Chicago Bears training camp battle: Depth WR

3. Advanced Stats

Thanks to PFF we can look behind some of the raw production of these players. To start, one of the reasons that Sharpe leads the group in catches, but is third in yards is yards after the catch.

Sharpe averages 2.6 yards after the catch, while three of the other four are over five. Harry is only at 3, which goes against what some say in that Harry can use his big body to create yards. For the Patriots he was just slow. Moore is at 5.4, Pettis is at 5.5, and ESB is at 6.3. Finally, we start to see the appeal in St. Brown.

Still, St. Brown only averaged 1.09 yards per route run, which is fourth of the group, only edging out Harry at 1.01. Sharpe was behind him at one, while Pettis and Moore were at 1.34, and 1.36 respectively. These two are starting to pull ahead.

Moore had a 14-yard downfield target distance, while Sharpe and ESB were at 13. Pettis was the possession wideout with a 10.4 distance. Then, Harry was used in more gadget-type ways and was down at 10.6. Still, as shown, he was not good.

ESB had a 4.9% drop rate, just slightly worse than Sharpe at 4.8%, and Moore at 4.7%. Pettis is the best here at 3.7%. Then, there is Harry at 9.2%.

The only area Harry actually does lead is contested catch rate, where he hauled in 52% of his contested passes. Petts had a 36.4% contested catch rate. It is better than ESB, who was at 27.3% in contested catches, but it was worse than Moore at 38.9, and Sharpe at 48.6. Perhaps too many contested catches is hurting the yards after the catch for Sharpe.

When looking at production, you have to lean to Pettis and Moore as the top two.

One last thing to look at is versatility. Dante Pettis has a 41% slot rate. ESB is at 34%, while Sharpe is at 27%, Harry is at 24.5%, and Moore is down at 20%. Pettis being able to fill different roles may make him more valuable than Moore as well.