Skip to main content

175 Interesting Facts from the 2018 Fantasy Football Season

175 Interesting Facts from the 2018 Fantasy Football Season

One of my absolute favorite things to do when the NFL season comes to an end is to sit down and sift through countless statistics. Why? Well, I suppose it’s just in my blood. You see, my dad would have this party trick where he’d call me over at any point there was a gathering of sports fans and ask me a random question about stats. Whether it be a Frank Thomas’ batting average, Steve Young’s touchdown to interception ratio, or how many blocks per game Alonzo Mourning was averaging, he knew that I’d have the answer.

Practice fast mock drafts with our free Mock Draft Simulator partner-arrow

Before the Internet was a thing, I’d wait for the paper to arrive on our doorstep so that I could go through the box scores and create my own unique charts (my version of Excel on college ruled paper). I craved information and was proud at what I was able to retain. That’s never left me. I don’t mind staring at numbers for hours and trying to find the most obscure stats for everyone else to enjoy. That’s why I did this article last year and why I’ll do it again in 2020. Once you read them all, come on over to Twitter (@MikeTagliereNFL) and let me know which is your favorite.

1. If you were to combine all the quarterbacks in the NFL from 2018, they would’ve posted a 92.7 QB Rating. That is higher than the career marks of Joe Montana, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, and Troy Aikman.

2. Among quarterbacks who’ve thrown more than 200 passes in a single season, Aaron Rodgers‘ 0.3 percent interception-rate in 2018 was the best of all-time.

3. Christian McCaffrey saw 122 targets in 2018 and didn’t record a single drop. Of the 151 other running backs who saw at least one target, no other player had more than 43 targets without a drop.

4. For the fourth straight season, Julio Jones led the league in yards per route run (minimum 40 targets). Combining the last two seasons, he’s averaged 3.00 yards per route while no other wide receiver has averaged more than 2.53 yards per route run. That means Jones averages 17 percent more yards per route run than the next closest receiver (Michael Thomas).

5. Drew Brees broke his own record for completion percentage with a ridiculous 74.4 percent completion rate. He set the record last year with a 72.0 percent completion-rate.

6. Of Todd Gurley‘s 21 touchdowns, 20 of them came from inside the red zone, including all 17 of his rushing touchdowns.

7. O.J. Howard‘s 11.8 yards per target in 2018 ranks as the second-highest mark of all-time among tight ends who saw at least 40 targets. His mark of 11.1 yards per target in 2017 would rank fifth all-time, but he just missed the cutoff with 39 targets. His career mark of 11.5 yards per target is the best of all-time (since they started tracking targets).

8. Russell Wilson threw a touchdown every 98.5 yards while Patrick Mahomes threw one every 101.9 yards. No other quarterback threw one more than every 116.4 yards.

9. Marcus Mariota threw 229.8 yards for every touchdown he threw, the most in the NFL. He also set the high-mark in 2017 when he threw 248.6 yards for every touchdown he threw. Of quarterbacks to throw at least 400 pass attempts in the last six years, Mariota, Brian Hoyer, Blake Bortles, DeShone Kizer, and Geno Smith have thrown for 240-plus yards for every touchdown.

10. Rob Gronkowski scored a touchdown once every 24.0 targets in 2018, a far cry from his career average of one every 9.5 targets coming into this year. Coming into 2018, he’d never averaged more than 16.5 targets per touchdown in any one year.

11. Josh Rosen and Josh Allen were the only quarterbacks to have more interceptions than touchdown passes in 2018 (minimum four starts).

12. Tyler Lockett averaged 3.13 PPR points per target, which is the most over the last 10 years for a wide receiver with at least 30 targets.

13. Julio Jones joined an exclusive club this year, as he notched his second 1,600-yard season. There’ve been just five players to accomplish that in NFL history. He joins Calvin Johnson, Antonio Brown, Marvin Harrison, and Torry Holt. Oddly enough, Jerry Rice is not on this list.

14. DeAndre Hopkins had 115 catchable targets without a single drop. There wasn’t another wide receiver with more than 57 catchable targets without one.

15. If you were to remove throwaways, batted balls, spiked balls, dropped balls, and attempts where a quarterback is being hit as he throws, Drew Brees completed an NFL-record 82.2 percent of his passes. No one else recorded 80 percent.

16. There were 834 touchdowns thrown in 2018 while there were just 418 interceptions. That ratio 2:1 TD to INT ratio would rank top-25 all-time among all quarterbacks.

17. As a rookie, Saquon Barkley scored 385.8 PPR points in 2018, which was the second-highest mark for a running back since 2010.

18. Ryan Fitzpatrick posted 9.62 yards per pass attempt in 2018, which was the most since 2000 and the third-highest mark of all-time among quarterbacks who’ve thrown at least 100 passes.

19. Despite not taking over the starting job until Week 4, Baker Mayfield‘s pass catchers dropped a league-high 322 air yards.

20. A league-high 70.5 percent of Jameis Winston‘s yards came through the air. The next closest quarterback was Russell Wilson at 62.6 percent. After him, Andrew Luck at 59.9 percent.

21. Ben Roethlisberger totaled a league-low 46.0 percent of his yards through the air. That means 54.0 percent of his yardage came after the catch.

22. Do drops matter? The top-six tight ends in drops this year were Travis Kelce, David Njoku, George Kittle, Zach Ertz, Jared Cook, and Eric Ebron. All of them were top-eight tight ends.

23. Every 13.0 passes, Blake Bortles‘ pass-catcher dropped a pass. That was the league-high while no other quarterback had one more than every 15.8 pass attempts.

24. Even if you removed all throwaways, batted balls, spiked balls, dropped balls, and attempts where he was being hit as he threw, Josh Allen completed just 64.7 percent of his passes.

25. Patrick Mahomes threw 92 passes that traveled over 20 yards, the most in the NFL. But his 15.9 deep-ball percentage trailed both Josh Allen (19.7 percent) and Mitch Trubisky (16.8 percent).

26. Just 8.8 percent of Cam Newton‘s 3,397 yards came from passes that traveled over 20 yards in the air, which was by far the lowest in the league. Nobody else had less than 14.6 percent of their yardage come from the deep ball. In 2017, Newton was at 16.3 percent.

27. Russell Wilson had a league-high 32.1 percent of his yardage come from passes that traveled over 20 yards in the air.

28. Russell Wilson threw a touchdown on 22.1 percent of his passes that went over 20 yards in the air, the highest in the league. By comparison, Eli Manning threw a touchdown on just 5.4 percent of his, the lowest in the league.

29. Ryan Tannehill was intercepted on a league-high 11.4 percent of his passes that traveled over 20 yards. Josh Allen and Case Keenum were right behind him at 11.1 percent. On the other side, Aaron Rodgers didn’t throw a single interception on a throw over 20 yards, which no other quarterback can say. Keep in mind he also attempted 91 of those passes, the second-most in the league.

30. Jeff Driskel was the only quarterback in the league to drop back over 200 times and have a QB Rating that was higher under pressure than when throwing from a clean pocket. Lamar Jackson, Jameis Winston, and Nick Foles saw their QB Rating drop less than 7.5 points, though.

31. Patrick Mahomes‘ QB Rating was 134.2 when throwing from a clean pocket, while it went down to 70.4 when under pressure. The 63.8-point drop was the most in the NFL, though Cam Newton wasn’t far behind with a 63.3-point drop-off.

32. Alvin Kamara led all running backs with 25 red zone targets. The only wide receivers who had more than him were Davante Adams, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Michael Thomas.

33. While throwing from a clean pocket, Josh Allen had just a 79.8 QB Rating, the lowest in the NFL. There were nine quarterbacks who had a higher QB Rating while under pressure than he did in a clean pocket.

34. While with the Raiders, Amari Cooper averaged a measly 0.43 yards per route run in the slot, which ranked 144th of 152 qualified wide receivers. With the Cowboys, he averaged 2.77 yards per route run in the slot, which ranked 8th of the 152 qualified receivers.

35. Ben Roethlisberger ran play-action on just 10.0 percent of his dropbacks, by far the lowest in the league. Nobody else ran it less than 16.0 percent of the time. It makes sense, as his passer rating dropped by 12.3 point when they ran play-action.

36. Cam Newton had a 39.7-point increase in his QB Rating when they ran play-action, the biggest increase in the league.

37. Willie Snead saw 95 targets in 2018, scoring just one touchdown. There’s been just 40 wide receivers in the history of the NFL who’ve seen more targets while scoring one or less touchdowns.

38. Josh Allen held onto the ball an average of 3.20 seconds prior to a pass attempt, which was the highest mark in the league.

39. Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers all threw the ball an average of 2.47 seconds from the time of snap, tied for the lowest in the NFL.

40. It took Jared Goff at least 2.6 seconds to throw the ball 60 percent of the time, which was the highest percentage in the league. This is very uncommon for a quarterback who isn’t mobile.

41. Ben Roethlisberger got the ball out under 2.5 seconds a league-high 64.4 percent of the time.

42. Josh Rosen didn’t have much of a chance to analyze the field in 2018, as he was sacked a league-high 19 times in 2.5 seconds or less. By comparison, Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick were sacked just four times combined in 2.5 seconds or less.

43. As good as Travis Kelce was with his 12.0 standard fantasy points per game in 2018 (led all tight ends), Rob Gronkowski has had four seasons where he averaged at least 12.2 points per game.

44. Patrick Mahomes completed 79.3 percent of passes when he got the ball out in 2.5 seconds or less but completed just 49.6 percent of passes when it took 2.6 or more seconds. The 29.7 percent dip was the highest in the NFL.

45. There’s been five 5,000-yard passing seasons since 2013. Two of them came in 2018 (Ben Roethlisberger, Patrick Mahomes).

46. Despite starting just seven games, Lamar Jackson‘s 147 rushing attempts were the most ever for a quarterback in the post-merger era. His 695 rushing yards were the 11th-most in that time.

47. Most would be shocked to hear this, but Patrick Mahomes‘ 113.8 QB Rating ranked eighth all-time and was even behind Drew Brees (115.7) this year.

48. Patrick Mahomes scored 417.1 fantasy points in 2018, which was the most of all-time by a quarterback.

49. Derek Carr and Case Keenum were the only quarterbacks who threw for more than 3,000 yards and did not have 20 touchdowns. Carr threw for 4,049 yards and Keenum threw for 3,890 yards.

50. Tyreek Hill has scored 25 receiving touchdowns over the last three years. A whopping 16 of them have come from deep passes that have traveled over 20 yards in the air.

51. Despite sitting out Week 17, Ezekiel Elliott finished with 381 touches, the third-most by a running back over the last five years. No other running back totaled more than 352 touches.

52. Ezekiel Elliott led the NFL with 304 carries. That was the lowest mark for a league-leader since way back in 1990 when Earnest Byner lead the league with 297 carries.

53. Since 2013, there have been just eight occasions where a running back has totaled at least 115 carries and averaged at least 5.40 yards per carry. Aaron Jones, Kerryon Johnson, and Phillip Lindsay account for three of them.

54. LeGarrette Blount averaged just 2.71 yards per carry on 154 carries this year. That’s just the seventh time in NFL history where a running back has totaled at least 150 carries and averaged less than 2.75 yards per carry. The closest to him this year was LeSean McCoy, who averaged just 3.19 yards per carry on 161 attempts.

55. Despite missing the final two games, Todd Gurley‘s 17 rushing touchdowns were the second-most since 2011.

56. Golden age of tight ends: Of the top-12 tight end yardage seasons all-time, only two of them (Tony Gonzalez and Ben Coates) were not playing football in 2018.

57. Aaron Rodgers threw away 59 passes in 2018, 19 more than any other quarterback.

58. Among running backs with at least 100 carries over the last six years, Alvin Kamara‘s touchdown every 13.9 carries this year ranked as the second-most often. By comparison, the league-leader Todd Gurley scored one every 15.1 carries.

59. Frank Gore totaled 156 carries in 2018 but didn’t score a single touchdown. There’s only been 30 other times in NFL history that a running back has totaled at least 150 carries but not scored a touchdown. Nobody else had more than 80 carries without a touchdown in 2018.

60. There’s only been 10 occasions in NFL history where a running back has seen more than 120 targets. Three of those running backs are from 2018, as Christian McCaffrey, James White, and Saquon Barkley all eclipsed that mark.

61. Eric Ebron scored 14 touchdowns in 2018, which ranks as the third-most all-time by a tight end. While his targets (110) ranked 13th all-time, his yardage (750) ranked 132nd all-time. Regression is coming.

62. Gus Edwards had 68.5 carries per target in 2018, which was the third-highest mark of any running back with more than 100 carries over the last 10 years (Mike Gillislee and Chris Ivory were the others).

63. Although Christian McCaffrey set the record for receptions by a running back, his 867 receiving yards ranks as 12th all-time.

64. Among running backs with at least 30 targets, Kareem Hunt‘s 10.8 yards per target were the most by a running back over the last 15 years and second-most all-time. No. 3 on the all-time list is Spencer Ware, who averaged 10.64 yards per target in 2016. Maybe Andy Reid knows how to use his running backs in the passing-game?

65. There have been just 16 wide receivers who’ve been able to finish as a top-20 fantasy receiver with less than 100 targets over the last 10 years. Mike Williams just did it with 66 targets while Tyler Lockett did it with 71 targets in 2018. No other wide receivers can say they did it with less than 79 targets.

66. Jalen Richard saw 81 targets without catching a touchdown in 2018, the most in the league. There was just one running back over the last 10 years who’s seen more without a touchdown (Carlos Hyde, 88 targets in 2017).

67. No running back lost more than three fumbles on the season, which is the third-straight season that’s happened.

68. Despite missing two full games, Todd Gurley finished with the 12th-most touchdowns (21) of all-time for a running back. His 16-game pace would have put him at 24 touchdowns, the sixth-most of all-time.

69. Drew Brees led the NFL with a 115.7 QB Rating, which is the sixth-highest mark of all-time.

70. Marshawn Lynch broke a tackle every 3.9 carries, which was more often than any other running back in the league. On the flip side, James White broke one every 18.8 carries, which was the least often.

71. Of the 14 running backs who totaled at least 200 carries, David Johnson and Jordan Howard broke the least amount of tackles while carrying the ball.

72. Dalvin Cook led all running backs with a broken tackle every 3.8 touches, while James White was the worst in the league breaking one every 15.1 touches. Nobody else took more than 12.3 touches to break a tackle.

73. Marlon Mack didn’t break a single tackle while catching his 17 passes and averaged just one broken tackle every 10.8 touches while carrying the ball, which ranked 48th of the 56 running backs who played at least 25 percent of their team’s snaps.

74. 47.6 percent of Isaiah Crowell‘s rushing yards came on just nine plays. His other 134 carries netted 2.68 yards per carry.

75. A league-leading 706 of Saquon Barkley‘s 1,307 rushing yards (54.0 percent) came on carries that went for 15-plus yards.

76. Rashaad Penny averaged a 15-plus yard run every 9.4 carries, the best rate in the NFL. On the flip-side, Wendell Smallwood was the worst in the league with one every 87.0 carries. Notably, David Johnson had one every 51.2 carries.

77. Tarik Cohen averaged 2.37 yards per route run, which was more than any other running back. Peyton Barber averaged just 0.34 yards per route run, which was the least among running backs. Notably, Lamar Miller averaged just 0.59 yards per route run.

78. Josh Allen dropped back to pass and scrambled on 11.9 percent of his dropbacks, which was the most in the league. By comparison, no other quarterback scrambled more than 9.6 percent of the time.

79. T.J. Yeldon led all running backs with eight dropped passes, while Todd Gurley, David Johnson, and Melvin Gordon each had seven apiece.

80. Of the 39 running backs who saw at least 20 catchable targets, Elijah McGuire led them in drop-rate, as he dropped 5-of-24 catchable targets, or 20.8 percent. Oddly enough, his teammate Trenton Cannon ranked second-worst, dropping 4-of-21 catchable targets, or 19.1 percent. Maybe Sam Darnold needs to take off some velocity?

81. Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara, and Aaron Jones are the only running backs who pass-blocked on more than 20 snaps without allowing a single sack.

82. For all the talk about pass-blocking for young running backs, there was no running back who totaled 100 pass-blocking snaps. In fact, there were just 21 running backs who recorded more than 50 of them.

83. Of the 75 running backs who were in on more than 100 passing plays, Jordan Howard was kept in to pass-block on 27.3 percent of them, the highest among his peers. He allowed just one sack on 79 pass-blocking snaps.

84. Christian McCaffrey was kept in to block on 99-of-583 passing plays (17 percent) and allowed more quarterback hits (5) than any other running back.

85. Kenyan Drake allowed six sacks on just 50 pass-blocking snaps. There was no other running back who allowed more than three sacks. Not just that, but he also allowed four hurries and another quarterback hit. That’s 11 total pressures, which again, was the most in the league.

86. Nick Foles boasted the highest passer rating while under pressure, at 90.6. Meanwhile, Josh Rosen‘s 38.1 QB Rating under pressure was the worst in the league.

87. James White averaged 1.05 fantasy points per touch in 2018, leading all running backs. That number would’ve ranked fifth in 2017 among running backs with at least 50 touches.

88. Jeff Wilson averaged just 0.42 fantasy points per touch, the lowest among running backs with at least 50 touches.

89. Julio Jones led the NFL with 170 targets this year. Over the last 10 years, that would rank just 23rd among wide receivers. That’s tied for the lowest league-leader since 1998.

90. Michael Thomas led the league with 125 receptions, which ranks fifth all-time. Four of the top-five in the all-time books belong to Thomas, Julio Jones, and Antonio Brown (twice), with the other being Marvin Harrison. DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, and Adam Thielen also produced top-25 all-time reception numbers in 2018.

91. Michael Thomas‘ 85 percent catch-rate was the best all-time for a wide receiver who saw at least 40 targets. The closest guy on that list? Ryan Switzer, who caught 36-of-44 passes (81.8 percent) in 2018.

92. John Ross‘ catch-rate of 36.2 percent ranks as the 13th-worst of all-time among wide receivers who saw at least 50 targets and the lowest since 2011. If you’re looking for hope, Zay Jones went from a 36.5 percent catch-rate in 2017, to a 54.9 percent catch-rate in 2018.

93. Case Keenum‘s pass-catchers didn’t help him out very much this year, as they dropped a league-high 37 passes.

94. Julio Jones owns three of the top-25 single-season receiving performances of all-time. No other player can say that.

95. Antonio Brown scored 15 touchdowns this year while missing Week 17. That ranks as the 13th-best of all-time, while ranking third-best over the last 10 years.

96. Jaron Brown caught a touchdown every 4.0 targets in 2018, the best mark over the last 10 years among wide receivers who’ve seen at least 20 targets.

97. Among wide receivers with at least 50 targets, Mike Williams‘ touchdown every 6.6 targets ranked second-best over the last 10 years to only Jordy Nelson‘s touchdown every 6.4 targets in 2011.

98. There have been 12 wide receivers who’ve caught a touchdown every 7.1 or less targets over the last 10 years (minimum 20 targets). Four of them came in 2018 (Jaron Brown, Mike Williams, Aldrick Robinson, Tyler Lockett).

99. Jeff Driskel saw his QB Rating drop 34.9 points when running play-action, the most in the NFL. 27 of 38 quarterbacks increase their passer rating when they ran play-action.

100. Among wide receivers with at least 25 targets, Tyler Lockett‘s 13.8 yards per target ranked 3rd all-time. Oddly enough, Breshad Perriman‘s mark of 13.6 yards per target in 2018 ranked fourth all-time.

101. John Ross averaged just 3.62 yards per target in 2018, which was the worst in the league. Among wide receivers with at least 25 targets, it ranked as the 27th-worst of all time. As a consolation, Breshad Perriman has the worst mark of all-time (2.20 yards per target) in 2017, but then posted the fourth-highest mark of all-time in 2018 (13.6 yards per target).

102. Tyreek Hill‘s 15.1 standard fantasy points per game was the highest by a wide receiver since 2015.

103. Even though Deshaun Watson was sacked a league-high 61 times, his sack percentage (9.7 percent) ranked fifth. Ryan Tannehill was sacked on a league-high 11.0 percent of his dropbacks.

104. When thrown to, Tyler Lockett produced a perfect 158.3 QB Rating. The closest to him was Will Fuller with a 147.2 QB Rating.

105. Kelvin Benjamin produced a league-low 24.6 QB Rating when targeted, which was more than 16 points lower than the closest receiver. His quarterback was intercepted seven times when targeting him while throwing just one touchdown.

106. George Kittle led all tight ends with 2.83 yards per route run in 2018. By comparison, Julio Jones was the only wide receiver with a mark higher than 2.66 yards per route run. The closest tight end was Travis Kelce who averaged 2.34 yards per route run.

107. Of the quarterbacks who had at least 200 pass attempts, Alex Smith and Ryan Tannehill had the best luck with their pass-catchers, as their receivers dropped just nine passes apiece.

108. Michael Crabtree led the league with 11 drops, though both John Ross and Courtland Sutton had a higher drop percentage.

109. Of John Ross‘ 55 targets, only 28 were deemed catchable. Still, he dropped seven of them for a league-high 25.0 percent drop-rate.

110. Tyreek Hill had 41 deep targets (20-plus yards in the air), which was five more than any other player in the league. He also ranked 11th of 69 wide receivers (who played at least 25 percent of snaps) in deep-ball catch-rate.

111. Tyler Boyd was targeted deep (20-plus yards downfield) on just 10.7 percent of his targets, the lowest among all wide receivers who played at least 25 percent of the snaps. Notably, Corey Davis was targeted deep on just 12.0 percent of his targets, the third-lowest in the league.

112. A remarkable 52.2 percent of Travis Benjamin‘s targets were over 20 yards, the highest rate in the league. The closest player was Robert Foster, who saw the ball travel over 20 yards in the air on 43.2 percent of his targets.

113. Tyreek Hill accumulated 1,479 receiving yards in 2018, with a league-high 754 of them coming on passes that traveled over 20 yards in the air. There was no other receiver who had more than 543 yards on those types of passes.

114. Ben Roethlisberger and Case Keenum led the NFL with four interceptions in the red zone. There were four quarterbacks who threw 20-plus touchdowns and no interceptions in the red zone: Drew Brees, Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, and Baker Mayfield.

115. There was just one wide receiver who ran 90 percent of his routes from the slot in 2018: Chester Rogers.

116. Dede Westbrook ran 493 slot routes (89.0 percent of his routes) in 2018, more than any other wide receiver. What’s odd is that he ran just 9.9 percent of his routes from the slot in 2017.

117. While in the slot, Travis Kelce totaled 755 yards and Zach Ertz totaled 609 yards. No other tight end totaled more than 407 yards while running their routes from in the slot.

118. Here’s some notable wide receivers who ran less than 20 percent of their routes from the slot in 2018: Alshon Jeffery, Mike Evans, Marvin Jones, and Amari Cooper. This is notable because wide receivers typically perform much better when moving into the slot.

119. JuJu Smith-Schuster saw 92 slot targets in 2018, more than any other player. Adam Thielen wasn’t far behind with 86 of them.

120. When running a route from the slot, Michael Thomas was targeted an NFL-high 32.7 percent of the time. While on the perimeter, he was targeted 26.6 percent of the time.

121. Albert Wilson led the league with 5.50 yards per route run from the slot, though he did only catch 12 passes from the slot in an abbreviated season. Of those who played most of the season, A.J. Green (4.30) and Michael Thomas (3.63) were tops in that category.

122. Lamar Jackson led all quarterbacks, running play-action on 41.9 percent of his dropbacks.

123. Tyreek Hill scored a league-leading nine touchdowns from the slot in 2018, while Adam Thielen had seven, and no other receiver had more than five.

124. Over the last two years, Julio Jones and Mike Evans have combined for just two touchdowns while running routes from the slot.

125. Ben Roethlisberger‘s 675 pass attempts were more than anyone since Matthew Stafford threw the ball 727 times in 2012 and the fourth-most of all-time. The next closest quarterback was Andrew Luck with 639 attempts, which ranks 19th all-time.

126. Among wide receivers with at least 20 targets, Bruce Ellington led the league seeing a target every 3.33 routes run. Oddly enough, his teammate T.J. Jones was the worst in the league, seeing a target every 12.84 targets.

127. Despite ranking 21st in yards per route run (2.10), Tyler Lockett was targeted once every 6.5 routes, which ranked 115th among 142 wide receivers who saw a minimum of 20 targets.

128. There were 28 wide receivers who saw at least 100 targets in 2018. Zay Jones‘ 1.20 yards per route run ranked dead-last, while Michael Crabtree (1.21) wasn’t far behind.

129. Davante Adams led all wide receivers with 31 red zone targets. His 12 red zone touchdowns also led all wide receivers, while no other receiver had more than eight.

130. Zach Ertz set a new NFL record for tight ends with 156 targets in 2018. The previous record was held by Tony Gonzalez, who saw 155 of them in 2008. Travis Kelce‘s 150 targets in 2018 were the fifth-most all-time.

131. Zach Ertz also set the NFL record for most tight end receptions with 116 of them. The previous record was held by Jason Witten, who caught 110 passes in 2012. Travis Kelce‘s 103 receptions in 2018 were the third-most all-time.

132. George Kittle and Travis Kelce are now No. 1 and No. 2 in the NFL record book for most yardage by a tight end in any one season. Kittle’s 1,377 yards are the new high-mark for tight ends.

133. James Develin totaled just six carries in 2018. Four of them went for touchdowns.

134. Christian McCaffrey broke the record for most receptions by a running back with 107 of them in 2018. Saquon Barkley‘s 91 receptions rank sixth all-time, while James White‘s 87 receptions rank 12th all-time.

135. Since 1992 (when they started tracking targets), there have been 1,314 tight ends who’ve seen at least 20 targets. Anthony Firkser (95 percent) and Levine Toilolo (87.5 percent) are now No. 1 and No. 2 in the record books for highest catch-rate. WHAT.

136. Kirk Cousins had 17 batted balls, the most in the league. Blake Bortles was next with 14 of them, though he had just 403 attempts, one every 28.8 attempts.

137. Blake Bortles was the only quarterback in the NFL who completed a higher percentage of passes while taking 2.6 seconds or longer to throw the ball than 2.5 seconds or less.

138. Despite setting the record for most yards by a tight end, George Kittle‘s 10.7 standard points per game ranks just 22nd all-time among tight ends.

139. O.J. Howard led all tight ends with 2.51 PPR points per target, which was the lowest mark by a league-leader since 2012 when Rob Gronkowski averaged 2.48 PPR points per target (minimum 30 targets). Oddly enough, Jesse James was No. 2 in 2018 while averaging 2.16 PPR points per target. Notably, Travis Kelce was at 1.96 while Zach Ertz was at 1.80.

140. Ricky Seals-Jones averaged just 1.06 PPR points per target in 2018, which was the fourth-lowest mark in the last 10 years among tight ends with at least 30 targets. No other tight end averaged fewer than 1.27 PPR points per target in 2018.

141. There was only one tight end who saw at least 30 targets and didn’t register a single drop: Antonio Gates who saw 46 targets. The closest to him was Kyle Rudolph who dropped just one pass on 81 targets.

142. Travis Kelce and David Njoku led all tight ends in drops with eight apiece. Njoku’s drop rate of 12.5 percent was the worst.

143. Aaron Rodgers led all quarterbacks with 11 penalties, while closest was Cam Newton with 8 of them.

144. Travis Kelce saw 19 targets that traveled over 20 yards in the air, which was five more than any other tight end. His nine receptions and 243 yards on deep targets were also the most in the NFL. It was Eric Ebron who had the most deep-ball touchdowns (3), though.

145. Among the 27 tight ends with at least 40 targets, there were just four of them who saw a deep target (20-plus yards) on less than 4.0 percent of their targets. Those tight ends were Cameron Brate, Antonio Gates, Jordan Reed, and… Zach Ertz. What makes it so strange is that only one tight end (Mark Andrews) averaged more yards per deep target than Ertz.

146. Jimmy Graham ran 350 routes from the slot, which was 50 more than any other tight end. Despite running 87 more routes in the slot than Travis Kelce, he finished with 372 fewer slot yards.

147. LeGarrette Blount averaged just 0.53 PPR points per touch in 2018, the lowest in the league. Oddly enough, there’s been 16 other running backs who’ve averaged less than him over the last 10 years (minimum 100 touches).

148. Of the 152 wide receivers who ran at least 100 routes in 2018, David Moore ran a league-low 5.3 percent of his routes from in the slot.

149. While in the slot, Travis Kelce averaged 2.87 yards per route run, which was 0.55 yards more than any other tight end with at least 50 targets.

150. Antonio Brown‘s quarterback was intercepted a league-high 11 times when targeting him. Nobody else was intercepted more than eight times when targeting any one wide receiver.

151. There were just four tight ends who topped 1.85 yards per route run in 2017. There were just five of them in 2018. Which tight ends were on both lists? Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz, and… O.J. Howard.

152. There were just three tight ends who averaged less than 1.00 yards per route run in 2018 (minimum 40 targets): Cameron Brate, Ryan Griffin, and Ricky Seals-Jones.

153. Over the last 10 years, there have been 13 running backs who’ve accumulated at least 200 carries and failed to finish as a top-25 running back. Peyton Barber was the only one to join that list in 2018.

154. There have been 795 running backs who’ve totaled at least 100 touches over the last 10 years. James White‘s 1.53 PPR points per touch ranks fourth. His mark ranks second since 2012, with only Alvin Kamara‘s 1.56 points per touch in 2017 ahead of him.

155. There were three tight ends who ran at least 60 percent of their routes from the slot: Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, and Eric Ebron. They were essentially wide receivers. By comparison, George Kittle ran just 33.7 percent of his routes from the slot.

156. There have been 230 wide receivers who’ve seen at least 115 targets in a season over the last 10 years. 56 of those wide receivers have finished outside of the top-22 fantasy receivers, though none of them were from 2018. Jarvis Landry finished as the WR22, the worst finish among the 17 wide receivers who saw at least 115 targets in 2018.

157. DeAndre Hopkins scored 333.5 PPR points in 2018, the most by a wide receiver since 2015 when three wide receivers (Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Brandon Marshall) topped that mark.

158. Over the last 10 years, there’s been 11 instances where a wide receiver has scored at least 330 PPR points. Four players are on that list twice: Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, and DeAndre Hopkins.

159. Tyreek Hill averaged 2.39 PPR points per target in 2018, the second-highest mark in the last 10 years among wide receivers. The closest to him this year was Michael Thomas at 2.15 points per target.

160. There have been 337 wide receivers who’ve seen at least 100 targets over the last 10 years. Michael Crabtree‘s 1.33 PPR points per target in 2018 ranks as the 17th-worst in that time. Nobody else was below 1.46 points per target in 2018.

161. Kareem Hunt caught a touchdown every 5.0 targets in 2018, which was the highest rate over the last 10 years. The closest running back with a minimum of 30 targets? Ahmad Bradshaw in 2014 when he caught one every 7.8 targets.

162. Despite the touchdown outburst in 2018, there’s still been just three times a quarterback has thrown 40-plus touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions: Tom Brady (2007), Aaron Rodgers (2011), Aaron Rodgers (2016).

163. Non-2018 stat: Blake Bortles threw 35 touchdowns in 2015, which ranks as the 20th-most over the last 10 years and the 32nd-most of all-time.

164. There were just three quarterbacks who threw 30-plus touchdowns in 2017. That number inflated to nine quarterbacks in 2018.

165. Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown on 8.6 percent of his passes in 2018, the seventh-highest mark of all-time. Here’s the list of quarterbacks who are ahead of them, included with their touchdown rate in that season, as well as the following season: Peyton Manning (9.9 to 6.2), Ken Stabler (9.3 to 6.8), Deshaun Watson (9.3 to 5.1), Aaron Rodgers (9.0 to 7.1), Tom Brady (8.7 to 5.0), Mark Rypien (8.7 to 4.6).

166. Josh McCown threw a touchdown on just 0.01 percent of his passes (one touchdown on 110 pass attempts) in 2018, the second-lowest mark of the last 10 years among quarterbacks who threw at least 100 pass attempts.

167. Despite not taking the starting job until Week 11, Lamar Jackson set the NFL-record for rushing attempts (147) by a quarterback. His yardage (695) ranked 11th all-time.

168. If you removed Lamar Jackson‘s rushing yardage (139 yards) when he wasn’t a starter, he would have finished with 556 yards in seven starts. That amounts to 79.4 rushing yards per game. The current record for quarterbacks sits at 69.1 rushing yards per game.

169. The fastest ball-carrier during the entire 2018 season was… Matt Breida, who reached 22.1 miles per hour in Week 12.

170. Josh Rosen threw into tight coverage (1 or less yard of separation) a league-leading 21.6 percent of the time. Patrick Mahomes did this a league-low 12.2 percent of the time.

171. Despite his success all regular season, Todd Gurley faced eight-plus men in the box (loaded defensive front) just 8.2 percent of the time, which ranked third-lowest in the NFL.

172. There were three running backs who saw eight-plus defenders in the box (loaded defensive front) at least 35 percent of the time: LeGarrette Blount, Royce Freeman, and Leonard Fournette.

173. Why did the Ravens move to Gus Edwards? He averaged just 2.43 seconds behind the line of scrimmage, the lowest mark among running backs. On the flip side, Tarik Cohen averaged an NFL-high 3.34 seconds behind the line of scrimmage.

174. Despite his lackluster season, Chris Hogan led all wide receivers while averaging 4.1 yards of separation at target. It could also mean that Tom Brady didn’t target him unless he was wide open the majority of time.

175. Kelvin Benjamin averaged a league-low 1.7 yards of separation at target, confirming what all of our eyes have told us over the last few years.

More Articles

3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

fp-headshot by Anthony Corrente | 2 min read
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: FFPC Best Ball Picks (2024)

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: FFPC Best Ball Picks (2024)

fp-headshot by Tom Strachan | 3 min read
3 Fantasy Football Draft Picks to Avoid: Tight Ends (2024)

3 Fantasy Football Draft Picks to Avoid: Tight Ends (2024)

fp-headshot by Mike Fanelli | 2 min read
RB3s with RB1 Potential (2024 Fantasy Football)

RB3s with RB1 Potential (2024 Fantasy Football)

fp-headshot by TJ Horgan | 3 min read

About Author

Hide

Current Article

15+ min read

3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

Next Up - 3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

Next Article