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2015 college football receiver stats show no one was as efficient and explosive as JuJu Smith-Schuster

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By Bill C.
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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last year I finally began to figure out ways to share large amounts of data at once with the team statistical profiles. Within each profile resides a ton of individual and unit data, but it's obviously only presented one team at a time. People have been requesting all receiving data in one file, as I have presented in years past. So here it is.

Download an Excel sheet with receiver data here.

It features all the bells and whistles I shared last year, including general target-and-catch data for all downs, standard downs, and passing downs (note: SD and PD data have garbage time filtered out). I'm also including these terms on the far right of each tab:

Net Expected Yards: Basically, "Your Catch Rate was A%, and one with that average would typically net about B yards per catch. With your total targets, then, you should have ended up with C receiving yards, but you ended up with D receiving yards instead." (Also: NEP/Target).

Real Yards Per Target: On average, a player tended to be targeted A% of the time on standard downs, so if Player B was targeted A% on SDs and C% on PDs, his per-target average would have been D.

RYPR: (Receiving yards / Total Team Plays) * Passing S&P+. For more, go here.

As I did last year, I thought it would be fun to look at a break-out of the most frequently targeted players (in this case, guys targeted at least 80 times). Whose production stood out, and who just got targeted a lot? Shades of red mean the player was below the 50th percentile in the given category (the darker, the worse), shades of green mean the opposite.

2016 returnees are in bold. (Note: Gehrig Dieter transferred to Alabama.) Non-WRs are documented.

Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Massachusetts Tajae Sharpe 176 111 1319 63.1% 11.9 7.5 37.4% 1
Tulsa Keyarris Garrett 159 96 1588 60.4% 16.5 10.0 33.7% 1
Washington State Gabe Marks 149 104 1192 69.8% 11.5 8.0 20.8% 1
Michigan State Aaron Burbridge 146 85 1258 58.2% 14.8 8.6 34.1% 1
Middle Tennessee Richie James 146 108 1346 74.0% 12.5 9.2 29.8% 1
Western Michigan Daniel Braverman 142 109 1371 76.8% 12.6 9.7 36.1% 1
Ball State Jordan Williams 141 73 935 51.8% 12.8 6.6 31.7% 1
Bowling Green Gehrig Dieter 141 94 1033 66.7% 11.0 7.3 24.5% 1
Boise State Thomas Sperbeck 140 89 1431 63.6% 16.1 10.2 27.7% 1
Western Michigan Corey Davis 140 91 1446 65.0% 15.9 10.3 35.6% 2
USC JuJu Smith-Schuster 135 89 1454 65.9% 16.3 10.8 30.8% 1
Louisiana Tech Trent Taylor 131 99 1282 75.6% 12.9 9.8 28.3% 1
Middle Tennessee Ed'Marques Batties 131 82 1048 62.6% 12.8 8.0 26.7% 2
Bowling Green Roger Lewis 130 85 1544 65.4% 18.2 11.9 22.6% 2
Washington State Dom Williams 130 75 1040 57.7% 13.9 8.0 18.1% 2
Houston Demarcus Ayers 129 98 1222 76.0% 12.5 9.5 31.0% 1
Illinois Geronimo Allison 129 65 882 50.4% 13.6 6.8 25.9% 1
Northern Illinois Kenny Golladay 129 73 1129 56.6% 15.5 8.8 33.4% 1
Texas A&M Christian Kirk 129 80 1009 62.0% 12.6 7.8 28.2% 1
Cincinnati Shaq Washington 128 90 982 70.3% 10.9 7.7 24.6% 1
Wisconsin Alex Erickson 128 77 978 60.2% 12.7 7.6 32.1% 1
Texas Tech Jakeem Grant 127 90 1263 70.9% 14.0 9.9 21.6% 1
Alabama Calvin Ridley 126 89 1059 70.6% 11.9 8.4 29.2% 1
Pittsburgh Tyler Boyd 126 91 926 72.2% 10.2 7.3 38.9% 1
East Carolina Isaiah Jones 125 98 1093 78.4% 11.2 8.7 27.7% 1
Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Minnesota KJ Maye 125 73 773 58.4% 10.6 6.2 30.4% 1
Virginia Tech Isaiah Ford 125 75 1164 60.0% 15.5 9.3 34.7% 1
UCLA Jordan Payton 124 78 1106 62.9% 14.2 8.9 25.8% 1
Colorado Nelson Spruce 123 90 1043 73.2% 11.6 8.5 27.6% 1
Ole Miss Laquon Treadwell 122 83 1165 68.0% 14.0 9.5 26.2% 1
Temple Robby Anderson 122 70 939 57.4% 13.4 7.7 28.6% 1
Baylor Corey Coleman 121 74 1363 61.2% 18.4 11.3 32.4% 1
Mississippi State Fred Ross 121 88 1007 72.7% 11.4 8.3 24.8% 1
Clemson Artavis Scott 120 93 927 77.5% 10.0 7.7 24.0% 1
Old Dominion Zach Pascal 120 69 975 57.5% 14.1 8.1 30.4% 1
North Texas Carlos Harris 118 61 727 51.7% 11.9 6.2 30.7% 1
Penn State Chris Godwin 118 70 1103 59.3% 15.8 9.3 29.9% 1
Oklahoma Sterling Shepard 117 86 1288 73.5% 15.0 11.0 28.1% 1
Western Kentucky Taywan Taylor 115 86 1467 74.8% 17.1 12.8 21.3% 1
UL-Monroe Ajalen Holley 114 60 709 52.6% 11.8 6.2 25.3% 1
Ball State KeVonn Mabon 113 70 745 61.9% 10.6 6.6 25.4% 2
Southern Miss Mike Thomas 112 71 1391 63.4% 19.6 12.4 22.2% 1
Nevada Jerico Richardson 111 68 745 61.3% 11.0 6.7 35.0% 1
Western Kentucky Jared Dangerfield 111 82 844 73.9% 10.3 7.6 20.5% 2
Indiana Simmie Cobbs, Jr. 110 60 1035 54.5% 17.3 9.4 24.7% 1
Arizona State D.J. Foster 109 59 584 54.1% 9.9 5.4 21.1% 1
Utah State Hunter Sharp 109 71 827 65.1% 11.6 7.6 29.0% 1
Tulsa Joshua Atkinson 108 76 1071 70.4% 14.1 9.9 22.9% 2
South Carolina Pharoh Cooper 107 66 977 61.7% 14.8 9.1 32.4% 1
TCU Josh Doctson 107 79 1327 73.8% 16.8 12.4 21.7% 1
Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Colorado State Rashard Higgins 106 75 1062 70.8% 14.2 10.0 28.7% 1
UL-Monroe Marcus Green 106 63 698 59.4% 11.1 6.6 23.5% 2
BYU Mitch Mathews 105 54 737 51.4% 13.6 7.0 21.9% 1
Georgia State Penny Hart 105 71 1099 67.6% 15.5 10.5 22.1% 1
Southern Miss Casey Martin 105 80 925 76.2% 11.6 8.8 20.8% 2
UNLV Devonte Boyd 105 54 904 51.4% 16.7 8.6 30.3% 1
Marshall Davonte Allen 103 58 715 56.3% 12.3 6.9 22.9% 1
Oklahoma State James Washington 103 53 979 51.5% 18.5 9.5 20.5% 1
Buffalo Ron Willoughby 101 62 813 61.4% 13.1 8.0 23.3% 1
Georgia State Robert Davis 100 62 995 62.0% 16.0 10.0 21.0% 2
Nebraska Jordan Westerkamp 100 66 926 66.0% 14.0 9.3 23.1% 1
Ohio Sebastian Smith 100 64 770 64.0% 12.0 7.7 26.1% 1
Alabama ArDarius Stewart 99 63 700 63.6% 11.1 7.1 22.9% 2
Arizona State Devin Lucien 99 66 1074 66.7% 16.3 10.8 19.2% 2
Florida Atlantic Jenson Stoshak 99 57 825 57.6% 14.5 8.3 26.5% 1
Virginia Taquan Mizzell (RB) 99 75 719 75.8% 9.6 7.3 25.6% 1
Mississippi State De'Runnya Wilson 98 60 918 61.2% 15.3 9.4 20.1% 2
Oregon Bralon Addison 98 63 804 64.3% 12.8 8.2 27.2% 1
Purdue DeAngelo Yancey 98 48 700 49.0% 14.6 7.1 20.9% 1
Central Michigan Jesse Kroll 97 61 866 62.9% 14.2 8.9 20.8% 1
Bowling Green Ronnie Moore 96 72 954 75.0% 13.3 9.9 16.7% 3
Kentucky Dorian Baker 96 55 608 57.3% 11.1 6.3 26.6% 1
Michigan Amara Darboh 96 58 727 60.4% 12.5 7.6 23.9% 1
Central Florida Tre'Quan Smith 95 52 724 54.7% 13.9 7.6 24.1% 1
Indiana Ricky Jones 95 54 906 56.8% 16.8 9.5 21.3% 2
Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Memphis Mose Frazier 95 71 833 74.7% 11.7 8.8 21.0% 1
Notre Dame Will Fuller 95 62 1258 65.3% 20.3 13.2 25.9% 1
Fresno State Jamire Jordan 94 46 540 48.9% 11.7 5.7 25.5% 1
Iowa Matt VandeBerg 94 65 700 69.1% 10.8 7.4 26.2% 1
Kansas State Deante Burton 94 38 510 40.4% 13.4 5.4 28.7% 1
Washington Jaydon Mickens 94 58 692 61.7% 11.9 7.4 25.0% 1
Wyoming Jake Maulhardt 94 57 648 60.6% 11.4 6.9 31.8% 1
Arizona Cayleb Jones 93 55 908 59.1% 16.5 9.8 21.5% 1
Florida State Travis Rudolph 93 59 916 63.4% 15.5 9.8 23.4% 1
Southern Miss D.J. Thompson 93 55 779 59.1% 14.2 8.4 18.4% 3
Baylor KD Cannon 92 51 881 55.4% 17.3 9.6 24.7% 2
Charlotte Austin Duke 92 53 534 57.6% 10.1 5.8 26.3% 1
Connecticut Noel Thomas 92 54 719 58.7% 13.3 7.8 28.7% 1
Georgia Malcolm Mitchell 92 58 865 63.0% 14.9 9.4 29.8% 1
Iowa State Allen Lazard 92 58 879 63.0% 15.2 9.6 23.5% 1
Nevada Hasaan Henderson 91 53 734 58.2% 13.8 8.1 28.7% 2
Wake Forest Cortez Lewis 91 47 611 51.6% 13.0 6.7 23.5% 1
SMU Courtland Sutton 90 50 899 55.6% 18.0 10.0 26.0% 1
UL-Lafayette Jamal Robinson 90 54 824 60.0% 15.3 9.2 25.0% 1
Penn State DaeSean Hamilton 89 45 585 50.6% 13.0 6.6 22.6% 2
UCLA Thomas Duarte 89 53 872 59.6% 16.5 9.8 18.5% 2
Vanderbilt Trent Sherfield 89 51 659 57.3% 12.9 7.4 25.4% 1
Western Kentucky Nicholas Norris 89 63 971 70.8% 15.4 10.9 16.5% 3
Florida International Thomas Owens 88 51 638 58.0% 12.5 7.3 20.4% 1
Houston Chance Allen 88 56 752 63.6% 13.4 8.5 21.2% 2
Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Oregon State Jordan Villamin 88 43 660 48.9% 15.3 7.5 27.8% 1
Oregon State Victor Bolden 88 46 461 52.3% 10.0 5.2 27.8% 2
Oklahoma State David Glidden 87 57 866 65.5% 15.2 10.0 17.3% 2
Buffalo Matt Weiser (TE) 86 63 625 73.3% 9.9 7.3 19.8% 2
Florida State Jesus Wilson 86 58 629 67.4% 10.8 7.3 21.6% 2
Texas State C.J. Best 86 58 594 67.4% 10.2 6.9 21.7% 1
Toledo Corey Jones 86 55 577 64.0% 10.5 6.7 21.8% 1
California Kenny Lawler 85 52 658 61.2% 12.7 7.7 16.1% 1
Idaho Dezmon Epps 85 61 757 71.8% 12.4 8.9 19.4% 1
Miami-FL Rashawn Scott 85 52 695 61.2% 13.4 8.2 19.5% 1
Texas A&M Josh Reynolds 85 51 907 60.0% 17.8 10.7 18.6% 2
Troy Teddy Ruben 85 63 879 74.1% 14.0 10.3 21.3% 1
Tulane Teddy Veal 85 48 644 56.5% 13.4 7.6 22.2% 1
Western Kentucky Antwane Grant 85 55 701 64.7% 12.7 8.2 15.7% 4
Ohio State Michael Thomas 84 56 781 66.7% 13.9 9.3 27.5% 1
Auburn Ricardo Louis 83 46 716 55.4% 15.6 8.6 28.9% 1
Boise State Shane Williams-Rhodes 83 62 521 74.7% 8.4 6.3 16.4% 2
Idaho Callen Hightower 83 57 749 68.7% 13.1 9.0 18.9% 2
Marshall Deandre Reaves 83 56 705 67.5% 12.6 8.5 18.4% 2
Michigan State Macgarrett Kings Jr. 83 40 519 48.2% 13.0 6.3 19.4% 2
Akron Imani Davis 82 47 613 57.3% 13.0 7.5 24.1% 1
Arizona State Tim White 82 57 633 69.5% 11.1 7.7 15.9% 3
Duke Max McCaffrey 82 52 643 63.4% 12.4 7.8 16.9% 1
North Carolina Quinshad Davis 82 55 638 67.1% 11.6 7.8 21.0% 1
Clemson Charone Peake 81 51 726 63.0% 14.2 9.0 16.2% 2
Player Offense Targets Catches Yards Catch Rate Yards/ Catch
 Yards/ Target
 Target Rate Target No.
Purdue Danny Anthrop 81 57 450 70.4% 7.9 5.6 17.3% 2
Arkansas Drew Morgan 80 63 843 78.8% 13.4 10.5 22.3% 1
Indiana Mitchell Paige 80 57 684 71.3% 12.0 8.6 18.0% 3
Kentucky Garrett Johnson 80 46 694 57.5% 15.1 8.7 22.2% 2
Michigan Jehu Chesson 80 50 764 62.5% 15.3 9.6 20.0% 2
NC State Jaylen Samuels (TE) 80 65 597 81.3% 9.2 7.5 20.5% 1
Old Dominion Jonathan Duhart 80 47 636 58.8% 13.5 8.0 20.3% 2
UTSA Kerry Thomas Jr. 80 52 541 65.0% 10.4 6.8 24.0% 1
West Virginia Shelton Gibson 80 37 887 46.3% 24.0 11.1 19.7% 1

2016 returnees that had shades of green in the first three categories (not including target rate): Thomas Sperbeck, Corey Davis, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Taywan Taylor, Josh Atkinson, Penny Hart (who did it as a freshman!), Jordan Westerkamp, Nicholas Norris. And I guess KD Cannon might have come close if not for QB injuries.

Enjoy. And congratulations in advance to 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner JuJu Smith-Schuster.

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