What is Wide Receiver Return on Investment?
In short, ROI represents the amount of yards a receiver generates in excess of his distribution quota. This allows us to see which receivers make the most of their opportunities.For a more detailed description, follow this link to Return on Investment
Week 8 Update
It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of October and the season is heading into its final calendar month. This space will begin to have some in-depth player reports to give more background into the athletes behind the numbers. Until then, let's start with a recap of the Players to Watch.
Players to Watch - Week 7 Review
TAMU's Josh Reynolds @ Alabama 2/27/1 The Bama defense was just too strong for the offense that finished with 164 passing yards on the day.
TCU's Taj Williams @ West Virginia 2/35/0 Anemic line, but still the best on the Horned Frogs that day.
Ark's Jared Cornelius @ Auburn 2/17/0 His stat line was so bad, he dropped out of the qualifying list for Return on Investment.
Utah's Tim Patrick @ UCLA Tim blanked! Two targets, each negated by penalties. Utah ran the ball 49 times and got the big win so it can't all be about throwing the ball around the yard.
FBS players to watch
Thursday
Ohio's Sabastian Smith vs Cody Thompson of hosting Toledo - The MAC always had top flight players who may not get the coverage of Big 5 conference players but Smith and Thompson are likely to put on a show.
Saturday
TCU's Taj Williams vs. TTU - If ever there was an opportunity to pad stats, this would be the time. I don't know what sort of impact this game will have on his ROI percentage, but we know there will be many opportunities to watch Williams in the passing game.
WVU's Shelton Gibson vs. James Washington @ OKST - The remote stops here. Should be a lot of action and a lot of receptions from these two players, both of whom may declare for the draft at the end of the season.
Fresno State's Aaron Peck vs. AFA - Top 20 ROI WR Marcus Kemp of Hawaii had a huge game against Air Force last week, perhaps Peck will find similar luck.
FBS
DNQ indicates player did not have the minimum number of receptions or yards for the season to qualify for inclusion.
This Week
|
Last Week
|
Player
|
College
|
Year
|
ROI
|
X Above Avg
|
1
|
DNQ
|
East Carolina
|
Sr.
|
89.5%
|
4.95
|
|
2
|
1
|
Texas A&M
|
Sr.
|
58.6%
|
3.24
|
|
3
|
2
|
TCU
|
Jr.
|
58.3%
|
3.22
|
|
4
|
11
|
Purdue
|
Sr.
|
52.3%
|
2.89
|
|
5
|
6
|
Southern Miss.
|
Jr.
|
49.3%
|
2.72
|
|
6
|
5
|
Toledo
|
Jr.
|
46.8%
|
2.58
|
|
7
|
3
|
West Virginia
|
Jr.
|
45.0%
|
2.49
|
|
8
|
10
|
Ohio
|
Sr.
|
43.2%
|
2.38
|
|
9
|
9
|
Oklahoma St.
|
Jr.
|
42.4%
|
2.34
|
|
10
|
7
|
Louisiana Tech
|
Jr.
|
40.9%
|
2.26
|
|
11
|
20
|
Hawaii
|
Sr.
|
39.7%
|
2.19
|
|
12
|
26
|
Fresno St.
|
Sr.
|
36.3%
|
2.01
|
|
13
|
33
|
Illinois
|
Jr.
|
35.2%
|
1.94
|
|
14
|
14
|
Colorado
|
Jr.
|
34.9%
|
1.93
|
|
15
|
18
|
Michigan
|
Sr.
|
33.6%
|
1.86
|
|
16
|
22
|
Fla. Atlantic
|
Jr.
|
33.2%
|
1.84
|
|
17
|
53
|
Alabama
|
Jr.
|
32.5%
|
1.79
|
|
18
|
17
|
Indiana
|
Sr.
|
32.3%
|
1.79
|
|
19
|
21
|
Northern Ill.
|
Sr.
|
31.4%
|
1.74
|
|
20
|
15
|
FIU
|
Jr.
|
31.0%
|
1.71
|
After a bye week off, ECU's Jimmy Williams picks up where he left off reclaiming the number one spot. He represents 12.2% of the Pirates receptions, but 23.5% of their receiving yards. He went 7/129/2 vs. Cincinnati last week. The rest of the team went 28/154/0. He has so consistently outperformed his teammates in terms of reception yard efficiency, only the most stubborn analyst would not give him a look to see what is going on here. Look for him to keep the pedal to the floor vs. UConn.
FCS
This Week
|
Last Week
|
Player
|
College
|
Year
|
ROI
|
X Above Avg
|
1
|
5
|
Towson
|
Sr.
|
49.1%
|
2.45
|
|
2
|
24
|
Murray St.
|
Sr.
|
47.8%
|
2.39
|
|
3
|
DNQ
|
Lehigh
|
Jr.
|
47.2%
|
2.36
|
|
4
|
2
|
Illinois St.
|
Sr.
|
46.0%
|
2.30
|
|
5
|
8
|
Western Caro.
|
Sr.
|
45.8%
|
2.29
|
|
6
|
7
|
Duquesne
|
Sr.
|
45.7%
|
2.28
|
|
7
|
DNQ
|
McNeese
|
Jr.
|
44.8%
|
2.24
|
|
8
|
3
|
Southeastern La.
|
Sr.
|
42.5%
|
2.13
|
|
9
|
1
|
Liberty
|
Sr.
|
41.6%
|
2.08
|
|
10
|
21
|
Indiana St.
|
Jr.
|
40.8%
|
2.04
|
|
11
|
4
|
San Diego
|
Sr.
|
38.0%
|
1.90
|
|
12
|
10
|
Bryant
|
Sr.
|
37.4%
|
1.87
|
|
13
|
DNQ
|
William & Mary
|
Jr.
|
36.7%
|
1.83
|
|
14
|
9
|
Northern Ariz.
|
Jr.
|
36.4%
|
1.82
|
|
15
|
6
|
Stetson
|
Sr.
|
33.6%
|
1.68
|
|
16
|
DNQ
|
Eastern Ky.
|
Jr.
|
32.8%
|
1.64
|
|
17
|
13
|
Northern Colo.
|
Sr.
|
32.1%
|
1.60
|
|
18
|
DNQ
|
Stony Brook
|
Jr.
|
31.3%
|
1.56
|
|
19
|
22
|
Holy Cross
|
Sr.
|
31.1%
|
1.56
|
|
20
|
16
|
Bucknell
|
Sr.
|
30.2%
|
1.51
|
Of all the divisions, FCS has consistently been the closest race in terms of ROI range with the difference between WR1 and WR20 being < 19 percentage points! The competitiveness of the division has lead to showcasing of several different WR1s so to have a player return to the #1 spot in FCS is notable.
FCS #1 ROI Wide Receiver is none other than Towson's Christian Summers who takes the helm for the second straight time. So far this year, Christian has hauled in 29.8% of the teams' receptions and generated 42.7% of the teams total reception yards. A transfer from Valley Forge Military Academy, Christian has all the tools so now we will see if scouts take notice.
DIVISION II
Last Week
|
Player
|
College
|
Year
|
ROI
|
X Above Avg
|
|
1
|
2
|
Ky. Wesleyan
|
Sr.
|
75.0%
|
3.33
|
|
2
|
3
|
Chowan
|
Sr.
|
60.5%
|
2.68
|
|
3
|
6
|
West Liberty
|
Sr.
|
47.7%
|
2.11
|
|
4
|
13
|
Colorado Mines
|
Jr.
|
44.7%
|
1.98
|
|
5
|
10
|
Central Okla.
|
Jr.
|
42.7%
|
1.90
|
|
6
|
11
|
Quincy
|
Sr.
|
42.3%
|
1.88
|
|
7
|
5
|
Tiffin
|
Jr.
|
39.0%
|
1.73
|
|
8
|
12
|
Central Okla.
|
Sr.
|
37.7%
|
1.67
|
|
9
|
15
|
East Central
|
Sr.
|
36.5%
|
1.62
|
|
10
|
7
|
Minn. Duluth
|
Jr.
|
35.5%
|
1.58
|
Keelan Cole is a bad man. Last week, we dared print he slipped out of the WR1 spot in D2 and he responds by recapturing the top spot he has held for all but one week so far this season. King Cole dropped a stat line of 3/112/1 last week on Ashland to retake the lead but with three games left in the season, can he build on his 40/949/9 stat totals for 2016 to draw the attention of NFL scouts and earn a combine invitation?
Do yourself a favor, and click through some of the links. I like to take a moment to learn about some of the background of the players just to gain insight on what the stat sheets don't show.
