While fans around the country wait to find out whether or not there will be a 2020 NFL regular season, analysts are busy pumping out the stories to keep them engaged.
Around the NFL writer Nick Shook recently took a look at all the wide receivers from last year to put together his list of the 10 best pass catchers of 2019.
Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett landed in the No. 2 spot just behind Saints wideout Michael Thomas.
“Lockett’s catch-rate difference is nearly equal to Thomas’, but he achieved it via a much different method,” Shook explains. “Lockett enjoyed an average cushion of more than a yard above Thomas’ rate (6.1 to 4.8), and as a result, his targets came with over 4 more air yards on average. Interestingly, Lockett’s opponents rarely pressed him, doing so just 15.5 percent of the time, likely fearful of his potential to beat them deep after winning the jam at the line. That produced a lower yards-per-target average of 9.6, which is similar to Thomas’ (9.3) despite facing much different coverage at the snap.”
Here are the numbers he found for Lockett per Next Gen Stats: Catch rate: 74.5%. Expected catch rate: 61.9%. Difference: 12.6%.
“Lockett has a flair for making the tough catch, though, so it should come as little surprise that he tied Thomas atop the catch-rate difference leaderboard,” Shook continues. “Defenses should probably stop leaving him wide open, though; he owned the highest wide-open rate of this group (22.7%).”
