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