FantasyPros publishes approximately 7.7 million pieces of weekly fantasy content to help you win your league, and eventually take home fantasy gold. It can be difficult to read such a vast amount of content, which is why we’ve rounded up a few of the most actionable, can’t-miss stat nuggets you absolutely need to know each week to aid with fantasy football start sit decisions.
We’ve broken down this weekly TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) article by each of the four main skill positions in fantasy football (quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end), with at least two stats per position. Click on each author’s byline to read the entire article. Good luck this week.
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TL;DR Fantasy Football Week 2
Must-Know Quarterback Fantasy Football Stats
Hopefully, fantasy players snagged Baker Mayfield off the waiver wire last week. The former No. 1 overall draft pick had an outstanding Week 1 performance, completing 80% of his pass attempts for 289 yards, four touchdowns and 29.7 fantasy points. The veteran had no trouble picking apart the Washington Commanders’ defense, posting a 156.3 quarterback rating, averaging 12 yards per pass attempt and totaling two touchdowns on 10 third-down attempts in Week 1. More importantly, Mayfield has another appealing fantasy matchup this weekend in a playoff game rematch.
It was a fantasy shootout when these two teams faced off in the playoffs. Mayfield had 349 passing yards, three touchdowns and 23.5 fantasy points in the loss. The Lions had an awful pass defense last season, surrendering the third-most fantasy points per game (19.5) and the sixth-most passing touchdowns (28) to quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford had 14.7 fantasy points against his former team despite most of his offensive line and Puka Nacua missing a significant part of Week 1. Expect Mayfield to have his way with Detroit’s defense again.
We listed Jared Goff here numerous times last season when he was at home because something changed with him when plays in Detroit. In the previous two seasons, Goff has averaged 25 fantasy points per game at Ford Field. He’s also averaging nearly 300 yards per game in those circumstances and shouldn’t have any issues reaching that total against Tampa’s terrible secondary. The Buccaneers allowed the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL last season. They also surrendered the seventh-most fantasy points, with Goff throwing for 354 yards and two touchdowns against them last year. Not to mention, Tampa lost three secondary players due to injury last week.
Must-Know Running Back Fantasy Football Stats
Jordan Mason crushed the Jets and every expectation anyone should have had for his first starting performance. Mason finished with an 81% snap rate, 29 touches and 152 total yards as the RB5 for the week. Among 34 qualifying backs, Mason ranks 10th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 11th in yards after contact per attempt. In Week 1, Minnesota was again a brutal rushing matchup, not allowing an explosive run with only a 5% missed tackle rate and 2.19 yards after contact per attempt. These numbers look eerily similar to last season when Minnesota surrendered the lowest explosive run rate and the eighth-lowest yards after contact per attempt and rushing yards per game. Mason has a tough hill to climb, but he can overcome it with volume, talent and one of the best offensive minds in the NFL.
Zack Moss was essentially the only bright spot from a fantasy perspective. He handled nine of the backfield’s 12 rushing opportunities, rumbling for 44 yards and a touchdown. He also had two receptions for 17 yards on four targets. The underlying data was also favorable for Moss. He handled 33 snaps and 17 routes compared to 17 and 13 for Chase Brown. Moss’s usage plants him firmly in RB2 territory, but Cincinnati’s dreadful showing in Week 1 is problematic for his floor and ceiling.
The Patriots pulled off the biggest upset in Week 1, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10. Rhamondre Stevenson played a significant role in the team’s win, totaling 25 rushing attempts for 120 yards and a touchdown, scoring 20.1 half-PPR fantasy points. He also had three receptions on three targets, ranking third on the team in targets. The Week 1 game flow led to the star running back having a massive workload, touching the ball on 70.4% of New England’s successful offensive plays. Unfortunately, that likely won’t happen again in Week 2.
While the Seahawks won’t blow the Patriots out of the water, they are 3.5-point favorites despite playing an early kickoff on the road. More importantly, Seattle held the Denver Broncos backfield to only 64 rushing yards and 8.3 fantasy points on 26 touches in Week 1. Meanwhile, Stevenson averaged four yards after contact per rushing attempt in Week 1. By comparison, the Seahawks held the Broncos to only 1.72 yards after contact per rushing attempt, per Fantasy Points Data. Sell high on Stevenson before Sunday’s matchup.
Must-Know Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Stats
I’m not especially eager to play Christian Kirk this week. Jaguars rookie Brian Thomas looked terrific in Week 1 — don’t hesitate to start Thomas this week, by the way — so Kirk is at best the No. 2 option in the Jacksonville passing game, quite possibly No. 3 behind TE Evan Engram. Kirk played 71.7% of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps in Week 1 and saw 12 fewer snaps than Gabe Davis, and this week Kirk is up against a Browns defense that has a deep and talented group of cornerbacks.
Things are certainly starting to look up for Jameson Williams. Among all wide receivers this weekend, he was near the top in air yards (127), targets (nine), target share (32%) and air yards share (68%, behind only George Pickens and Calvin Ridley). But perhaps the most encouraging sign was that he didn’t have some astronomical aDOT – it was a manageable 14.1 yards. Williams can do plenty after the catch and it seems the Lions have finally learned that. He doesn’t need to catch every ball 35 yards down the field.
All fantasy managers are aware of the devastating nature of a matchup against Sauce Gardner. Gardner is only allowing 0.14 fantasy points per route run against him. However, what is more worrying is he is only being targeted on 10.4% of the routes run against him. Opposing offensive coordinators have yet to find the secret sauce to win against Gardner consistently.
The other concern for this matchup is Will Levis did not look good in Week 1. Especially in the second half against the Chicago Bears. This is going to cause some concern for Ridley and Hopkins owners. It is tough to bank on Calvin Ridley this week, in this tough matchup off the back of Levis’ Week 1 performance. Fantasy managers should sit Ridley and see what happens.
Must-Know Tight End Fantasy Football Stats
The Ravens played primarily out of 12 personnel, allowing Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely to share the field frequently. Andrews tallied 58 total snaps compared to Likely’s 52, while Andrews played 11 snaps in 11 personnel and Likely played nine. This is by far the most playing time Likely has seen with a healthy Mark Andrews, and it resulted in 12 targets compared to two for Andrews. It’s worth noting that Andrews was often bracketed and taken away by the Chiefs defense, but Likely’s future looks as bright as ever.
No tight end ran more routes in Week 1 (pre-Monday Night Football) than Colby Parkinson of the Los Angeles Rams. His 46 routes led the position, and his 86% route participation also was tops among tight ends. He was able to turn that time on the field into five targets, four catches and 47 yards. With Puka Nacua missing at least the next four weeks going forward, Parkinson’s role could be even greater.
There is very little competition in the tight end room for Colby Parkinson right now. Tyler Higbee is nowhere close to returning to game action and second-string tight end Davis Allen saw one target in a game that eventually went 65 minutes. Parkinson’s role seems to be secure and Matthew Stafford is also apparently a fan.
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