If you need a first down, who ya gonna call?! These guys 👇@TheNickShook's full article: https://t.co/bxrO5zz3IG pic.twitter.com/GGBjTVeg5L
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) June 5, 2023
A new member of the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room took home the crown of the NFL’s most reliable pass catcher in 2022 according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
NFL Media’s Nick Shook used catch rate, xCatch (expected catch rate) and CROE stats from NFL’s Next Gen Stats to come up with a list of the league’s 10 most reliable pass-catchers from a season ago. He specifically sought to find the players who consistently caught passes that weren’t expected to be completed. The list relies heavily on the catch rate over expected (CROE) metric, which uses separation, depth of target and speed to measure how difficult a completed pass is.
The player to land at the No. 1 spot is none other than Chiefs’ Richie James, who put up a career year with the New York Giants in 2022. Shook even wrote that “James is likely among the last players anyone would expect to land atop a receiving ranking.” However, he felt it fit within the Giants’ narrative of exceeding expectations in 2022.
James posted a season-long catch rate of 81.4%, but he had an expected catch rate of 70.4%. That means he had a CROE of +11% on the season, catching over 11% more passes than expected given all the different variables that come into play. James set career-highs in receptions (57), receiving yards (569) and receiving touchdowns (4). Of his 70 targets last season, only 13 of them resulted in incomplete passes.
Being that James was signed a little later in the free agent process and the hype around all the other receivers on the roster, perhaps fans are overlooking the type of impact he could make in Kansas City. He did all of this last season with Daniel Jones throwing him passes. Just imagine of the heights he’s capable of reaching with Patrick Mahomes hurling the rock.
