Pro Football Focus: Cardinals have the best receiving corps in NFL
Nov 14, 2015, 6:34 AM
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) celebrates his touchdown reception against the Chicago Bears during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Bryson Vesnaver of ProFootballFocus.com wrote that Arizona Cardinals running back Chris Johnson has been one of the worst in the league at his position, though that does not mean the entire site is down on what’s happening in the desert.
In fact, PFF’s Brent Rollins ranked the top ten receiving corps in the NFL and put Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd of the Cardinals in the No. 1 spot.
This is part of their research into claims that the NFL is a passing league. Two weeks ago, they looked at the top secondaries, and the Cardinals led that list too.
To compile their rankings, PFF looked at a team’s top three receivers, based on snap counts, and yards per route run, or the number of snaps a player went into a pattern. They said this provides a better indicator than yards per target or yards per reception. Here’s the data gathered for the Cards:
1. Arizona Cardinals (Average WR grade: 84.9)
Larry Fitzgerald (91.4), John Brown (84.5), and Michael Floyd (78.8)Plays with three WRs: 44.2 percent
Average age: 27.3
Already in his 12th NFL season, Fitzgerald is on pace for career-bests in catches and TDs, and is currently our sixth-ranked WR. In addition, he is second among all WRs in QB rating when targeted (136.1) and sixth in YPRR (2.63), with 61.9 percent of his routes now run from the slot. While former first-round pick Michael Floyd is also on pace for his personal-best season grade from PFF, what has made this group that much more dangerous this season though is the true emergence of 2014 third-round pick John Brown. After showing flashes in his rookie year, through eight games Brown is already close to eclipsing his 2014 receiving totals.
Entering play in Week 10 the Cardinals are fourth in the league with an average of 293 passing yards per game, with Fitzgerald, Brown and Floyd accounting for the majority of the production.
The other NFC West team that made this list happens to be the Cardinals’ opponent this Sunday, as the Seattle Seahawks came in at No. 10.
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