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Air Yards and YAC By Position

Arizona running back David Johnson is one of the better receiving backs in the NFL, but he’s also the most unique. Most teams use their running back as a last resort on passing plays; on average, passes to running backs are right at the line of scrimmage.  But with Johnson, he’s actually thrown passes down the field, rather than just as a checkdown option.

The graph below shows each running back with 40+ targets.  The X-Axis shows the average number air yards on each reception by that running back; the Y-Axis shows the average number of yards gained after the catch.  Most running backs will be up (high YAC) and to the far left (low Air Yards) on this chart.  Johnson, however, is a bit of an outlier.  Arizona frequently lines him up in the slot, and even throws him the occasional deep pass.

The other notable outliers at running back are Austin Ekeler (10.2 YAC per reception) and Dalvin Cook (11.2 YAC per reception):

At tight end, Saints veteran Jared Cook was the big outlier in terms of air yards: he averaged 10.5 yards before the catch on his receptions in 2019. He only had 43 receptions last year, but 6 of them came 20+ yards down the field.  On the other side, we have Vance McDonald.  The Steelers tight end averaged just 2.7 air yards per catch last year, and averaged just 7.2 yards per reception.

Denver’s Noah Fant averaged 8.3 yards after the catch on his receptions last year, the best in the league among tight ends. Here’s the full tight end graph, with Air Yards again on the X-Axis and YAC on the Y-Axis.

At wide receiver, Chargers third-year receiver Mike Williams was the most notable deep threat in the NFL.  He averaged an incredible 16.6 air yards per catch.  Meanwhile, Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman was the rare receiver who averaged more yards after the catch (11.2) than before the catch (9.5).  The full graph, below.

Finally, let’s put all the players in one graph. Here, you can see that David Johnson is slipping into tight end territory when it comes to his air yards, while Jared Cook is actually catching deeper passes than most receivers. And Mike Williams really stands out.

In fact, let’s close with a closer look at Williams. He had 49 receptions this season. The graph below shows all 49 of his catches, in chronological order, in terms of both air yards (blue) and YAC (yellow with blue outline).

Williams has cemented himself as the game’s top deep threat, but what happens to him without Philip Rivers next year will be very interesting to watch.

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