One stat can make or break a fantasy football argument. Whether you are debating with friends or strangers on Twitter, we all have that one stat for a certain player that we like to drop when we need to. Call me a fantasy nerd, but the ultimate “mic drop” is serving some fantasy knowledge to someone with a stat that leaves them speechless like Eminem in the movie 8-mile. My two favorite things are a solid movie quote and a jaw-dropping fantasy football stat. Hard to believe I am single, I know.
The intro to this article is much like movie credits in that most people will fast forward through and go right to the stats. To the others who actually read this I salute you.
Combine rankings from 100+ experts into one consensus cheat sheet
Quarterbacks
1. Aaron Rodgers (GB): In the red zone last season, Rodgers threw 31 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
2. Tom Brady (NE): Brady, at age 39, had the best TD/Int ratio (14/1) of his entire career last season.
3. Drew Brees (NO): There have been nine seasons in NFL history where a quarterback has thrown for 5,000 yards. Drew Brees has done it five times, including 2016.
4. Andrew Luck (IND): Andrew Luck had over 30 passing touchdowns and over 300 rushing yards. The only other quarterback to do that in 2016 was Aaron Rodgers.
5. Matt Ryan (ATL): Ryan averaged 9.26 yards per pass completion in 2016, which was an NFL record.
6. Russell Wilson (SEA): Wilson had a career low in passing touchdowns (21) and a career-high in interceptions (11) and still finished as a top 12 quarterback.
7. Cam Newton (CAR): Newton had career lows in rush attempts (90), yards (359), yards per carry (4.0), and touchdowns (5) in 2016.
8. Jameis Winston (TB): Winston was top three in air yards and had 66.1 percent of his yards come through the air in 2016. The other two air yard leaders were Kirk Cousins and Brees who both threw for over 4,900 yards.
9. Kirk Cousins (WAS): Cousins threw for over 4,900 yards in 2016. Only two other quarterbacks threw for over 4,500 yards last season (Brees and Ryan).
10. Marcus Mariota (TEN): Mariota scored 20 fantasy points in nine of 15 games last season.
11. Ben Roethlisberger (PIT): Roethlisberger’s home and road splits were drastic. Home: 160 pass completions 1,915 yards, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions vs. road: 168 pass completions, 1,905 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
12. Derek Carr (OAK): Carr’s QB rating in the 4th quarter last season was 109.2.
13. Dak Prescott (DAL): Prescott had the least amount of pass attempts of the quarterbacks who played 16 games.
14. Philip Rivers (LAC): Rivers led the NFL with 21 interceptions in 2016.
15. Matthew Stafford (DET): Stafford proved to be clutch in 2016 leading the NFL in 4th quarter comebacks last year with eight.
16. Tyrod Taylor (BUF): Taylor was the only quarterback to finish in the top 10 at quarterback who didn’t throw for 20 passing touchdowns.
17. Andy Dalton (CIN): Dalton was the only quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards and not have 20 touchdowns in 2016.
18. Eli Manning (NYG): Manning had 16 interceptions in 2016 and has had 14 or more interceptions in 11 of his 13 seasons.
19. Carson Wentz (PHI): He managed to throw for only one touchdown in the 4th quarter in his rookie season.
20. Blake Bortles (JAC): After the 2016 season, Blake Bortles has 11 career wins and 11 career interceptions returned for a touchdown.
21. Carson Palmer (ARI): Palmer had the sixth-most passing yards per game in 2016 with 282.
22. Ryan Tannehill (MIA): Tannehill was super efficient in the red zone in 2016 with 18 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
23. Joe Flacco (BAL): Flacco had a 3.0 TD% which was the worst in the NFL for the 32 qualifying starting quarterbacks.
24. Alex Smith (KC): Smith threw for a career-high 3,502 passing yards in 2016.
25. Sam Bradford (MIN): Bradford’s 71.6% completion percentage in 2016 was an NFL record.
Running Backs
1. David Johnson (ARI): Johnson averaged only 3.9 yards per carry (ypc) in the last eight games of the year.
2. Le’Veon Bell (PIT): Bell averaged 157 total yards last season. That’s a 16-game pace of 2,512 yards. That would be a new NFL record for most yards from scrimmage in a season.
3. Ezekiel Elliott (DAL): Elliott led the NFL in rushing with 1,631 which was the second most by a rookie running back in NFL history.
4. LeSean McCoy (BUF): McCoy had the best catch rate (receptions/targets) in the NFL at 87.7%.
5. Melvin Gordon (LAC): Before getting injured, Gordon averaged 19.3 fantasy points per game in PPR which was the fifth highest in 2016.
6. Devonta Freeman (ATL): In games with Tevin Coleman, Freeman averaged 18 PPR points per game and 15 PPR without Coleman.
7. Jordan Howard (CHI): Over his last eight games he averaged 20.5 touches, 116 total yards, and 0.5 touchdowns a game.
8. DeMarco Murray (TEN): Through the first eight games, Murray was the RB3. Over his last eight games he was RB11.
9. Jay Ajayi (MIA): Ajayi had three games with over 200 rushing yards in 2016.
10. Todd Gurley (LAR): He had zero 100-yard rushing games in 2016.
11. Leonard Fournette (JAC): At his final season at LSU, he scored eight touchdowns in seven games in 2016 and had 41 career touchdowns in 33 college games.
12. Lamar Miller (HOU): In 2016 Miller averaged 21.4 touches per game.
13. Isaiah Crowell (CLE): Had the longest TD run last season of 85 yards
14. Carlos Hyde (SF): Hyde averaged 14.8 fantasy points per game in PPR. That was the 12th-most among running backs last season.
15. Marshawn Lynch (OAK): Retired, boss.
16. Christian McCaffrey (CAR): McCaffrey averaged 211 all-purpose yards per game in 2016 at Stanford.
17. C.J. Anderson (DEN): Anderson had at least 14 touches every game that he played in 2016.
18. Spencer Ware (KC): Ware averaged 98 total yards per game in 2016, which was the eighth-highest among running backs last season.
19. Mark Ingram (NO): Ingram had four receiving touchdown in 2016. He now has four receiving touchdowns in his career.
20. Joe Mixon (CIN): Mixon averaged 151 total yards and 1.25 touchdowns a game in 2016 at Oklahoma.
21. Eddie Lacy (SEA): In five games, Lacy averaged 5.1 ypc which was better than David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell, and Ezekiel Elliott in 2016.
22. Tevin Coleman (ATL): Coleman averaged 13.5 touches per touchdown in 2016. In comparison, David Johnson averaged 18.7 touches per touchdown.
23. Ty Montgomery (GB): The Packers were 7-1 in games where Montgomery had 11 touches or more.
24. Ameer Abdullah (DET): Abdullah missed a game for the first time in his NFL and college career in 2016.
25. Dalvin Cook (MIN): Cook is the all-time leading rusher at Florida State with 4,464 rushing yards.
26. Bilal Powell (NYJ): Powell tied for the Jets team-high in receptions with 58.
27. Frank Gore (IND): Gore finished as RB12 last season. That’s the second year in a row he finished as RB12.
28. Mike Gillislee (NE): Gillislee’s 5.7 ypc led the NFL among running backs with over 100 carries.
29. Paul Perkins (NYG): In the first half of the season Perkins saw 21 carries and in the second half he saw 91.
30. Adrian Peterson (NO): Peterson averaged 5.7 ypc when given two yards before contact. In 2016, the Saints averaged 1.9 yards before contact.
Wide Receivers
1. Antonio Brown (PIT): In the last three years, Brown is the only wide receiver with over 100 receptions, 1,200 yards, and 10 touchdowns every season.
2. Julio Jones (ATL): Jones was targeted only nine times in red zone or sixth-most on the Falcons in 2016.
3. Odell Beckham Jr. (NYG): Beckham led the NFL with 180 targets in 2016.
4. Mike Evans (TB): Evans had 81 first down catches in 2016. The next closest was 66 (T.Y. Hilton).
5. A.J. Green (CIN): Before getting injured, Green averaged 96 receiving yards per game, second-most in the league.
6. Jordy Nelson (GB): Nelson led the NFL in red zone targets with 29 in 2016.
7. Michael Thomas (NO): Thomas scored 163 points in standard leagues in 2016. The four first-round wide receivers in the 2016 NFL Draft scored 148 combined.
8. T.Y. Hilton (IND): Hilton led the NFL in receiving with 1,448 yards.
9. Dez Bryant (DAL): Including the postseason, Dez caught a touchdown every 5.9 catches in 2016.
10. Amari Cooper (OAK): Cooper didn’t have more than 76 receiving yards at all during the final eight games of the season. In the first half of the season, he had four games with over 129 receiving yards.
11. Doug Baldwin (SEA): Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham, and Baldwin are the only receivers to finish in the top 10 the last two seasons.
12. DeAndre Hopkins (HOU): Hopkins hasn’t missed a game in four years.
13. Brandin Cooks (NE): Cooks had 56% of his fantasy points in three games last season.
14. Allen Robinson (JAC): Robinson was the only wide receiver who had over 150 targets and under 900 receiving yards in 2016.
15. Alshon Jeffery (PHI): Jeffery missed four games last year. In his last 21 games, he has been questionable 13 times.
16. Sammy Watkins (BUF): In 2016, Watkins had only one game with more than five receptions.
17. Demaryius Thomas (DEN): For the fifth year in a row, Thomas had over 90 catches, 1,000 yards, and played in all 16 games.
18. Davante Adams (GB): Adams was the only wide receiver to finish in the top 10 of PPR who didn’t have 1,000 receiving yards last season.
19. Keenan Allen (LAC): Allen played only 27 snaps last season, which ranked 763rd among snaps played.
20. Michael Crabtree (OAK): Crabtree had seven or more targets in 13 games last season.
21. Terrelle Pryor (WAS): Pryor managed to have over 1,000 receiving yards with six different quarterbacks in 2016.
22. Jarvis Landry (MIA): Landry had 94 receptions in 2016 and has never had a season with under 84 receptions.
23. Emmanuel Sanders (DEN): He averaged 10.3 targets in games with Paxton Lynch in 2016.
24. Julian Edelman (NE): Edelman didn’t score a single touchdown at home last season.
25. Golden Tate (DET): Tate led all wide receivers in yards after the catch (YAC) with 619 yards.
26. Larry Fitzgerald (ARI): Fitzgerald led the NFL with 107 receptions in 2016 at age 33.
27. Tyreek Hill (KC): Hill had a rushing, receiving, punt, and kickoff return touchdown in 2016.
28. Donte Moncrief (IND): Moncrief had the second most receiving touchdowns inside the 10-yard line last year with six in only nine games.
29. Brandon Marshall (NYG): Marshall had a 33.3% catch rate in the red zone in 2016.
30. Stefon Diggs (MIN): In the games he wasn’t listed as questionable, Diggs averaged nine catches for 107 yards.
Tight Ends
1. Rob Gronkowski (NE): 2016 was only the second time in his career where Gronk failed to reach 10 touchdowns.
2. Travis Kelce (KC): Kelce led all tight ends with 138 fantasy points in 2016, but 138 points would have ranked him TE7 in 2015.
3. Jordan Reed (WAS): In a PPR league, Reed averaged the most fantasy points per game with 14.1.
4. Greg Olsen (CAR): Greg Olsen had over 1,000 yards in 2016 for the third season in a row.
5. Tyler Eifert (CIN): Eifert missed eight games in 2016 and has missed 27 games in his four-year career.
6. Jimmy Graham (SEA): Graham scored all six of his touchdowns at home in 2016.
7. Delanie Walker (TEN): Walker had a career high in touchdown catches in 2016 with seven.
8. Kyle Rudolph (MIN): Rudolph led all tight ends in targets in 2016 with 132.
9. Martellus Bennett (GB): Bennett played in all 16 games and had 55 catches despite having broken bone spurs in his ankle.
10. Zach Ertz (PHI): In his final eight games, Ertz had 55 catches for 569 yards and four touchdowns.
11. Hunter Henry (LAC): Henry tied for the most receiving touchdowns by a tight end in 2016 as a rookie with eight.
12. Eric Ebron (DET): Ebron had at least four catches in 11 of 13 games in 2016.
13. Jack Doyle (IND): His catch rate last season was 78.6 percent. His career catch rate is 79.6 percent on 118 targets.
14. Coby Fleener (NO): Fleener’s 50 catches in 2016 make it four straight seasons with over 50 catches.
15. C.J. Fiedorowicz (HOU): 52 percent of Fiedorowicz’s PPR points came in October.
I’m hoping most of the stats left you as shocked as Cotton from the movie Dodgeball. But after reading all those stats you may feel like you spent a Vegas trip looking for your friend Doug, absolutely exhausted and wondering when we can do this again. I just hope you actually remember these stats. If you don’t, you don’t have to rewind like a VHS tape. Unfortunately, this article doesn’t have any funny outtakes or extra scenes in the ending credits. Just a pig saying “That’s All Folks.”
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