This is insanity. Larry remains a very good talent, but his demands on his quarterback make him currently a liability to the team's effort to win games. Our shoddy QBs are trying to force-feed Fitz for 12 targets when he's triple-covered.
Megatron is bigger and faster than Larry, with a larger catching radius and bigger vertical. What are the things that Larry Fitzgerald can do that Megatron can't, exactly?
And I'm not saying that Fitz sux. He remains a very, very good player. But Hall of Fame players don't get rated behind Andre Roberts and 88th in the NFL in DVOA regardless of what their quarterback situations are.
Larry is widely regarded as the better route-runner in the league, for starters, CJ is the taller and larger physical specimen: he by virtue of being an elite NFL WR has a greater range than Larry would have a greater range simply because he is 2 inches taller, even if we can determine that their vertical is exactly the same. So yes, he has physical advantages that cannot be erased, but Larry is able to do nearly as much with less, which is why he's better at something like route running: he's worked hard to make up for his physical "shortcomings" (if you can even call it that). Here's a great analysis of one of Larry's finest route-running moments that we all remember:
http://smartfootball.blogspot.com/2009/01/deep-crossing-route-larry-fitzgerald.html
DVOA for WRs measures and weights the significance of the yards gained by plays in which they advance the ball. As you know, significance is added per situation (i.e. throwing to Larry for 20 yards on 3rd and 29 is worth less than throwing to him for 6 on 3rd and 4 or even 6 on 1st and 10). Roberts, Floyd and Doucet are all ranked ahead of Larry in 2012, does this mean that they are better receivers? No, because the one of the things that DVOA does not account for is how many players are covering a WR. I.e., it won't tell you that Lindley tried to force it in there, giving Fitz, CJ or whoever he's throwing it to very little chance IF he catches it, to do anything positive. If I am throwing behind my receiver, he's making a great catch in front of three Seahawks and then he gets promptly tackled for a 6 yard gain on 3rd and 10, his DVOA isn't going to be very high. Why? I made a bad decision, firstly. Secondly, I am a bad Quarterback and threw it behind him, not hitting him in stride and allowing him to gain as much yardage as possible, and thirdly, my OL and QB play are so bad that the opposing defensive coordinator can afford three or two guys to cover Larry Fitzgerald.
The reason Andre and Michael are ahead of Larry is because they are not being guarded as closely as Larry, allowing them to get free and do more with the ball when they get it. The fact that Larry can even catch the ball on those plays exposes him to lowering his DVOA. This is why single coverage is so desirable especially for possession WRs. You don't need to outrun anyone when you can outmuscle them for a first down.
Also DVOA takes into account the down. Teams are smart enough to pay extra attention to Larry on 3rd down or in the redzone, meaning that the receptions he does have (which often come on 1st and 2nd down) that result in 1st downs (like the 23 yarder on 2nd down from Lindley vs. NYJ) count for less than say Reagan Maui'a's would have if he had caught that pass on that stupid play from Skelton on 3rd down vs. Atlanta. There's a reason no one was really covering him, and that's why we threw it there and gave him an opportunity: had he caught it, they play would have been worth more DVOA against the more highly ranked ATL defense than a 23 yard play on 2nd and 10 vs. a worse Jets D (since DVOA adjusts for opposing defense's weakness or strength vs. the average)
Here's an explanation of potential problems with DVOA and DYAR by footballoutsiders:
"ISSUES WITH DVOA/DYAR
DVOA is limited by what’s included in the official NFL play-by-play or tracked by the Football Outsiders game charting project. Because we need to have the entire play-by-play of a season in order to compute DVOA and DYAR, these metrics are not yet ready to compare players of today to players throughout the league’s history. As of this writing, we have processed 21 seasons, 1991 through 2011, and we add seasons at a rate of roughly two per year (the most recent season, plus one season back into history.)
Football is a game in which nearly every action requires the work of two or more teammates -- in fact, usually 11 teammates all working in unison. Unfortunately, when it comes to individual player ratings, we are still far from the point at which we can determine the value of a player independent from the performance of his teammates. That means that when we say, "In 2011, Matt Forte had a DVOA of -5.6%, what we are really saying is “In 2011, Matt Forte, playing in Mike Martz’s offensive system with the Chicago offensive line blocking for him and Jay Cutler or Caleb Hanie selling the fake when necessary, had a DVOA of -5.6%."
And lastly, you can't raise your DVOA if Kevin Kolb misses you wide open in the Endzone on third down like he did vs. the Rams. That's not Larry's fault, but if Stafford or Warner is throwing him the ball, he gets that TD and his DVOA is raised.
Let's not forget, it's a team sport.
So in summation, yes, it matters VERY much how good the offense you're on is. DVOA is a more accurate stat to measure a team's offensive performance as opposed to that of an individual player.
Ryan Broyles has a higher DVOA (38.9%) than Calvin Johnson(18.2%), by the way.
Other WRs that have a higher DVOA than CJ in 2012:
Demariyus Thomas (27.4%) (Think it might have to do more with Peyton Manning and the offense than Demariyus being better than CJ and Larry Fitz?)
Lance Moore (24.2%)
Danario Alexander (42.4%)
etc...
Calvin is Ranked #1 in DYAR (refer to the previous paragraph from footballoutsiders on why that is flawed as well). Which really just means he's the best and most consistent player on one the best offenses (i.e. he is benefiting from having a competent QB and OL even though he is still elite.) He's good, but once again, someone like Larry is out of the picture because he's on the Cardinals' Offense, and Calvin is able to shine because he's on
the 2nd ranked offense in the NFL behind NE, even though his team has as many wins as we do.