The Colts have signed Darrius Heyward-Bey to serve as their third wide receiver and big-play threat. The numbers indicate he can get downfield, but there's some uncertainty as to how legitimate of a threat he'll be.
In 2012, Heyward-Bey was one of 42 wideouts who caught at least 40 passes and averaged at least 13.0 yards per reception. The negative is that among those players, he was one of the worst at producing big plays, which we'll define here as receptions of 20-plus yards. Only Kenny Britt (7) had fewer than Heyward-Bey (8). Indianapolis' new wideout had one fewer 20-yard reception than the player he ostensibly replaces, Donnie Avery (9).
It's not all on Heyward-Bey, of course. He's definitely working with a better, more accurate quarterback now than he had in Oakland. But his speed will need to translate into more successful big plays for him to really pay off for the Colts.
The big-play numbers for wide receivers with 40-plus receptions and 13.0 yards per catch in 2012, sorted by most 20-yard receptions, are presented below.
Big-play production, 2012
No Yds Avg 20+
122 1,964 16.1 40 Calvin Johnson
94 1,434 15.3 29 Demaryius Thomas
72 1,384 19.2 24 Vincent Jackson
112 1,598 14.3 23 Andre Johnson
92 1,382 15.0 19 Dez Bryant
92 1,351 14.7 18 Roddy White
55 979 17.8 17 Cecil Shorts
73 1,174 16.1 17 Steve Smith
63 996 15.8 17 Mike Williams
79 1,198 15.2 17 Julio Jones
65 921 14.2 17 Anquan Boldin
49 855 17.4 16 Torrey Smith
97 1,350 13.9 16 A.J. Green
56 814 14.5 15 Malcom Floyd
83 1,154 13.9 15 Marques Colston
85 1,105 13.0 15 Michael Crabtree
46 746 16.2 14 Nate Washington
65 1,041 16.0 14 Lance Moore
56 827 14.8 14 Jeremy Kerley
74 1,083 14.6 14 Brian Hartline
50 861 17.2 13 T.Y. Hilton
44 677 15.4 13 Brandon LaFell
66 943 14.3 13 Miles Austin
50 805 16.1 12 Josh Gordon
45 688 15.3 12 Golden Tate
51 741 14.5 12 Denarius Moore
79 1,046 13.2 12 Steve Johnson
53 692 13.1 12 Hakeem Nicks
50 748 15.0 11 Sidney Rice
44 626 14.2 11 Emmanuel Sanders
59 801 13.6 11 Dwayne Bowe
42 698 16.6 10 Chris Givens
44 633 14.4 10 Pierre Garcon
41 573 14.0 10 Santana Moss
45 700 15.6 9 DeSean Jackson
64 865 13.5 9 Justin Blackmon
51 691 13.5 9 Brandon Gibson
64 836 13.1 9 Mike Wallace
60 781 13.0 9 Donnie Avery
49 745 15.2 8 Jordy Nelson
41 606 14.8 8 Darrius Heyward-Bey
45 589 13.1 7 Kenny Britt
--Andy Richardson