http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/06/02/slot-receivers/
Here's a VG in depth read on slot receivers, which lists the top 15 in a number of categories. I was shocked not to see Bess in any of the lists, and asked where he ranked.
In the slot, Bess only had 301 snaps, catching 28 on 49 targets for 254 yards. When lining up outside, he had 563 snaps, catching 52 on 69 targets for 563 yards. This dropped him out of the slot rankings.
Does this surprise anyone else as much as it does me?
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A bit, yes. I always hear them mentioning him as a slot. If he can play on the outside I'm fine with that.
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Many, including myself, have been calling Bess one of the very best slot receivers in the league. The stats don't bear that out, he's much better on the outside. I don't like the guy any less but, it does somewhat change perspective.
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No...
Hartline and Marshall got injured, Bess had to switch to the outside. We ran 2 WR sets many times as well, putting Bess outside at the Z/X spot too. -
Bess actually lined up outside of the slot a fair amount before that happened, too, and the year before. He's not strictly a slot receiver.
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I don't think Bess is or should be just a slot WR. He is more versatile in that regard than Welker was. But it is his best position. He excels at finding soft spots in the zone. Not using him to that advantage is just another example of Henning doing a poor job of utilizing his player's strengths.
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Yeah he's not strictly a slot receiver, but his niche is there. He can line up on the outside and run those jerk routes and whip/pivot routes too and other routes, but his ability to sink hips and change directions on a dime makes him a wrecking machine in the slot.
I was saying the reason Bess got so many snaps on the outside was because of the injuries. -
What stood out to me was that in the slot Bess caught 57% of passes targeted for a 9 yard average. That would not even put him in the top 20. On the outside, he's very good at 75% for a 10.8 average. Based on that, the slot is not his best position.
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Marshall was out for weeks 12 and 13. Hartline missed from week 14 on. During those weeks Moore took 30 snaps a week, Wallace took 12 on average, and Marshall was in on 90%. There were only 3 weeks where Bess' snaps took a jump.