Fantasy Football: 20 Noteworthy Statistics Through Week 4
One of my favorite things about football is the plethora of statistics given to us on a weekly basis. No matter what’s going on in the NFL, we can always find stats that make us think far beyond what we perceive to be obvious. A stat on its own never tells us the whole story but it does open the door for us to investigate how it came to be and what it could mean going forward. Enjoy reflecting on this list of stats through the first 4 weeks of the NFL season.
The NFL is officially 1/4 into the season and with that brings some intriguing information. Here are some interesting stats through Week 4 of the NFL season.
All stats listed are based on 1/2 PPR and 4 point passing TD scoring.
*Panthers, Redskins on bye Week 4.
1) Through 4 weeks, Tyler Boyd leads A.J. Green in targets, receptions, and receiving yards despite his awful 3 receptions for 26-yard performance in Week 1.
2) Adam Thielen became the 6th player in NFL history to have 100+ receiving yards in each of the first 4 games this season. He is currently the #2 WR, behind Michael Thomas by just .2 fantasy points.
3) Juju Smith-Schuster has 2 more receptions on just 4 fewer targets on the season than Antonio Brown. Smith-Schuster also has more fantasy points than Brown, regardless of format.
4) Julio Jones leads all WRs with 502 receiving yards. No, he does not have a touchdown. Here we go again…
5) Stefon Diggs performance in Week 2 gave him 31.4 fantasy points. This single game performance totaled more fantasy points than ALL Buffalo Bills WRs had COMBINED through 2 weeks.
6) Despite leading the Buccaneers to a 2-1 record, throwing for 400+ yards in each of his first 3 games, and finishing as the QB1 Week 1, QB6 Week 2, and QB8 Week 3, Ryan Fitzpatrick was benched for Jameis Winston in the second half of the Week 4 blowout by the Chicago Bears.
7) The best fantasy football QB performance in the first 4 weeks of the season goes to…you guessed it, Mitchell Trubisky. His stat line of 354 passing yards, 53 rushing yards, and 6 passing TDs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned him a score of 43.46 fantasy points.
8) Alex Collins leads all RBs with 2 lost fumbles. He has just as many touchdowns.
9) Alvin Kamara has scored 38.6 fantasy points in 2 of his first 4 games. There are only 3 other RBs to eclipse 30 fantasy points in a game so far this season (James Connor, Week 1: 31.7/ Todd Gurley, Week 2: 30.8/ Ezekiel Elliott, Week 4: 32).
10) Alvin Kamara has been the #1 fantasy RB in 3 of the first 4 weeks. The one week he wasn’t, he was the #12 RB. In Week 2, he had 99 total yards and 0 TDs.
11) Jared Cook has been the #1 fantasy TE in 2 of the first 4 games this season. No other TE has topped his score of 27 fantasy points in Week 4. He is currently, the #1 TE.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
12) Michael Thomas has amazingly caught 42 of his 44 targets this season. That’s a catch rate of 95.5%! The next closest WR with at least 40 targets is Adam Thielen with a 71.4% catch rate.
13) The Rams, Falcons, and Buccaneers each have 2 WR1s through the first quarter of the season, making up 50% of the top-12 WRs.
14) Through Week 2, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Patrick Mahomes had a combined 18 Passing TDs. That is more than Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Jared Goff, Deshaun Watson, and Alex Smith COMBINED.
15) Patrick Mahomes is the #1 fantasy football QB on 3rd down plays and red zone plays through the first 4 weeks.
16) Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes are the only 2 starting QBs that have yet to throw an INT this season. In fact, every other top 12 QB has thrown at least 2 INTs.
17) Alvin Kamara is the top fantasy player (including QBs) with 118.6 fantasy points. The next closest is Patrick Mahomes with 115.3
18) Corey Davis leads the NFL with a 33% target share in his offense.
19) Fantasy points differential between the #1 and #12 at each position:
QB: 36.3
RB: 66.5
WR: 13.7
TE: 30.6
20) Justin Tucker and Mason Crosby have scored more fantasy points than the #5 TE, Eric Ebron.