Most of the game’s top wide receivers line up in the same offensive “slot” each and every down, but more and more, we’re seeing some of these elite pass catchers in the slot.
One of those wide receivers is Ravens Anquan Boldin. Check out his 2010 snap splits:
| LWR | SLWR | SRWR | RWR | |
| Snaps | 249 | 277 | 289 | 297 |
| % | 22% | 24% | 25% | 26% |
No more than 26% and no fewer than 22% of his offensive snaps came in one of the four zones. Running some simple math, we see that Boldin actually spent more time in slot (55%) than he did at flanker or split end (45%). Comparatively, Texans Andre Johnson (19%) and Falcons Roddy White (10%) didn’t even spend 20% of their snaps in the slot.
The impact of lining up in the slot on a player’s stats is generally pretty simple to determine: higher catch rate, lower depth of target, and lower yards-per-reception.
So, how did Boldin fare in each zone?
| Total | LWR | SLWR | SRWR | RWR | |
| Targets | 118 | 20 | 28 | 37 | 33 |
| Receptions | 71 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 18 |
| Yards | 919 | 154 | 251 | 310 | 204 |
| Depth | 1506 | 254 | 289 | 467 | 496 |
| YAC | 281 | 28 | 67 | 115 | 71 |
| TD | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| INT | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Drop | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| % of Targets | 100% | 17% | 24% | 31% | 28% |
| Rec/Targ | 60% | 70% | 68% | 54% | 55% |
| YPR | 12.9 | 11.0 | 13.2 | 15.5 | 11.3 |
| Avg Depth/Targ | 12.8 | 12.7 | 10.3 | 12.6 | 15.0 |
| TD/Rec | 11.3% | 7.1% | 5.3% | 5.0% | 27.8% |
| INT/Targ | 3% | 10% | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| Drop/Targ | 3% | 0% | 4% | 8% | 0% |
| YAC/Rec | 4.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 3.9 |
Notice that although he lined up wide right most of the time, a majority of his targets came while lined up in the right slot. He was targeted on 13% of his slot-right snaps and 11% of his wide-right snaps. On the other side of the field, he was targeted on 8% of snaps while lined up wide left and 10% when in the left slot. Flacco clearly liked to look his way more often when he was lined up to his right. Additionally, he looked his way more often when he was in the slot, rather than out wide.
Focusing more on the actual performance data, it’s clear that Boldin was utilized as a big-play receiver when lined up wide right. His 15.0 Depth/Target and absurd 27.8% TD rate in said zone are better than in any other. In fact, note that 5 of his 8 scores game when lined up wide right.
One of the newest stats I’ll be working with going forward is the aforementioned Depth/Target. Clearly, Boldin was targeted deep down field more often when lined up wide right (15.0 ADT) and was targeted underneath quite a bit when lined up slot left (10.3). Some additional math shows a 14.2 ADT when lined up wide and a 11.6 mark when in the slot.
Interestingly, his best catch rates come while playing from the left side. He caught 69% of targets when lined up on the left side of the field, but just 54% when on the right side. Comparing slot targets to wide targets, however, we see a 60% catch rate in both zones.
Also interesting are his yards-per-reception splits. Boldin averaged 14.4 YPR in the slot, but just 11.2 YPR when lined up out wide. All four of Boldin’s drops came when lined up in the slot, including 3 when lined up slot right.
The Ravens like to move Boldin all over the field and that seems unlikely to change in 2011, especially if they fail to land an additional impact receiver. Although the distributions are relatively equal, we can see that he is used as an underneath target when in the slot, especially on the left side, and is a downfield scoring machine when lined up wide right. We also see that Flacco finds Boldin more often when he is lined up to his right.
That’s it for Boldin, but check back over the next few weeks for additional player breakdowns.
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