By Mark Simon

If you're a subscriber to this newsletter, you know that one of the strengths of what Sports Info Solutions does with baseball data is that we're able to separate out different aspects of a player's skill.

With a stat like Defensive Runs Saved, we're able to tell you who the best players are in different components, like turning double plays, pitch framing, or deterring baserunners with their outfield arm.

We can do this in football too, and since Super Bowl LX is the hottest story in sports at the moment, let's do that using the two teams playing in that game and show some of what they're best at.

The Patriots and Seahawks rank second and third, respectively, in overall Receiving Total Points.

Most Receiving Total Points - 2025 Season

What does that mean?

Total Points is our all-encompassing player value stat, which can be used to evaluate any player at any position for every play he was involved in this season. Just as Defensive Runs Saved doesn’t only work off run-saving plays, Total Points does not equate to actual points (it's not the number of points you got from touchdowns). It's its own measure of value (learn more about it here). For players, this roughly corresponds to the amount of points on the scoreboard that these players were worth.

For pass catchers, we separate the skills involved in making a reception from everything else that happens. A pass catcher gets credits and debits based on how they perform compared to an expectation.

They get evaluated on how well they earn targets and how well they catch the ball and gain yards after the catch based on the route, coverage, throw accuracy, and how much space they had at the catch point.

There are also adjustments based on the quality of the blocking, as blown blocks will prevent an offense from operating at full capacity.

The Seahawks and Patriots receivers have performed the best in the NFL by our measures. On a Receiving Total Points Per-Play basis, the Seahawks and Patriots rank first and second, respectively.

Puka Nacua of the Rams was the NFL's leader in 2025, earning 63 Receiving Total Points. Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba earned 43 Receiving Total Points, which ranked third overall. Stefon Diggs of the Patriots ranked sixth and his teammate, Hunter Henry, ranked 10th.

Here were the top 10 players in Receiving Total Points in 2025.

Where Smith-Njigba separated himself from everyone (except Nacua) was on receptions of passes thrown at least 15 yards downfield. He caught 28 of 44 passes of that length, with the 64% completion percentage ranking third-best among the 40 players that had the most targets.

Diggs differentiated himself on shorter passes. He had the third-most Receiving Total Points on passes thrown 0 to 5 yards downfield, catching 44 of 49 targets, which gave him the best reception percentage among the 50 players that had the most targets (90%).

Henry worked more in-between compared to what Diggs and Smith-Njigba did. He had 18 of his 31 Receiving Total Points on passes thrown 5 to 15 yards downfield, and he was a high-end performer on throws that distance specifically on third and fourth down, which has prominent value within the Total Points model.

The Patriots have five players who rank in the top 100 in Receiving Total Points, so there's considerable depth in terms of receiving skills (the list: Diggs, Henry, No. 51 Demario Douglas, No. 67 Kayshon Boutte, and No. 93 Rhamondre Stevenson) . The Seahawks are a little more top heavy with three players ranking in the top 31 (Smith-Njigba, No. 29 AJ Barner, and No. 31 Cooper Kupp).

You're going to hear a lot about the skills of the two quarterbacks the next 10 days and Drake Maye and Sam Darnold certainly are worthy of recognition. But completing a pass is a two-person deal and the guys doing the receiving for both teams have really put the work in this year and should be noted as well. 

Check out the newly-redesigned SIS website! We’ve made it easier for you to find our articles, our data, and information about the tools and resources we offer.

The FieldingBible.com website is a great resource for your defensive stat needs. 

For more of our work check out The SIS Baseball Podcast, which posts new episodes every two weeks during the baseball season.

Mark Simon interviews players and coaches about defensive excellence. He also regularly talks with media members about the latest baseball news.

Check out our most recent episode in which Mark talks to Pirates director of coaching & player development Michael Chernow, as well as SABR Analytics Conference research finalists Zach Crizer, Maddie Landis, and Michael Rosen.

For more football content, check out The Off The Charts Football Podcast. The SIS R&D team talks about all that's going on in the NFL. The show puts equal weight on both the scouting and statistical aspects of the sport.

The crew will dissect upcoming games and talk about pertinent football topics from an analytic perspective. 

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Our statistical information package includes Total Points, our proprietary metric that values everything that happens on the field, as well as position-specific performance data in the form of raw totals, averages, and percentile rankings. We've got data points and measurements from the NFL Combine too. The website has a glossary that explains stats with which you may not be familiar.

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