Since the start of the 2013 season, the top 5 players in receptions consist of three future Hall of Famers — Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, and Larry Fitzgerald — and two players traded yesterday. Those two players, Demaryius Thomas and Golden Tate, may not be bound for Canton, but they should be remembered as two of the best receivers of the ’10s.
Thomas may well wind up on as a second team member of the All Decade team of the ’00s. As of today, he ranks 3rd in the decade in receiving yards (behind Brown and Jones), third in receptions (behind Brown and Fitzgerald), and 8th in receiving touchdowns. Tate has a reputation as one of the best receivers in the NFL in terms of yards after the catch: he’s averaged 6.7 yards after the catch since 2013, easily the most of any wide receiver with a significant number of receptions.
The two receivers have both made a living on short passes; on passes within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage, the duo rank 2nd and 3rd in receptions behind Brown. And given that both players are now changing teams — Tate was traded to the Eagles for a 3rd round pick, Thomas was traded to the Texans for a 4th round pick — it’s worthwhile to see how each receiver has done under different passers. In particular, given how both have been great on shorter passes, I used the PFR Index to see the quarterback breakdown for each receiver on passes since 2013 under 15 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Here’s Thomas’s breakdown by passer:
| Player | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/A | 1D | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Manning | 218 | 313 | 69.6 | 2355 | 17 | 7 | 7.5 | 128 | 100.3 |
| Trevor Siemian | 109 | 172 | 63.4 | 1105 | 3 | 3 | 6.4 | 57 | 80.2 |
| Brock Osweiler | 63 | 96 | 65.6 | 671 | 6 | 3 | 7.0 | 36 | 93.7 |
| Case Keenum | 32 | 43 | 74.4 | 262 | 2 | 1 | 6.1 | 19 | 95.3 |
| Paxton Lynch | 22 | 27 | 81.5 | 187 | 2 | 0 | 6.9 | 11 | 120.2 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 |
| Totals | 444 | 651 | 68.2 | 4580 | 30 | 14 | 7.0 | 251 | 94.6 |
Unsurprisingly, Thomas was at his most productive with Manning, During one 16-game stretch with the future Hall of Famer, Thomas caught 122 passes for 1,746 yards and 11 touchdowns. But his time in Denver was clearly coming to an end: his last 16 games with the Broncos, Thomas caught 76 passes for just 826 yards and 7 touchdowns, the lowest amount of yards he’d gained in any 16-game stretch with Denver since before Manning arrived in 2013.
And here is Tate’s breakdown:
| Player | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Sk | Yds | Y/A | 1D | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford | 378 | 511 | 74.0 | 3583 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 191 | 96.5 |
| Russell Wilson | 54 | 72 | 75.0 | 573 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 31 | 105.8 |
| Dan Orlovsky | 3 | 7 | 42.9 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 1 | 50.9 |
| Tarvaris Jackson | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 1 | 72.9 |
| Jake Rudock | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 16.7 |
| Matt Cassel | 0 | 1 | .0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Totals | 437 | 595 | 73.4 | 4195 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 224 | 96.0 |
Tate was an underrated star in Seattle, and kept up his great numbers in Detroit. Now, Thomas will be getting a big quarterback upgrade in Deshaun Watson, while Tate will be playing with his third top passer in Carson Wentz. For the last 6 years, they have been two of the best wide receivers in the NFL at gaining yards after the catch. And playing on two teams trying to make a push for the playoffs, both will be in a position to be key contributors in December… and maybe January.