Fast receivers such as Tyreek Hill and DK Metcalf win on curl routes by scaring defenders into playing off coverage. Amari Cooper and Garrett Wilson ate on slant routes despite not necessarily having the best quarterbacks. And receiver screens are generally bad – unless you are the Philadelphia Eagles.
Those are some of the lessons of this year’s look at DVOA by route type. This is one of the big stat projects we regularly ran on an annual basis over at Football Outsiders. This year’s analysis is powered by FTN Data. We can look at which routes players run most often, and at which routes they are the most effective. It helps paint a more complete picture of each receiver’s skill set and usage patterns.
I’ve limited this article to just wide receivers and tight ends, and we’ll look at the eight types of routes that were targeted at least 1,000 times last season, in order of how often they were targeted. For each route, I’m listing roughly the top 20 most frequently targeted receivers.
Tables are sorted by DYAR, but you can also see which receivers ran the routes most often. By the way, this is regular old receiving DYAR, not the special Route DYAR that I introduced in an article earlier this week. We wouldn’t be able to do Route DYAR based on route types because we only have the charting data on what route a receiver ran when he was targeted. Also, remember that the baselines for wide receivers and tight ends are a bit different, so tight ends may be a little less efficient but end up with more DYAR because we’re comparing them to other tight ends.
Numbers below include gains on Defensive Pass Interference.
The most commonly charted route for wide receivers and tight ends was the hitch or curl. Wide receivers averaged -6.4% receiving DVOA on these routes, while tight ends averaged -3.7% receiving DVOA.
Hitch/Curl | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
10-T.Hill | MIA | 121 | 25 | 303 | 96% | 9.0 | 3.6 |
16-T.Lockett | SEA | 91 | 30 | 251 | 83% | 8.1 | 1.8 |
14-D.Metcalf | SEA | 84 | 27 | 242 | 93% | 7.8 | 2.1 |
81-M.Williams | LAC | 70 | 25 | 243 | 80% | 8.1 | 3.5 |
12-C.Olave | NO | 64 | 29 | 252 | 83% | 8.3 | 1.4 |
88-P.Freiermuth | PIT | 32 | 36 | 282 | 67% | 8.4 | 4.3 |
88-C.Lamb | DAL | 27 | 30 | 256 | 80% | 7.4 | 3.3 |
9-J.Smith-Schuster | KC | 23 | 35 | 285 | 83% | 6.3 | 4.2 |
13-M.Evans | TB | 22 | 28 | 224 | 79% | 7.9 | 1.5 |
2-M.Brown | ARI | 20 | 27 | 194 | 78% | 6.9 | 2.2 |
2-R.Woods | TEN | 17 | 28 | 159 | 71% | 5.6 | 2.8 |
5-J.Palmer | LAC | 14 | 32 | 184 | 68% | 6.7 | 1.8 |
6-D.Smith | PHI | 13 | 26 | 187 | 69% | 9.1 | 2.1 |
85-N.Brown | DAL | 13 | 25 | 132 | 67% | 7.0 | 0.9 |
10-D.Hopkins | ARI | 3 | 27 | 176 | 93% | 6.0 | 1.6 |
11-M.Jones | JAX | 1 | 25 | 152 | 68% | 8.7 | 0.8 |
87-T.Kelce | KC | -3 | 42 | 246 | 71% | 4.5 | 2.9 |
11-M.Pittman | IND | -8 | 28 | 176 | 71% | 6.0 | 2.9 |
14-S.Diggs | BUF | -11 | 30 | 174 | 63% | 6.8 | 3.3 |
14-C.Sutton | DEN | -15 | 26 | 141 | 73% | 6.3 | 1.6 |
18-D.Johnson | PIT | -17 | 33 | 219 | 63% | 7.9 | 1.8 |
17-D.Adams | LV | -36 | 28 | 145 | 52% | 6.7 | 2.4 |
One thing I noticed about this year’s hitches and curls is that you have a lot of fast wide receivers at the top. Clearly, the speed of players such as Tyreek Hill and DK Metcalf is scaring off cornerbacks, allowing them to turn around quickly and catch the ball easily. With that in mind, a negative DYAR for Stefon Diggs is a bit of a surprise. And boy oh boy were wires crossed between ex-college teammates Davante Adams and Derek Carr in Las Vegas last year. I have no idea how you end up with a completion rate of only 52% on curl routes.
He’s not listed above because he had only 12 hitch/curl passes, but Rondale Moore was tied for sixth in DYAR on these passes with 64 DYAR. Kendrick Bourne had 44 DYAR on these passes with only six targets. All six of those were first downs with five of them gaining at least 15 yards.
The lowest receivers in DYAR on hitch/curls are not listed here because they didn’t have enough routes to be listed. The big shock is A.J. Brown at -51 DYAR on 20 hitch/curls with just a 35% catch rate. That’s some fluky stuff right there. Tyler Conklin was even lower, with -68 DYAR on 22 hitch/curls for the Jets.
Next comes the quick out. These shorter routes are not overall efficient compared to other routes. Wide receivers averaged a dismal -19.8% DVOA and tight ends averaged -12.2% DVOA.
Quick Out | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
13-K.Allen | LAC | 77 | 23 | 159 | 87% | 4.5 | 3.8 |
18-J.Jefferson | MIN | 77 | 38 | 284 | 89% | 3.3 | 5.0 |
87-T.Kelce | KC | 50 | 21 | 181 | 86% | 4.0 | 6.3 |
88-C.Otton | TB | 45 | 25 | 170 | 88% | 2.2 | 5.3 |
17-D.Adams | LV | 36 | 21 | 136 | 86% | 4.3 | 3.3 |
17-E.Engram | JAX | 35 | 22 | 177 | 86% | 3.5 | 6.2 |
85-C.Kmet | CHI | 28 | 23 | 140 | 74% | 3.9 | 4.9 |
83-T.Conklin | NYJ | 23 | 27 | 163 | 81% | 3.0 | 4.6 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 4 | 33 | 162 | 69% | 4.1 | 3.7 |
85-G.Kittle | SF | 4 | 24 | 154 | 71% | 2.1 | 7.6 |
89-M.Andrews | BAL | -1 | 22 | 131 | 91% | 3.5 | 3.5 |
7-G.Everett | LAC | -3 | 26 | 189 | 81% | 2.3 | 6.6 |
85-R.Tonyan | GB | -4 | 21 | 130 | 86% | 0.6 | 7.3 |
88-H.Hurst | CIN | -7 | 28 | 137 | 82% | 1.9 | 3.6 |
14-C.Godwin | TB | -11 | 24 | 124 | 83% | 2.6 | 4.0 |
16-T.Lockett | SEA | -16 | 24 | 144 | 92% | 3.8 | 2.6 |
85-H.Henry | NE | -22 | 21 | 111 | 71% | 3.5 | 4.1 |
82-L.Thomas | WAS | -22 | 22 | 107 | 77% | 3.0 | 3.4 |
86-D.Schultz | DAL | -27 | 22 | 87 | 64% | 2.8 | 3.5 |
13-C.Kirk | JAX | -33 | 32 | 143 | 59% | 3.8 | 3.1 |
89-T.Higbee | LAR | -35 | 40 | 193 | 75% | 2.6 | 4.0 |
1-J.Chase | CIN | -44 | 23 | 105 | 61% | 3.7 | 3.9 |
87-T.Hockenson | 2TM | -46 | 37 | 178 | 73% | 2.8 | 3.6 |
This route looks like it rewards tight ends and crisp route-runners at the wide receiver position. Stefon Diggs didn’t have enough quick outs for our table but was third with 54 DYAR on 18 quick outs. Players at the bottom of DYAR who are not listed on the table include DJ Moore (-51 on 16), Jauan Jennings (-53 on 13) and Ben Skowronek (-55 on 16).
There’s a big gap between the top two routes and the next two routes as far as overall frequency. In-breaking routes and digs are very effective overall. The average wide receiver had 16.7% DVOA on these routes while the average tight end had 17.4% DVOA. (Again, wide receivers and tight ends are compared to different baselines, so the higher DVOA does not mean that tight ends are more effective on these routes than wide receivers.)
In/Dig | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
18-J.Jefferson | MIN | 155 | 25 | 327 | 75% | 12.2 | 4.6 |
17-J.Waddle | MIA | 112 | 29 | 357 | 61% | 13.7 | 6.8 |
11-A.Brown | PHI | 103 | 24 | 314 | 79% | 8.8 | 7.9 |
11-D.Peoples-Jones | CLE | 99 | 23 | 275 | 78% | 12.0 | 2.4 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 98 | 21 | 274 | 71% | 11.7 | 6.5 |
5-D.London | ATL | 91 | 21 | 248 | 76% | 10.1 | 3.3 |
11-B.Aiyuk | SF | 80 | 27 | 318 | 68% | 11.4 | 5.5 |
19-A.Thielen | MIN | 72 | 22 | 202 | 73% | 11.0 | 1.5 |
87-T.Kelce | KC | 68 | 26 | 278 | 65% | 10.2 | 5.8 |
14-C.Godwin | TB | 64 | 18 | 218 | 83% | 10.6 | 3.6 |
10-M.Hollins | LV | 51 | 21 | 207 | 67% | 12.1 | 4.6 |
10-T.Hill | MIA | 51 | 19 | 185 | 68% | 12.6 | 2.8 |
17-D.Adams | LV | 49 | 25 | 251 | 54% | 13.9 | 6.5 |
87-T.Hockenson | 2TM | 43 | 18 | 155 | 75% | 10.2 | 1.8 |
11-M.Pittman | IND | 39 | 28 | 248 | 68% | 9.3 | 4.5 |
2-D.Moore | CAR | 25 | 20 | 183 | 50% | 12.8 | 3.9 |
13-G.Davis | BUF | 22 | 20 | 205 | 60% | 14.7 | 1.6 |
17-G.Wilson | NYJ | 22 | 22 | 201 | 52% | 11.8 | 5.6 |
18-I.Hodgins | 2TM | 17 | 18 | 153 | 65% | 10.6 | 2.0 |
19-D.Samuel | SF | 6 | 18 | 138 | 39% | 8.7 | 11.7 |
89-M.Andrews | BAL | 4 | 19 | 144 | 58% | 10.4 | 2.1 |
14-A.Pierce | IND | -48 | 20 | 89 | 40% | 8.5 | 1.1 |
Those poor numbers for Deebo Samuel and Mark Andrews are certainly a surprise. This is a route where most of the players with negative DYAR on the year did not have enough routes targeted to make the table above. Marcus Johnson of the Giants ran seven dig routes and all seven were incomplete, giving him -51 DYAR. A.J. Green (-26 DYAR on 6) and Julio Jones (-25 DYAR on 5) also were poor on this route in 2022.
Next up is the classic go route, good old No. 9. Wide receivers averaged 11.6% DVOA on these routes while tight ends (who didn’t run them very often) averaged 13.8% DVOA. Look at that average depth of target for Scary Terry McLaurin!
Go | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
11-A.Brown | PHI | 181 | 29 | 558 | 46% | 29.9 | 10.5 |
13-M.Evans | TB | 169 | 29 | 442 | 48% | 25.1 | 5.6 |
14-G.Pickens | PIT | 159 | 29 | 426 | 52% | 24.8 | 3.3 |
10-T.Hill | MIA | 133 | 19 | 342 | 47% | 29.4 | 8.8 |
85-T.Higgins | CIN | 121 | 22 | 360 | 48% | 24.1 | 6.8 |
17-T.McLaurin | WAS | 108 | 17 | 332 | 44% | 34.2 | 2.3 |
1-J.Chase | CIN | 56 | 26 | 263 | 38% | 22.0 | 5.0 |
17-D.Adams | LV | 50 | 40 | 377 | 34% | 21.3 | 4.2 |
13-B.Cooks | HOU | 42 | 17 | 220 | 36% | 27.5 | 2.8 |
88-C.Lamb | DAL | 38 | 17 | 137 | 33% | 27.6 | 2.6 |
13-A.Lazard | GB | 29 | 22 | 250 | 29% | 28.5 | 6.7 |
81-M.Williams | LAC | 25 | 21 | 179 | 38% | 26.2 | 1.3 |
12-C.Olave | NO | 23 | 18 | 239 | 35% | 31.6 | 6.3 |
2-A.Cooper | CLE | 23 | 24 | 202 | 32% | 22.3 | 4.3 |
2-D.Moore | CAR | 14 | 20 | 220 | 26% | 28.8 | 2.4 |
5-D.London | ATL | -13 | 17 | 138 | 25% | 23.4 | 3.3 |
14-C.Sutton | DEN | -13 | 24 | 203 | 19% | 23.0 | 3.5 |
14-D.Metcalf | SEA | -18 | 25 | 214 | 28% | 19.7 | 6.3 |
2-M.Brown | ARI | -25 | 20 | 187 | 18% | 28.5 | 1.3 |
11-M.Jones | JAX | -66 | 19 | 67 | 12% | 24.2 | 2.0 |
17-G.Wilson | NYJ | -82 | 18 | 78 | 11% | 20.6 | 13.5 |
18-D.Johnson | PIT | -87 | 25 | 123 | 13% | 25.5 | 3.0 |
There’s another drop in frequency after the go route until we get to our next four routes. Slants are not as effective as deep routes but valuable overall. The average wide receiver had 6.7% DVOA on these routes while the average tight end had 2.4% DVOA.
Slant | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
2-A.Cooper | CLE | 124 | 24 | 229 | 79% | 7.8 | 3.9 |
17-G.Wilson | NYJ | 120 | 24 | 325 | 74% | 9.8 | 7.7 |
11-B.Aiyuk | SF | 77 | 19 | 140 | 79% | 6.0 | 2.9 |
5-D.London | ATL | 75 | 14 | 119 | 86% | 7.0 | 2.8 |
14-S.Diggs | BUF | 67 | 28 | 249 | 75% | 6.6 | 5.4 |
1-J.Chase | CIN | 66 | 16 | 130 | 88% | 6.1 | 3.5 |
13-A.Lazard | GB | 51 | 19 | 142 | 61% | 6.4 | 5.2 |
11-A.Brown | PHI | 50 | 33 | 320 | 67% | 6.5 | 6.7 |
83-T.Boyd | CIN | 48 | 13 | 141 | 77% | 4.8 | 8.4 |
17-J.Waddle | MIA | 46 | 13 | 131 | 54% | 10.1 | 8.4 |
88-C.Lamb | DAL | 39 | 17 | 150 | 82% | 5.9 | 4.4 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 25 | 16 | 124 | 75% | 6.3 | 3.8 |
14-C.Godwin | TB | 21 | 15 | 90 | 67% | 7.0 | 3.0 |
84-C.Davis | NYJ | 21 | 14 | 107 | 64% | 7.7 | 4.0 |
11-M.Pittman | IND | 11 | 20 | 118 | 75% | 4.8 | 3.1 |
14-D.Metcalf | SEA | 11 | 21 | 168 | 80% | 8.3 | 1.8 |
14-C.Sutton | DEN | 10 | 13 | 104 | 67% | 7.8 | 3.8 |
18-R.Cobb | GB | 5 | 15 | 135 | 73% | 6.8 | 5.8 |
That’s right, not one receiver who qualified to be ranked on the table above had negative DYAR on slant routes. The worst DYAR on slants belonged to Braxton Berrios, with -40 DYAR on five routes, four incomplete and a four-yard catch on third-and-11.
Deep outs are generally not as effective as other deep routes. The average wide receiver had 6.2% DVOA on these routes while the average tight end was at 3.1%.
Deep Out | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
2-A.Cooper | CLE | 97 | 15 | 204 | 73% | 12.5 | 6.0 |
14-S.Diggs | BUF | 86 | 12 | 156 | 83% | 11.9 | 2.4 |
12-C.Olave | NO | 74 | 23 | 263 | 77% | 13.1 | 1.6 |
18-D.Johnson | PIT | 62 | 24 | 213 | 70% | 11.2 | 1.4 |
7-Z.Jones | JAX | 52 | 15 | 144 | 80% | 11.7 | 0.7 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 45 | 14 | 116 | 64% | 11.9 | 0.8 |
13-G.Davis | BUF | 45 | 19 | 171 | 50% | 15.3 | 0.8 |
6-D.Smith | PHI | 42 | 17 | 160 | 59% | 12.1 | 4.4 |
13-M.Evans | TB | 37 | 13 | 119 | 69% | 13.0 | 0.8 |
10-J.Jeudy | DEN | 37 | 12 | 112 | 58% | 12.5 | 2.6 |
18-J.Jefferson | MIN | 32 | 26 | 218 | 50% | 13.0 | 1.6 |
13-K.Allen | LAC | 29 | 12 | 120 | 67% | 12.7 | 2.8 |
85-T.Higgins | CIN | 26 | 21 | 138 | 62% | 11.7 | 0.5 |
83-T.Boyd | CIN | 9 | 12 | 82 | 58% | 9.6 | 2.6 |
10-T.Hill | MIA | 6 | 16 | 164 | 56% | 12.8 | 2.2 |
13-B.Cooks | HOU | 6 | 16 | 107 | 44% | 11.2 | 3.6 |
14-D.Metcalf | SEA | 5 | 12 | 78 | 58% | 10.5 | 0.0 |
17-G.Wilson | NYJ | 3 | 15 | 103 | 47% | 14.7 | -0.3 |
2-R.Woods | TEN | -1 | 12 | 85 | 58% | 13.3 | 0.9 |
19-A.Thielen | MIN | -21 | 15 | 82 | 40% | 12.3 | 1.7 |
17-D.Adams | LV | -28 | 18 | 89 | 33% | 11.8 | 4.8 |
Here’s another surprisingly low performance for Davante Adams. Another surprising low: the worst DYAR on deep outs actually belonged to Pittsburgh rookie George Pickens, who had -36 DYAR on 10 deep outs. He caught only three of those, and two of them were short of a first down.
Next come shallow crosses and drags. The average wide receiver had -4.5% DVOA on these routes while the average tight end was at 2.8% DVOA.
Shallow Cross/Drag | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
81-M.Williams | LAC | 70 | 11 | 115 | 91% | 2.6 | 9.7 |
87-T.Kelce | KC | 60 | 15 | 140 | 87% | 3.3 | 7.3 |
17-T.McLaurin | WAS | 47 | 14 | 123 | 79% | 3.7 | 7.9 |
16-J.Meyers | NE | 33 | 10 | 98 | 90% | 5.1 | 5.6 |
88-C.Lamb | DAL | 32 | 10 | 97 | 70% | 5.2 | 9.0 |
17-E.Engram | JAX | 28 | 14 | 112 | 79% | 3.0 | 7.8 |
87-T.Hockenson | 2TM | 28 | 12 | 157 | 83% | 5.6 | 10.0 |
11-M.Pittman | IND | 10 | 18 | 136 | 83% | 5.2 | 4.3 |
14-C.Godwin | TB | 4 | 15 | 116 | 60% | 4.7 | 6.0 |
9-J.Smith-Schuster | KC | 3 | 14 | 110 | 86% | 5.1 | 5.0 |
10-C.Samuel | WAS | 1 | 12 | 75 | 67% | 3.0 | 8.0 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 0 | 16 | 98 | 69% | 2.7 | 6.8 |
18-D.Johnson | PIT | -1 | 11 | 63 | 73% | 4.3 | 4.6 |
7-Z.Jones | JAX | -1 | 16 | 84 | 69% | 2.9 | 5.2 |
10-M.Hollins | LV | -1 | 10 | 47 | 70% | 3.9 | 2.9 |
10-T.Hill | MIA | -2 | 15 | 86 | 87% | 3.5 | 3.1 |
16-Q.Watkins | PHI | -11 | 10 | 56 | 80% | -0.1 | 7.8 |
Some of the highest and lowest DYAR totals on drag routes are not listed above. Will Dissly had 59 DYAR on seven drags and Brock Wright had 54 DYAR on only five drag routes. Cooper Kupp was only charted with two drag routes in his half-season and had 42 DYAR on those two plays! He converted third-and-11 in Week 3 and then took a drag upfield for a 75-yard touchdown (71 YAC) on a third-and-2 in Week 5.
On the other side of the coin, you’ve got Parris Campbell (-39 DYAR on 8 drags) and Robert Woods (-32 DYAR on 9 drags). Campbell caught 7 of 9 drag routes but only one of them was a first down and one of them was a fumble with a loss of 7 yards (against Houston in Week 18).
Finally, let’s talk about wide receiver and tight end screens. Anecdotally, we all remember some very good screens that gained major yardage and moved the chains. Statistically, they are generally failures. This is not a case of “shorter routes are less efficient because deep receivers were covered and the quarterback had to check down.” These are plays that are designed to be this short. And, as a group, they suck. The average wide receiver screen earned -33.8% receiving DVOA and the average tight end screen earned -22.2% DVOA. The average wide receiver screen gained 5.0 yards with 9.9 yards to go. On third or fourth down, that average was 4.7 yards gained with 11.5 yards to go. Ugh. This is not unique to 2022. Screens have the worst DVOA of any receiver route in every season.
Screens | Team | DYAR | Tgt | Yds | C% | aDOT | YAC |
6-D.Smith | PHI | 37 | 22 | 173 | 95% | -2.3 | 10.4 |
88-D.Goedert | PHI | 29 | 16 | 174 | 100% | -2.9 | 13.8 |
89-T.Higbee | LAR | 29 | 19 | 166 | 63% | -2.5 | 16.3 |
14-A.St. Brown | DET | 4 | 13 | 78 | 85% | -2.1 | 9.4 |
19-B.Powell | LAR | 2 | 14 | 83 | 79% | -3.6 | 11.2 |
10-J.Jeudy | DEN | 1 | 13 | 68 | 85% | -2.7 | 8.9 |
10-C.Kupp | LAR | -5 | 20 | 118 | 95% | -2.1 | 8.2 |
11-K.Raymond | DET | -6 | 12 | 70 | 100% | -2.2 | 8.0 |
18-J.Jefferson | MIN | -6 | 19 | 106 | 95% | -1.1 | 7.2 |
7-Z.Jones | JAX | -12 | 12 | 61 | 92% | -2.1 | 7.6 |
14-C.Godwin | TB | -13 | 30 | 179 | 93% | -2.1 | 8.5 |
5-D.London | ATL | -14 | 12 | 53 | 75% | -1.9 | 7.9 |
87-T.Kelce | KC | -16 | 12 | 57 | 92% | -2.6 | 8.0 |
1-P.Campbell | IND | -20 | 14 | 92 | 71% | -2.4 | 10.9 |
19-D.Samuel | SF | -21 | 25 | 146 | 72% | -2.6 | 10.7 |
83-G.Dortch | ARI | -31 | 12 | 55 | 100% | -1.8 | 6.3 |
10-T.Hill | MIA | -31 | 13 | 56 | 85% | -2.2 | 7.5 |
88-C.Lamb | DAL | -40 | 13 | 40 | 92% | -3.1 | 6.4 |
1-J.Chase | CIN | -40 | 15 | 58 | 87% | -2.4 | 6.8 |
10-C.Samuel | WAS | -40 | 16 | 61 | 100% | -2.7 | 6.5 |
4-R.Moore | ARI | -46 | 12 | 40 | 92% | -3.4 | 7.3 |
87-R.Doubs | GB | -48 | 14 | 66 | 86% | -1.1 | 6.8 |
11-D.Mooney | CHI | -49 | 13 | 37 | 77% | -2.6 | 6.4 |
13-B.Cooks | HOU | -70 | 12 | 16 | 92% | -2.2 | 3.5 |
Well, at least the Eagles seem to be good at screen passes. This is the second straight year that Chris Godwin both led the league in screen passes and had negative DYAR on screen passes. Tampa, please, knock it off.
The DYAR leader in screens is not listed here. That’s because he only caught three passes. New England cornerback/gadget receiver Marcus Jones had 46 DYAR on his three screen receptions last year. Devin Duvernay of the Ravens was also high with 34 DYAR on seven screens.