FanPost

An Attempt to Quantify Catch Radius

Like most other football fans during this time of the year I have been busy pouring over scouting reports, videos, and stats of the incoming draft class. Wide receiver is a popular pick for us and I keep hearing this phrase "Catch Radius" pop up in discussions and it got me thinking. How do you measure catch radius? I thought it would be a straightforward answer but it turns out it isn't. The closest I got to an answer were these two links:

Catch Radius from seahawktracker

The Catch Radius Project: In Search of Better TD Production from rotoviz.com

From these two sites I put together a formula that aims to quantify a receiver's catch radius by using select measurables from the combine. It involves the Pythagorean Theorem. This image from seahawktracker explains it well:

Catchradius_medium

via 2.bp.blogspot.com

Basically it is the (Velocity score)^2 + (Vertical score)^2 = (Catch radius score)^2

Here is the formula I used:

√((1440/[40yarddashtime])+(1080/[3conetime])+(720/[shuttletime])/3)^2 + (heightinches+arminches + ((Broadjump+Vertical)/2))^2= Catch Radius Score

I calculated the 14 top WR from MiscAndrewStuff's chart. Having his chart put together made my job a TON easier. I'd like to give him a big thank you for doing those! Anyway here are the results I got. Unfortunately I wasn't able to calculate some notable receivers due to a lack of data in certain tests.

Player name Catch Radius Score
Sammy Watkins 283.98
Kelvin Benjamin 280.05
Marqise Lee 286.55
Davante Adams 284.01
Odell Beckham Jr. 289.17
Brandon Cooks 289.01
Donte Moncrief 289.22
Allen Robinson 286.85
Jordan Matthews  285.68
Bruce Ellington  285.99
Dri Archer 286.94
T.J. Jones 280.39
Martavis Bryant  288.18
Jeff Janis 291.60

If you would like me to do more of these let me know. Also if you have questions or suggestions on how this can be improved please comment! If someone can talk Mike Evans and Brandon Coleman into doing a broad jump that would be a big help!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.