2020 XFL Receiver Comps From The NFL

Antonio Losada evaluates the final performance of XFL receivers by comparing them to other WR/TE in the NFL this past season

You don't miss something until it's gone, they say. The current situation regarding COVID-19 has put the whole sports world on hiatus, but it has impacted one league more than any other. The XFL, that is, as its first season has been canceled amid the expansion of the virus, and we will have to wait until next year for its return.

Obviously, now that it is gone, you find yourself anxious and hungry for football. Remain calm. In order to get you ready for next season - when you will finally jump ship from the NFL and enjoy this uber-fun football league - I have taken on the task of finding some comps for XFL players now that both leagues are in their offseason. As you know (or not) the XFL had to close shop after just five weeks, so I'll be doing something not-so-scientific and using per-16-game average prorated stats for XFL and NFL players in order to find those comps. I am running the statlines of XFL players and NFL players through an algorithm that generates the comps, so they won't be perfect. I'll be cherry-picking those that I believe make the most sense.

While this is not meant to be pinpoint and find the perfect comparisons between leagues, it will at least give you an idea of who was who in the XFL and who you can relate XFL players with if you're more versed on NFL rosters, which is the case with most football fans around these places. Let's get started!

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WR Cam Phillips (Houston Roughnecks)

Comparables: Mike Evans (51% similarity), Julio Jones (44%), Calvin Ridley (37%)

You might think Phillips' comps are ridiculous, but the truth is that his debut season in the XFL was even more ridiculous. The Roughneck led the league in targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns - and it wasn't even close. Phillips' 455 yards blew away second-place Dan Williams' 338. Phillips' scored nine touchdowns while no other player reached even five on the year. He was the only receiver to top 84 PPR points in the season with 136.5 in five games! Only Tre McBride and Nelson Spruce came close to his PPG average of 27.3, but they only appeared in three games each compared to Phillips' five.

Now you get why Mike Evans and Julio Jones are listed here. Ridley is the lesser comp of all three NFL players, but he was close in everything but actual yardage per game. Phillips averaged 91 yards per game to Evans' 89 and Jones' 93, and he did so on similar usage (within two targets of the comps) and efficiency (virtually the same average per game on receptions). The touchdown average was insane for Phillips, though, and it should regress a bit next year.

TE Donald Parham (Dallas Renegades)

Comparables: Odell Beckham Jr. (51% similarity), Sterling Shepard (39%), Cooper Kupp (35%)

Although Parham is a tight end by nature, the XFL lumped together every WR/TE as a receiver. That's why I'm looking for comps that include NFL WRs, too, and why I got these three comps. Not being picky with the actual position, the fact is that Parham was one of the best receivers in the whole XFL, the second-best, that was, and one of only three to rack up more than 70 PPR and one of four with at least 16 PPG on the year (including two with only three games played).

Kupp averaged around 10 yards per game more than Parham and the other two comps, which is the only thing separating him a bit from them. In the rest of the receiving categories, all four players finished on similar terms. The usage (targets) was very close, and the same went for the efficiency at catching passes (all of them finished within 1.5 receptions per game from each other.) As is the case with the top-tier XFL receivers, the touchdowns are a little out of hand on a per-game basis for Parham, but the receiving yardage (61.4 Yds/G) is rather close to that of Shepard (57.6) and Beckham (64.7).

WR Dan Williams (Tampa Bay Vipers)

Comparables: A.J. Brown (49% similarity), Courtland Sutton (43%), John Brown (42%)

This is the best set of comps the algorithm I used found for me.  Williams played five games for the Vipers and finished the year as the WR4 with 68.8 PPR points on the year. He averaged 13.8 per game,  which was the third-best average among receivers that appeared in every game. He only scored one touchdown, but he ranked second in total receiving yards with 338 sandwiched between Phillips' 455 and Parham's 307 tallies.

All of A.J. Brown, Courtland Sutton, and John Brown averaged between 65 and 71 yards per game while Williams closed at around 68 himself, just in the middle. He also found himself very close to his NFL comps when it came to targets (7.6 per game with A.J. Brown the most separated of the bunch at 5.3) and receptions (4.6 compared to Brown-lowest 3.3 but on par with the other two). Although it is not usually the case, the PPG also aligned nicely for the four players with all of them averaging between 13.6  (Brown) and 14.7 (John Brown)

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