|
Player |
Team |
Rec |
1st |
1st% |
|
Vincent Jackson |
TB |
32 |
28 |
87.5 |
|
Mike Evans |
TB |
54 |
45 |
83.3 |
|
DeAndre Hopkins |
HOU |
86 |
69 |
80.2 |
|
Ted Ginn Jr. |
CAR |
35 |
28 |
80.0 |
|
Alshon Jeffery |
CHI |
47 |
37 |
78.7 |
|
Andre Johnson |
IND |
28 |
22 |
78.6 |
|
James Jones |
GB |
31 |
24 |
77.4 |
|
Kenny Britt |
STL |
26 |
20 |
76.9 |
|
John Brown |
AZ |
51 |
39 |
76.5 |
|
Kamar Aiken |
BAL |
49 |
37 |
75.5 |
Incredibly, this is not the best season that Jackson has had in terms of first-down percentage on his receptions. In fact, it's not even his second-best. Jackson recorded a first down on 90.0% of his grabs (54 of 60) in 2011, and on 88.1% of his catches (52 of 59) in 2008; in both seasons, he played for the San Diego Chargers. This particular statistic has been tracked since 1994. If one includes Jackson's current campaign, there have been 25 individual seasons since then in which a qualifying player recorded a first down on at least 87.5% of his receptions, and three of them would belong to the Buccaneers' standout. Only two other players appear on the list twice: Henry Ellard of the Rams and Redskins, with five such seasons; and Malcolm Floyd of the Chargers, with two.
Given that, it's not surprising that Jackson is one of the top first-down producers of his generation. Only Ellard has a higher percentage of catches that turned into first downs since 1994, when the data began to be tracked.
|
Player |
Team(s) |
Seasons |
Rec. |
FDs |
Pct. |
|
Henry Ellard * |
LAN, WAS, NE |
1983-1998 |
814 |
346 |
88.0 |
|
Vincent Jackson |
SD, TB |
2005-2015 |
524 |
425 |
81.1 |
|
Michael Irvin * |
DAL |
1988-1999 |
750 |
539 |
80.2 |
|
Vincent Brisby * |
NE, NYJ |
1993-2000 |
221 |
177 |
80.1 |
|
Malcom Floyd |
SD |
2004-2015 |
314 |
251 |
79.9 |
|
James Jett |
OAK |
1993-2002 |
256 |
198 |
77.3 |
|
DeAndre Hopkins |
HOU |
2013-2015 |
214 |
164 |
76.6 |
|
Justin Gage |
CHI, TEN |
2003-2010 |
201 |
154 |
76.6 |
|
Santonio Holmes |
PIT, NYJ, CHI |
2006-2014 |
389 |
296 |
76.1 |
|
Calvin Johnson |
DET |
2007-2015 |
713 |
542 |
76.0 |
** Data not tracked for some of the seasons played by Ellard, Irvin and Brisby.
Both Jackson and Evans are averaging more than 15 yards per reception, with Jackson ranking sixth in the league among qualifiers at 16.8 and Evans ranking 14th at 15.7. The Buccaneers are one of only four teams with two qualifying pass-catchers averaging more than 15 yards per reception, along with Pittsburgh (Martavis Bryant, 20.1 and Markus Wheaton, 18.7), Jacksonville (Allen Robinson, 16.6 and Allen Hurns, 15.8) and Arizona (John Brown, 16.0 and Michael Floyd, 15.7).
*
