Fantasy Football Air Yards Analysis: Zach Ertz, Hunter Henry, Mike Gesicki

Advanced stats can help fantasy managers determine potential breakout candidates in fantasy football. Two wide receivers can have similar stat lines in a given week. But they may have gotten there in different ways, and one may have more value going forward than another.

In recent years, targets and target share have become an important part of how we value pass catchers. However, those metrics only tell part of the story. This is because not all targets have the same fantasy value.

Air yards is an important metric because it can often be an indicator of a player’s potential value. Downfield targets offer more big play – and thus big fantasy point – potential. Those players who are being targeted often and also down the field could be in store for more fantasy production down the road.

Let us take a look at some of the top air yards performances from Week 2 to see if we can uncover any hidden gems. And you can find the full article here with all of my Week 3 takeaways.

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Fantasy Football Air Yards Analysis & Takeaways: Week 3

The Top 10 Tight Ends

Zach Ertz is about as unsexy a fantasy player as you’ll find at the tight end position. But the veteran leads the Arizona Cardinals in targets and receptions through two weeks. He also leads all tight ends in targets and air yards. That distinction does not figure to last long now that Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews are healthy. Still, Ertz should continue to be fantasy-relevant with Joshua Dobbs running the show in the desert. Dobbs was brought into the fold very late in training camp. He was unfamiliar with both the playbook and the majority of his Cardinals teammates. Ertz has proven to be a steady target for Dobbs and should continue to be a viable fantasy tight end.

In addition to the exploits of Kendrick Bourne, New England sports two tight ends in the top five of this week’s air yards report. Neither Hunter Henry nor Mike Gesicki were high fantasy picks this offseason. But both have been productive in the early going. Henry enters Week 3 as the overall TE, while Gesicki checks in at TE14. Again, we should expect the Patriots passing game as a whole to take a hit from a volume perspective. That means there will be some down weeks. Having said that, at a position as spotty as tight end, both Patriots are worth holding onto. Henry should be started in favorable matchups, while Gesicki makes for an intriguing stash for those who have the flexibility on their benches.