RB/TE in the Slot in 2023

Another charting stats article means another lengthy discussion on just how damn impressive the San Francisco 49ers is. We continue our charting stats deep dive in the wake of the FTN Football Almanac 2024’s release, continuing to explore the slot and wide distinctions. FTN’s charting allows us to more specifically identify player alignment on passing plays, offering us new insight into player usage and implementation across different offenses. 

Earlier this week, Bryan Knowles covered all things wide receiver. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what happens when the quarterback looks to the rest of his skill position players. Running backs and tight ends are less frequently used in traditional receiver alignments. However, as we’ll soon discuss in this article, some of the league’s most successful and forward-thinking offenses are finding new ways to implement skill position talent in non-traditional ways. While the rates of usage are mostly in line with previous years, teams like San Francisco, Baltimore, Miami, and Kansas City are clearly seeing massive success finding more creative ways to get their best players the ball.

Running Backs

Here are the top 12 running backs ranked by descending DYAR generated in slot/tight alignments in 2023.

As one would likely expect, the San Francisco 49ers have their hands all over this list. San Francisco is the only team to boast multiple players with double-digit targets from slot/tight looks, and while Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk are first and second on slot DYAR, volume isn’t the only factor in that. That clearly can’t be the case when San Francisco’s 28 RB slot targets nearly triple the DYAR output of Miami’s league-leading 41 targets and outpace their DVOA growth at nearly 10 to 1. Both Kyle Shanahan and his disciple, Mike McDaniel, clearly value getting their running backs into the space created by their motion-heavy, field-stretching offense. Shanahan’s system has the added benefit of additional weapons to serve as threats alongside the league’s best pass-catching back in McCaffrey. What McCaffrey is able to do on his own is so unique to any other player in the league. His 67.7% slot/tight DVOA is third among all skill position players with double-digit slot targets. 

Of course, comparing any other back in the league to McCaffrey is a fool’s errand; it should not take away from the incredible rookie debut from De’Von Achane. Out of slot/tight looks, Achane generated a 62.5% success rate on 16 attempts while finishing with the second-highest average yards after the catch of all running backs (min. 10 targets). On a team as talented as Miami’s, Achane’s 35.1% DVOA led all Dolphins skill position players in the slot. The impressive stats aren’t just handed out in Shanahan offenses, either. Achane’s teammate, Salvon Ahmed, finished last among all running backs with a -33 DYAR out of slot/tight looks.

There are certainly teams who arguably could have benefited more from lining up backs in the slot. Kansas City (72 DYAR), Baltimore (48 DYAR), and Cincinnati (45 DYAR) all finished top five in receiving DYAR to backs in slot/tight looks despite each team doing so just nine times each. In Kansas City’s case, six of the nine attempts went to passing back specialist Jerick McKinnon. In terms of efficiency, no one was better out of the slot than McKinnon. He was the only back (min. 5 targets in the slot) to post a DVOA over 100%. While Baltimore’s season was marred by injuries at the running back position, which meant the majority of running back slot work was taken up by fullback Patrick Ricard. He saw six targets for the fifth-highest receiving DYAR among running backs out of slot/tight alignments. In Cincinnati’s case, the Bengals were able to generate massive YAC opportunities on otherwise short plays. When Joe Mixon and Chase Brown were lined up in the slot, they were able to generate 31 and 27 yards after the catch, respectively, on a combined seven targets. 

On the other end of the spectrum, two of the most targeted backs out of the slot were wholly unable to produce. Despite his touted success coming out of college and his otherwise great performance as a general passing back (his 6.4% receiving DVOA and 104 receiving DYAR ranked 16th and 8th among backs, respectively), Robinson could not produce at the same level from the slot. Robinson’s -20 DYAR on 15 targets came out to the third-worst performance by any back under slot/tight looks. Part of that can be chalked up to the situation in Atlanta. The combined efforts of Desmond Ridder and Marcus Mariota amounted to the seventh-worst DVOA on short passes in the league last season and the second-worst DVOA on passes over the middle. The transition to Kirk Cousins should drastically improve those numbers. 

The same cannot be said for Alvin Kamara, who posted a -16 DYAR and -34.6% DVOA on 14 targets from the slot. In the not-too-distant past, Kamara was the best pass-catching running back in the league. However, the separation ability and knack for finding open space have quickly depreciated in recent years. In each of the last three years, Kamara has seen a drop-off in both yards per completion and yards after the catch in the passing game. 

As opposed to the slightly more common slot/tight alignment, passes to running backs out wide make up just 6.0% of all passes to backs. Consistent passes out wide are even more rare. Of the 73 running backs to get targets when split out wide, 31 received a single target. Only 14 running backs received at least five targets split out wide, and Christian McCaffrey is the only player with double-digit targets.

Antonio Gibson’s presence atop both the DYAR and DVOA lists for running backs split out wide highlights just how infrequently running backs split out wide in 2023. Gibson leads all running backs in DYAR on wide out reps and third in DVOA among backs with multiple targets out wide. Of his three targets, two were screens with a negative pass depth and double-digit yards after the catch. One is a deep pass from Sam Howell totaling 41 yards and single-handedly netting Gibson 19.5 DYAR. 

The benefit of the on-field line-up – both from a practical offensive perspective and a “juicing the numbers” one – is the potential to catch the defense off-guard. Each of the five running backs with a positive DVOA on passes out wide (min. 5 attempts) have some explosive play to their name. Zach Charbonnet took a screen pass three yards behind the line of scrimmage 39 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs never gained more than 7 yards on a completed catch out wide, but he did pick up a DPI penalty worth 16 yards. Rachaad White has completions of 22 and 16 yards, coming off a combined 26 yards’ worth of YAC. Four of Breece Hall’s targets went down as incompletions or turnovers, but two went for a combined 36 yards, a first down, and a touchdown. Even McCaffrey has two big, YAC-fueled catches out wide that counterweight some dud targets. That is the territory that comes with these wide-out plays. The plays are often meant to create enough space for the running backs to break free for some extra yardage. The hope lies in a few big breakaway plays outweighing the snuffed-out screens. 

That’s why situations like those of Tyjae Spears and Alvin Kamara end up being so unique. With this kind of passing play being so rare within the NFL – taking up less than 200 total pass attempts across the entire league – it’s confusing to see teams return to a well they’ve seen come up dry so consistently. Tyjae Spears finished third on the team in targets, but he only managed to average 1.0 yards after the catch on all receptions. When split out wide, Spears caught just three passes and posted 20 total yards after the catch. 17 of those came on one catch, and the other misses or completions for loss made the play a massive net negative on both a DVOA and DYAR basis. Kamara is a whole other story. A player who has already seen significant steps back in being able to separate from defenders is just getting swallowed up on these designed screens. Kamara averaged less than a yard and a half on these plays, with just one of his eight targets going down as a successful play. 

Tight Ends

Here are the top 20 tight ends ranked by descending DYAR generated in slot alignments in 2023, minimum five targets.

George Kittle isn’t just one of the best tight ends out of the slot. When lined up in the slot, Kittle becomes one of the most productive skill position players in the game. In 2023, Kittle’s 273 DYAR out of the slot ranked second among all players, while his 45.8% DVOA is third among all receivers with at least 25 targets. Among tight ends, Kittle is pretty much in his own stratosphere when it comes to slot work. Kittle leads all tight ends in slot work by 72 yards despite having over 30 fewer receptions than the second-place T.J. Hockenson. His DYAR nearly laps the second-highest performer, Cole Kmet at 144. He does all this while finishing second among tight ends with minimum 25 slot targets and co-leading tight ends in yards after the catch per reception. Coupling this with Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk’s matched ability to generate out of the slot, this is your annual reminder that it is a pain in the ass to defend against Kyle Shanahan offenses.

The only tight end who can come close to matching Kittle’s per-catch efficiency in the slot: Isaiah Likely. The Baltimore Ravens tight end room is like a proverbial hydra: when Mark Andrews goes down, an Isaiah Likely pops up in his place. Andrews has thrived out of the slot as a member of the Ravens offense for a number of years, routinely taking more than half of his targets from the slot or in tight. So it’s no surprise to see Likely transition into a similar role after Andrews went down midseason with a leg injury, finishing the season with 62% of targets in the slot. What was a surprise, though, was Likely’s sheer efficiency out of the slot. Likely’s late onset role meant he only saw 40 targets, dampening his DYAR a bit. Likely did manage to join Kittle as one of two tight ends to crack a 40% DVOA in the slot and one of three to break 30%. Now, Likely never came close to touching this level of production as a rookie under Greg Roman. The transition to a space-oriented offense like Monken’s allowed the hyper-athletic Likely to blossom from a below-average DVOA tight end to one of the league’s top producers out of the slot. 

Here are the top 12 tight ends ranked by descending DYAR generated out wide in 2023, minimum five targets.

Travis Kelce has always been a de facto receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2024, that role moved from being a major luxury for Mahomes to an absolute necessity. Kelce became one of the team’s de facto options on the outside in addition to occupying the team’s traditional tight end responsibilities. Despite seeing just 24% of his targets when split out wide, Kelce’s 38 wide DYAR and 14.1% wide DVOA ranked third among all Chiefs skill position players, his DYAR finishing three behind Rashee Rice’s despite seeing exactly half the targets (29 to 58). 

If you were looking for the next true offensive weapon in the same vein as a Kelce or an Andrews, look no further than Sam LaPorta. The rookie tight end did it all for the Detroit Lions offensively, including playing a true receiver-style role. LaPorta was the only tight end outside of Tucker Kraft to see a greater percentage of his targets come from out wide than in the slot (Kraft saw a combined five targets outside of traditional tight end alignment). LaPorta wasn’t a hyper-efficient outside target, but the sheer workload Detroit was willing to entrust LaPorta with this early – in both the slot and out wide – should be a good sign for his development going forward. 

Bringing up the rear with a -58 DYAR out wide is Kyle Pitts. Pitts has struggled massively since his rookie year 1,000-yard season, but his post-rookie fall-off is most apparent in his reps out wide. Just two years ago, Pitts’ 75 wide DYAR was one of the highest totals we had seen from the tight end position in years. This year, his -58 DYAR out wide is the worst in the league by at least 10 points. We cannot completely chalk it up to Arthur Smith’s scheme or the team’s quarterback situation, seeing as Pitts’ teammate Jonnu Smith finished with the second-highest DYAR out wide among tight ends. The Falcons also gave Pitts ample chance to turn those numbers around, giving him the second-most targets in the league out wide behind LaPorta. Who knows if those targets outside will be there in 2024 under Zac Robinson and the Falcons’ new regime? In 2023, the Rams finished with seven targets to tight ends lined up out wide, tied for sixth fewest in the league.