Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...S/ShahRa00.htm

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...T/ThomMi05.htm

Consider this:

Stat R. Shaheed 2022 M Thomas 2022 M T 2019
Catch% 82.4% 72.7% 80.5%
Yd/Rec 17.4 10.7 11.6
Yd/Tgt 14.4 7.8 9.3
Yd/Start 62.8 57 108.3

The assumption is made that Michael Thomas is our #1 WR and Rasheed Shaheed is our #3 WR but consider the stats.

Rasheed Shaheeds catch rate in 2022 was ~10% higher than Michael Thomas' and even exceed Michael Thomas' catch rate in his 2019 OPOY season with Drew Brees. And this is with Andy Dalton.

Rasheed Shaheed's yards per reception and yards per targets vastly exceeded anything Michael Thomas has ever achieved in his career.

Rasheed Shaheed had more yards per start than Michael Thomas last season. He can't match 2019 Michael Thomas with Drew Brees in this category but he comes closer than 2022 Michael Thomas could and if he is targeted more who knows.

Michael Thomas happened to get a lot of end zone targets in 2022 before his injury. But besides that, he didn't look his full self, unless you blame that on the QBs. But Rasheed Shaheed had lesser QBs to work with too and mostly had better stats.

I think we should keep in mind that Shaheed may be a special talent and may have more upside than Michael Thomas in 2023. In the unlikely event Thomas stays healthy, his usage may still be limited if Shaheed catches a higher percentage of passes each for more yardage. Maybe Shaheed's stats can't be extrapolated, but maybe they can. Antonio Brown is about Shaheeds size, came from a small school, and almost went undrafted too. And he never caught 82.4% of his targets. Jaylen Waddle is about Shaheeds size but and had slightly higher yards per recepetion but much lower yards per target due to much lower catch rate. And Waddle's 11.6 yards per target was 2nd in the NFL to Shaheed's 14.4 yards per target among receivers with at least 400 yards receiving.

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/202...target-leaders

Shaheed never missed more than 1 target in a game last year. In the final 6 games where he started, his 85% catch rate matched Michael Thomas' best catch rate from 2018, which taking much deeper targets. It's important to note that his catch rate actually increased when starting and being targeted more. The most targets he received in a game was 6 against the vaunted Philadelphia defense and he caught all 6. The Saints had a 3-2 winning record in games where Shaheed was targeted at least 4 times and a 2-0 record when he was targeted at least 5 times. Meanwhile the Saints were 1-2 with Michael Thomas, and he was targeted at least 5 times in all his games.

Personally, I like the odds that Shaheed's numbers were not a fluke more than I like the odds that Thomas stays healthy. I am excited to see what Shaheed can become. I think its possible he could become the best wide receiver in the NFL because in some efficiency stats he already was last year.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I heard Loomis, Thomas and the Saints were directly responsible for the COVID outbreak AND Climate Change too Bako!

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Excited to see what Shaheed can do with Carr.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I knew it! The Saints are a bunch of cheaters according to Der Kommissar. If Roger Godhell could blame it on the Saints he would! :rolleyes:

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I have a very strong opinion about Rasheed Shaheed, he is headed towards being a true number 1 receiver. My opinion, Shaheed 1, Olave 2, and Thomas 3. This could be a very special group if injuries are avoided!

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I’m a big fan of Shaheed.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I’ve been high on Rashid since I first saw him play at MT Carmel High.
I attended Lincoln for 2 years and my cousins went to Helix (all San Diego area High Schools), we were debating which school had the all time best players.
Helix has Reggie Bush and Alex Smith. Lincoln has Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis. My niece entered the conversation and said there’s a guy she goes to school with and everyone says he’s the best. She was referring to Rashid.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Me too. I think he will be super solid this year.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Thomas had Brees throwing to him. Feeding him. Targeting him. Brees got him paid. If healthy, which is a big if, he can be a productive guy with Carr. Not #1 receiver productive or worth his salary. But, a valuable piece for the Saints in 2023 along with Olave and Shaheed. Olave is WR1. Shaheed is a super talented, natural WR2. If everyone is healthy and accepts their roles, the Saints could be hard to stop.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Brees didn’t get Thomas paid. Thomas is really like that. We could see it from Day One when he first hit the field. Brees couldn’t feed anybody else in his tenure with the Saints to record breaking numbers. Not Marques Colston. Not Jimmy Graham. Not Brandin Cooks. I get that’s it’s the cool thing now to pile on Thomas but he and Brees were an asset to each other. If we aren’t going to say Jerry Rice was great because Joe Montana and Steve Young were feeding him then let’s not say it about Thomas either. His contested catch ability is ridiculous.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Agreed. There’s a misconception that Brees makes every receiver look great, and that’s simply untrue. We’ve had many wrs come and go with the Saints that just couldn’t catch on. I love Bree’s and he deserves a lot of credit and deserves to be a hall of famer, but the receivers have to do their part as well. Thomas, when healthy, deserves the credit as a top tier wr.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Brees and Thomas were both great. Now they have both succumbed to age and injuries. When they played together they helped eachother but as we saw with Rodgers, Adams, Maholmes, and Hill, great QBs and receivers who are great together can still be great apart. The one exception we saw was Rodgers in the first half where the replacements for Adams were not even mediocre. So Brees would likely have struggled with the 2022 Saints receiving core and Thomas would likely have seen some decline with Dalton or say with the QB situation Terry McLauren has had. During his prime Thomas was the best receiver in Saints history but his prime was short. But when looking as specific stats like catch rate, its hard to say Brees didnt have some positive effect on Thomas. You could take Jerry Rice’s conditioning and Randy Moss’s physicality and Michael Thomas’ hands and put Sean Payton as coach and that WR could not catch 85% of passes with Zach Wilson as QB.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

You give Zach Wilson a receiver like that and that receiver would still get their stats. The elites are gonna elite. It’s the average receivers that really take the hit. Terry is still putting up to 10-15 numbers. Guys like that gone ball no matter what.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Thomas was trained by his uncle, Keyshawn Johnson, who played in the NFL at a high level. Thomas came into the league highly motivated and highly skilled. I remember telling my brother when I first saw him that he was going to sell a lot of jerseys. Stay healthy Mike.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Exactly, Rugs! The same motivation that got Thomas to where he was is still there and will get him prepared to be great again. One thing that is really in his favor is with his lack of playing time over the last three seasons his body is fresher and has endured less wear and tear than other players at the same age. There's no reason why he shouldn't be able to play at the same elite level that we've always seen when he was on the field. And that includes the games before the toe dislocation last season.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

While I don't agree with some of the things Thomas has done/said off field and regarding his injuries, I never doubt/doubted his ability and effectiveness as a WR when he was/is playing. He showed that the few games he played this last season. Thomas of 2018 and 2019 was as impactful a WR as the NFL has ever seen and it wasn't just because he had Brees throwing him the ball.

Whether or not he can get back to that stage at 30 years of age is a Question I'd hope all Saints fans here want him to answer with a resounding Yes! If he even comes back at 80 % of what he was he will still be our best WR IMO.
Having doubts is perfectly reasonable. Some users can't seem to understand why these doubts exist and poke at the ones who express it. Some users so heavily doubt that they actively appear to be rooting against Thomas to succeed. I don't agree with either of these viewpoints.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Another thing I'm thinking while I read through this thread is that the most deciding factor (should Olave, Thomas, and Shaheed all be on the field) on who our "best" WR is is who the other team's Defenses think our number 1,2,and 3 threats are. Where they put their number one CB will likely be the answer to that. Should all three be healthy I'd think Thomas draws that guy more often than Shaheed or Olave. But time will tell.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I understand the doubts myself. I don't agree with them, however. But they are no less understandable. I also agree that there appears to be a segment that are hoping against any success for Thomas. Any ideas on their motivation? :confused:

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Agreed. But I can see them putting their best CB on Olave and doubling Thomas. While I have been very impressed by Shaheed so far I don't see him as being able to battle for those 50/50 type balls or being proficient at routes. Yes, he has the moves and the speed, but at this early point in his career I doubt his ability or physicality to beat the heavy coverage or the individual top cover. I do see the potential.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

What Shaheed did week 1 is very much in line with the stats from my original post. Caught 5 of 6 targets (over 80% catch rate) while averaging 17.8 yards per catch. This combination of high catch rate and big plays is not normal. I don't know if it can continue as he gets more attention from defenses, but right now Shaheed is a possession deep threat.

Shaheed's career numbers are now at 82.5% catch rate and 17.5 yards per reception. Tyreek Hill is 68.2% catch rate and 14 yards per reception. Randy Moss is 56.4% catch rate and 15.5 yards per reception. Michael Thomas is 77.3% catch rate and 11.6 yards per reception.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Keep in mind that Thomas' numbers are based upon 687 career targets. Shaheed ... 40 targets. Let's see what they look like after a reasonable sample. I am hoping beyond hope that they remain that lofty. I seriously doubt it however.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Yeah, It's hard to shine as brightly as he has without having a substantial drop off when teams game plan for you. Unless, you're a twin and you look twice as good! ;)

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

All I know is that having Shaheed, MT & Olave is dangerous for ANY defense.

Not to mention Juwan balling too.

Nice group of pass catchers. Just ask the KC Chiefs.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

He’s a big play waiting to happen.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

And he's not the only threat we have now. That's a nice change.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

It’s nice to see our pass catchers catching balls. I can’t recall seeing a ball outright dropped.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Derek Carr is going to feed his receivers all game long. Just imagine how good we'll look when AK comes back. Championship!?!

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Wait until AK is back...

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

He's still so raw. I'm excited to see how he develops.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Our big three are bad boys!:chug:

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Shaheed had 4 receptions on 4 targets Monday with 15.8 yards per reception. He just does this game after game after game, with the catch rate of the ultimate possession receiver and the yardage per of the ultimate deep threat.

There is this impression that Shaheed is raw and doesn't run the routes or make the contested catch as well as Olave or Thomas. But he keeps catching his targets at much higher rate than either despite those targets being deeper than either of the other two. How does a raw NFL receiver catch 84.1% of their targets? Are quarterbacks just throwing more accurately to him? Or is he very good at being exactly where he needs to be and adjusting to the ball?

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Yes ... and no.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Speed Kills … 🔥 the defense when the QB can get the ball to speed going full out.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

I am sorry to post this but I came across this stat and can't resist. Taylor Swift has visited more NFL stadiums this year (20) even excluding multiple visits to the same stadium than Michael Thomas has visited this decade (18) dating back to the 2019 playoffs even including multiple visits to the same stadium. It's cool that Michael Thomas has lasted 4 games, its the biggest positive of the season so far, but its funny that he is still playing catchup to Taylor Swift.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

You got the biggest crush on MT.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Yeah thats what your mom said too but she’s very jealous.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Aww little man feelings hurt...I know you have a ILuvMike tattoo.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Actually I have a 55 yards per game 0 TDs only $10 million a year plus incentives tattoo on my face. Your mom is really into guys with face tats.

Re: Rasheed Shaheed vs Michael Thomas Stats
 

Bako MT's Biggest fan....BNG biggest itch. Go finish sitting on your finger. You Cornball. You'll sit up here and blame PC and DC and DA all day then use MT stats insinuate whatever BS Boyfriend theory you have of him. Go kiss a snapping turtle in the mouth and when you're done tell my mother I said hi, and send you yours back....Deal?