Thanks to Sports Info Solutions’ charting, we will break receiving DVOA and DYAR down into slot versus broad splits. Much of this information seems in Football Outsiders Almanac 2022, and we will spend the following couple of weeks breaking down these splits, beginning at present with broad receivers. Yes, meaning extra Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase love, as a result of while you’re coming off seasons like they’d, you find yourself on the prime of almost each desk you qualify for.
Before we get to the specifics, we should always cowl the generalities.
League-Wide Trends
Throwing to the slot continues to be simpler than throwing out broad on a per-play foundation. In 2021, receivers working both tight or out of the slot had a 2.7% DVOA, whereas receivers cut up out broad have been at -3.7%. The hole really widens should you take a look at simply broad receivers, from 4.1% to -4.2%. Getting a proficient wideout lined up towards a 3rd or fourth nook is normally a bonus for the offense, and figuring out of the center of the sphere additionally provides receivers extra potential choices for route operating. Add in the ever-increasing amount of nickel defense opening house in the midst of the sphere, and it seems lining up within the slot is a small however persistent profit for receivers. It’s not an enormous hole, and the dimensions varies from yr to yr, however it’s persistently there.
Last season, 56.3% of all receiver targets went to wideouts within the slot, and 26 groups noticed over half their passes go to fit receivers. Those numbers are each barely down from final yr, however it’s nonetheless the predominant technique for utilizing wideouts. Every group noticed a minimum of 46% of its receiver targets go to the slot besides for the Pittsburgh Steelers, which makes a bit little bit of sense when your prime goal out of the slot is Ray-Ray McCloud; extra on him in a bit. Nearly each group with any diploma of competency at wideout was discovering methods to get targets to its guys inside.
When all the league zigs, somebody has to zag. In 2020, we did not have a single broad receiver with a minimum of 80% of his targets cut up out broad. Well, broad receivers got here again in 2021, with DeVante Parker, A.J. Green and Diontae Johnson basically dwelling exterior. Fourteen completely different wideouts noticed twice as many targets exterior as inside, together with a few of the bigger names within the sport. Who Dey? Well, you will simply have to attend and see.
Individual Totals
The following desk exhibits broad receiver goal and efficiency splits within the slot and out broad in 2021. Those charting labels come from gamers’ places on the sphere whatever the positioning of their teammates. A receiver who was a couple of ft away from the offensive line was thought of to be within the slot even when he was the widest receiver on that aspect. Receivers in movement have been charted based mostly on their unique places, which tends to be within the slot on jet motions. We have grouped targets from the normal tight finish spot in with slot targets due to their similarity, however that is not a huge effect on the information; there have been solely 225 targets to broad receivers lined up tight, with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Cooper Kupp the one ones to hit double digits.
| Wide Receivers Slot vs. Wide, 2021 | |||||||||
| Player | Team | Slot/Tight | Wide | Slot% | DVOA Dif | ||||
| Tgt | DYAR | DVOA | Tgt | DYAR | DVOA | ||||
| Cooper Kupp | LAR | 156 | 560 | 32.8% | 23 | 40 | 9.0% | 87.2% | 23.8% |
| Justin Jefferson | MIN | 81 | 373 | 46.1% | 89 | 25 | -9.0% | 47.6% | 55.0% |
| Davante Adams | GB | 106 | 286 | 21.3% | 70 | 137 | 12.1% | 60.2% | 9.2% |
| Tyreek Hill | KC | 114 | 282 | 18.1% | 47 | 31 | -4.4% | 70.8% | 22.5% |
| Tyler Lockett | SEA | 67 | 257 | 35.9% | 44 | 55 | 3.8% | 60.4% | 32.1% |
| Deebo Samuel | SF | 82 | 234 | 25.1% | 35 | 16 | -6.8% | 70.1% | 31.8% |
| Christian Kirk | ARI | 81 | 230 | 23.9% | 20 | 64 | 27.7% | 80.2% | -3.8% |
| Hunter Renfrow | LV | 119 | 212 | 10.4% | 10 | 61 | 65.3% | 92.2% | -54.9% |
| Mike Williams | LAC | 45 | 203 | 43.0% | 87 | 31 | -8.1% | 34.1% | 51.2% |
| Chris Godwin | TB | 105 | 202 | 11.1% | 23 | 59 | 20.2% | 82.0% | -9.1% |
| Mike Evans | TB | 47 | 200 | 40.7% | 69 | 140 | 12.6% | 40.5% | 28.1% |
| Brandon Aiyuk | SF | 47 | 187 | 38.8% | 39 | 40 | 1.0% | 54.7% | 37.9% |
| Allan Lazard | GB | 51 | 186 | 32.5% | 10 | 9 | -0.7% | 83.6% | 33.2% |
| Tee Higgins | CIN | 42 | 186 | 42.3% | 73 | 148 | 14.3% | 36.5% | 28.0% |
| Byron Pringle | KC | 43 | 179 | 39.4% | 16 | 30 | 10.3% | 72.9% | 29.1% |
| Kendrick Bourne | NE | 50 | 159 | 29.1% | 19 | 73 | 40.8% | 72.5% | -11.7% |
| Cedrick Wilson | DAL | 57 | 159 | 22.6% | 5 | -5 | -24.9% | 91.9% | 47.5% |
| CeeDee Lamb | DAL | 66 | 137 | 13.3% | 58 | 66 | 1.8% | 53.2% | 11.5% |
| Bryan Edwards | LV | 32 | 133 | 40.3% | 30 | -20 | -21.3% | 51.6% | 61.5% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | 92 | 132 | 5.8% | 19 | 51 | 20.9% | 82.9% | -15.1% |
| Tyler Boyd | CIN | 87 | 129 | 6.2% | 6 | -11 | -36.1% | 93.5% | 42.4% |
| Darnell Mooney | CHI | 101 | 129 | 3.8% | 42 | -74 | -33.6% | 70.6% | 37.4% |
| DeVonta Smith | PHI | 44 | 125 | 24.7% | 62 | 33 | -5.7% | 41.5% | 30.5% |
| Amari Cooper | DAL | 51 | 124 | 17.7% | 57 | 54 | -0.7% | 47.2% | 18.4% |
| Marquez Callaway | NO | 41 | 124 | 26.8% | 44 | -20 | -18.6% | 48.2% | 45.4% |
| Tim Patrick | DEN | 54 | 118 | 15.4% | 32 | 73 | 16.6% | 62.8% | -1.1% |
| Corey Davis | NYJ | 35 | 100 | 23.0% | 27 | -32 | -28.0% | 56.5% | 51.0% |
| Mecole Hardman | KC | 59 | 95 | 7.6% | 23 | 20 | -2.3% | 72.0% | 9.9% |
| Okay.J. Osborn | MIN | 57 | 93 | 9.8% | 26 | -1 | -12.9% | 68.7% | 22.7% |
| Keenan Allen | LAC | 122 | 91 | -3.5% | 35 | 47 | 5.1% | 77.7% | -8.6% |
| Keelan Cole | NYJ | 25 | 90 | 33.9% | 28 | 19 | -3.6% | 47.2% | 37.5% |
| Jalen Guyton | LAC | 23 | 88 | 34.7% | 25 | 46 | 12.7% | 47.9% | 22.0% |
| Chase Claypool | PIT | 36 | 88 | 18.5% | 74 | -19 | -16.0% | 32.7% | 34.4% |
| Stefon Diggs | BUF | 56 | 88 | 6.6% | 112 | 101 | -1.2% | 33.3% | 7.8% |
| Jarvis Landry | CLE | 58 | 83 | 5.9% | 28 | -53 | -38.4% | 67.4% | 44.3% |
| Gabriel Davis | BUF | 31 | 83 | 20.2% | 32 | 37 | 2.5% | 49.2% | 17.7% |
| Michael Pittman | IND | 65 | 83 | 3.9% | 66 | 126 | 12.1% | 49.6% | -8.2% |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | GB | 26 | 83 | 31.2% | 29 | -91 | -51.1% | 47.3% | 82.3% |
| Quez Watkins | PHI | 45 | 81 | 10.8% | 16 | 7 | -7.7% | 73.8% | 18.5% |
| Adam Thielen | MIN | 39 | 78 | 13.3% | 54 | 98 | 10.5% | 41.9% | 2.9% |
| Zay Jones | LV | 41 | 78 | 12.2% | 31 | 24 | -2.6% | 56.9% | 14.8% |
| Laquon Treadwell | JAX | 25 | 73 | 23.9% | 27 | 3 | -11.4% | 48.1% | 35.2% |
| Jaylen Waddle | MIA | 95 | 73 | -3.0% | 45 | 52 | 2.5% | 67.9% | -5.5% |
| Donovan Peoples-Jones | CLE | 29 | 70 | 18.5% | 32 | 52 | 8.3% | 47.5% | 10.2% |
| DK Metcalf | SEA | 39 | 70 | 10.0% | 92 | 50 | -5.7% | 29.8% | 15.6% |
| Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | TEN | 37 | 64 | 9.5% | 21 | 27 | 4.2% | 63.8% | 5.2% |
| Deonte Harris | NO | 36 | 63 | 11.8% | 21 | 81 | 37.3% | 63.2% | -25.5% |
| Odell Beckham | 2TM | 39 | 63 | 8.8% | 44 | -62 | -30.3% | 47.0% | 39.1% |
| Antonio Brown | TB | 20 | 62 | 25.5% | 43 | 65 | 6.6% | 31.7% | 18.9% |
| Ja’Marr Chase | CIN | 27 | 61 | 18.1% | 101 | 264 | 20.2% | 21.1% | -2.0% |
| Russell Gage | ATL | 68 | 60 | -1.1% | 25 | 45 | 11.1% | 73.1% | -12.2% |
| Courtland Sutton | DEN | 32 | 59 | 12.3% | 72 | 72 | 0.1% | 30.8% | 12.2% |
| Van Jefferson | LAR | 52 | 57 | 0.9% | 38 | 27 | -3.9% | 57.8% | 4.8% |
| Jerry Jeudy | DEN | 50 | 56 | 2.4% | 7 | -3 | -18.8% | 87.7% | 21.2% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | ARI | 15 | 53 | 34.3% | 48 | 166 | 31.3% | 23.8% | 3.0% |
| Marvin Jones | JAX | 58 | 45 | -2.9% | 62 | 43 | -3.6% | 48.3% | 0.7% |
| Emmanuel Sanders | BUF | 35 | 43 | 4.1% | 37 | 88 | 18.9% | 48.6% | -14.8% |
| Brandin Cooks | HOU | 77 | 40 | -5.9% | 63 | 132 | 13.8% | 55.0% | -19.7% |
| Nelson Agholor | NE | 26 | 38 | 6.2% | 43 | 22 | -5.8% | 37.7% | 12.0% |
| Olamide Zaccheaus | ATL | 34 | 37 | 1.1% | 19 | 36 | 11.5% | 64.2% | -10.4% |
| A.J. Green | ARI | 17 | 36 | 14.0% | 74 | 125 | 9.0% | 18.7% | 5.1% |
| Robert Woods | LAR | 48 | 28 | -5.3% | 22 | 111 | 52.3% | 68.6% | -57.5% |
| Calvin Ridley | ATL | 24 | 26 | 1.5% | 31 | -40 | -28.9% | 43.6% | 30.4% |
| Khalif Raymond | DET | 41 | 24 | -5.6% | 29 | 2 | -11.6% | 58.6% | 6.1% |
| Marquise Brown | BAL | 91 | 24 | -9.3% | 58 | -38 | -21.1% | 61.1% | 11.9% |
| Sterling Shepard | NYG | 42 | 23 | -5.4% | 14 | -20 | -29.9% | 75.0% | 24.5% |
| Josh Reynolds | 2TM | 21 | 20 | -0.5% | 30 | 38 | 4.0% | 41.2% | -4.5% |
| Rashod Bateman | BAL | 20 | 16 | -2.9% | 51 | 88 | 9.1% | 28.2% | -11.9% |
| Jamison Crowder | NYJ | 66 | 14 | -9.9% | 4 | -12 | -48.7% | 94.3% | 38.8% |
| Jakobi Meyers | NE | 112 | 14 | -11.1% | 17 | 7 | -7.3% | 86.8% | -3.8% |
| Rondale Moore | ARI | 50 | 12 | -9.4% | 11 | -20 | -34.6% | 82.0% | 25.2% |
| Terry McLaurin | WAS | 69 | 9 | -11.0% | 63 | 136 | 16.1% | 52.3% | -27.1% |
| A.J. Brown | TEN | 57 | 9 | -10.7% | 49 | 103 | 15.3% | 53.8% | -26.0% |
| D.J. Moore | CAR | 63 | 8 | -11.0% | 97 | -9 | -13.9% | 39.4% | 2.9% |
| Elijah Moore | NYJ | 49 | 5 | -11.2% | 28 | 18 | -4.3% | 63.6% | -7.0% |
| Jalen Reagor | PHI | 18 | 3 | -10.6% | 41 | -45 | -28.7% | 30.5% | 18.1% |
| DeVante Parker | MIA | 14 | 2 | -10.3% | 61 | 71 | 2.2% | 18.7% | -12.5% |
| Nico Collins | HOU | 22 | -1 | -13.2% | 40 | 25 | -4.7% | 35.5% | -8.5% |
| Cole Beasley | BUF | 98 | -1 | -12.8% | 14 | -44 | -52.8% | 87.5% | 40.0% |
| Diontae Johnson | PIT | 33 | -1 | -13.2% | 141 | 70 | -6.4% | 19.0% | -6.9% |
| Braxton Berrios | NYJ | 57 | -4 | -13.5% | 7 | 16 | 17.5% | 89.1% | -31.0% |
| Allan Robinson | CHI | 37 | -6 | -14.8% | 32 | 25 | -2.6% | 53.6% | -12.2% |
| Tre’Quan Smith | NO | 38 | -10 | -16.0% | 12 | 60 | 57.4% | 76.0% | -73.4% |
| Michael Gallup | DAL | 14 | -13 | -24.0% | 51 | 63 | 2.2% | 21.5% | -26.2% |
| Tyler Johnson | TB | 36 | -17 | -19.0% | 19 | -13 | -21.4% | 65.5% | 2.4% |
| Kadarius Toney | NYG | 34 | -18 | -19.6% | 21 | 39 | 10.9% | 61.8% | -30.4% |
| Adam Humphries | WAS | 56 | -25 | -18.5% | 7 | 13 | 14.1% | 88.9% | -32.6% |
| Darius Slayton | NYG | 16 | -26 | -34.0% | 44 | -82 | -37.0% | 26.7% | 3.0% |
| Robby Anderson | CAR | 60 | -45 | -22.2% | 49 | -125 | -47.3% | 55.0% | 25.1% |
| Kenny Golladay | NYG | 28 | -45 | -33.0% | 52 | 8 | -10.7% | 35.0% | -22.3% |
| Laviska Shenault | JAX | 64 | -51 | -23.0% | 32 | -49 | -34.9% | 66.7% | 11.9% |
| Zach Pascal | IND | 61 | -99 | -34.2% | 11 | 25 | 17.7% | 84.7% | -52.0% |
| Ray-Ray McCloud | PIT | 60 | -150 | -44.1% | 5 | -32 | -96.6% | 92.3% | 52.5% |
Super Disagreements
The group that focused broad receivers probably the most incessantly within the slot, as soon as once more, was the Los Angeles Rams. In 2020, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods had the second- and third-most slot targets within the league. The workload was extra unfold out in 2021, however Kupp, Woods and Van Jefferson all spent extra time within the slot than in any other case. We’ll get to Kupp particularly in a second, however I wish to give attention to the group stage for only a second right here. Just like they’ve finished yearly throughout Sean McVay’s tenure, the Rams lined up in skinny formations and branched outward. The addition of Matthew Stafford at quarterback meant that additionally they branched downfield greater than they’d with Jared Goff—the common depth of goal to a Rams receiver within the slot jumped from 7.9 to 11.5 yards final season—however the primary philosophy remained intact: Use slender formations, line all of your receivers in tight after which reap the benefits of the house on the sphere opened up by the protection narrowing itself in response. L.A. did this barely much less final season, rating twenty eighth in formation width after rating thirty second in McVay’s first 4 seasons, however that is nonetheless a reasonably basic side of most playcallers within the McVay/Shanahan mould.
“Most” is an important phrase in that sentence, as a result of the group with the least frequent targets to receivers within the slot was … properly, it was the Steelers, however not far behind them have been the Cincinnati Bengals, led by McVay protégé Zac Taylor. The Bengals buck the normal McVay methods and cut up themselves broad, with each Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins within the prime 10 in broad targets final season. Again, we’ll get to Chase particularly in a second, however it’s hanging simply how completely different two coaches from the identical tree lined up, even with each utilizing basically the same personnel groupings. The Rams‘ three receivers are likely to line up in bunches or journeys; the Bengals have been extra conventional with all sides that includes a wideout out broad.
