Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Pro Football Reference has the target stat, how many passes were thrown to a receiver. They have the stat going back to 1994.

I was watching a Browns-Colts game from 1999. Browns tackle Orlando Bobo caught a pass for three yards that was deflected by a Colts' lineman. So in the stats, he is credited with one pass reception for three yards. Also one target. I thought that was against the rules.

Jay Z wrote:Pro Football Reference has the target stat, how many passes were thrown to a receiver. They have the stat going back to 1994.

I was watching a Browns-Colts game from 1999. Browns tackle Orlando Bobo caught a pass for three yards that was deflected by a Colts' lineman. So in the stats, he is credited with one pass reception for three yards. Also one target. I thought that was against the rules.

I don't know the rules, but I don't see how an ineligible receiver can ever be considered a target.

rhickok1109 wrote:

Jay Z wrote:Pro Football Reference has the target stat, how many passes were thrown to a receiver. They have the stat going back to 1994.

I was watching a Browns-Colts game from 1999. Browns tackle Orlando Bobo caught a pass for three yards that was deflected by a Colts' lineman. So in the stats, he is credited with one pass reception for three yards. Also one target. I thought that was against the rules.

I don't know the rules, but I don't see how an ineligible receiver can ever be considered a target.

Like all stats, there's always a quirk in the scoring rules. On deflected passes, if the ball is legally caught by an offensive player the receiver gets credit for a "target" even if they are not the intended receiver.
The problem with the target totals on the pro-football-reference is that they don't bother listing the target totals for players with zero receptions in a season.

In a "Hail Mary" attempt - with four or five receivers clustered near the Goal Line - are ALL receivers charged as a "Target?"
(Based on at least one of the comments here, it appears they are.)

The absolute stupidity of this needless statistic is clearly evidenced by "The Immaculate Reception."

This statistic can be somewhat useful for fantasy football purposes, otherwise it is a who cares kind of stat.

oldecapecod11 wrote:In a "Hail Mary" attempt - with four or five receivers clustered near the Goal Line - are ALL receivers charged as a "Target?"
(Based on at least one of the comments here, it appears they are.)

No, only player per play - not sure which comment are you basing that on.

"The absolute stupidity of this needless statistic is clearly evidenced by "The Immaculate Reception."

Yes, there are the rare (very rare) deflected plays on which the ball is caught by someone other than the intended receiver. Since they probably less than 1% of all pass attempts, it's statistically insignificant.
Why is it needless? I think is interesting to see which players teams are trying to get the ball to on passing plays (minus those very rare deflected plays, of course).

by TodMaher » Sun Dec 20, 2015 4:18 pm

"No, only player per play - not sure which comment are you basing that on..."

What are you trying to say? "...only player per play..." makes no sense.
In a "Hail Mary" situation, it's a jump ball between four or five offensive guys and five or six defensive.
There is no valid way to determine the so-called target.

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"... Why is it needless? I think is interesting to see which players teams are trying to get the ball to on passing plays (minus those very rare deflected plays, of course)."

A member of the stats rats fraternity might think the height of the cut grass is interesting or the number of synthetic pellets
per square foot and that is certainly their right to focus attention on such things.
Keep in mind: each stat rat has an opinion which is 1/7,293,400,000th-and counting of the opinions on the planet.
So each is very rare indeed.
Statistics and bikinis share a purpose. They reveal what may be interesting and they conceal what is vital.
W-L-T is a vital statistic.