Marvin Mims enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, especially at the end of the year. His 503 receiving yards and 6 touchdo wns were each career-highs, and he was the best punt returner in the league, too.
But, there’s now an argument to be made that Marvin Mims is the best yards after the catch (YAC) receiver in the league, too.
Marvin Mims was the best YAC+ receiver in the NFL last year
Most NFL fans know what YAC is, but few may have heard of YAC+. It means yards after the catch above replacement.
In other words, it’s how many yards after a catch a receiver gained compared to what an average receiver would have gained on the play. Simply, Mims out-performed expectations last year and led the entire NFL with a stellar 4.0 YAC+ number per FTN Fantasy.
The Broncos breakout receiver not only led the league in the metric last season, his 4.0 number was the third-best single season in the last 15 years.
Marvin Mims’ 2024 campaign was the third-best YAC+ season since 2009. Credit: FTN Fantasy
As you can see, the San Francisco 49ers and Deebo Samuel have been king of YAC+ in recent years, and Bryan Knowles of FTN Fantasy talked a lot about that in his piece.
Beyond explaining what YAC+ is, Knowles explored more fascinating tidbits about Marvin Mims’ play, specifically. First and foremost, screens and screens are “two of the least valuable routes in football” Knowles writes. It should be kept in mind, though, that Mims was better at these types of rotes depending on where he lined up. He had an exact 10/10/10 play split between being lined up outside, in the slot, and in the backfield. And while he struggled mightily on these plays outside (-29.3% DVOA) and was so-so in the slot (-6.1%), the Broncos receiver was phenomenal out of the backfield (22.1%).
What does it mean?
Simply, putting Mims in the backfield is a matchup nightmare for defenses and he feasted on those plays. Sean Payton needs to continue to get him the ball in those alignments, not just in screens outside.
The best YAC player in the NFL?
We know Marvin Mims is the best YAC+ player, but is he the best YAC player, period? There’s an argument to be made that he is.
To wit: Among receivers in the top-21 in YAC, Mims’ 94.8% of his total yardage was by far the most. Note: there were seven running backs with more YAC than receiving yards, which makes sense if they care catching a bunch of passes behind the line of scrimmage.
When it comes to total YAC yards, Mims was 13th among receivers, but he also had about half (51) or even one-third as many targets as some of the leaders. For instance, Ja’Marr Chase led the league with 175 targets, and even Kalil Shakir, who was second in YAC yards among WR/TEs, had 100 targets.
Simply, Marvin Mims did the most with the ball in his hands than any receiver in the NFL last year.
Denver Broncos fans know he’s a playmaker. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons as a returner, and finally broke out as a receiver in the second half of last season.
No doubt, the 93-yard touchdown, which included 46 yards of YAC, certainly helped his numbers.
BO NIX ➡️ MARVIN MIMS JR. FOR A 93-YARD TOUCHDOWN 😤
🎥 @NFLpic.twitter.com/ceMg8GHLbp
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 3, 2024
Simply, Mims gives the Broncos a dimension they haven’t had on offense in a long time–speed.
Running back R.J. Harvey is bringing his 4.4 speed to the team this fall, too as Payton continues to evolve the playmaking abilities and style of the Broncos offense.