76. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals

As a cherry atop his Hall of Fame career, Fitzgerald has developed into a great escape hatch for quarterbacks in the Cardinals’ offense as a slot receiver.

Doug Farrar | Jul 12, 2016

76. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals /

In his prime, Fitzgerald was the most feared receiver in the league, with a rare combination of quickness, downfield speed, toughness and intelligence. He enjoyed a renaissance season in 2015 with 109 catches for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns, in part because over the last few seasons he has developed into a great escape hatch for quarterbacks in the Cardinals’ offense as a slot receiver. Last season, he caught 52 of 64 targets from the slot for 606 yards and three touchdowns. When coach Bruce Arians calls vertical routes to one side and timing routes to the other—a common construct for the Cardinals—Fitzgerald will often be asked to run a slant or drag route over the middle to give his quarterback yet another option. His 75-yard catch and run in overtime against the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs, perhaps the greatest play of his career, came after he motioned from outside to the slot, ran a crossing route and slipped past three Green Bay defenders on the run. It is this versatility and determination that has allowed Fitzgerald to excel in the slot just as he always has outside.

Published Jul 12, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.