Around the NFL

February 23, 2020

Danny Amendola

Lions quietly bring back low-impact receiver

The Lions signed Danny Amendola last week, a one-year deal that barely made a blip on the newswire. It's a fitting lack of fanfare for a player who's productive, in his way, as long as you don't care about things like getting in the end zone.

Amendola has played for three different teams the last three seasons (Patriots, Dolphins, Lions). By staying healthy and involved in the slot, he's caught 50-plus passes in each of those years. That doesn't sound like much until you consider he's one of only 21 players in the league to catch at least 50 balls in each of the last three seasons. But those are pretty low-impact catches compared to everyone else who's done so.

In those three seasons, Amendola has caught only 2, 1 and 1 touchdown. That's two of the only four seasons among those 21 wideouts with just 1 TD, and one of the four with only 2 touchdowns. So he has 3 of the 8 worst scoring seasons among those 50-catch receivers.

RECEIVERS WITH 50 CATCHES EACH OF LAST THREE SEASONS
2019	Player	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
2018	Davante Adams, G.B.	111	1386	12.5	13
2017	DeAndre Hopkins, Hou.	96	1378	14.4	13
2018	Tyreek Hill, K.C.	87	1479	17.0	12
2018	DeAndre Hopkins, Hou.	115	1572	13.7	11
2017	Davante Adams, G.B.	74	885	12.0	10
2018	Travis Kelce, K.C.	103	1336	13.0	10
2017	Jarvis Landry, Mia.	112	987	8.8	9
2019	Michael Thomas, N.O.	149	1725	11.6	9
2018	Michael Thomas, N.O.	125	1405	11.2	9
2018	Stefon Diggs, Min.	102	1021	10.0	9
2018	Julio Jones, Atl.	113	1677	14.8	8
2018	Mike Evans, T.B.	86	1524	17.7	8
2019	Mike Evans, T.B.	67	1157	17.3	8
2017	Stefon Diggs, Min.	64	849	13.3	8
2017	Travis Kelce, K.C.	83	1038	12.5	8
2018	Zach Ertz, Phil.	116	1163	10.0	8
2017	Zach Ertz, Phil.	74	824	11.1	8
2019	DeAndre Hopkins, Hou.	104	1165	11.2	7
2018	James White, N.E.	87	751	8.6	7
2017	Robby Anderson, NYJ	63	941	14.9	7
2017	Tyreek Hill, K.C.	75	1183	15.8	7
2019	Tyreek Hill, K.C.	58	860	14.8	7
2018	Christian McCaffrey, Car.	107	867	8.1	6
2019	Jarvis Landry, Cle.	83	1174	14.1	6
2019	Julio Jones, Atl.	99	1394	14.1	6
2019	Keenan Allen, LAC	104	1199	11.5	6
2017	Keenan Allen, LAC	102	1393	13.7	6
2018	Keenan Allen, LAC	97	1196	12.3	6
2017	Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz.	109	1156	10.6	6
2018	Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz.	69	734	10.6	6
2018	Robby Anderson, NYJ	50	752	15.0	6
2018	Robert Woods, LAR	86	1219	14.2	6
2019	Stefon Diggs, Min.	63	1130	17.9	6
2019	Zach Ertz, Phil.	88	916	10.4	6
2017	Alvin Kamara, N.O.	81	826	10.2	5
2017	Christian McCaffrey, Car.	80	651	8.1	5
2019	Davante Adams, G.B.	83	997	12.0	5
2019	James White, N.E.	72	645	9.0	5
2017	Michael Thomas, N.O.	104	1245	12.0	5
2017	Mike Evans, T.B.	71	1001	14.1	5
2017	Mohamed Sanu, Atl.	67	703	10.5	5
2019	Robby Anderson, NYJ	52	779	15.0	5
2017	Robert Woods, LAR	56	781	14.0	5
2018	Tarik Cohen, Chi.	71	725	10.2	5
2019	Travis Kelce, K.C.	97	1229	12.7	5
2018	Alvin Kamara, N.O.	81	709	8.8	4
2019	Christian McCaffrey, Car.	116	1005	8.7	4
2018	Jarvis Landry, Cle.	81	976	12.1	4
2019	Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz.	75	804	10.7	4
2018	Mohamed Sanu, Atl.	66	838	12.7	4
2018	Sterling Shepard, NYG	66	872	13.2	4
2017	James White, N.E.	56	429	7.7	3
2017	Julio Jones, Atl.	88	1444	16.4	3
2019	Sterling Shepard, NYG	57	576	10.1	3
2019	Tarik Cohen, Chi.	79	456	5.8	3
2019	Mohamed Sanu, 2TM	59	520	8.8	2
2019	Robert Woods, LAR	90	1134	12.6	2
2017	Sterling Shepard, NYG	59	731	12.4	2
2017	Danny Amendola, N.E.	61	659	10.8	2
2019	Alvin Kamara, N.O.	81	533	6.6	1
2019	Danny Amendola, Det.	62	678	10.9	1
2018	Danny Amendola, Mia.	59	575	9.8	1
2017	Tarik Cohen, Chi.	53	353	6.7	1

Scoring isn't everything; no doubt Amendola helped the team pick up some key first downs along the way. But not a player or signing that moves the needle much on Detroit's hopes for relevance in 2020.

--Andy Richardson

Danny Amendola

6 Reader Comments:

Ben Hogevoll

Siletz, OR

2020-02-23T16:32:35Z

Your very last sentence is a understatement with TJ retuning.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY

2020-02-23T17:07:13Z

Hockenson did play in 12 of 16 games last year...not necessarily going to have a huge impact on Amendola’s targets

James Costello

Portland, ME

2020-02-23T18:54:12Z

Thank goodness. I was afraid the Pats would sign him. IMO he’s not much more than someone that can make a fair catch and not fumble

Paul Desimone

Hayward, CA

2020-02-23T21:20:31Z

In 2019, the targets/catches/yards/TDs wen this way:

Golliday: 116/65/1190/11
Jones Jr.: 91/62/779/9
Amendola: 97/62/678/1
Hockenson: 59/32/367/2

I'd expect (if the season started today) Golliday & Jones to remain 1 and 2.
I've got Hockenson in a dynasty league, but I expect to get more from Fant. Not a good look when your (Hockenson's) game one was your tops all year.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY

2020-02-23T21:46:56Z

Well, a lot of TE’s had their best game against Detroit’s Week 1 opponent, Arizona.

I had heard a rumor/speculation that the Lions might want to trade Marvin Jones, should have mentioned that.

Paul Desimone

Hayward, CA

2020-02-23T22:00:58Z

Jones' cap figure in 2020 will be $9,183,334. Not in the neighborhood of Jeffery, Cooks or Watkins (don't worry, not going to go off on 'em today). But I suppose it's more than they might want to spend on a guy whose career arc is probably about to descend. Then again, so many things get floated by people without a shred of basis for them. Worth noting, though. If it happens, I'll have heard it from Andy first.

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Danny Amendola

6 Reader Comments:

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