Britt had 1,422 Adjusted Catch Yards — calculated by giving 5 yards for every reception and 20 yards for every touchdown — which ranked just 26th last season. But the Rams offense as a whole had just 5,153 total ACY, so Britt had 28.0% of all Los Angeles Adjusted Catch Yards. And Britt missed one game: on a pro-rated basis, he had 29.8% of all Rams ACY, calculated as 1422 * (Games Played * 5153/16).

That’s good enough for 5th best in the NFL last year. The leader by this metric was A.J. Green of the Bengals, who took over as options 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Cincinnati passing attack with Mohamed Sanu gone, and Tyler Eifert limited to just eight games. Green had 1,374 ACY in 10 games, but more impressively, he had 34.4% of the Bengals team ACY on a pro-rated basis.

RkPlayerTmAgePosGRecYdsTDACYTMACYPercPro Perc
1A.J. GreenCIN28WR106696441374638621.5%34.4%
2Odell BeckhamNYG24WR161011367102072643232.2%32.2%
3Antonio BrownPIT28WR151061284122054694229.6%31.6%
4Mike EvansTAM23WR16961321122041652031.3%31.3%
5Kenny BrittLAR28WR1568100251442515328%29.8%
6Julio JonesATL27WR1483140961944759025.6%29.3%
7T.Y. HiltonIND27WR1691144862023698129%29%
8Jarvis LandryMIA24WR1694113641686583628.9%28.9%
9Jordy NelsonGNB31WR16971257142022726027.9%27.9%
10Demaryius ThomasDEN29WR1690108351633600927.2%27.2%
11Travis KelceKAN27TE1685112541630611926.6%26.6%
12DeAndre HopkinsHOU24WR167895441424545326.1%26.1%
13Greg OlsenCAR31TE1680107331533591225.9%25.9%
14Terrelle PryorCLE27WR1677100741472568325.9%25.9%
15Doug BaldwinSEA28WR1694112871738672225.9%25.9%
16Stefon DiggsMIN23WR138490331383658921%25.8%
17Emmanuel SandersDEN29WR1679103251527600925.4%25.4%
18Amari CooperOAK22WR1683115351668661225.2%25.2%
19Dez BryantDAL28WR135079681206592420.4%25.1%
20Rishard MatthewsTEN27WR166594591450583524.9%24.9%
21Zach ErtzPHI26TE147881641286601821.4%24.4%
22Michael CrabtreeOAK29WR1689100381608661224.3%24.3%
23Larry FitzgeraldARI33WR16107102361678690024.3%24.3%
24Sammy WatkinsBUF23WR8284302610502012.2%24.3%
25Alshon JefferyCHI26WR125282121121625417.9%23.9%
26Golden TateDET28WR1691107741612674723.9%23.9%
27Julian EdelmanNWE30WR1698110631656693623.9%23.9%
28Cameron MeredithCHI24WR146688841298625420.8%23.7%
29Kelvin BenjaminCAR25WR166394171396591223.6%23.6%
30Jordan MatthewsPHI24WR147380431229601820.4%23.3%
31Delanie WalkerTEN32TE156580071265583521.7%23.1%
32Tyrell WilliamsSDG24WR1669105971544679122.7%22.7%
33Michael ThomasNOR23WR1592113791777837821.2%22.6%
34Quincy EnunwaNYJ24WR165885741227552022.2%22.2%
35Davante AdamsGNB24WR1675997121612726022.2%22.2%
36Brandon MarshallNYJ32WR155978831143552020.7%22.1%
37Cole BeasleyDAL27wr167583351308592422.1%22.1%
38Allen RobinsonJAX23WR167388361368625021.9%21.9%
39Robert WoodsBUF24WR13516131888502017.7%21.8%
40Adam ThielenMIN26WR166996751412658921.4%21.4%
41Kyle RudolphMIN27TE168384071395658921.2%21.2%
42Mike WallaceBAL30WR1672101741457693821%21%
43Rob GronkowskiNWE27te8255403725693610.5%20.9%
44Jeremy KerleySFO28WR166466731047502120.9%20.9%
45Steve SmithBAL37WR147079951249693818%20.6%
46Brandin CooksNOR23WR1678117381723837820.6%20.6%
47Zach MillerCHI32TE10474864801625412.8%20.5%
48Brandon LaFellCIN30WR166486261302638620.4%20.4%
49Jimmy GrahamSEA30TE166592361368672220.4%20.4%
50Marvin JonesDET26WR155593041285674719%20.3%
51Jordan ReedWAS26TE126668661136748315.2%20.2%
52DeVante ParkerMIA23WR155674441104583618.9%20.2%
53Tyler EifertCIN26te8293945639638610%20%
54Pierre GarconWAS30WR1679104131496748320%20%
55Le'Veon BellPIT24RB127561621031694214.9%19.8%
56David JohnsonARI25RB168087941359690019.7%19.7%
57Marqise LeeJAX25wr166385131226625019.6%19.6%

This stat is not necessarily my favorite wide receiver stat, and it is not flawless by any means. But it does provide a nice counter to traditional stats, and serves as a good reminder that every player can only compete with his teammates for passes, is a product of how good (or bad) his quarterback (and offensive line) is at getting him the ball, and is at the mercy of his offensive coordinator’s frequency of calling pass plays.

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