Wide receivers must learn to defend...Glenn and TO mentioned
By KC Joyner
ESPN Insider
(Archive)
Updated: May 29, 2007, 12:40 PM ET
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One issue I am exploring for "Scientific Football 2007" is the impact wide receivers have on their team's interception totals.
Last year, I tracked a variety of interception-related categories for receivers. I'll cover each category and list some of the most relevant or surprising totals in each.
Let's start with the basics and review the 10 receivers with the highest interception totals in 2006:
Braylon Edwards -- 10
Andre Johnson -- 9
Chris Chambers -- 9
Antonio Bryant -- 9
Joey Galloway -- 9
Anquan Boldin -- 7
Lee Evans -- 7
Terry Glenn -- 7
Mike Furrey -- 7
Plaxico Burress -- 7
Not surprisingly, this list includes some of the marquee receivers in the NFL, as more pass attempts likely will equal more interceptions. In some cases, these receivers accounted for more than half of their team's interception totals. Bryant might be the most extreme case, as he accounted for nine of San Francisco's 16 total interceptions last year.
The next thing that stood out to me in these studies was the vast disparity in interception totals between receivers on the same team. For example, Bryant and Arnaz Battle had almost identical pass attempt figures (81 passes thrown to Bryant versus 80 to Battle), yet Bryant had nine of his pass attempts intercepted versus zero for Battle.
Johnson and Eric Moulds also had a large disparity (nine interceptions throwing to Johnson versus one to Moulds), although in this case a large disparity in attempts also exists (163 to Johnson vs. 74 to Moulds).
A receiver's interception total might not be entirely his fault, especially if the quarterback made a bad decision and threw a pass to the receiver while the receiver was tightly covered. How does the top 10 change if the bad decision interceptions are removed from the receiver's totals? Here is the revised list:
Antonio Bryant -- 7
Braylon Edwards -- 6
Andre Johnson -- 6
Joey Galloway -- 6
Plaxico Burress -- 5
Anquan Boldin -- 4
Roddy White -- 4
Terrell Owens -- 4
Mike Furrey -- 4
Reggie Williams -- 4
Darrell Jackson -- 4
That revision helps some of the receivers, but not the ones at the top. In addition to tracking interceptions, I also tracked near interceptions for receivers.
Here are those totals:
Roy Williams -- 15
Braylon Edwards -- 11
Donald Driver -- 11
Laveranues Coles -- 11
Torry Holt -- 11
Bernard Berrian -- 10
Chad Johnson -- 10
Randy Moss --10
Anquan Boldin -- 9
Steve Smith -- 9
Chris Chambers -- 9
This list also contains several marquee wide receivers, but there is one name that stands out -- Braylon Edwards. Edwards is near the top of nearly every list in this article, and that's only part of the picture. Edwards also had the highest combined total of interceptions and near interceptions, plus the second-highest near interception total when there wasn't a bad decision.
To put it another way, one of every six passes thrown his way in 2006 was intercepted or nearly intercepted, and most of those were not caused by bad decisions by the quarterback.
Brady Quinn might give the Browns an upgrade at quarterback, but if Edwards can find a way to dramatically improve his performance in this area -- getting more separation from defenders and/or knocking down more interceptions (he had only one last year) -- that could have just as big an impact on Cleveland's offense.
ESPN Insider
(Archive)
Updated: May 29, 2007, 12:40 PM ET
Comment
One issue I am exploring for "Scientific Football 2007" is the impact wide receivers have on their team's interception totals.
Last year, I tracked a variety of interception-related categories for receivers. I'll cover each category and list some of the most relevant or surprising totals in each.
Let's start with the basics and review the 10 receivers with the highest interception totals in 2006:
Braylon Edwards -- 10
Andre Johnson -- 9
Chris Chambers -- 9
Antonio Bryant -- 9
Joey Galloway -- 9
Anquan Boldin -- 7
Lee Evans -- 7
Terry Glenn -- 7
Mike Furrey -- 7
Plaxico Burress -- 7
Not surprisingly, this list includes some of the marquee receivers in the NFL, as more pass attempts likely will equal more interceptions. In some cases, these receivers accounted for more than half of their team's interception totals. Bryant might be the most extreme case, as he accounted for nine of San Francisco's 16 total interceptions last year.
The next thing that stood out to me in these studies was the vast disparity in interception totals between receivers on the same team. For example, Bryant and Arnaz Battle had almost identical pass attempt figures (81 passes thrown to Bryant versus 80 to Battle), yet Bryant had nine of his pass attempts intercepted versus zero for Battle.
Johnson and Eric Moulds also had a large disparity (nine interceptions throwing to Johnson versus one to Moulds), although in this case a large disparity in attempts also exists (163 to Johnson vs. 74 to Moulds).
A receiver's interception total might not be entirely his fault, especially if the quarterback made a bad decision and threw a pass to the receiver while the receiver was tightly covered. How does the top 10 change if the bad decision interceptions are removed from the receiver's totals? Here is the revised list:
Antonio Bryant -- 7
Braylon Edwards -- 6
Andre Johnson -- 6
Joey Galloway -- 6
Plaxico Burress -- 5
Anquan Boldin -- 4
Roddy White -- 4
Terrell Owens -- 4
Mike Furrey -- 4
Reggie Williams -- 4
Darrell Jackson -- 4
That revision helps some of the receivers, but not the ones at the top. In addition to tracking interceptions, I also tracked near interceptions for receivers.
Here are those totals:
Roy Williams -- 15
Braylon Edwards -- 11
Donald Driver -- 11
Laveranues Coles -- 11
Torry Holt -- 11
Bernard Berrian -- 10
Chad Johnson -- 10
Randy Moss --10
Anquan Boldin -- 9
Steve Smith -- 9
Chris Chambers -- 9
This list also contains several marquee wide receivers, but there is one name that stands out -- Braylon Edwards. Edwards is near the top of nearly every list in this article, and that's only part of the picture. Edwards also had the highest combined total of interceptions and near interceptions, plus the second-highest near interception total when there wasn't a bad decision.
To put it another way, one of every six passes thrown his way in 2006 was intercepted or nearly intercepted, and most of those were not caused by bad decisions by the quarterback.
Brady Quinn might give the Browns an upgrade at quarterback, but if Edwards can find a way to dramatically improve his performance in this area -- getting more separation from defenders and/or knocking down more interceptions (he had only one last year) -- that could have just as big an impact on Cleveland's offense.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:10 PM
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