The Most Overvalued Position in Sports

[BillsImpossible]

Analytics anyone? Interesting read based on the 2012 season.

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/content/epic-fail-the-wide-receiver-draft-class-2012/22114/

Why Wide Receivers Are Overvalued
Wide receivers are overvalued for one basic reason: they simply do not touch the ball enough to justify big money or high draft picks.
Let's look at it this way: Detroit’s Calvin Johnson is fresh off perhaps the greatest individual receiving season in NFL history, as noted above, with 122 catches and a record 1,964 yards.http://a.fn.fncdn.com/images/content/getty/crops/alvWWG.jpg
But even HE spent 94 percent of every snap on the sidelines or as a high-priced decoy.
Johnson's 122 catches equals 7.6 touches per game. There are about 130 snaps (65 per team) per NFL game. So even the greatest wide receivers touch the ball on fewer than 6 percent of all snaps. They are OVERVALUED, folks. Don’t you see it?

Coupled with the fact that Johnson got in the end zone only five times and his team won just four games, you could argue that he was the shiniest, most overvalued, least impactful hood ornament in NFL history in 2012.
Fans in Detroit shouldn't be excited by his performance. They should mock the Ford Family for attaching this oversized Shiny Hood Ornament to the rusty old Edsel of NFL franchises.
Bottom line: It is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, to dish out megabucks to a guy who, in a great year, might touch the ball on just 5 percent of NFL snaps and do little to nothing 95 percent of the time.

[YardRat]

LOL...talk about manipulating the numbers to support a point. I bet this guy is a Byrd fan AND a climatologist.

[BillsImpossible]

LOL...talk about manipulating the numbers to support a point. I bet this guy is a Byrd fan AND a climatologist.

He's making a simple point. Receivers aren't worth investing high draft picks in as much as people think.

And the article isn't just based on what happened after the 2012 draft.

History has proven that teams don't need to invest 1st or even 2nd round draft picks in wide receivers to be successful.

Over the past 14 years, the Patriots have drafted a grand total of 11 wide receivers, none of them in the first round.

That's a long period of football time to go by, not manipulation of numbers.

[John Doe]

By this guy's standards, all offensive linemen (except the center, of course) are pretty much worthless - they never touch the ball.

[Night Train]

Prone

[Jaybird]

does he take into account what an elite Wr does when he touches the ball?!?.

[YardRat]

He's making a simple point. Receivers aren't worth investing high draft picks in as much as people think.

And the article isn't just based on what happened after the 2012 draft.

History has proven that teams don't need to invest 1st or even 2nd round draft picks in wide receivers to be successful.

Over the past 14 years, the Patriots have drafted a grand total of 11 wide receivers, none of them in the first round.

That's a long period of football time to go by, not manipulation of numbers.

Lumping in defensive plays to figure a percentage for a WR is just a wee bit disingenuous, don't you think?

[BillsImpossible]

When the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012, 2nd round draft picks in Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith were big contributors.

The Seahawks didn't even draft Doug Baldwin, and Golden Tate was taken in the 2nd round.

When is the last time a first round wide receiver helped a team win the Super Bowl?

[Mr. Pink]

When the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012, 2nd round draft picks in Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith were big contributors.

The Seahawks didn't even draft Doug Baldwin, and Golden Tate was taken in the 2nd round.

When is the last time a first round wide receiver helped a team win the Super Bowl?

Since you're gonna want a first round wr taken by their current team you'll likely rule out Percy Harvin who was drafted in the first round by the Vikings but basically shut the door to any thought of a Denver comeback to start the 2nd half.

So that leaves 2011 NY Giants. Hakeem Nicks, who had a big game in that Superbowl vs the Pats.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

When is the last time a first round wide receiver helped a team win the Super Bowl?

Percy Harvin? A month ago?

Before that, hakeem nicks and santonio holmes in the last few seasons

[Mahdi]

This guy is completely discounting how Calvin is dictating coverage and how many defenders a defence will put in the box.

Everyone else is directly impacted by his presence. Other Wrs getting open, Bush facing 7 in the box. Defences afraid to blitz.

Take Calvin out and everything breaks down.

AJ green is another example of a WR who is more than half the offense. Wrs are key unless you have Brady or Manning.

[Novacane]

Any moron with a website thinks they're an expert these days.

[Mike13]

They are so overvalued that Brady didnt need a good WR, until he did in the playoffs.

[TacklingDummy]

I'd have to go with head coach.

[DynaPaul]

Over the past 14 years, the Patriots have drafted a grand total of 11 wide receivers, none of them in the first round.

Not for nothing but why do people keep comparing this sham franchise to every other team in the league? I don't care what the Patriots do or did because they don't play by the same rules as all the other teams so any parallels to them are mostly irrelevant.

[stuckincincy]

TV color commentator.

[The Jokeman]

This guy is completely discounting how Calvin is dictating coverage and how many defenders a defence will put in the box.

Everyone else is directly impacted by his presence. Other Wrs getting open, Bush facing 7 in the box. Defences afraid to blitz.

Take Calvin out and everything breaks down.

AJ green is another example of a WR who is more than half the offense. Wrs are key unless you have Brady or Manning.

Fair point but a counter point is there are no Calvin Johnson's in the 2014 NFL draft.

[The Jokeman]

By this guy's standards, all offensive linemen (except the center, of course) are pretty much worthless - they never touch the ball.

Actually Center's touch the ball more than any other position (even QB) on the field.