Broncos' WR with Best Single-Game Performance of Last Decade isn't Who Fans Might Think

Football Outsiders recently ranked the top wide receivers of the past decade as measured by DYAR. A former Denver Broncos' wideout made the list for producing one of the best performances of the decade — though maybe not the one you think.

The receiver in question was on the 2013 Broncos squad, so that eliminates Courtland Sutton or Emmanuel Sanders, both of whom joined the team after that season. Nor is it Demaryius Thomas, who was drafted by the Broncos in 2010 and emerged as the team's top receiver over the ensuing decade.

The receiver who made Football Outsiders' list for best performance was a Broncos' 2010 draft classmate of Thomas — third-round pick Eric Decker.

What does DYAR mean, you ask?

DYAR is an advanced metric utilized by Football Outsiders. Here's what it means:

Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement. A Football Outsiders stat which compares the performance of each player, in terms of DVOA, to a replacement-level baseline rather than the league average for that position, then translates that total into yardage. Because DYAR is a total stat, not a rate stat, it helps show the importance of workhorse running backs and receivers who can draw the attention of the defense away from other players. DYAR replaced DPAR as our method for measuring individual players with the publication of Pro Football Prospectus 2008 in July 2008. The method and the computation of replacement level are discussed further here.

Decker posted a receiving DYAR of 115 in Week 13 of the 2013 season against the Kansas City Chiefs. FO's Vincent Verhei noted that Decker had a one-yard touchdown catch, another for 15, a third for 37, and a fourth for 41.

Decker also caught three passes for first downs, and on a fourth reception, he gained seven yards on 2nd-&-8. He also drew a defensive pass interference that otherwise would have netted him a 19-yard reception.

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Decker spent four seasons with the Broncos before leaving as a free agent to sign with the New York Jets. Literally the last game he appeared in as a Bronco was Super Bowl XLVIII.

Decker would go one to also have a brief stint with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots. While he was solid in his time with the Jets, Decker's post-Denver career never reached the heights it did when playing with Peyton Manning.

Meanwhile, Thomas made the opposite list, posting one of the worst receiving games as measured by DYAR. In Week 12 of the 2015 season against the New England Patriots, he caught just one pass for 36 yards on 13 targets. This was the game in which Thomas dropped multiple passes and earned a reputation among some fans for the 'dropsies.'

It was a high-profile game and, if we're being honest, painted an unfair picture about Thomas' overall value to the Broncos. True, the dropped passes weren't a good thing, but Thomas had many other games in which he shined and made key plays to help the Broncos win.

And that's evidenced by Thomas' appearance on the top-20 wide receivers, as measured by DYAR, for the years 2010-19. He ranked 10th overall on that list, posting a total DYAR of 1,626.

Interestingly, Decker made that list, too, ranked 18th overall with a DYAR of 1,377. Sanders also made the list, ranked 20th overall with 1,333 DYAR.

So while it may surprise some people that Decker would make the best single-game performances list and not Thomas — the latter of whom appeared on the worst — the total DYAR rankings make it clear that both were key contributors to the Broncos' success and, more importantly, that Thomas can't be defined by a single game.

When all is said and done, I'm betting on Thomas to garner a spot in the Broncos Ring of Fame. The fate of Decker and Sanders, though, remains to be seen.

That takes nothing away from the importance of Decker and Sanders to the Broncos. Those two, along with Thomas, were key to the Broncos making multiple playoff trips in the past decade. For that, they deserve a tip of the hat from every Broncos fan.

Follow Bob on Twitter @BobMorrisSports and @MileHighHuddle.