One fact for every NFL team that I personally find interesting for fantasy football Week 8. Maybe you will too! Cool? Cool.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Arizona Cardinals

ESPN's "Open Rating" Is meant to help quantity separation ability. It's not perfect (what stat is?), but directionally I believe it does a good job most of the time.

Anyway: Here's where every rookie WR stands after seven weeks of action:

Rookie WR Open Score and rank among 74 qualified WRs (min. 22 targets)

Fantasy Points' separation metric agrees things have been solid, while PFF is a bit lower. We've all seen the viral non-target on a cool sluggo route, but generally this season: It's possible that both Harrison not playing up to sky-high expectations and Kyler Murray not exactly thriving as a passer can both be true.

Atlanta Falcons

Na. While Bijan Robinson is awesome in his own right (the Week 7 film had some especially wild moments), Tyler Allgeier deserves more credit for regularly making the most out of his opportunities as well:

  • Rush yards over expected per carry: Allgeier (+0.95), Robinson (+0.54)
  • Yards per carry: Allgeier (5.7), Robinson (4.7)
  • Yards after contact per carry: Allgeier (4.3), Robinson (2.9)
  • Missed tackles forced per carry: Allgeier (32.1%), Robinson (20.3%)
  • Explosive run rate: Allgeier (21.4%), Robinson (9.7%)
  • PFF rush grade: Allgeier (88.3), Robinson (86.2)

In Robinson's defense, Allgeier is near the top of the leaderboard in all of these categories; both Falcons RBs are playing some rather great ball this year. Also, note that Allgeier has only faced eight-plus defenders in the box on 10.7% of his carries compared to 12.6% for Bijan, so it's not like they've been dealing with completely different situations when asked to run the rock.

Baltimore Ravens

  • Question: Is this the best version of Lamar THE PASSER that we've seen?

Almost! It's fair to say EPA per dropback is more of a team passing metric than a strict indictment on an individual QB, but it's also the QB that typically stirs the drink that is a team's offensive passing performance anyway, so I'm generally cool with it. We'll look at that and completion percentage over expected (CPOE):

Jackson ranks in EPA per dropback and completion percentage over expected:

  • 2018: +0.026 EPA (No. 26), -6% CPOE (31st)
  • 2019: +0.342 (No. 1), +3.8% (No. 6)
  • 2020: +0.185 (No. 12), +1% (No. 20)
  • 2021: +0.084 (No. 18), +0.7% (No. 17)
  • 2022: +0.109 (No. 12), -6% (No. 22)
  • 2023: +0.135 (No. 9), +3.5% (No. 9)
  • 2024: +0.273 (No. 3), +4% (No. 7)

Technically Lamar was more efficient per dropback in his memorable 2019 campaign, but guess what: He's (again) playing at an MVP level either way.

Buffalo Bills

  • Question: Has Keon Coleman fulfilled his prophecy as a contested-catch artist?

Not exactly. Coleman has made some big plays, but his 37.5% contested catch rate (3 of 8) isn't exactly out of this world. Being tied with Justin Jefferson and Marvin Harrison is hardly anything to hang your head about, but all three come in at just 45th among 66 qualified players in the metric this season.

Surprisingly, Coleman's best trait has probably been his YAC: He joins Jameson Williams as the only two WRs averaging 10-plus yards after the catch per reception, and nobody has averaged more yards after the catch per reception OVER expected (+5) than Coleman (min. 25 targets).

Carolina Panthers

  • Question: Is Bryce Young the worst QB of all time at the moment?

He doesn't exactly stack up great among those with 500-plus career pass attempts in two particular stats:

  • Bryce Young's average of 5.4 yards per attempt is the second-lowest mark in the Super Bowl era among 337 qualified QBs. The worst is current Jaguars HC Doug Pederson (5.3)!
  • Only two QBs have posted a career passing TD rate under two percent: Kenny Pickett (1.8%) and, you guessed it, Young (1.9%).

Here's to hoping the 2023 NFL Draft's No. 1 overall pick starts to get things back on track on Sunday against the Broncos.

Chicago Bears

  • Question: Is this the best we've ever seen from D'Andre Swift as a receiver?

He's certainly been pretty awesome! The 193 total receiving yards are already within shouting distance of what D'Andre Swift managed with the Eagles (214), and the yards per reception (10.2) and per target (8.4) are career-high marks in addition to ranking among the league's top-10 backs.

Swift has been particularly effective on screens this year: No RB has more receiving yards (130) on screen passes, and he's been a big reason why the Bears are one of just 11 teams to average at least six yards per attempt on screens this season.

Cincinnati Bengals

Tee Higgins missed the first two games of the season, but since then he's actually carried the more fantasy-friendly role compared to teammate/baller Ja'Marr Chase:

Bengals WRs in Weeks 3-7:

  • Targets: Higgins (45), Chase (37)
  • Red zone targets: Higgins (6), Chase (5)
  • Air yards: Higgins (458.1), Chase (385.9)

Now, Chase has scored 118.4 PPR points (WR1) to Higgins' 81.1 (WR7); nobody is debating who the superior producer has been. Still, the Bengals' overqualified No. 2 WR is proving to his current organization as well as the rest of the league that he's more than capable of handling an alpha-worthy workload.

Cleveland Browns

  • Question: Is Jameis Winston the most willing downfield passer the league has ever seen?

Something like that! Let's just say Jameis Winston tends to listen to the risk-taking devil on his shoulder as opposed to the game-managing angel. His average target depth (aDOT) and rank since entering the league in 2015 (excluding 2020 when he threw just 11 passes):

  • 2015: 10.4 yard aDOT (No. 5)
  • 2016: 10.8 (No. 2)
  • 2017: 11 (No. 1)
  • 2018: 11.3 (No. 2)
  • 2019: 10.9 (No. 2)
  • 2021: 9.5 (No. 5)
  • 2022: 12 (No. 1)
  • 2023: 12.7 (No. 1)
  • 2024: 12.5 (No. 1)

That's right: Winston has led the league in aDOT in each of the past three seasons if you finagle with the minimum pass attempt threshold enough. Not all heroes wear a cape.

Dallas Cowboys

  • Question: Is this the worst Cowboys run game in quite some time?

You guessed it! The league's current 32nd-ranked offense in yards per carry has reached its lowest mark of the last decade:

In fact, the 1996 Cowboys are the franchise's only team in the Super Bowl era to average fewer yards per carry than the current 2024 squad. Not great!

Denver Broncos

  • Question: How good has Bo Nix been as a rusher to start his career?

Quite phenomenal! Here are the top 10 most productive QBs on the ground in the first seven games of their career in the Super Bowl era:

Detroit Lions

  • Question: Does Jahymr Gibbs boast the most efficient blend of rushing and receiving efficiency of any RB?

He's up there! The following chart denotes the yards per carry and per reception among 40 RBs with at least 50 carries and 15 receptions this season:

Green Bay Packers

  • Question: Who has been Jordan Love's most efficient target this season?

Let's check each pass-catcher's passer rating when targeted and find the f*ck out!

Packers pass catchers' passer rating when targeted (min. 10 targets):

  1. Jayden Reed (141.6)
  2. Tucker Kraft (131.6)
  3. Josh Jacobs (112.3)
  4. Romeo Doubs (107.3)
  5. Christian Watson (102.4)
  6. Dontayvion Wicks (67.5)

Imagine what the hype would be like for Wicks if he, you know, just did what Doubs did over the past two weeks (score the seventh-most PPR points of any WR in the league).

Houston Texans

  • Question: Has Joe Mixon been the best RB in fantasy football this year?

If you're cool with excluding his injury-shortened 29-snap Week 2 performance against the Bears: Yes. Overall, he's ripped off PPR RB2, RB2, and RB4 finishes in his only three full games–good for a position-high average of 26.8 PPR points per game.

Hell, even keeping the aforementioned injured contest only lowers Mixon to 22.1 PPR points per game, which trails only Derrick Henry (22.9) and Kenneth Walker (22.3) among all RBs. Up next is a Colts defense that Mixon already torched in Week 1 and has allowed the third-most rushing yards to opposing RBs this season. Giddy up.

Indianapolis Colts

  • Question: How many QBs has Joe Flacco even been worse than these past two seasons?

Obviously, Anthony Richardson isn't putting his best foot forward as a passer so far this season, but the last 129-yard effort felt especially rough coming off the back of Joe Flacco's trio of quality performances.

Of course, this isn't too dissimilar from what Flacco experienced during his memorable stretch run with the Browns, which got me thinking: Just how good has Mr. Elite been these past two seasons?

Flacco among 34 QBs with 300-plus dropbacks over the past two seasons:

  • EPA per dropback: +0.078 (No. 20)
  • Completion percentage over expected: -0.7% (No. 24)
  • Passer rating: 94.4 (No. 14)
  • Yards per attempt: 7.5 (No. 9)

Not exactly the best QB in the league, but not too shabby for a 39-year-old who was spending most Sundays chilling on his couch before last December.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Yup! Far from generational, but the splits between T-Law's opening four losses and the team's recent 2-1 stretch are quite stark:

  • Lawrence in Weeks 1-4: 61.4 PFF Pass Grade (23rd), 5.9 yards per attempt (29th), -0.112 EPA per dropback (29th), -6.2% CPOE (35th)
     
  • Lawrence in Weeks 5-7: 88.3 PFF Pass grade (2nd), 9.0 yards per attempt (6th), +0.400 EPA per dropback (3rd), +7.9% CPOE (7th)

Hell, even the recent loss to the Bears included four dropped TD passes. Of course, matchups with the Colts and Patriots weren't exactly the world's stiffest tests; we'll find out just how real these improvements are against a Packers defense that is fresh off holding C.J. Stroud to a career-low 86 passing yards.

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Question: Is the old version of Kareem Hunt performing like he did over a half-decade ago?

There weren't many RBs more productive than Hunt during his first two seasons in Kansas City … and now the 29-year-old veteran is putting up numbers that aren't too far off from those heights:

Hunt PPR points per game and fantasy finishes with the Chiefs:

  • 2017: 18.45 (RB5)
  • 2018: 20.9 (RB8)
  • 2024: 17.2 (RB9)

It's possible Isiah Pacheco (fibula, IR) returns before too long and rains on Hunt's comeback parade; just realize the Chiefs have once again proved that they're more than capable of maintaining RB1 production almost regardless of who the RB is (*cough* CEH *cough*).

Las Vegas Raiders

Yup. And the Utilization Report proves it!

 

Mattison has worked as the overall PPR RB12 over the past three weeks and was featured more than ever in Week 7 despite the return of Zamir White. The Chiefs' league-best defense in PPR points per game allowed to the position won't make it easy to keep the party going this Sunday, but it'd still be surprising to see the ex-Vikings veteran get fewer than 15 touches.

Los Angeles Chargers

Life has been pretty efficient lately! Herbert was dealing with a laundry list of injuries during the first month of the season, but he's come on strong since the team's Week 5 bye:

  • Herbert in Weeks 1-4: 56.3 PFF Pass Grade (26th), 6.4 yards per attempt (26th), -0.044 EPA per dropback (27th), +0.1% CPOE (23rd)
  • Herbert in Weeks 6-7: 80.3 PFF Pass Grade (5th), 8 yards per attempt (8th), +0.253 EPA per dropback (10th), +3.3% CPOE (13th)

The volume has been up as well: Herbert has thrown 34 and 39 passes over the last two games after averaging 22.8 during the first four weeks of the year. While there's only been one passing TD against the Broncos and Cardinals, that is hardly all Herby's fault, and the volume is moving in the right direction: Los Angeles posted a -5% dropback rate over expected in Weeks 1-4 compared to +4% over the past two games.

Los Angeles Rams

  • Question: What's the longest current regular season TD streak?

10 games by (you guessed it) Kyren Williams! Longtime alien Derrick Henry (8) is the only other player with a current streak longer than four. 

The longest streak in NFL history? LaDainian Tomlinson (18) during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Only RB to ever score a TD in every regular season game? OJ Simpson back in 1975. Would be pretty, pretty, pretty cool if Kyren gets there.

Miami Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa has started 32 of a possible 40 games over the past three seasons. It turns out he's quite valuable to the production of his speedy WR duo:

Neither Hill nor Waddle have caught a TD in a game NOT started by Tua over the past three seasons. Madness.

Minnesota Vikings

  • Question: Are the Vikings tapping into Aaron Jones as a receiver more than the Packers ever did? 

Yup! A-aron is currently averaging a career-high 32.4 receiving yards per game, which has helped make him one of the league's more productive RBs through the air:

PPR points per game from purely receiving production:

  1. Breece Hall (9.1)
  2. Alvin Kamara (8.6)
  3. Kenneth Walker (8)
  4. Rachaad White (7.5)
  5. Aaron Jones (7.2)

New England Patriots

  • Question: Is Drake Maye dealing with the single-worst supporting cast in the league?

You could say that. I averaged every team's PFF rush, receiving, pass blocking, and run blocking grades (everything except passing) to create a "supporting cast" metric, and *drum roll* the Patriots finished dead ass last.

New Orleans Saints

  • Question: How far has this offensive line fallen off since the Saints' hot start?

Quite far! The Saints' breathtaking 47 and 44-point explosions to start the season feel like a distant memory at this point and a large reason why has been the troublesome performance from their (very banged up) offensive line.

Saints pressure rate allowed and yards before contact per carry:

  • Weeks 1-2: 20.9% pressure rate (2nd), 2.18 YBC/carry (3rd)
  • Weeks 3-7: 43.2% pressure rate (31st), 1.16 YBC/carry (25th)

Good news: C/G Lucas Patrick (chest) and G Cesar Ruiz (knee) both kicked off the week with a limited practice and accordingly look to be trending toward playing. It'll still likely be another week before Derek Carr (oblique) is back, but hopefully, things start to improve inside this New Orleans offense before too long (they can't get much worse).

New York Giants

  • Question: Is the Giants' rushing attack considerably worse than last year?

It must be, right? Saquon Barkley is gone and looks a lot like the best RB in the league, so things must be FAR worse, right? RIGHT?

Wrong!

Giants RB production and ranks:

  • 2023: 3.6 yards per carry (28th), 2.71 yards after contact per carry (22nd)
  • 2024: 3.9 yards per carry (26th), 2.85 yards after contact per carry (20th)

Still horrible, which shouldn't exactly make Giants fans feel much better, but yeah, keeping Barkley probably wouldn't have this group suddenly functioning as one of the league's more efficient rushing attacks.

New York Jets

  • Question: Are the Jets the worst run-blocking offensive line in football?

Pretty close. Only the Patriots (0.97), Jets (0.82), and Titans (0.36) have averaged less than one rush yard before contact per carry this season.

And yet, many have criticized Breece Hall for not having the same sort of breakaway speed because he couldn't turn his 57-yard catch-and-run into a 60-yard TD last week. Never mind that Hall had to break several tackles and reverse field during the course of that ridiculously awesome play. The problem is DEFINITELY Breece. For sure.

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Question: Have the Eagles been more willing to feed Saquon Barkley at the one-yard line?

Kind of. Overall, the Eagles have given their RBs two carries from the one-yard line this season after registering *zero* in all of 2023.

Still, Philly is tied for fifth in RB carries between the two and five-yard line (8), demonstrating that Barkley and company have had ample opportunities to score close to the goal line. Ultimately, Barkley is the RB4 in PPR points per game and RB5 in expected PPR points per game; even Jason Pierre-Paul doesn't need more than one hand to count the number of RBs you'd rather have on your fantasy team for the rest of the season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Question: Did Russell Wilson spark the Steelers' downfield passing game?

Sure did! While Justin Fields had some good moments during his six starts, we saw George Pickens and company enjoy some newfound downfield efficiency during the Steelers' Week 7 win over the Jets:

Steelers on passes thrown 15+ yards downfield:

  • Week 1: 2/3, 73 yards, 109.7 passer rating
  • Week 2: 1/4, 16 yards, 43.8 passer rating
  • Week 3: 1/3, 27 yards, 67.4 passer rating
  • Week 4: 3/5, 104 yards, 104.2 passer rating
  • Week 5: 0/8, 0 yards, 39.6 passer rating
  • Week 6: 3/7, 67 yards, 77.7 passer rating
  • Week 7: 4/5, 138 yards, 118.8 passer rating

The Steelers join the Rams (pre-TNF) as the only offenses still without a TD pass thrown 15-plus yards downfield, but don't be surprised if that changes sooner rather than later courtesy of one of Wilson's b-e-a-utiful moon balls.

San Francisco 49ers

CMC is tentatively expected to return to action following the 49ers' Week 9 bye, meaning Mason's run as the team's lead RB could be coming to an end following Sunday night's matchup with the Cowboys.

While the receiving numbers (10-86-0) obviously pale in comparison to what McCaffrey is capable of, give the 49ers' 25-year-old talent a lot of credit for putting up some truly impressive numbers on the ground during his seven weeks as the starter.

Mason among 42 RBs with 50-plus carries this season:

  • PFF rush grade: 78.5 (No. 15)
  • Yards per carry: 5.2 (tied for No. 7)
  • Yards over expected per carry: +1.66 (No. 4)
  • Yard after contact per carry: 3.41 (No. 12)
  • Missed tackles forced per carry: 0.25 (No. 11)
  • Explosive run rate: 14.8% (No. 8)

Seattle Seahawks

  • Question: Has Geno Smith been the league's most entertaining QB?

His highs have certainly been high! However, Geno's overall volume and tendency to make smart decisions don't lead to a very high ranking in my "Entertaining Rating" metric, which simply takes the sum of every QB's big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates.

The only two QBs to produce these outcomes on at least 10% of their dropbacks this season: Josh Allen (11.7%) and Anthony Richardson (11.5%). Allen also led the league in this ever-important metric back in 2022, while Will Levis (2023), Kyler Murray (2021), Drew Lock (2020), and Jameis Winston (2019) are the other "winners" from the past five seasons of action.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Not really! Overall, the Bucs' TE1 has played a whopping 92.4% of the team's snaps this season while running a route on 86% of Baker Mayfield's dropbacks. The only TEs ahead of Otton in the latter metric are Travis Kelce and Trey McBride–don't be surprised if Otton supplies some volume-induced fantasy goodness over the next month or so while the team's WR room remains so banged up.

Tennessee Titans

At least as good as ever! While the 4.3 yards per carry don't jump off the screen, we have to consider the Titans' league-worst offensive line in rush yards before contact per carry.

Pollard's rank in PFF's Elusive Rating (measures success and impact of a runner with the ball independently of the blocking) is as follows:

  • 2019: 116.1 (No. 1)
  • 2020: 89.2 (No. 2)
  • 2021: 73.4 (No. 9)
  • 2022: 78.7 (No. 8)
  • 2023: 45.2 (No. 35)
  • 2024: 78.4 (No. 17)

Washington Commanders

Pretty close! While the yards per game (64.9) are actually lower than when he managed in 2019, 2020, and 2022, the increase in TDs has helped the artist known as Scary Terry average the second-most PPR points per game of his career:

  • 2019: 13.7 PPR points per game (WR29)
  • 2020: 14.9 (WR20)
  • 2021: 12.6 (WR30)
  • 2022: 13.5 (WR23)
  • 2023: 12.3 (WR36)
  • 2024: 14.7 (WR17)