When it comes to catching passes but not getting in the end zone, Jason Avant is the current king. He catches lots of balls between the 20s, but it’s rare to see him actually get in the end zone. He doesn’t tend to get used in the red zone, and he’s not fast enough to turn short balls into long touchdowns.
Over the last five years, Avant has caught 228 passes, and he’s scored on only 5 of those.
That works out to about 2 percent of his receptions, and as I looked at the other poor scorers of the last five years, I see plenty of similar types of receivers – slot receivers who’re working the middle of the field on possession routes underneath.
Among guys with at least 100 catches, here are the worst scoring rates of the last five years.
| LOW-SCORING RECEIVERS (last 5 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Rec | TD | Pct |
| 1. | Jason Avant | 228 | 5 | 2.2% |
| 2. | Harry Douglas | 235 | 7 | 3.0% |
| 3. | Brian Hartline | 267 | 9 | 3.4% |
| 4. | Danny Amendola | 234 | 9 | 3.8% |
| 5. | Andrew Hawkins | 149 | 6 | 4.0% |
| 6. | Jeremy Kerley | 166 | 7 | 4.2% |
| 7. | Josh Morgan | 137 | 6 | 4.4% |
| 8. | Reggie Wayne | 394 | 19 | 4.8% |
| 9. | Greg Little | 161 | 8 | 5.0% |
| 10. | Jacoby Jones | 158 | 8 | 5.1% |
| 11. | Louis Murphy | 118 | 6 | 5.1% |
| 12. | Donnie Avery | 118 | 6 | 5.1% |
| 13. | Andre Johnson | 425 | 22 | 5.2% |
| 14. | Percy Harvin | 272 | 15 | 5.5% |
| 15. | Kendall Wright | 215 | 12 | 5.6% |
| 16. | Julian Edelman | 229 | 13 | 5.7% |
| 17. | Andre Roberts | 218 | 13 | 6.0% |
| 18. | Brandon Gibson | 199 | 12 | 6.0% |
| 19. | DeAndre Hopkins | 128 | 8 | 6.3% |
| 20. | Devin Hester | 127 | 8 | 6.3% |
At the other end of the scale, here are the high-scoring guys. Rather, here are the guys who when they catch passes, they are more likely to be for touchdowns. Finishers, if you will.
I see more large and physical receivers here – more guys running vertical routes outside the hashmarks.
| HIGH-SCORING RECEIVERS (last 5 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Rec | TD | Pct |
| 1. | Dez Bryant | 381 | 56 | 14.7% |
| 2. | Torrey Smith | 213 | 30 | 14.1% |
| 3. | Jordy Nelson | 345 | 45 | 13.0% |
| 4. | Eric Decker | 296 | 38 | 12.8% |
| 5. | Robert Meachem | 121 | 15 | 12.4% |
| 6. | James Jones | 284 | 35 | 12.3% |
| 7. | Mike Wallace | 336 | 41 | 12.2% |
| 8. | Denarius Moore | 142 | 17 | 12.0% |
| 9. | Calvin Johnson | 450 | 53 | 11.8% |
| 10. | Demaryius Thomas | 351 | 41 | 11.7% |
| 11. | Kenny Britt | 163 | 19 | 11.7% |
| 12. | Greg Jennings | 306 | 35 | 11.4% |
| 13. | Malcom Floyd | 194 | 22 | 11.3% |
| 14. | Jeremy Maclin | 287 | 32 | 11.1% |
| 15. | Lance Moore | 234 | 26 | 11.1% |
| 16. | Randall Cobb | 227 | 25 | 11.0% |
| 17. | Riley Cooper | 148 | 16 | 10.8% |
| 18. | A.J. Green | 329 | 35 | 10.6% |
| 19. | Santonio Holmes | 154 | 16 | 10.4% |
| 20. | Alshon Jeffery | 198 | 20 | 10.1% |
—Ian Allan
