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AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

AFL Quick Hitters

May 8, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release


‘GO TO' GUYS: Las Vegas OS MIKE HORACEK and Los Angeles OS CHRIS JACKSON lead the AFL in "Go To" percentage. Both Horacek and Jackson lead their respective teams by being the main target on 38 percent of their total passing plays – the highest percentage in the AFL. San Jose WR/DB JAMES ROE is the most efficient of the "Go To" receivers by catching 102-of-143 (71 percent) passes thrown in his direction. The following is the top 10 "Go To" receivers based on the number of times they are the main target:

"GO TO" RECEIVERS
PLAYER, TEAM REC. GO TO PCT. CATCH PCT.
Mike Horacek, Las Vegas 114 38.0 62.0
Chris Jackson, Los Angeles 110 38.0 65.0
James Roe, San Jose 102 36.0 71.0
Antonio Chatman, Chicago 103 34.0 68.0
Mike Furrey, New York 108 32.0 67.0
Damian Harrell, Colorado 97 32.0 61.0
Terrill Shaw, Grand Rapids 98 31.0 66.0
Cory Fleming, Orlando 87 31.0 61.0
Freddie Solomon, Tampa Bay 89 29.0 68.0
Eddie Brown, Indiana 86 29.0 65.0

WELL BALANCED: The Avengers are the only team in the AFL to have four players with more than 1,000 all-purpose yards this season. Offensive specialist CHRIS JACKSON (1,612), WR/DB KEVIN INGRAM (1,129), WR/DB SIAHA BURLEY (1,101) and WR/LB GREG HOPKINS (1,071) have combined for 4,913 yards in 14 games this season (the equivalent of 2.8 miles). Only four other AFL teams – Arizona, Dallas, Grand Rapids and San Jose – are close, with three players over 1,000 all-purpose yards.

SCORE A PAIR: San Jose WR/DB Barry Wagner has scored twice on the ground in each of the last four games to increase his League-leading total to 16, the sixth-highest in League history. During his 12-year career, Wagner has faced the Tampa Bay Storm 18 times during the regular season. In those games he has rushed the ball 29 times for 57 yards and eight scores.

ALL-TIME RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS, SEASON
PLAYER, TEAM YEAR TDs
Bernard Hall, St. Louis 1996 26
Barry Wagner, Orlando 1995 21
Broderick Sargent, Detroit 1993 20
Chad Dukes, Albany 1997 17
Barry Wagner, Orlando 1997 17
BARRY WAGNER, SAN JOSE* 2003 16
* Two games remaining in regular season

ROAD WARRIORS: With a win at Buffalo this Sunday, the New York Dragons will record a new team record for the longest road-winning streak in franchise history (five wins). Since taking over in Week 5, Dragons head coach TODD SHELL has led his squad on a 6-4 run, including a 4-0 record on the road.

IN THE ZONE: The SaberCats lead the AFL in red-zone scoring efficiency at 98.4 percent having scored 60-of-61 times once inside the opponent's 10-yard line. San Jose went 6-for-6 in red-zone opportunities vs. Grand Rapids on May 3, and is 26-for-26 in its last six games. The only time San Jose failed to score inside the red zone was on March 23 against Arizona when a fumbled handoff from the Rattlers 5-yard line dribbled out of the endzone.

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS: Arizona WR/LB HUNKIE COOPER leads the AFL by catching 62-of-76 (82 percent) balls thrown his way this season. The two-time Ironman of the Year leads the Rattlers with 62 receptions while adding 780 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. The following is the top 10 receivers in catch percentage:

TOP CATCH PERCENTAGE
PLAYER, TEAM REC. CATCH PCT.
Hunkie Cooper, Arizona 62 82.0
Tom Pace, Arizona 31 78.0
Jarrick Hillery, Georgia 51 77.0
Willis Marshall, Grand Rapids 66 75.0
Jason Shelly, Dallas 33 75.0
Barry Wagner, San Jose 45 74.0
Will Pettis, Dallas 62 73.0
Chris Anthony, New York 59 73.0
Lawrence Samuels, Tampa Bay 71 72.0
Randy Gatewood, Arizona 58 72.0
Damien Groce, New York 38 72.0
* Minimum of 30 receptions.

MAKING HIS (LEAGUE) MARK: With 993 career pass completions, San Jose QB MARK GRIEB needs just seven to become the 13th player in AFL history with 1,000 in a career. Grieb began the season in 16th place in career passing yards but has leap-frogged KURT WARNER, RON LOPEZ and PAT O'HARA into 13th place with 13,352 yards.

THE GRUDEN DIFFERENCE: With the Orlando Predators looking to secure a first-round bye, head coach FRAN PAPASEDERO can see a difference with JAY GRUDEN under center. Here is a comparison of the Predators with and without Gruden as the starting quarterback this season:

ORLANDO PREDATORS
WITH WITHOUT
Games 8 6
Record 8-0 2-4
Win Pct. 1.000 .333
Total Points 429 285
Average 53.6 47.5



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 8, 2003


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