In my opinion, the greatest innovation for APBA Football has been Mark Zarb’s “Yards per Catch” (YPC) creation.  I’ve used it for several years and have thoroughly enjoyed the results.

The YPC rating is used to better differentiate those WR’s who stretch the field versus those which are possession/ short yardage receivers or receivers such as RB’s who catch the ball on short passes coming out of the back field.

These adjustments are for Short and Medium Passes only unless specifically indicated below. Call the pass play as usual and determine the Index in the traditional manner using the team’s index and the player’s receiving grade. If the pass is complete consult the receiver’s YPC rating. Receiver’s grades will look like the M 2-8 (+3), 56, S2-7 (-3), 19, E, 39, etc.

The “M” indicates that the Medium Pass Board may be used on certain play results. An “S” would indicate the Short Pass Board and an “E” would leave the play as called.

The 2-8 represents the play results that will trigger the use of the yardage on either the Short or Medium Pass Boards. Completions on PRN 9 or higher would keep the original pass call.

The (+3) represents the yardage adjustment on ALL completions to the respective receiver whether the play called was a Screen, Short, Medium or Long pass.

The 56 is the receiver’s LONG GAIN for that season. This number comes into use on play results 1 or 2 (see rules below) AND is the limit to gains on the Screen Pass Boards.

During my 1968 AFL replay, Don Maynard’s YPC rating was M2-8 (+7), 87.  So if a Short Pass was called and play result “7” was a completion to Don Maynard, I used the yardage on the Medium Pass Boards for PRN 7 PLUS 7 yards. If the pass is complete on PRN 9 rather than 7, the yardage on the Short Pass Boards (since this was the original play call) would be used PLUS 7 yards.

The opposite is true if the receiver has a rating beginning with “S” on a Medium Pass. For instance, Matt Snell’s rating was S2-8 (-5), 39. So if a medium pass play was called and Matt Snell was the intended receiver with a play result of “5”, I used the Short Pass boards and reduced the yardage result by 5.

If the receiver has a rating beginning with “E” then use the yardage on the play as called PLUS or MINUS any yardage adjustments. Play results 1 or 2 require some additional rules:

Short Passes

Play Result 1. On plays that are > 48 yards, limit the play to 48 yards plus/minus the receiver’s yardage adjustment OR the receiver’s actual long WHICHEVER IS GREATER. For plays of 48 yards or less use the board result.

Play Result 2. On plays that are > 38 yards, limit the play to 38 yards plus/minus receiver’s yardage adjustment OR the receiver’s actual long WHICHEVER IS GREATER. For plays of 38 yards or less use the board result +/- any yardage adjustment. (Don’t make this yardage adjustment on automatic TD’s).

Medium/Long Passes
Play Results 1 or 2.  On plays that are > 50 yards limit the play to 50 yards plus/minus receiver’s yardage adjustment OR the receiver’s actual long WHICHEVER IS GREATER. A Long Pass may only be attempted to a receiver with an E or M rating. For plays of 50 yards or less use the board result.

YES, a receiver may have a gain that is greater than his actual long. NO, an incomplete pass cannot be converted to a completion using the receiver’s YPC rating.

For those of you who were fortunate enough to purchase either the 1968 AFL/NFL or 1974 NFL seasons from Mark Zarb prior to him closing down his operation, enjoy the below YPC ratings.

1968 Yards Per Catch     1974 YPC RECEIVING GRADES

Mark carded the “official” APBA sets for the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

2007 Yards Per Catch Ratings     2008 YPC RECEIVING GRADES

Lee Young carded the 1998 NFL season for the APBA Journal.

1998 YPC RECEIVING GRADES (Final)

The 1999 set that was released with the renovated “APBA 2000” set.

1999 YPC RECEIVING GRADES

Mr. Mark Zarb owns the “intellectual” rights to this innovation.