Jeremy Shockey: Shockey Will Provide Very Little Value To The Carolina Panthers

The New Orleans Saints made the right decision in releasing tight end Jeremy Shockey. The Saints have a promising, young tight end in Jimmy Graham and in three years with Shockey on their roster, they found out what the Carolina Panthers will find out the next time football is played, which is that Shockey does little to aid the passing game anymore.

In Shockey's three seasons with the Saints, once his passing statistics were removed from the Saints quarterbacks' numbers, they experienced a .6 percent decrease in completion percentage (from 68.1 percent to 67.7 percent), no change in yards per pass attempt (7.7), a 2.6 percent increase in adjusted yards per pass attempt (from 7.6 to 7.8), a .9 percent increase in yards per completion (from 11.3 to 11.4), a 5.3 increase in touchdown percentage (from 5.7 percent to 6.0 percent), and no change in interception percentage (2.6 percent).

With Shockey on the team, the Saints received only the barest of increases in completion percentage. Other than that negligible change, throwing to Shockey did not benefit the Saints' passing offense and made them worse in other areas.

Even in Shockey's 2009 season, which looked like a return to the form he had early in his career, his out was more a product of the amazing season Saints quarterback Drew Brees had than any newfound ability from Shockey.

That season, once Shockey's statistics were removed, Saints quarterbacks underwent a .6 percent decrease in completion percentage (from 69.9 percent to 69.5 percent), a 1.2 percent increase in yards per pass attempt (from 8.5 to 8.6), a 2.2 percent increase in adjusted yards per pass attempt (from 9.2 to 9.4), a .8 percent increase in yards per completion (from 12.2 to 12.3), a 1.3 percent increase in touchdown percentage (from 7.5 percent to 7.6 percent), and a 21.1 percent decrease in interception percentage (from 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent).

Again, the only improvement Shockey made to the Saints' passing offense was the tiny raise he gave to his quarterbacks' completion percentages. They were better off throwing to other players when it came to the other statistical categories.

Shockey's career tells a virtually identical story to his three-year stint with the Saints. Once his statistics were removed, his quarterbacks experienced .2 percent decrease in completion percentage (from 60.9 percent to 60.8 percent), no change in yards per pass attempt (7.0), a 1.5 percent increase in adjusted yards per pass attempt (from 6.5 to 6.6), a .9 percent increase in yards per completion (from 11.4 to 11.5), a 5.3 percent increase in touchdown percentage (from 4.4 percent to 4.5 percent), and no change in interception percentage (2.9 percent).

In Shockey's defense, there have been seasons in his career where his presence in the passing game did provide a valuable boost to his quarterbacks in at least three of the six statistical categories listed above. Those seasons occurred in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and, to a much lesser extent, 2010.

Since Shockey has played 10 NFL seasons, his quarterbacks have received little to no benefit just as often as they have received a good deal of value from throwing in Shockey's direction.

Based on what he has done over his time in the NFL, going forward, it is unlikely that the Carolina Panthers quarterbacks will become better because of Shockey's presence on the field outside of the tiniest improvement he will provide to their completion percentages.