Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.

106 Yards

Lamar Miller, Houston's new featured back, ran for 106 yards on Sunday and is, thus far, the only back in week 1 to even break 100 yards. This is the lowest total in Week 1 going back at least 20 years (I suspect of all time). The only year with a total close to being this low was 1999, but in that season, 4 people had between 109 and 112 yards. To be fair, there are several backs that can pass this tonight, but overall this is still a historically low rushing total to start the season. The NFL is truly shifting into a passing league. (Editor's note: DeAngelo Williams ran for 144 yards, however only 2 players over 100 rushing yards is still remarkable for any week.)

11 Kickers

So far in Week 1, 11 kickers have reached the double-digit promised land. Four of them are owned in less than 10% of Yahoo leagues, so it just goes to show that streaming kickers is always an option, and drafting them before the last round is (almost) always a waste.

0-2

Thus far the two highest scoring QB's of Week 1 both lost their game. Both Luck and Brees found themselves on the losing sides of a shoot out, which usually produces the best fantasy games. It lends credence to the old saying, "the best fantasy offense is a weak real-life defense".

26 Targets

Dak Prescott's debut showed that he's Mr. Checkdown, sending 14 targets to Jason Witten and 12 to Cole Beasley. While it didn't translate into a ton of production for either player, they will serve as a temporary replacement for Keenan Allen, at least until Tony Romo comes back. As efficient as Prescott looks, if he can't throw it deep, he won't play one week longer than necessary.

77 Years

Carson Wentz was the first rookie to start in Week 1 for the Eagles since 1939, and it's something they might want to considering trying more often. Wentz looked good, throwing for 278 yards, 2 TD (including the very first of the day Sunday) and had zero turnovers.

The time for drafting and sleepers and value picks and auctions have all past, it's now time for real football to be played! Week 1 starts on Thursday night with the matchup between the Panthers and Broncos in the mile-high city. Make sure you also check out our podcast where Dave and Jason break down all the Week 1 matchups.

Listen to the Fantasy Football Podcast, 9/6/16: Week 1 Preview

As far as this week's rankings go, it's Week 1, so it's probably going to be the biggest crapshoot of the year. You are likely going to have very few decisions to make on Sunday - this is a good thing. Go with the guys you drafted high and be patient. If you are interested in a few guys we're high on, look for Kirk Cousins to do well against Pittsburg, Danny Woodhead to get some nice garbage points in KC and Larry Fitzgerald to shine on a team that is 3-deep at wideout.