Worst hands in NFL this season

Today, we return to the topic of drops rates. After Wednesay’s look at the top of the list, we’ll now focus on the receivers who have the worst drop rates in the league through Week 5.

Remember, to be considered, receivers needed to have 20 targets to their name; that gives us 61 receivers to compare.

Drop rate: Bottom 11 NFL receivers

With Oakland’s Michael Crabtree and his drop-less season leading the way, early issues in this area for Raiders' rookie Amari Cooper have been all the more apparent. Cooper managed to mishandle a throw in each of his first four games as a pro, after dropping just eight of 132 catchable balls as a senior at Alabama last season.

Comforting for the rookie, though, is the presence of many long-time vets who have also found the early-going not so friendly in this department. Marques Colston is one to keep an eye on—he’s in danger of making drops a trend for himself, as he played at a similar pace last season (eight drops in 67 chances, 11.94 percent).

Leonard Hankerson’s five drops are knotted with Keenan Allen for the league’s highest total among receivers, but with Allen’s coming on 44 throws, his drop rate of 11.36 has him beyond the bottom-11 for now. Hankerson’s total already surpasses any of his seasons in Washington, and has helped his new QB Matt Ryan to fifth on the list of passers suffering the most drops (11).

Looking up from the basement through five weeks is Ted Ginn, after letting a full quarter of his chances hit the ground. Ginn, of course, hasn’t always been a featured receiver at his various stops around the league, but has only once before shown a drop rate that was significantly away from the middle of the pack—in 2009 he dropped 10-of-48 catchable balls, a 20.8 percent mark that landed him 96th of 101.