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. All fantasy stats are standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.
2 Players over 30 points
This week, we had just two players break the 30-point mark. As I write this during the MNF game, I don’t expect anyone else to join this club. Everyone, however, expects Patrick Mahomes to be a prolific fantasy player, but they probably didn’t think all of his action to come in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson has been better than anyone expected this year. Following up a huge opening game with another big fantasy performance, he went to the ground this time. Jackson racked up 120 yards rushing on 16 carries, after just 6 yards on 3 caries last week. Jackson’s passing numbers weren’t as gaudy as Week 1, but perhaps the most important number is zero turnovers. We’re the real winners here though, these guys will match up in Week 3.
1 Player from the Top 10
After last week saw tons of no-names find their way to the top of the fantasy charts, this week only saw one player owned in single digit leagues make their way into the top wide receivers. Demarcus Robinson did his best Tyreek Hill impersonation, catching 6 balls for 172 yards and 2 TDs. Robinson’s 29.2 points was the third highest of the week, and he was basically a statistical error, having been started in “0%” of Yahoo leagues. I’m sure that number is going up for next week, especially since there weren’t a ton of really high scoring WRs. Only Julio Jones at 22.6 broke the 20-point mark, and Robinson more than doubled up the #10 WR, Marquise Goodwin. Again, while watching the MNF game, I don’t see anyone surpassing Robinson, or Goodwin for that matter. (Late edit: Odell Beckham Jr. did manage to join the 20-point club.)
34 Fantasy Points
Through 2 weeks, Mark Andrews is leading all tight ends in fantasy points, having put together two excellent games in a row. He’s caught 16 of his 17 targets, which has really helped out his QB, the aforementioned Lamar Jackson. His 220 yards are 6th in the league so far this season. With an ADP in the 14th round, he was a really great value for anyone who was planning on streaming tight ends this season. Travis Kelce is the only one of the big three drafted who is playing well. In fact, he’s got more points than George Kittle and Zach Ertz combined.
0 Points Allowed
The Patriots somehow improved on their 3 points allowed in Week 1 by pitching a shutout down in Miami. The hapless Dolphins could only manage 11 first downs in 13 drives, while giving up 43 points. On the season, the Patriots have now scored 76 points compared to just 3 given up. The Dolphins are on the opposite end of that spectrum, with just 10 points scored compared to 102 allowed. The Patriots D/ST managed 2 pick-sixes on Sunday, got the rare shutout bonus and tallied 7 sacks. The 37 points they scored is more than the season total for any kickers or tight ends, and led everyone in Week 2, technically.
2 QBs with 300+ Yards Passing
In Week 2, two QBs managed to throw for over 300 yards without throwing a touchdown. One is a QB on his way up, the other is a QB that could be on his way down, and at least along the way, they didn’t throw any picks. Cam Newton just didn’t look right on Thursday night, in this week’s first Heisman Trophy winner matchup. Newton disappointed owners with a piddly 11.32 points in a game that many had him pegged to do much better. There’s now whispers that Cam could be done in Carolina, as he just doesn’t look right. Meanwhile, Kyler Murray, who played in the second battle of Heisman winners, is still working things out by throwing the hell out of the ball. He has 94 pass attempts through 2 games and has passed the 300-yard mark in each of those games. Murray is looking decent to start the season, but he needs to put together 4 good quarters in a game and throw some TDs for us fantasy players.
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. All fantasy stats are standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.
5 Players over 30 Fantasy Points
Week 3 saw the return of big fantasy totals, with Russell Wilson leading the way at over 41 points. Unfortunately for Wilson, it was in a losing effort as most of the 4th quarter was basically garbage time for the Seahawks, who were trounced by the Brees-less Saints. We also saw newcomer Daniel Jones put up numbers we’ve never seen from a rookie before, throwing for over 300 yards and scoring 2 TDs through the air and another 2 on the ground. The big scoring numbers went deep, with the top 10 players all scoring at least 25 points, and the top 24 players all hitting at least the 20-point mark. This likely translated into fantasy success for lots of people, as the position players in the top 24 were all owned in at least 75% of Yahoo leagues.
4-4 Record
Rookie and Backup QBs were the big story this week, with 25% of NFL teams now having turned to either a rookie or a backup this season. Six of these guys were starting for the first time this week, and we saw Daniel Jones, Teddy Bridgewater and Kyle Allen lead their teams to victories in games where they were not expected to do much of the heavy lifting. Jones and Allen were responsible for 4 TDs each, while Bridgewater played an admirable game manager. Elsewhere in the rookie watch this week, Kyler Murray did what he could, but was sacked 8 times and his first victory still eludes him. Next up is a home game against division rival Seattle – a softer target that you might have thought in the preseason. Finally, we’ve got our number 1 boy, Gardner Minshew II. Minshew led the Jaguars to victory in the annual Thursday night Crap Bowl sponsored by NFL network versus the Tennessee Titans. Minshew is playing so well that whispers of what to do with Nick Foles when he comes back have turned into full on serious conversations.
0.79 Points Per Target
49ers tight end George Kittle was part of the preseason “big 3” at his position, but he’s fallen quite short of that mark so far. In 3 games, he hasn’t topped more than 5.7 points, but is remarkably consistent, with 5.4 points in the other 2 games. His targets are there, he has 21 on the season, but he’s just not doing anything with them. This is very disappointing when you consider that only Travis Kelce (1.38 PPT) has made it into the top 10 from the preseason top 3. This means that lots of guys who you could have taken very late are doing quite well at the position. Leading the way at TE is Evan Engram, a high-volume guy who will probably maintain that role with his shiny new QB, leads all TEs in scoring with 39.70 points. The most efficient so far? That’d be Mark Andrews, who has a very nice 1.48 points per target, despite his very disappointing week 3 performance.
0.20 Fantasy Points
The once great John Ross has returned back to irrelevance, at least for one week. Going in to week 2, Ross led all WRs in fantasy points, but his 2 catches for 22 yards and a fumble have dropped him down to 7th overall at the position. He’s just behind DJ Chark, who is only owned in 41% of Yahoo leagues and will likely be this week’s hot WR pickup on the waiver wire. Chark has scored a TD in each of his first 3 games and is a clear favorite target of Gardner Minshew II. Elsewhere at WR, Davante Adams is having a very slow start to a season, which is surprising since the Packers are 3-0. Adams is averaging just 6.6 points per game and hasn’t found the end zone yet. Adams is lagging behind his usual pace of receptions and touchdowns since his 2016 breakout season, but his yards per game isn’t that terrible and his catch rate is as high as it’s ever been. Perhaps it’s just positive game script that’s keeping Adams from putting up big numbers. The Packers haven’t been challenged too much by their opponent’s offenses so far, so that’s translated into a quiet air attack so far this season. The Packers are 27th in pass attempts and passing yardage, which is bound to improve as the season goes on, so don’t fret, Rodgers and Adams owners.
0 Offensive TDs Allowed
The Patriots D/ST keeps putting up great performances, and it’s because their real-life defense has been stellar. Through 3 games, they have only allowed 3 points to opposing offenses, a field goal early in week 1. The D/ST has double digit points in each game so far this season, and a schedule with the Redskins, Giants, Jets and Browns coming up after this week’s meeting in Buffalo show that they have a decent shot at keeping this streak alive. In Week 3, the team did give up a pick-six and fumbled a punt in the end zone, both resulting in TDs for the Jets D/ST, who led the way with 16 points this week. The Jets have a bye coming up, so they are not useful just yet, but they have 3 TDs on the season and are tied for third in total points among all D/STs.
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. All fantasy stats are standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.
5 TE’s at the Top
Through Sunday in Week 6, the tight end spot in fantasy has been quite a slog. There’s been no dominant player at the position, though there have been a few pleasant surprises. Going into this week, there were 5 players between 49 and 51 points on the season. Unfortunately, it looks like Will Dissly, who led the pack by a very slim margin, could be done for the season with an Achilles tear. That leaves us with the newest break-out TE Austin Hooper as our leader. Hooper took advantage of a Cardinals defense that is giving up an absurd amount points to opposing TEs. Hooper has now finished as a top 3 TE in 3 of 6 weeks so far this season. Rounding out the top 5 are the always reliable Travis Kelce, Evan Engram (who missed a game, so his per-game average is still pretty good), and finally the Ravens break-out star, Mark Andrews.
78 Passing Yards
Jared Goff had a whopping 78 passing yards on Sunday, a career low for him, which roughly equates to $20,833 per yard gained through the air this week. The Rams had a particularly bad game against the still undefeated 49ers. They scored a TD on their opening drive and then did nothing for the rest of the game. The fact that they gained all their yards on the ground that first drive seems like a bad omen for the way the rest of the game went for them. It’s hard to tell where this team’s fantasy potential is headed. On one hand, this offense was a juggernaut last season and now have scored at least 27 points in 4 of 6 games this season. On the other hand, you have Jared Goff, who has thrown more picks than touchdowns in the last 4 weeks. Aside from this week, the Rams are still putting up decent fantasy points with their big players, so I wouldn’t ditch them all yet, but I would consider who I start against the 49ers going forward.
116 Passing Yards in One Drive
The Chiefs haven’t done a lot of winning the last couple weeks, but Patrick Mahomes is still doing amazing things on the field. In their first drive, thanks to several penalties, Mahomes managed the stunning mathematical trick of throwing for 116 yards in one drive. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they only gained another 157 yards through the air the remainder of the game. They only had about 20 minutes in time of possession for the entire game, and clearly this has become the (rather obvious) method for defeating the Chiefs. Last week, they had just under 23 minutes in time of possession. Against the Texans, the Chiefs only ran the ball 11 times despite never being down more than 7 points in the game. On the other side, the Texans ran the ball 41 times to go along with 42 passing attempts. Balance, my friends, is key in all things.
27 D/ST Fantasy Points
With another 27 fantasy points this week, the New England Patriots D/ST squad has just dominated fantasy football. Their 27 points made them the 8th highest scoring “player” in Week 6. On the season, the defense and special teams have combined for 5 TDs and have 16 turnovers in just 6 games. They’re second in the league with 25 sacks and have given up only 3 touchdowns on defense all season. Their 127 fantasy points on the season make them the 9th highest scoring entity in fantasy football this season, behind only one non-QB, Christian McCaffrey. Compared to other D/STs, they are 52 points ahead of the second highest scoring team and have more than doubled up the 4th highest scoring team.
36.5 Fantasy Points in Week 6
The squeaky wheel does often get the grease, though sometimes it takes a few weeks to apply it. This week, Stefon Diggs had a monster game, scoring 3 TDs and 167 yards on 7 receptions, adding 18 rushing yards on 2 carries just for fun. This more than doubles his season total in points – he had just 27.3 through 5 games going into Week 6. Since the Vikings rough defeat in Chicago Week 4, they have put up 66 points in just two games. During that time, Kirk Cousins has 2 300+ yard games to go along with 6 TDs and just one pick. It turns out that the Vikings can’t just run the ball all game, like they did early in the season. They need to pass it as well, thus giving their offense balance. Déjà vu, no?
Big news out of New England with an uncharacteristic move to bring in some much-needed wide receiver depth. The Patriots, who are typically very stingy trading draft capital, shocked many by giving up a 2nd round pick in the 2020 draft to Atlanta in exchange for Mohamed Sanu.
To me, this seems like a win/win for both sides. New England gets a veteran receiver who has put up consistent fantasy numbers while on the Falcons (at least 600yds and 4 TDs last three years), and Atlanta gets a high draft pick for a WR3. Considering the value of the draft pick you can almost guarantee Sanu will be a valuable part of this offense. He looks to be thrust into the WR2 position behind Edelman, though Sanu brings the big body (6’1” 211#) New England has been missing.
Another benefit for New England is that Sanu’s health has been great for most of his career. In the last three seasons with Atlanta, Sanu only missed 2 games, and he started all 16 last year. Considering the Patriots' issues with Josh Gordon not being 100%, Phillip Dorsett missing multiple games, N’keal Harry being on IR up to this point, and taking a shot at AB only to have that blow up, this move is safe and looks to be just what the best team in football needs. With all of that in mind, he is also a competent passer (7/8, 233 yds 4 TD). The Patriots have a keeper here!