Every week, I scour through every team’s trends, performance, game-logs, and advanced data to find stats that matter for fantasy football. Here’s the Week 8 Stat-Pack:
Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray’s weekly finishes this year: QB5 > QB5 > QB10 > QB6 > QB5 > QB3 > QB1.
Murray has scored 85.7 rushing fantasy points this season, which would make him the PPR RB20 among running backs.
Chase Edmonds ranks second-best in success rate (55%) on his carries while Kenyan Drake ranks 43rd-of-68 RBs (39%) per SIS.
Edmonds is 15th in fantasy points per snap while Drake is 39th (out of 53 qualifying RBs).
Atlanta Falcons
Calvin Ridley is averaging 22.4 fantasy points per game in his career when he sees seven or more targets.
This would rank as the 20th-best individual season in fantasy points per game for a wide receiver all-time.
In the four full games they’ve played together, Ridley has out-targeted Julio Jones (36 to 35).
Matt Ryan is averaging 343.3 yards per game when Julio is active this season.
Todd Gurley has finished as a weekly RB2 (top-24) or better in 6-of-7 games.
Baltimore Ravens (Bye)
Buffalo Bills
The Bills went with a near even timeshare with their backfield this past week. Devin Singletary and Zack Moss split snaps (40 to 35), routes (19 to 18), and opportunities (13 to 10).
Josh Allen has handled 7 of the Bills carries inside of the 10-yard line (red-zone) while Singletary has 5 and Moss has 4.
Carolina Panthers
Robby Anderson has out-targeted D.J. Moore 41 to 31 over their last five games.
The top-4 receivers in yards per game: Davante Adams (112.3), DeAndre Hopkins (100.3), Jamison Crowder (95.8), and Anderson (91.4).
Teddy Bridgewater is quietly playing very well. He’s averaged over 7.5 yards per attempt in every single game this season and is second behind only Drew Brees in completion rate.
Chicago Bears
- David Montgomery ranks 12th among running backs in carries (96) and he’s 5th in targets (35), but only ranks 27th in fantasy points per game. Enough said.
Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow is averaging more fantasy points per game than Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford.
The rookie season record for most 300+ yards passing games was set by Andrew Luck (6). Burrow already has 5 games with 300 or more yards.
Tee Higgins has now scored or gone over 60 yards in five-straight games.
In Gio Bernard’s start without Joe Mixon, he handled 76% of the Bengals snaps and 90% of the RB touches.
Cleveland Browns
Over the last three weeks with Nick Chubb out, Kareem Hunt has handled 70% of Browns’ snaps and 75% of the backfield opportunities.
Without Austin Hooper (appendectomy) last week, Harrison Bryant ran more routes than David Njoku (18 to 13).
Rashard Higgins ran a route on every single one of Baker Mayfield’s dropbacks after Odell Beckham (ACL) left the game.
Dallas Cowboys
In Week 1-5, Dallas averaged 6.6 yards per play — the second-best clip in the league.
Over their last two games, Dallas has averaged 3.5 yards per play — the worst clip in the league.
Just one of Ezekiel Elliott’s 113 carries have gained 15 or more yards this season.
Zeke has yet to average more than 4.8 yards per carry in a single game this year.
Last season, Zeke averaged 4.8 YPC in 8-of-16 games.
Denver Broncos
Drew Lock has really struggled when under pressure this season. Per SIS, Lock ranks second-worst in success rate, fourth-worst in QB rating, and fifth-worst in YPA when pressured.
Even though they saw the same amount of targets (7) this week, Noah Fant ran 26 routes to Albert Okwuegbunam’s 18.
Detroit Lions
Aaron Jones (0.61), Alvin Kamara (0.6), and D’Andre Swift (0.6) lead all RBs in fantasy points per snap.
Swift set a season-high in snap rate (45%) last week but still split carries with Adrian Peterson (11 to 9 in favor of Peterson).
The good news? Kerryon Johnson didn’t see a single touch in Week 7. Swift’s breakout potential is real if the Lions go from a 3-man backfield to just Swift / Peterson.
It definitely has not always been pretty. But T.J. Hockenson has now scored a touchdown or gone over 50 yards in every game this year.
Green Bay Packers
62nd overall pick A.J. Dillon got five carries last week with Aaron Jones out.
Jamaal Williams played on 89% of the Packers snaps in Week 7.
Davante Adams has now seen 10 or more targets in 14 of his last 15 full games dating back to last year (includes postseason).
In these 15 games, Adams has tallied 118 receptions, 1,510 yards, and 11 TDs.
Houston Texans
Since Bill O’Brien got canned, Brandin Cooks has quietly led the team in targets (30) over Will Fuller (25).
Both Texans WRs are great buys right now. After their bye next week, they get to face the Browns (second-most fantasy points allowed to WRs) and the Jaguars (13th).
Over the last five weeks, David Johnson is 24th among RBs in fantasy points per game and is tied for 23rd in receptions (11) at the position.
Indianapolis Colts (Bye)
Jacksonville Jaguars
Here’s the list of running backs that have scored more fantasy points per game than James Robinson this year: Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry, and Ezekiel Elliott.
What’s wrong with D.J. Chark? Well, a big part of the problem is his chemistry with Gardner Minshew. Per SIS, just 48% of Chark’s targets of 10 or more yards downfield have been deemed catchable. That is the 10th-lowest rate among 79 qualified WRs.
Kansas City Chiefs
The game was a blowout, but Clyde Edwards-Helaire played on a season-low 53% of snaps in Week 7.
Le’Veon Bell played on 33% of the Chiefs snaps in his debut.
Edwards-Helaire ran 13 routes to Bell’s 11.
Las Vegas Raiders
Henry Ruggs has seen just 11% of the Raiders targets this season.
Darren Waller has now finished as TE1 (top-12) in 68% of his games over the past two years. For reference, George Kittle has finished as TE1 in 74% of his games in this span.
Los Angeles Chargers
Over the last two games without Austin Ekeler, the Chargers have split snaps with Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley 73 to 63 and opportunities (attempts + targets) 32 to 29 in favor of Jackson
Only Deshaun Watson (8.8) and Russell Wilson (8.6) are averaging more yards per attempt than Justin Herbert (8.4).
On throws of 10 or more yards downfield, Herbert’s QB rating is 112.4 (seventh-best). Only Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott, Ryan Tannehill, Deshaun Watson, and Patrick Mahomes have been better.
In four full games with Herbert, Keenan Allen has gone for 7/96, 13/132/1, 8/62, and 10/125.
Los Angeles Rams
- Rams RB snaps over the last two weeks: Darrell Henderson (72), Malcolm Brown (56), Cam Akers (4).
Miami Dolphins (Bye)
Minnesota Vikings (Bye)
New England Patriots
Over his last three games, Cam Newton’s QB rating is 48.5 — which is dead last in the NFL since Week 3.
In these three starts, Newton’s QB rating is 31.5 when he’s been under pressure.
Julian Edelman and Cam have connected on 4-of-14 targets in this span.
New Orleans Saints
Alvin Kamara is on pace to score 454.5 fantasy points.
Last year, Christian McCaffrey scored 471.2.
The all-time record? LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 with 481.1.
Kamara is averaging 15.7 fantasy points per game on his receiving stats alone — which is equivalent to the WR11 Allen Robinson (15.8) and WR12 Will Fuller (15.7) among receivers.
Kamara’s weekly finishes this year: RB8 > RB2 > RB1 > RB10 > RB11 > RB3.
New York Giants
Darius Slayton’s weekly finishes this year: WR5 > WR79 > WR57 > WR59 > WR12 > WR33 > WR75.
Evan Engram’s average depth of target is 5.0 yards, which is second-from-last in the league among tight ends behind only Drew Sample (4.8).
Per SIS, 64% of Engram’s targets have come on four routes: curls, outs, flats, and screens.
New York Jets
- I give up.
Philadelphia Eagles
Over the last five weeks, Carson Wentz is the QB8 in fantasy points per game.
Wentz has 18 designed runs this year per SIS, which is fifth-most behind only Kyler Murray (35), Cam Newton (33), Lamar Jackson (27), and Josh Allen (22).
Wentz actually leads the Eagles in carries inside of the 10-yard line (red-zone) with seven.
Pittsburgh Steelers
In his three full games this year, Diontae Johnson has seen 32% of Steelers targets and 36% of the team’s air yards. Both of those figures easily lead the team.
This past week, JuJu Smith-Schuster (49) and Johnson (45) led the Steelers in routes run with Chase Claypool third (37) and James Washington fourth (12).
San Francisco 49ers
Over the last three weeks, Jerick McKinnon is fourth in this backfield in both snaps and opportunities (attempts + targets).
This is by no means surprising, but still crazy: 66% of Jimmy Garroppolo’s total yardage has come after the catch — which is the highest rate in the league by far.
For reference, 65% of Matt Ryan’s yardage has come before the catch.
Seattle Seahawks
Russell Wilson is on pace to eviscerate Patrick Mahomes all-time fantasy scoring record. Wilson is on track for 472.8 points. Mahomes scored 417.1 in 2018. Lamar Jackson scored 415.7 last year.
Seattle has remained incredibly pass-heavy regardless of the game situation. When the game is within a score, they’ve gone 63% pass-heavy (third-highest rate) and they are 61% pass-heavy when leading (third-highest).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In the three games Chris Godwin has missed this year, Mike Evans has posted 7/104/1, 7/122/1, and 5/41/1 on 27 targets.
When Godwin has played, Evans has gone for 1/2/1, 2/2/2, 1/10, 2/37 on just 12 targets.
In the three games that Leonard Fournette has missed this year, Ronald Jones has averaged 20.1 fantasy points per game.
When Fournette has played, Jones has averaged just 10.2 FPG.
Tennessee Titans
A.J. Brown’s last three weekly finishes since returning from injury: WR11 > WR4 > WR4.
Brown has gone over 64 yards or scored a touchdown in 10 of his 14 regular season games with Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill leads all QBs in passer rating (115.3) and yards per attempt (8.9) since the start of the 2019 season.
Washington
Terry McLaurin and DeAndre Hopkins are the only two wide receivers that have seen 7 or more targets in every game so far this season.
Per SIS, Kyle Allen has been on-target on 83% of his throws — which is the second-best rate in the league.
Allen has been on-target on 58% of his throws of 10+ air yards so far. Dwayne Haskins was on-target just 39% of the time.
