Of the 29 wide receivers with at least 6 TD catches last year, Cecil Shorts III had the longest average, with his scores coming from an average of 42 yards. Marques Colston, meanwhile, was the short-range guy, with his scores coming from only 11 yards on average.
It sure would be nice if the Jaguars had a quarterback who could throw the ball downfield. That's not Blaine Gabbert's strong suit; he's a dink-and-dunk guy -- a graduate of the Trent Edwards School of Quarterbacking.
Because at wide receiver, the Jaguars have something special. Cecil Shorts III (yes, like Robert Griffin III, he uses the "third") plays like a young Steve Smith. He got downfield for a bunch of bombs last year.
And as an added bonus, Justin Blackmon is out for the first month of the season, which should mean more balls.
Other receivers who caught at least 6 TDs and averaged over 33 yards per touchdown: T.Y. Hilton and Danario Alexander. Shorts, Hilton, Alexander -- who saw that trio coming down the pike last August?
Receivers who tended to catch short touchdowns last year include Marques Colston, Wes Welker, Eric Decker and James Jones.
Here's the average distance of touchdowns for wide receivers:
RECEIVERS: AVERAGE LENGTH OF TOUCHDOWNS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Tm | Player | TD | Avg |
Jac. | Cecil Shorts III | 7 | 42.3 |
Ind. | T.Y. Hilton | 7 | 38.9 |
S.D. | Danario Alexander | 7 | 33.4 |
Pitt. | Mike Wallace | 8 | 31.6 |
Dall. | Dez Bryant | 12 | 29.3 |
Wash. | Santana Moss | 8 | 28.4 |
Phil. | Jeremy Maclin | 7 | 27.1 |
Atl. | Julio Jones | 10 | 26.2 |
NYG | Victor Cruz | 10 | 25.8 |
Buff. | Stevie Johnson | 6 | 24.5 |
Dall. | Miles Austin | 6 | 23.0 |
Atl. | Roddy White | 7 | 22.6 |
Cin. | A.J. Green | 11 | 22.5 |
Den. | Demaryius Thomas | 10 | 21.4 |
T.B. | Mike Williams | 9 | 21.2 |
Sea. | Golden Tate | 7 | 21.0 |
S.F. | Michael Crabtree | 9 | 20.6 |
Sea. | Sidney Rice | 7 | 20.4 |
G.B. | Jordy Nelson | 7 | 20.0 |
Balt. | Torrey Smith | 8 | 19.9 |
G.B. | Randall Cobb | 8 | 19.5 |
T.B. | Vincent Jackson | 8 | 18.3 |
N.O. | Lance Moore | 6 | 18.0 |
Chi. | Brandon Marshall | 11 | 16.7 |
Oak. | Denarius Moore | 7 | 14.7 |
Den. | Eric Decker | 13 | 13.4 |
G.B. | James Jones | 14 | 13.4 |
N.E. | Wes Welker | 6 | 12.5 |
N.O. | Marques Colston | 10 | 11.1 |
--Ian Allan