Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I thought it would be interesting to list off the top targets each year by yards per target in the seasons whose data was just unveiled on Pro Football Reference (minimum four targets per game, so 64 for a 16 game season, 48 for the 1987 season, and 36 for the 1982 season).

Here are the top targets by that metric for those years (shoutout to Stanley Morgan for finishing top ten seven times, and to the 1980 Patriots, 1984 Dolphins, and 1989 49ers for each having two of the top three targets by yards per target):

1978:
1 Stanley Morgan 10.9
2 Haven Moses 10.9
3 John Jefferson 10.8
4 Wesley Walker 10.7
5 Harold Carmichael 10.3
6 Reggie Rucker 9.9
7 Riley Odoms 9.9
8 Dave Casper 9.7
9 Tony Hill 9.6
10 Henry Childs 9.5

1979:
1 Harold Jackson 12.1
2 Henry Childs 11.3
3 Drew Pearson 10.5
4 Stanley Morgan 10.5
5 Steve Largent 10.3
6 Frank Lewis 10.1
7 Duriel Harris 10.1
8 John Stallworth 9.9
9 Jerry Butler 9.8
10 John Jefferson 9.7

1980:
1 Tony Hill 11.1
2 Stanley Morgan 11
3 Harold Jackson 11
4 Charlie Smith 10.6
5 Kellen Winslow 9.8
6 Alfred Jenkins 9.8
7 Russ Francis 9.8
8 Billy Sims 9.3
9 Wes Chandler 9.1
10 Billy Waddy 9.1

1981:
1 Steve Watson 12.8
2 Stanley Morgan 12.1
3 Alfred Jenkins 10.8
4 Frank Lewis 10.5
5 Tony Hill 10.2
6 Don Hasselbeck 10.2
7 Kevin House 10.1
8 Steve Largent 10
9 Freddie Scott 10
10 Ricky Feacher 9.9

1982:
1 Charlie Brown 12.5
2 Wes Chandler 12.4
3 Doug Cosbie 10.8
4 Jim Smith 10.8
5 Dwight Clark 10.1
6 Kellen Winslow 10
7 Harold Carmichael 10
8 Cris Collinsworth 9.9
9 Cliff Branch 9.9
10 Steve Watson 9.6

1983:
1 James Lofton 12
2 Cris Collinsworth 11.5
3 Steve Watson 11
4 Mike Quick 10.8
5 Mark Duper 10.8
6 Willie Gault 10.6
7 Charlie Brown 10
8 Todd Christensen 9.9
9 Paul Coffman 9.9
10 Tony Hill 9.8

1984:
1 Mark Clayton 12
2 Mark Duper 11.9
3 M.L. Harris 11.7
4 James Lofton 11.3
5 Leo Lewis 10.9
6 Roy Green 10.4
7 Louis Lipps 10.4
8 Calvin Muhammad 10.4
9 John Stallworth 10.3
10 Steve Watson 10.3

1985:
1 Stephone Paige 11.2
2 Stanley Morgan 10.3
3 Mike Renfro 9.8
4 Nat Moore 9.6
5 Wes Chandler 9.5
6 Louis Lipps 9.5
7 Jerry Rice 9.5
8 Wesley Walker 9.5
9 Al Toon 9.3
10 Eddie Brown 9.1

1986:
1 Wesley Walker 12
2 Stanley Morgan 11
3 Mark Jackson 10.5
4 Clint Didier 10.5
5 Jerry Rice 10.3
6 Mark Duper 10
7 Mark Bavaro 9.8
8 Steve Jordan 9.8
9 Mark Clayton 9.7
10 Dokie Williams 9.6

1987:
1 Anthony Carter 12.1
2 Mark Bavaro 11.9
3 Eric Martin 11
4 Ricky Nattiel 10.9
5 Stanley Morgan 10.7
6 Gary Clark 10.6
7 James Lofton 10.4
8 Drew Hill 10.1
9 Vance Johnson 10.1
10 Carlos Carson 10

1988:
1 Eddie Brown 12.9
2 Mervyn Fernandez 12.6
3 Mark Jackson 11.4
4 Jerry Rice 10.8
5 Hassan Jones 10.7
6 Steve Largent 9.9
7 Anthony Carter 9.5
8 Stephen Baker 9.5
9 Drew Hill 9.4
10 Tim McGee 9.3

1989:
1 John Taylor 14.2
2 Flipper Anderson 13.3
3 Jerry Rice 11.3
4 Stephone Paige 10.7
5 Henry Ellard 10.1
6 Webster Slaughter 10.1
7 Louis Lipps 9.7
8 Michael Haynes 9.7
9 Sterling Sharpe 9.6
10 Richard Johnson 9.6

1990:
1 Willie Gault 10.4
2 Fred Barnett 10.3
3 Stephone Paige 10.1
4 Mark Jackson 9.6
5 John Taylor 9.5
6 Flipper Anderson 9.4
7 Jessie Hester 9.3
8 Brent Jones 9.3
9 Ernie Jones 9.2
10 Keith Jackson 9.1

1991:
1 James Lofton 10.6
2 Gary Clark 10.5
3 Michael Haynes 10.3
4 Michael Irvin 10.2
5 Mark Ingram 9.5
6 Mark Jackson 9.4
7 John Taylor 9.3
8 Floyd Turner 9.3
9 Jerry Rice 9
10 Greg McMurtry 9

I’m sure this stat exists already, but receptions per game versus targets per game would be interesting.