Beyond the Numbers: Wide Receivers

I love using stats in my articles because I feel like it gives objectivity to things that are often very subjective. Who’s the best WR? Hard to say since some teams throw 40 times a game and some throw 10. Some teams have better QB and offensive lines. Some run pass heavy offenses. So in order to get a clearer picture, you need to look at the film, the offense and even the level of competition to really tell who’s better. Numbers need context. That’s what this series is about. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nick Coletta, Sr., Cedar Grove</span></strong> Some players don’t need a lot of touches to have a big impact and Mr. Coletta is proof of that. Nick is #11 in the state through 5 games with 439 receiving yards. Thing is he only has 17 catches, and 7 of them have gone for Touchdowns! Nick  can turn hitches and drag routes into long runs with his explosiveness as well as stretching the defense vertically with his deep speed. He also has 25 carries for 201 yds, 2 TDs and another TD off a 94 yd kick return against Pequannock. A stellar season thus far! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11109077/Nick-Coletta">https://www.hudl.com/profile/11109077/Nick-Coletta</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Charly Mullaly, Jr., Peddie School</strong></span> I was looking for great per catch numbers and I come across Charly having 282 yds in 3 games and a 31.3 yds per catch average, which is phenomenal. So I look into things a little deeper and I see that he had 181 yards in one game, which made me think he had a bunch of yards beating the breaks off a bad team, but that’s why this article is called beyond the numbers. His team lost that game to Kiski School, 26-35 which meant one thing to me. Even though Kiski won, they never stopped Charly. The 6’1 Junior beat multiple coverages and did a good job out leveraging defenders to make catches to all areas of the field, one of which being a spectacular one handed grab that went for an 80 yard touchdown! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16154216/Charly-Mullaly">https://www.hudl.com/profile/16154216/Charly-Mullaly</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="27993" first="JoJo" last="Bermudez"], Sr., Cedar Creek</strong></span> It’s no secret that Jojo is one of the top wide receivers in the state with multiple D1 offers, but what you might not know is how much he’s improved over last season. Through 6 games last year, he had 385 yds receiving averaging 64.1 yards per game. Very respectable. This year he’s more than doubled that with 754 yds and a whopping 125.6 yards per game! Yes he’s fast, but not all speed applies equally to football. Jojo is explosive, meaning that you can get him the ball however and he can accelerate right past defenders that would tackle any mere mortal for a short gain. He is a threat to score from anywhere at any time as he has 8 total TD’s in just 6 games. Click below to see for yourself. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11396149/Jojo-Bermudez">https://www.hudl.com/profile/11396149/Jojo-Bermudez</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Justus Diaz Rinaldi, Jr., Paramus</strong></span> Having a really good game is one thing but this was just crazy. Justus had 15 catches for 237 yds and 3 TDs, which is basically 3 games worth of stats, in a lost to Bergenfield. I don’t really like mentioning the team loss in praising an individual’s stats, but it’s important to point out to me because many players have inflated stats from beating inferior competition. Justus is a sure handed possession receiver who found holes in defense zone scheme over and over, often making catches between multiple defenders. One of his 15 catches was a ridiculous catch in the front corner of the end zone for a toe tapping touchdown. Justus is also a great kick and punt returner, giving a total of 962 All-Purpose yards on the season! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/14418222/Justus-Diaz-Rinaldi">https://www.hudl.com/profile/14418222/Justus-Diaz-Rinaldi</a>