You know what to do, #FANation
We’re at the midway point of the season, so you know that every week I give you a list of stats for you to mull over. You can come to your own conclusions, while recognizing that facts are facts.
Best of luck to you and your teams in Week 8!
Jarvis Landry’s 45 catches is tied with Larry Fitzgerald for the second-most in the league. The league-leader is Antonio Brown with 52 catches.
Breshad Perriman has played in six games this season. He’s caught four passes for 26 yards, no touchdowns. Griff Whalen was recently signed for depth, and saw his first in-game action last week. Not only did he play in 89-percent of the team’s snaps, but he also caught four passes for 23 yards.
Adam Thielen is the only wide receiver with at least 40 receptions and/or 500 receiving yards without a touchdown this season. Both his 43 receptions and his 529 yards are the fourth-most among wide receivers.
DeShone Kizer is the starter. Again. He’s thrown an interception in every game he’s played in the NFL, 11 on the season despite not playing in Week 6. The Minnesota Vikings have forced seven interceptions in seven games.
According to Pro Football Focus, Amari Cooper has dropped nine of his 38 catchable targets, giving him a league-high 23.68 drop rate. Two of those drops came in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tyrod Taylor has only two interceptions on the season, and no lost fumbles, despite logging 38 carries for a league-high 174 rushing yards. Of all the quarterbacks with at least 400 passing yards, only Alex Smith has less turnovers.
Frank Gore hasn’t rushed for over 50 yards since Week 3. Last week was the first time that Gore was out-snapped by Marlon Mack.
Tyler Kroft has reeled in 18 of his 19 targets, giving him a 95-percent catch rate. The Colts have allowed an average of 56.3 receiving yards per game to opposing tight ends and have allowed a tight end to score a touchdown in four of their last five games.
Philip Rivers has only thrown one interception while scoring eight touchdowns over the last four games. However, he has only scored over 20 fantasy points in one game this season in standard scoring.
Brandin Cooks has a 61.5-percent catch rate on passes that travel 20 yards or more downfield. That ties with Stefon Diggs for the best rate in the league. According to Pro Football Focus, 290 of Cooks’ 537 receiving yards have come on these deep passes, that is the most deep passing yardage of any receiver in the league.
Over the last three games, the Chicago Bears have only thrown on 35.12 percent of their offensive plays, the smallest percentage in the league over that period. Mitchell Trubisky has only 24 total completions in those three games, and seven of those completions were in the hand of Zach Miller.
According to Pro Football Focus, of all wide receivers who have played in at least 25 percent of their team’s offensive snaps, Drew Brees has the second highest passer rating in the league when targeting Ted Ginn Jr. (143.4). Ginn is also averaging 8.1 yards after the catch, the second most among wide outs in that same grouping.
Mohamed Sanu returned from a hamstring injury in Week 7 and was targeted a season-high 10 times. He’s seen six or more targets in all but one game played this season.
Josh McCown has the third highest accuracy rate in the league (78.4 percent). Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, Bilal Powell, Matt Forte, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins all scored over 8.0 fantasy points in standard scoring and put up double-digit points in PPR formats.
Pierre Garcon is on pace for 1,104 receiving yards and zero touchdowns.
According to Pro Football Focus, of all wide receivers who have played in at least 25 percent of their team’s offensive snaps, Carson Wentz has the highest passer rating in the league when targeting Nelson Agholor (148.5). Agholor has four catches and a touchdown in each of his last three games. Five touchdowns on the season.
Christian McCaffrey is on pace for 100.6 catches, 752 yards, and 4.6 receiving touchdowns. David Johnson led all running backs in 2016 with 80 catches. Only Antonio Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, and Odell Beckham Jr. had 100 or more catches in 2016.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have thrown on 65.71 percent of their offensive plays. That is the second most in the NFL, just behind the Arizona Cardinals.
Three wide receivers have scored six touchdowns this season: DeAndre Hopkins, Jordy Nelson, and Michael Crabtree. Four wide receivers have scored five touchdowns this season: Will Fuller, Davante Adams, Chris Hogan, and Nelson Agholor. Only the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers have a receiver in each of those groupings.
Only once this season has Tyler Lockett outscored Paul Richardson in standard scoring. Only twice has Lockett outscored Richardson in PPR formats.
Even after a bye week, Dak Prescott’s 14 passing touchdowns are the fifth most in the league behind only Carson Wentz, Alex Smith, Deshaun Watson, and Tom Brady. Only Prescott and Watson have thrown 14 or more touchdowns in just six games played. Prescott’s three rushing touchdowns are tied with Cam Newton, Jacoby Brissett, and Marcus Mariota for the most in the league.
Chris Thompson has scored double-digits in standard scoring in all but one game this season. He’s gone over 100 total yards and/or scored a touchdown in five of his six outings.
Jesse James hasn’t seen a target in either of the Steelers’ last two games.
Over the last three games, Darren Fells has averaged 11.25 yards per catch and scored three touchdowns. Fells has outsnapped Ebron in four of the team’s six outings.
Since the Week 5 bye, A.J. Derby has the most snaps among the Broncos tight ends. Last week he caught six passes for 66 yards.
Alex Smith has yet to throw an interception. He is the only quarterback with over 400 passing yards to not have a turnover. According to Pro Football Focus, his 81.2 accuracy rate is the best in the league. Drew Brees is second with a 79.8 accuracy rate.