2016 NFL Season: By the Numbers

Numbers are neato. Yes, I just loaded up the soda machine for a fountain drink. My world is full of numbers. If you’ve followed my work for any amount of time you know that. I try to let the data lead me, and hopefully you, to the “true” story about players. In what follows I will hit on a myriad of numbers from last season. Some will be insightful, some might even shock you. Strap in. It’s gonna be an interesting ride.

QUARTERBACKS

0: The number of interceptions thrown by Matthew Stafford in the Red Zone as he threw 26 touchdown passes. Eli Manning was on the opposite end of things as he threw a league worst five picks in the zone (three of them coming inside the 10-yard line).

4: The number of times that Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for 4,000 yards in his 12 seasons. That’s only a third of the time folks. Big Ben has also thrown for 30 touchdown passes twice in 12 years. Oh yeah. He’s only appeared in 16 games three times. He cannot be trusted for big time numbers given that he’s always missing games due to injury.

6.6: The average interception total of Aaron Rodgers the last five years as he’s never thrown more than eight interceptions. The following quarterbacks threw at least 13 interceptions last season or nearly twice as many as Rodgers’ average the last five years: Blake Bortles 18, Peyton Manning 17, Ben Roethlisberger 16, Matt Ryan 16, Ryan Fitzpatrick 15, Jameis Winston 15, Sam Bradford 14, Eli Manning 14, Derek Carr 13, Philip Rivers 13 and Matthew Stafford 13.

7.1: Cam Newton’s league leading percent of touchdowns per attempt (35 scores in 495 attempts). Only one other player was over 6.5 – Russell Wilson at 7.0 percent. The best mark Newton had ever posted previously was 5.1 percent in 2013 (24 scores in 473 attempts). The best mark for Wilson was 6.6 percent (26 touchdowns in 393 attempts in 2012). Both men will see their touchdown totals regress if they don’t throw more passes.

8.41: The league leading Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt for Carson Palmer (from Pro Football Reference). The only other quarterback over 7.75 was Andy Dalton at 8.17.

8.7: Yards per attempt by Carson Palmer the most in football last year. Only three other quarterbacks were over eight yards per attempt; Andy Dalton (8.42), Ben Roethlisberger (8.40), Russell Wilson (8.33). The lowest quarterback in football who appeared in 16 games was, if you can believe it, Aaron Rodgers (6.68).

11: The number of games last season in which Kirk Cousins threw exactly one score. More than two thirds of the season he threw exactly one touchdown pass per game. He did throw 29 scores overall though as he had three games of four touchdowns and two games with three scores. He greatly bolstered his numbers by throwing for 11 touchdowns his last 3 games.

12: The number of quarterbacks who threw for 4,000-yards last year. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 3,938 yards just missing inclusion in the group, though he could have led the league in passing yards if he had been healthy (he only appeared in 12 games). Big Ben did lead the league with a 328.2 yard per game mark.

19: The league leading first half of games touchdown total last season of Tom Brady and Cam Newton. That mark is more than double the nine first half scores thrown by Ben Roethlisberger.

23: The league leading second half touchdown total last season of Blake Bortles. No one else had more than 19 (Carson Palmer).

39: The league leading “big” pass play total, defined as a pass play of at least 25-yards, for Blake Bortles and Aaron Rodgers. Sixteen quarterbacks had at least 30 big plays. On the downside Marcus Mariota had a mere 19.

82.2: The league leading QBR Rating of Carson Palmer (from ESPN). Rounding out the top-5 passers last season were Big Ben (76.9), Drew Brees (75.5), Russell Wilson (74.9) and Andy Dalton (73.1).

110.4: The league leading QB Rating of Josh McCown on the road. The leader for a full-time quarterback was Russell Wilson (107.7). Some fellas who struggled on the road include Joe Flacco (76.9) and Colin Kaepernick (74.4).

113.5: The league leading QB Rating of Drew Brees in the first half of games.

116.7: The league leading QB Rating of Matthew Stafford inside the 10-yard line last season. He was followed by Brian Hoyer (111.7) and Kirk Cousins (109.0). Quarterbacks that struggled at home include Jameis Winston (76.1) and Tony Romo (74.2).

117.0: The leading QB Rating in football at home for Kirk Cousins. Drew Brees (112.5) and Russell Wilson (112.4) were the only others over 110.

120.5: The league leading QB Rating of Blaine Gabbert in the red zone last season (inside the opponents 20-yard line). He was followed by Matthew Stafford (118.0) and Marcus Mariota (116.1).

121.2: The league leading QB Rating of Carson Palmer in the second half of games.

437: Passes completed by Philip Rivers last season, the most in football. Teddy Bridgewater threw a total of 447 passes last season. Hell, Russell Wilson threw just 483 passes.

2,679: The league leading total of yards produced after the catch last season for the benefit of Philip Rivers. No quarterback depended on his pass catchers for more yards after the ball hit their hands. Rivers really dumped the ball off and let the fellas run as no other quarterback in football had a mark of more than 2,406 yards (Drew Brees). Compare those efforts to guys like Cm Newton (1,467 yards) and Ben Roethlisberger (1,469 yards). By the way, Rivers doesn’t care if he plays at home or on the road. He’s the same guy everywhere. At home he completed 219 of 328 passes for 2,433 yards and 14 touchdowns. On the road he completed 218 of 333 passes for 2,359 yards and 15 touchdowns.

QB STUDY

Let’s assume the following points awarded last season for quarterbacks: four points for a passing scored, (-1) point for an interception, one point for every 20 passing yards, 1 point for 10 rushing yards and six points for a rushing score.

There were 14 quarterbacks who produced 300 points.

There were 20 quarterbacks who recorded 20 points a week.

Six quarterbacks produced 24 points a game and then there were 14 between 22.9 and 20.1 points a week. That means after the top-6 men at the position there was a difference of less than three points a week between 14 men. Another way to look at it. The 7^th ranked QB in fantasy recorded 22.9 points while the 12^th ranked 21.6 points, an average difference of 1.3 points a week. If you miss out on the elites at the position, maybe you shouldn’t worry too much about getting that quarterback since there really isn’t much difference between a whole host of signal callers.

Cam Newton blew away the competition in total points, something you saw above. Still, do you know how many of the 16 games he played last season in which he failed to record 25.2 points a game, his league average? The answer is nine times. More than half the games Newton played last season, and he led quarterbacks in points, he failed to reach his season long average. Quarterbacks just aren’t as consistent as you think.

Aaron Rodgers failed to reach 20 points in each of his last four starts last season. He failed to reach 12 points in Week 15 and Week 16.

Matthew Stafford recorded 21.9 points from Weeks 9 through 17. That was the 5^th best mark in the game.

Kirk Cousins recorded 90.4 points in the playoffs last season, Weeks 14 through 16. That was the most in football. Only three other quarterbacks recorded at least 80-points: Blake Bortles 84.2 points, Cam Newton 80.9 and Russell Wilson 80.2 points.

Remember how “quarterbacks win championships” in fantasy? Recall above that 20 quarterbacks averaged at least 20.1 points per game last season. From Weeks 14-16 just 10 did, less than half the season long average. Folks that didn’t make that list include: Carson Palmer, Derek Carr, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. BE CAREFUL before you go all in with a quarterback in your league this season.

RUNNING BACKS

1: The number of times that Lamar Miller fumbled last season on 194 carries and 47 receptions. No player in football touched the ball more and fumbled less. Adrian Peterson fumbled seven times on his 327 carries and 30 receptions to lead all running backs.

5.7: The league leading yards per carry mark of Thomas Rawls on artificial turf (minimum 100 carries). LeSean McCoy was at 5.1 and Gio Bernard at 5.1.

5.6: The league leading yards per carry mark of Spencer Ware on grass (minimum 50 carries). Ryan Mathews was at 5.5 and Chares Sims at 5.3.

6.1: The league leading yards per carry mark of Todd Gurley in the second half of games last season. Tomas Rawls was also at 6.1 though he carried the ball just 77 times compared to 117 for Gurley. Adrian Peterson was third amongst runners with at least 75 carries with his 5.7 YPC mark in the second half.  

6.5: The YPC mark of Adrian Peterson on carries in a game above 21. Peterson had 44 such carries leading to 287 yards.

14: The leading touchdown total for running backs last season for Devonta Freeman. David Johns and Jeremy Hill were second with 12 total touchdowns.

20.4: The league leading carry total last season, per game, for Adrian Peterson. Only two others reached 18 carries a week – Jonathan Stewart (18.6) and Doug Martin (18.0). Moreover, only 13 men carried the ball an average of 15 times a week last season. Sixteen games, with 15 carries an outing, would lead to 240 carries. Alas, last season only seven men carried the ball 240 times (more on carries can be found below).

43: The number of runs last season by Adrian Peterson of at least 10-yards, the most in football, ten more than Doug Martin. One other runner went over 30 such carries in Donta Freeman (32). Latavius Murray, who ran for 1,066 yards, only had 20 runs of 10-yards last season. Mark Ingram was only stuffed 17 times while Lamar Miller was stuffed 21 times. The best runner in football at avoiding the stuff was Matt Forte who was stuffed just 12 times in 218 carries.

47: The number of times that Adrian Peterson was “stuffed” at the line of scrimmage, the leading total in football. Of course, he also carried the ball more than anyone else. The only two players who were stuffed more than 30-times were Doug Martin (336) and Devonta Freeman (33).

1,707: The league leading yards from scrimmage mark amongst running backs last season for Adrian Peterson. The only other running backs over 1,500 yards were Doug Martin (1,673) and Devonta Freeman (1,634).

Devonta Freeman led all runners, in a PPR setup, with 318.4 points last season, more than 50 points better than the runner up, Adrian Peterson (263.7). From Weeks 11-17 he recorded 90.3 points, just 13^th best at the position. He posted an average of 15.1 points in that time, well below his season long average of 21.2 points a game.

David Johnson was the best back in fantasy football in the playoffs (Weeks 14-16) as he recorded 83.90 points. Only one other back in football was over 60 points – DeAngelo Williams with 72.0. Johnson averaged 28.0 points a game in that time. The third best back in football was at 20.0 points a game in that time – eight less a week than Johnson (Tim Hightower).

RB STUDY I

Danny Woodhead was 4^th in points by a running back last season based upon a PPR setup thanks to 80 receptions and nine total scores (three rushing, six receiving). Woodhead averaged 15.3 points a game last season. Out of the 16 games he played he reached that total seven times. More than half the season last year he failed to reach his average point total. Another pass catching back, Theo Riddick, averaged 11.3 points per game. He recorded that many points in a game seven times as well last season. Here’s a listing of how many times a runner reached their season scoring average in a PPR setup. Here are the top-12 players, in terms of total points, and the games they reached their season average.

RB STUDY II

Running back workloads have changed dramatically over the years. Here is a table that includes the number of 250 carry, 275 carry and 300 carry runners. You will note that it’s more difficult than ever to find big carry backs.

Last season there were five men who carried the ball at least 250 times. That’s the lowest total in a decade. It’s less than a third of the total from a decade ago (2006). The last two seasons have also been the two lowest, in terms of big volume runners, in the last decade. Getting that horse in the backfield would seem to be more important than ever before as there are so few of them.  

RB STUDY III

Red Zone running is a huge key in creating value for running backs. Here is a bunch of data on work in that zone, inside the 20-yard line while teams are pushing to score.

No runner had more carries in the Red Zone last year than Davonta Freeman with 47. Here are the others with at least 40: Jonathan Stewart (46), DeAngelo Williams (46), Adrian Peterson (45), Doug Martin (41).

The top-7 men in Red Zone carries last season all scored at least six rushing touchdowns. The first who didn’t was Frank Gore with six rushing scores on 35 carries.

Todd Gurley had a mere 28 carries in the Red Zone but he scored nine times. David Johnson also similarly crushed it with seven rushing scores in 21 carries while Lamar Miller scored six times on just 19 carries. However, the true TD mashers, guys who just vultured scores from other backs, follow:

Jeremy Langford has six scores on 17 carries.

Spencer Ware had six scores on 12 carries.

Jameis Winston had six scores on nine carries.

Kirk Cousins had five scores on seven carries.

Karlos Williams had four scores on 11 carries.

Khiry Robinson had four scores on nine carries.

Here are the leaders at the running back spot for players who received the highest amount of team carries in the Red Zone.

DeAngelo Williams led all runners with 11 touchdowns from inside the 10-yard line. Jeremy Hill was second with 10. DWill didn’t score a rushing touchdown outside the 10-yard line while Hill had only one. Devonta Freeman and Cam Newton also had nine rushing scores inside the 10-yard line.

Here is the list of men who carried the ball the most times, by a percentage, of all their teams carries inside the 10-yard line.

Let’s get down to the dirty.

Who was pounding the rock at the goaline?

DeAngelo Williams led the way with 10 scores inside the 5-yard line. Only two other men scored more than five times in that situation: Jeremy Hill (eight) and Cam Newton (eight).

No back had more carries inside the 5-yard line than Chris Ivory. He scored five times on his 17 carries, one more than DWill. Here are the other with at least 10 carries inside the five: Adrian Peterson 14, Jeremy Hill 13, Devonta Freeman 11, Cam Newton 10, Matt Forte 10. Speaking of Forte, he was the only back with at least 10 carries that didn’t scored at least four times. He had two scores inside the five.

Here are the leading rushers inside the 5-yard line as a percentage of team carries they earned.

WIDE RECEIVERS

2: Seasons in a row that Jeremy Maclin has caught 85 balls for 1,075 yards and eight scores. You know who cannot match that two year run? A list of some big names, that’s who: Demaryius Thomas, Randall Cobb, Julian Edelman, T.Y. Hilton, Kennan Allen, Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Sammy Watkins.

2: Men who caught 50-passes last season while also gaining at least 350-yards on punt returns. Tyler Lockett caught 51 passes with 379 punt return yards while Jarvis Landry was just behind with 356 yards, though he literally doubled Lockett with 110 receptions.

5: The number of receptions that Odell Beckham Jr. added in his second season as he moved from 91 receptions as a rookie to 96 in his second season. However, he wasn’t more productive – he was less effective. Here are his yearly averages, per game, in his two seasons. As a rookie he caught an average of 7.6 receptions, 108.8 yards and 1.0 touchdowns per game. In his second season ODB caught 6.4 receptions a game, for 96.7 yards and 0.87 touchdowns. He caught less passes, for fewer yards and fewer scores than he did as a rookie in year two.

6: The average touchdown total per season for T.Y. Hilton in his four seasons in the NFL. His season best is seven as he’s alternated scores the four seasons (5, 7, 5, 7). The last three seasons he’s seen between 130 and 138 targets a year while recording at least 1,083 yards each effort.

6: Touchdowns scored at home by Brandin Cooks. The shifty wideout also averaged 79.8 yards a game at home compared to 62.5 on the road. Through two years he has scored eight times at home and just four on the road while he’s averaged 77.1 yards a game at home and just 52.8 yards a game on the road.

6.9: YAC mark for Tavon Austin, the highest mark in football for a guy who caught at least 50 passes at the wide receiver spot. Alas, his 52 receptions led to only 473 yards and five receiving scores. Of course, he also carried the ball 52 times for another 434 yards and four scores which, in total, placed him inside the top-25 in PPR points at the wide receiver position. Alas, he was a weekly mess. He recorded more than 20-points five times. He also failed to record nine points five times.

8: The number of times in nine seasons that Brandon Marshall has caught at least 80 passes for 1,000 yards. The only time he missed was in 2014 when he appeared in only 13 games catching 61 passes for 721 yards. The last three times that Marshall has appeared in 16 games he’s scored 11, 12 and 14 times.

8.5: The league leading average of 8.5 receptions a game for Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. The only other man to catch at least seven passes a game, while appearing in at least eight games, was Keenan Allen and his 8.4 reception mark. Allen was on pace for 134 receptions last season. Over the course of his three year career Allen has caught an average of 5.8 passes a game, a pace that would equate to 93 receptions over the course of a 16 game season.

9: The number of wideouts who had at least 150-targets last season led by Julio Jones and his 204 targets.

14: The number of touchdowns scored last season by Doug Baldwin. In the previous four seasons Baldwin scored a total of 15 times. He nearly matched his four years total in 2015. In his previous four seasons he never scored more than five times. He almost tripled that last season. In 2014 he caught three scores on 98 targets. Last season he scored 14 times on 104 targets. Last season he averaged 13.7 yards a catch, lower than his career mark (14.0). He scored three times his first 10 games last year, exactly the pace he had displayed his first four seasons, before erupting for 11 scores his last six games. He also scored 11 times on the right side of the field.

16: The receiving touchdown total the last two seasons of Jordan Matthews as he’s scored eight times each of the two campaigns. That’s the same number of touchdowns as A.J. Green has scored in two seasons and is more than the following list of players: Emmanuel Sanders (15), Brandin Cooks (12), T.Y. Hilton (12), Larry Fitzgerald (11), Golden Tate (10), Jarvis Landry (9).

31: The number of plays of at least 20-yards by Allen Robinson, the most in football. Speedy John Brown, who folks almost certainly would expect a high number, barely produced a play of length a third of the time as Robinson with 11 plays of 20-yards. As bad as that is Jarvis Landry was even worse as Landry caught 110 passes last season but only 10 of them went for 20-yards.

57.8: The percent of passes thrown at DeAndre Hopkins that were caught last season (111 of 192). No other player in football had a lower mark if he caught 85 passes. The only player worse who caught 80-passes was Allen Robinson who had an atrocious 53.0 percent mark (80 receptions on 151 targets). The only person who caught 70-passes last season that was worse was Mike Evans, he of the embarrassing 50 percent success rate (74 receptions of 148 targets). That’s simply horrible Mr. Evans. No one who caught 45 passes last season had a worse mark. Ted Ginn, who isn’t a good football player, managed to score 10 times last season (he had caught 11 touchdowns his previous eight seasons). He also hauled in an atrocious 44 of 97 targets last year.

90: The minimum catch mark the last two seasons for Golden Tate who caught 99 receptions in 2014 and 90 in 2015. That’s a total of 189 receptions over two seasons. How many other wideouts have caught at least 90-passes each of the last two years? Here is the list: Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas, Odell Beckham and Tate. That’s it. Moreover, if we drop the qualification mark to 85 receptions we only add Jeremy Maclin to the list.

620: The league leading yards after the catch mark for wideouts by Julio Jones. Only one other wideout was above 550 yards in Antonio Brown at 570. Jarvis Landry (547), Golden Tate (525) and Odell Beckham Jr. (516) are the only others above 500 yards after the catch.

WR STUDY I

Here’s a look at the top-12 wideouts in football last season, in terms of points per game. How many games did those pass catchers in the top-12 reach their season long average in points per game?

WR STUDY II

Who performed in the Red Zone at the wide receiver spot?

Two wide receivers scored at least 10 times in the red zone: Allen Robinson (12) and Erick Decker. Each wideout scored twice outside the R.Z.

Antonio Brown led all wideouts with 16 receptions in the Red Zone (he scored eight times). Allen Robinson had 15.

No wideout in football had more Red Zone looks last season, as a percentage of a team’s total passes in the R.Z., than Eric Decker who saw 36.8 percent of the Jets targets in the zone. Only two other wideouts were above 30 percent: Jarvis Landry (32.4) and DeAndre Hopkins (30.6). Hopkins scored six times on his targets while Landry scored just three times despite seeing nearly a third of all the Red Zone looks in the Dolphins offense. Things were even a bit worse for Landry inside the 10-yard line. Landry was second at the wide receiver spot seeing 38.9 percent of his teams passing targets inside the 10-yard line. Despite that fact he only scored twice on his 14 targets. He’s just not a touchdown maker down there. Meanwhile, Allen Robinson scored eight times on his 15 targets within 10 yards, the most scores down there in football.

WR STUDY III

Let’s take a look at wideouts and the success they have. Let’s assume a PPR setup, one point per 10 yards, one point for a 2-point conversion and six points for a touchdown. Given that fact, here’s what you need to know from the last two seasons (the study includes just Weeks 1-16).

As you can see, the last two years have basically shown the same level of consistency across the board at the wideout spot. A little up, a little down, but in the end about the same level of production, even if the names of the men producing change.

All told there were 95 seasons of 150-points in the two seasons. There were 36 men who appeared on the list only one time. That’s a huge number when you think about it. Some folks it as because they were a rookie in 2015. Others were injured in one of the two seasons. Others simply had their roles change.

TIGHT ENDS

1: The number of seasons the last five years that Benjamin Watson has 50 catches. He had 74 last season, the most of his 12-year career. Moreover, his 74 reception total last season is virtually double his total of 39 grabs in 2013-14, and nearly as many as the 88 he caught the previous three seasons. He also scored six times last season after 5-straight years of three or less. Expecting a repeat in his first season in Baltimore are you?

3: Seasons in a row in which Charles Clay has caught at least 50-passes. However, he’s also scored three times each of the last two seasons and in four of five NFL campaigns he’s also failed to score more than three times (he scored six times in 2013).

4: Seasons in a row in which Greg Olsen has caught at least 69 passes, on at least 104 targets, for at least 816 yards for the Panthers. He’s also never scored more than eight times in a season, but in each of the last eight years he’s scored at least five times each season. Back to the last four seasons. Olsen has gone 69-816-6 each of the last four seasons. You know who hasn’t done that? Yep, Rob Gronkowski. The Pats tight end doesn’t have four seasons in his career of 69 catches. He doesn’t have four seasons in his career of 816 yards either.

7: Number of touchdowns for Jordan Reed inside the 10-yard line, the most of any tight end in football. Overall Reed scored 11 times after recording just three touchdowns over 20 games his first two NFL seasons. In three of his last five games Reed caught at least nine balls for 120 yards as he also scored six times his last five games. Do you know how many games that Reed has appeared in out of a possible 48 since he was drafted? The answer is 34 or 70.8 percent. That number is reminiscent of what Gronk has done as the Patriots’ end has appeared in 80 of 96 games since being drafted or 83.3 percent. Huh, look at that, Gronkowski is a way better bet to be on the field than Reed.

7: The number of tight ends who caught more passes las season than Rob Gronkowski: Delanie Walker (940, Jordan Reed (87), Gary Barnidge (79), Greg Olsen (77), Jason Witten (77), Zach Ertz (75), Benjamin Watson (74). Gronk had 72.

7: The position in a PPR setup that Richard Rodgers held from Week 9-17. During that time he recorded an average of 11.3 points a game, higher than the 9.9 points a game that he averaged. So much of that effort was built on the touchdown as he caught 58 passes for just 510 yards. Hell, he had fewer yards than Owen Daniels (17). The eight touchdowns though were only bettered by four tight ends in all of football: Tyler Eifert (13), Joran Reed (11), Rob Gronkowski (11) and Gary Barnidge (9).

6.3: The PPR point improvement in Travis Kelce’s game from his rookie season to last year. He caught five more passes for 13 more yards and scored the same amount of times on his way to a 72-875-5 line. He’s been exactly the same player, production wise, in his two seasons.

11: Times last season that Tyler Eifert scored inside the Red zone, the same total as Jordan Reed. Reed led all tight ends with 16 receptions in the R.Z. Eifert had just 12 receptions inside the 20 meaning 11 of his 12 Red Zone receptions went for touchdowns.

11.5: The touchdown average from 2011-14 for Jimmy Graham, then of the Saints. Dealt to the Seahawks last season, he appeared in only 11 games scoring just two times. He also saw 74 targets, or 6.73 per game. When he was with the Saints his average target total a week was 7.63.

12: The consecutive seasons in which Jason Witte has caught at least 64 passes including 77 last season. The only time he didn’t reach that level was his rookie season back in 2003. Compare that to Gronk who has caught 64 passes just three times in his six year NFL career. Witten has also posted at least 700-yards receiving in each of those seasons as well, even if he’s scored more than five times just once in five years.

13: The position leading target total of Gray Barnidge inside the 10-yard line. He caught five of those passes, all going for scores.

31: The amount of catches that Delanie Walker exceeded his previous best in a single season as he caught 94 passes for the Titans, the most of any end in football. Walker has seen his reception total increase 4-straight years (19, 21, 60, 63, 94). Walker has seen his yardage total increase 4-straight years (198, 344, 571, 890, 1,088). He scored just once at home last season. His second half pace last season, his work over his last eight games, would equate to 16 game totals of 104 receptions and 1,264 yards. He has been in the league for a decade now.

40.0: The percent of his season long catch total that Zach Ertz posted his last three games during which times he caught 30 of his 75 passes. He also produced three games of over 75-yards in that stretch with 120-yards in two of the contests. All told he produced 352 yards his last three games or 41.3 percent of his season long total of 853 yards. He’s scored nine touchdowns in three NFL seasons.

60.4: The percentage of games that Tyler Eifert has been on the field in his three year NFL career. As of this writing the expectation is that Eifert, working his way back from ankle surgery, is nearly certain to miss more time. How can you trust this guy to be on the field? Also pointing out that though he scored 13 times last season he scored just twice his first two seasons. Also pointing out that he caught 52 passes, seven fewer than Jacob Tamme, and his total of 615 yards was also less than the 657 Tamme produced.

75.0: The percent of career touchdowns (12) that Gary Barnidge scored last season (nine). Barnidge, in his fifth season, also caught 79 passes or 64.2 percent of his career receptions. In his fifth season he also went for 1,043 yards or 63.4 percent of his career yards (1,646). Barnidge scored five times at home while averaging 64.3 yards a game. On the road he scored four times while averaging 66.1 yards a contest. Gary did score five of his nine total scores in his first six games, about the only major difference between his two halves. Barnidge went 79-1,043-9 last year. You know who didn’t match all three of those numbers last season? Gronk.

104: Career touchdowns for Antonio Gates. Over his last two seasons Gates has scored 17 times though he was limited to just five scores last season over 11 games. Still, in three seasons in the NFL Jordan Reed has 14 touchdowns, you know, the guy going rounds ahead of Gates.

TE STUDY I

Here’s a look at the top-12 tight in football last season, in terms of points per game. How many games did those pass catchers in the top-12 reach their season long average in points per game?

KICKERS

7: Robbie Gould’s league leading total of field goals made of 50+ yards. Two other had six (Blair Walsh, Steven Hauschka) while three more had five (Brandon McManus, Matt Prater, Dan Bailey). The league leader in attempts was Justin Tucker who made 4-of-10 attempts. 

7: The league worst total of missed extra points for Jason Myers.

22: The number of kickers who posted 100-points last season. Only two hit 140, Stephen Gostkowski with 1515 and Graham Gano with 146, while three others recorded 130 (Chandler Catanzaro, Blair Walsh and Josh Brown). That means if you had the 6^th best kicker in fantasy football in terms of points, Cairo Santos, you received 129 points. That left him 19 points ahead of the next nine men. Another way of saying it. The 6^th ranked point producer at kicker outscored the 15^th ranked kicker, who has 110 points, but a total of 1.19 points a week. That’s why kickers don’t matter.

34: The league leading field goal total of Blair Walsh. Three others made 33 (Gostkowski, Gould, Tucker).