I have posted several times this offseason about the Pittsburgh Steelers need to find a receiver that can score inside the red zone and especially since the team has now lost wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Emmanuel Sanders during the free agent signing period.
I don’t really care if that receiver is a wide out or tight end, or is only four foot tall, as long as that player can score inside the red zone. However, recent history shows us that the big players score the red zone touchdowns in the NFL.
Over the course of the last three seasons, there have been 48 players that have caught nine or more red zone touchdowns. Of those 48 players, 41 are 6 foot tall or better and 32 of them are 6 foot, 2 inches or taller.
Interesting enough, 21 of those players were tight ends.
So how did the big college receivers do in college in 2013 inside the red zone? In the second table below, you will see that there were 29 players that caught six or more red zone touchdowns last season. Of those 29 players, 20 of them are supposedly over six foot tall. Six of those players are tight ends.
None of this should be considered breaking news, but it’s one more thing to think about with the draft now less than one month away.
2010-2013 NFL Red Zone Touchdown Catches
| PLAYER | TARG | REC | REC % | TD | HGT | WGT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Graham | 71 | 41 | 57.70% | 27 | 6062 | 260 |
| Eric Decker | 60 | 36 | 60.00% | 24 | 6031 | 217 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 51 | 33 | 64.70% | 23 | 6062 | 258 |
| Tony Gonzalez | 63 | 41 | 65.10% | 22 | 6041 | 244 |
| Wes Welker | 65 | 53 | 81.50% | 21 | 5086 | 195 |
| Brandon Marshall | 66 | 31 | 47.00% | 21 | 6044 | 229 |
| Calvin Johnson | 68 | 30 | 44.10% | 19 | 6050 | 239 |
| Dez Bryant | 50 | 30 | 60.00% | 19 | 6020 | 224 |
| Marques Colston | 52 | 35 | 67.30% | 17 | 6045 | 224 |
| Jordy Nelson | 50 | 30 | 60.00% | 17 | 6025 | 217 |
| A.J. Green | 63 | 28 | 44.40% | 16 | 6035 | 211 |
| James Jones | 39 | 26 | 66.70% | 16 | 6006 | 207 |
| Vernon Davis | 35 | 22 | 62.90% | 16 | 6032 | 254 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 47 | 27 | 57.40% | 15 | 6032 | 224 |
| Antonio Gates | 39 | 24 | 61.50% | 15 | 6040 | 260 |
| Vincent Jackson | 51 | 25 | 49.00% | 14 | 6046 | 241 |
| Kyle Rudolph | 28 | 22 | 78.60% | 13 | 6061 | 259 |
| Jermichael Finley | 33 | 20 | 60.60% | 13 | 6044 | 243 |
| Darren Sproles | 50 | 37 | 74.00% | 12 | 5061 | 187 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 62 | 34 | 54.80% | 12 | 6027 | 225 |
| Roddy White | 62 | 27 | 43.50% | 12 | 6012 | 207 |
| Steve Johnson | 48 | 21 | 43.80% | 12 | 6017 | 210 |
| Greg Olsen | 43 | 21 | 48.80% | 12 | 6057 | 257 |
| Lance Moore | 37 | 23 | 62.20% | 12 | 5092 | 182 |
| Jerricho Cotchery | 33 | 17 | 51.50% | 12 | 6004 | 212 |
| Jason Witten | 46 | 25 | 54.30% | 12 | 6056 | 264 |
| Jermaine Gresham | 31 | 21 | 67.70% | 12 | 6052 | 261 |
| Torrey Smith | 37 | 16 | 43.20% | 11 | 6007 | 204 |
| Greg Jennings | 39 | 25 | 64.10% | 11 | 5111 | 197 |
| Scott Chandler | 29 | 16 | 55.20% | 11 | 6070 | 270 |
| Anthony Fasano | 33 | 20 | 60.60% | 11 | 6041 | 259 |
| Mike Williams | 44 | 20 | 45.50% | 11 | 6014 | 221 |
| Heath Miller | 39 | 23 | 59.00% | 10 | 6050 | 256 |
| Brandon Pettigrew | 41 | 17 | 41.50% | 10 | 6053 | 263 |
| Julio Jones | 38 | 20 | 52.60% | 10 | 6026 | 220 |
| Golden Tate | 33 | 18 | 54.50% | 10 | 5102 | 199 |
| Aaron Hernandez | 37 | 20 | 54.10% | 10 | 6023 | 245 |
| Marvin Jones | 18 | 14 | 77.80% | 10 | 6017 | 199 |
| Joel Dreessen | 25 | 16 | 64.00% | 10 | 6042 | 260 |
| Anquan Boldin | 39 | 17 | 43.60% | 9 | 6005 | 216 |
| Brent Celek | 40 | 23 | 57.50% | 9 | 6037 | 255 |
| Victor Cruz | 41 | 21 | 51.20% | 9 | 5115 | 206 |
| Reggie Wayne | 41 | 17 | 41.50% | 9 | 6000 | 198 |
| Martellus Bennett | 36 | 17 | 47.20% | 9 | 6061 | 259 |
| Dennis Pitta | 23 | 13 | 56.50% | 9 | 6044 | 245 |
| Dallas Clark | 32 | 16 | 50.00% | 9 | 6033 | 257 |
| Owen Daniels | 29 | 13 | 44.80% | 9 | 6033 | 253 |
| Denarius Moore | 28 | 14 | 50.00% | 9 | 5115 | 194 |
2013 College Red Zone Touchdown Catches
| POS | PLAYER | TD | HGT | WGT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR | Davante Adams | 13 | 6007 | 212 |
| WR | Willie Snead | 11 | 5110 | 195 |
| WR | Quincy Enunwa | 10 | 6020 | 225 |
| WR | Brandin Cooks | 10 | 5096 | 189 |
| WR | Matt Miller | 9 | 6022 | 222 |
| TE | Gator Hoskins | 9 | 6015 | 253 |
| WR | Brandon Wimberly | 8 | 6021 | 207 |
| TE | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 8 | 6054 | 262 |
| WR | Josh Huff | 8 | 5112 | 206 |
| WR | Josh Harper | 8 | 6004 | 184 |
| WR | Devante Davis | 8 | 6021 | 210 |
| WR | Shane Wynn | 7 | 5064 | 170 |
| WR | Eric Thomas | 7 | 6004 | 216 |
| WR | Tommy Shuler | 7 | 5071 | 190 |
| WR | Deontay Greenberry | 7 | 6021 | 198 |
| WR | Dorial Green-Beckham | 7 | 6052 | 225 |
| WR | Kelvin Benjamin | 7 | 6050 | 240 |
| WR | Jordan Williams | 6 | 6012 | 216 |
| WR | Brandon Swindall | 6 | 6031 | 198 |
| WR | DeVante Parker | 6 | 6021 | 209 |
| TE | Nick O’Leary | 6 | 6026 | 248 |
| WR | Alex Neutz | 6 | 6024 | 214 |
| WR | Malcome Kennedy | 6 | 5115 | 200 |
| WR | TJ Jones | 6 | 5115 | 188 |
| WR | Justin Hardy | 6 | 5111 | 186 |
| WR | Jeremy Gallon | 6 | 5074 | 185 |
| TE | C.J. Fiedorowicz | 6 | 6054 | 265 |
| TE | Ted Bolser | 6 | 6054 | 257 |
| TE | Jace Amaro | 6 | 6053 | 265 |
