Air yards share
Air yards are the distance a pass travels past the line of scrimmage, thrown or caught; air yards share is a receiver's cut of his team's total. Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seahawks led 2025 at 50.1%.
Every target carries air yards whether or not the ball is caught, because the throw was still aimed that far downfield. Summing them and dividing by the team total gives air yards share. It measures how much of the downfield passing game runs through one player.
Updated Jul 26, 2026
Current leaders — 2025
| # | Player | AY Share | Tgt Share | Tgt | Yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaxon Smith-NjigbaWR · SEA | 50.1% | 35.8% | 163 | 1,793 |
| 2 | Tetairoa McMillanWR · CAR | 43.3% | 25.4% | 122 | 1,014 |
| 3 | Jaylen WaddleWR · MIA | 39.6% | 21.6% | 100 | 910 |
| 4 | Chris OlaveWR · NO | 39.4% | 27.6% | 156 | 1,163 |
| 5 | Justin JeffersonWR · MIN | 38.6% | 30.1% | 141 | 1,048 |
| 6 | Amon-Ra St. BrownWR · DET | 37.8% | 31.3% | 172 | 1,401 |
| 7 | Alec PierceWR · IND | 37.3% | 15.8% | 84 | 1,003 |
| 8 | Emeka EgbukaWR · TB | 36.2% | 23.5% | 127 | 938 |
| 9 | Zay FlowersWR · BAL | 35.7% | 29.0% | 118 | 1,211 |
| 10 | Courtland SuttonWR · DEN | 35.2% | 21.2% | 124 | 1,017 |
See the full air yards share leaderboard — Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads.
Why it matters
Air yards share is the deep-threat counterpart to target share, and it repeats nearly as hard: 0.79 year over year across 745 qualifying pairs. Jaxon Smith-Njigba led at 50.1% with Tetairoa McMillan of the Panthers second at 43.3%. A receiver with a big air yards share and a modest target share is a boom-week profile; the reverse is a possession role. Neither is better — they price differently.
Updated Jul 26, 2026
The counter
Air yards accrue on incompletions too, so a high share can describe a player being missed a lot.
Updated Jul 26, 2026
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