Arizona Cardinals: Interesting Larry Fitzgerald statistic

Recently Pro Football Focus came out with 25 interesting fantasy stats, one of them included a certain Arizona Cardinals receiver

Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald is about to enter his 14th season in the NFL.  Some weren’t sure whether he wanted to come back to the Cardinals or the NFL at all.

He finally put that to rest in February when he announced he was returning for at least one more season in Arizona.  While he is getting older, he isn’t looking older on the field.

Sure, some of the ways the Cardinals use Fitz has changed over the last several years but he is still producing.  Pro Football Focus recently did a piece about interesting fantasy statistics.

One of those statistics was on Fitz.  Did you know in 2016 his yards-per-reception was below 10.0 for the first time in his career?  It certainly didn’t seem that way.  It’s a true story though.

Fitz averaged 9.6-yards per reception last season.  However he lead the NFL in total receptions with 107.  His previous low was in 2015 at 11.1.  He had an 11.2 average in 2012.  His career-high was 17.6 in 2011.

So what does this tell you?  It clearly shows how Fitz’s role has changed.  He used to be more of a middle to deep threat.  Now he is in the slot and subject to shorter routes.

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However since he still catches everything in sight and the Cardinals use him as a possession receiver, he is going to still get a large number of receptions.  He had 109 reception in 2015 and halfway through 2016 was looking at possibly obliterating that total.

The Cardinals don’t need him to be that deep threat anymore.  Yes, he’s lost a step or two over the years but that’s it.  The guy can still beat the best of them.  At 33-years old he is still amongst the best in the NFL.

Look for much more of the same in 2017, although we will see if there needs to be any adjustment due to what the current roster looks like.  Some guys are still working through injury and others are still very unproven.  Looks for the Cardinals to still utilize Fitz in the same manner this season though.