Better Than Average (BTA) was developed to show which players were truly better than their peers when the advantage of the schedule was removed. . This is a true 1:1 measurement because it only considers how well players did against all others who faced a particular defense. It counts up three occurrences:
“8” – When a WR produced one of the top 8 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“4” – When a WR scored in the top 4 game performances for fantasy points allowed by a defense.
“1” – Who had the best fantasy game against a defense over the past year. There could only by 32 such events since each defense can only allow one “best game”.
BTA – Simply adding up the 1, 4 and 8 values for a numerical expression of how effective a wideout truly was last year against all other players in his position. The strength of schedule doesn’t matter. Only what a player produced against all other players in that position against that defense. It is a measurement of player ability against the others in his position.
| Multiple “Best Games” | |
|---|---|
| Odell Beckham | 4 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | 3 |
| Jordy Nelson | 2 |
| Calvin Johnson | 2 |
| Golden Tate | 2 |
| Julio Jones | 2 |
Yet another angle to show how dominant that Odell Beckham was despite missing the first four weeks. Emmanuel Sanders was never more than the #2 in Denver and yet was second only to Beckham in #1 games against a specific defense. DeSean Jackson was one of the elite last year and still ended up and still tied for 12th best in this rating after going to Washington. But his replacement Jeremy Maclin was even better in the high-powered Eagles offense.
We saw a historic class of rookie wideouts in 2014 with Beckham as the lead dog. Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Allen Hurns, Brandon Cooks, Jarvis Landry and Donte Moncrief all exceeded expectations as well and are worthy of increased expectations for this year. We may never see such a dominant class of wideouts again. Consider that the top three wideouts drafted in 2013 were Tavon Austin, DeAndre Hopkins and Cordarelle Patterson.
| NAME | BTA | 1 | 4 | 8 | NAME | BTA | 1 | 4 | 8 | NAME | BTA | 1 | 4 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Brown | 21 | 1 | 8 | 12 | Brandon Marshall | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | Torrey Smith | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Odell Beckham | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | Eddie Royal | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | Allen Hurns | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 | Keenan Allen | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Andre Johnson | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | Mike Evans | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Brandin Cooks | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Jordy Nelson | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | Steve Smith | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Jarvis Landry | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Dez Bryant | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | Anquan Boldin | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Kendall Wright | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | DeAndre Hopkins | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Kenny Stills | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Calvin Johnson | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | Jordan Matthews | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Mohamed Sanu | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Julio Jones | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | Mike Wallace | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | Andrew Hawkins | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Randall Cobb | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | Roddy White | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Donte Moncrief | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | Brandon LaFell | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Doug Baldwin | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| A.J. Green | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | Eric Decker | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | James Jones | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Alshon Jeffery | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | Kelvin Benjamin | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Kenny Britt | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| DeSean Jackson | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | Martavis Bryant | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Michael Crabtree | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Golden Tate | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Michael Floyd | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Pierre Garcon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Julian Edelman | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | Percy Harvin | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Reggie Wayne | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sammy Watkins | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | Robert Woods | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Rueben Randle | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
