I would also like to add footwork as a secondary skill, as I have noted players perform better with this skill trained up

With the current game engine, I think strength might help too.

Steve
SD Blitz

I have noticed some disproportionately successful WRs with unusually good carrying skills but there are no facts when it comes to studying game engines, only observations.

The obvious facets that you would expect would surely be speed, catching, and agility. Some managers have reckoned that positioning and vision are unnecessary, and others that footwork or strength are useful. I suppose the first three or five skill would be useful in terms of actually catching the ball, while strength, footwork and carrying may be useful after the catch, and determine, along with speed, the sort of distance a player might add, if and when he makes the catch.

I might even venture to say that if he is on the same wing as a tight end or another WR, that blocking might even come into play, if the other player makes the catch.

The best teams have QBs, TEs, and WRs of such a high standard that they convert possession into 7 points around 60-70% of the time. In that instance, the opportunity for improvement is not so much in scoring, but in preventing the other team. Anyone who can find a reliable way of turning an offence into a punt or interception for even 50% of the time is on to a goldmine.