Skip to content

Air yards

also: intended air yards · aDOT · average depth of target

How far downfield the ball travelled before it was caught or fell — opportunity, measured before the catch.

Formula
aDOT = total air yards / targets

Air yards measure intent rather than outcome, which makes them unusually stable and unusually predictive. A receiver's air yards share tells you how his offence plans to use him, and it holds up week to week far better than receptions do.

Yards after catch is the other half. Two receivers with identical yardage can be doing completely different jobs, and the split says which.

The common mistake

Treating deep targets as automatically valuable. Low-percentage bombs generate air yards and negative EPA at the same time.

Where to get it

Related

Air yards from the API

500 free credits on signup, no card. REST or MCP.

Get a free key