2022 DVOA by Route Type

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.

2022 DVOA by Route Type

Related