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WR - Catch radius

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 2:40 pm
by Blackout
I've always heard about "catch radius" but never understood what it means.

What's the definition ? Who's got the best one ? Is it more important that being great route runner or having big hands or run 4.4 ?

Curious of your answers guys !

Re: WR - Catch radius

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:28 am
by lukkynumber13
I mean, surely there is a clearly defined "catch radius" for each player, something like Arm length+hand size+vertical leap?

But usually when people are talking about it, they are referring to a player's knack for catching tough throws, plus his athletiscm & wingspan, plus his soft hands. In this way, OBJ has a better catch radius than a bigger guy with better wingspan, like DGB. Larry Fitzgerald, though surely not as athletic as some youngsters like Kevin White or Chris Moore, has a superior catch radius because his insanely elite hands and his awareness make up for anything lacking in the vertical leap category

Re: WR - Catch radius

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 12:24 pm
by Blackout
Thanks. It's clearer for me :thumbup:

WR Catch radius

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:14 am
by MichaelPeare
That was a catch all the way in my book...he was making a motion to get upsecond move when the ball came out...they were robbed blind

:)

Re: WR - Catch radius

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:26 pm
by DelawareRiverEagles
lukkynumber13 wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:28 am I mean, surely there is a clearly defined "catch radius" for each player, something like Arm length+hand size+vertical leap?

But usually when people are talking about it, they are referring to a player's knack for catching tough throws, plus his athletiscm & wingspan, plus his soft hands. In this way, OBJ has a better catch radius than a bigger guy with better wingspan, like DGB. Larry Fitzgerald, though surely not as athletic as some youngsters like Kevin White or Chris Moore, has a superior catch radius because his insanely elite hands and his awareness make up for anything lacking in the vertical leap category
I thought 40 time was a factor too, and maybe broad jump? Not sure tbh, but arm length and vert leap are definitely in it. I guess hand size too if that's not already included in arm length.

Re: WR - Catch radius

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 5:59 am
by Bronco Billy
I believe a good definition might be the distance that a player can make a catch on a throw that is outside the envelope of their standing mainframe.

This would be a combination of their reach, ability to leap both vertically and laterally, and the size and dexterity of their hands.

Just a thought...

Re: WR - Catch radius

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:16 pm
by ninotoreS
Wing-span, hand-size, vertical jump seem to factor to determine catch-radius percentile on Playerprofiler. Although you shouldn't trust PP's claim, because body-control and ball-skills are also very important for catch-radius and there's no metric for measuring those elements.

A big catch-radius is nice because it makes it easier for the QB to complete the pass, makes it more likely the receiver can catch the pass. Catch-radius is especially important if it's regarding a receiver that maybe doesn't separate hugely but is physical at the catch-point; then the traits naturally complement each other and it perhaps doesn't matter so much if the guy isn't separating for days (e.g. Gronk).

Catch-radius isn't the end all be all, but you don't want it to be tiny, and short arm-length paired with average or below-average ball-skills is a big problem for NFL WRs (warning to Andy Isabella truthers). One of the first things I look at when I'm profiling sub-6'0" WRs is their arm-length. For example, Beckham and Hilton's freakishly long arms relative to their height do a lot to compensate for them being only 5'9"/5'11". This isn't to say a WR can't have a solid catch-radius with short arms -- AB, Boldin, Lockett come to mind -- but arm-length is easily the most obvious factor in determining catch-radius that can be measured on paper and doesn't require tape study.

Hope this helps, OP.