The NFL landscape changes yearly. The variance spreads from free agent signings, NFL Draft picks, coaching hires and more. Understanding what a team’s offensive scheme could look like and meshing that with relevant nuggets from the previous year helps shape our view of teams and players for the upcoming season.

That’s where this series will come in handy. Discussing pace, red zone usage, deep passing and everything in between, I’m venturing down the rabbit hole to provide context for all 32 NFL teams and the fantasy football players you’ll select this year.

• Philadelphia Eagles Stats to Know & Top Takeaways
• Dallas Cowboys Stats to Know & Top Takeaways
• New York Giants Stats to Know & Top Takeaways

*All data utilized in this article courtesy of FantasyPros, PFF, Football Outsiders, Rotoviz and Playerprofiler.com unless otherwise specified.*

Washington Commanders’ Fantasy Football Stats to Know:

• Terry McLaurin has never caught a pass from a quarterback ranked higher than 25th in deep-ball completion rate.
  • 2021
    • Taylor Heinicke — 25th
  • 2020
    • Alex Smith — 25th
    • Dwayne Haskins — 37th
  • 2019
    • Case Keenum — 26th
    • Dwayne Haskins — 28th
• In 2021 Terry McLaurin ranked fifth in deep targets among wideouts.
• Last year Carson Wentz ranked sixth in deep ball completion rate and fourth in deep-ball accuracy rate.
• Washington was fourth (55%) in red zone rushing rate last year, but they were 16th (48%) the year prior.
• Washington was 23rd in red zone scoring attempts per game and 26th in red zone touchdown scoring percentage (52%) last year.
• J.D. McKissic has finished inside the top ten (fifth, ninth) in yards per route run among running backs in each of the last two seasons (minimum 20 targets).
• Last year Carson Wentz (fifth, 10th) and Taylor Heinicke (third, sixth) finished inside the top ten in play-action dropback rate and highest yards per attempt difference on play-action throws.
• Logan Thomas was sixth in target share (19.2%) and 21st in target per snap rate in 2020. He fell to 20th in target share (13.4%) and 26th in targets per snap rate last year when on the field.

Washington Commanders’ Top Fantasy Football Takeaways

Some pieces of the Washington offense will change with Carson Wentz in town, but play-action usage will remain a staple of the offensive design. Like Taylor Heinicke last year, Wentz is better when selling the run on passing looks. Washington could also enjoy a more efficient downfield game in 2022. Specifically, Terry McLaurin has never played with a deep ball thrower like Wentz in the NFL. The floor for McLaurin remains high with his projected volume, but this could give more life to a higher ceiling in his range of outcomes.

If Wentz can provide the necessary upgrade for Washington, the team could also touchdown regression and choose to throw more inside the 20. This would be another reason to fade Antonio Gibson, who was sixth in rushing attempts inside the 20 and five-yard lines last year. This turn of events would be another feather in the cap for J.D. McKissic as a late-round dart in PPR leagues. He was third on the team in red zone targets in 2020.

If Logan Thomas returns to fantasy relevancy this year, it will have to be on the back of touchdowns. He led the team in red zone passing looks in 2020. However, with his declining target numbers with more surrounding talent and Wentz’s questionable ability to support multiple receivers, Thomas will need to endzone dance regularly.