Pro Football Reference Blog

I got this in my email a few days ago:

My roommate and I were curious of the following: In NFL history, what yardage have the majority of touchdown passes been thrown from? I feel like the answer can be generalized in around 5-10 yard increments (i.e., majority of TD passes thrown between 20-30 yards).

Well, I can't get that data for all of NFL history, but I have it for 2002--2007.

Let's go ahead and break it down by individual yard lines. I'll open it up for guesses: during the period 2002--2007, what is the modal TD pass length? I'll post a full distribution after someone guesses the answer.

Bonus questions: what are the modal TD reception lengths for wide receivers, for tight ends, and for running backs?

ANSWERS:

Yrd   WR%    TE%    RB%   TOT%
===============================
 1   1.78  16.20  10.49   5.99
 2   2.72  10.89   6.65   4.99
 3   3.70   5.98   6.14   4.49
 4   4.81   5.58   6.14   5.14
 5   4.23   4.78   5.12   4.46
 6   3.39   5.71   4.86   4.07
 7   3.74   2.92   3.84   3.57
 8   3.30   3.45   4.35   3.45
 9   2.85   3.59   4.09   3.16
10   2.81   2.39   3.58   2.80
11   2.27   3.32   2.56   2.54
12   2.41   2.39   2.81   2.45
13   2.67   1.46   2.81   2.42
14   2.63   2.26   3.07   2.60
15   2.85   2.52   2.05   2.69
16   1.78   3.19   0.77   1.98
17   1.52   2.66   1.53   1.77
18   1.78   1.86   1.28   1.74
19   1.74   1.59   1.79   1.71
20   2.45   1.73   1.53   2.18
21   1.69   1.20   1.53   1.56
22   1.96   1.46   0.51   1.68
23   1.43   1.06   1.79   1.39
24   1.20   1.20   0.26   1.09
25   1.83   0.80   1.53   1.56
26   1.56   1.46   1.02   1.48
27   1.92   0.93   0.77   1.56
28   1.38   0.40   1.02   1.12
29   1.38   0.27   0.26   1.00
30   1.34   0.53   0.51   1.06
31   1.29   1.06   1.53   1.27
32   1.38   0.53   0.26   1.06
33   1.34   0.80   0.51   1.12
34   1.07   0.40   0.51   0.86
35   1.38   0.40   1.02   1.12
36   1.02   0.13   0.51   0.77
37   1.25   0.00   0.51   0.89
38   0.80   0.00   0.77   0.62
39   1.16   0.00   0.26   0.80
40   1.07   0.00   0.00   0.71
41   0.71   0.40   0.77   0.65
42   0.85   0.53   0.26   0.71
43   0.80   0.00   0.26   0.56
44   0.80   0.00   0.26   0.56
45   0.49   0.40   0.26   0.44
46   0.62   0.13   0.26   0.47
47   0.53   0.00   0.00   0.35
48   0.53   0.00   0.00   0.35
49   0.53   0.13   0.00   0.38
50   0.67   0.00   0.00   0.44
51   0.71   0.00   0.51   0.53
52   0.36   0.13   0.77   0.35
53   0.40   0.00   0.00   0.27
54   0.40   0.00   0.00   0.27
55   0.40   0.00   0.26   0.30
56   0.31   0.00   0.00   0.21
57   0.45   0.13   0.00   0.32
58   0.40   0.00   0.00   0.27
59   0.40   0.00   0.26   0.30
60   0.45   0.13   0.77   0.41
61   0.18   0.00   0.26   0.15
62   0.22   0.13   0.51   0.24
63   0.09   0.00   0.51   0.12
64   0.18   0.00   0.77   0.21
65   0.45   0.00   0.00   0.30
66   0.27   0.13   0.51   0.27
67   0.18   0.00   0.00   0.12
68   0.40   0.00   0.51   0.32
69   0.22   0.00   0.26   0.18
70   0.27   0.00   0.00   0.18
71   0.31   0.00   0.00   0.21
72   0.40   0.13   0.00   0.30
73   0.18   0.00   0.26   0.15
74   0.13   0.00   0.26   0.12
75   0.31   0.00   0.00   0.21
76   0.31   0.13   0.00   0.24
77   0.27   0.00   0.26   0.21
78   0.27   0.00   0.00   0.18
79   0.22   0.00   0.00   0.15
80   0.40   0.13   0.51   0.35
81+  1.02   0.27   0.26   0.77