57 Nuggets From Week 1

Welcome back!

Oooooh baby!!! Who’s ready to read waaay into week 1 with me?
For all our new readers, you can check out our Patreon to get access to the Discord channel here.

Get each week’s newsletter delivered to your inbox 👇

Analysis & Hype:

D'Andre Swift was PFF’s highest-graded RB in Week 1.

Javonte Williams saw a majority of snaps on early downs, goalline snaps, and 100% of snaps in two minute drills.

Javonte Williams had 11 catches in week 1 which is a record high for him.

Javonte Williams had 5 forced missed tackles on receptions in week 1 which was the most among all players.

Kyle Philips doubling the next-closest Titans receiver in catches while only playing half the snaps against the Giants is a note that should not be ignored.

Wide receivers with the largest targets per route, minimum 20 routes
1. Kyle Philips 42.9% (Titans Rookie WR)
2. Tyreek Hill 38.7% 3.
Davante Adams 36.6%
4. Amon-Ra St. Brown 33.3%
5. Brandin Cooks 31.6%

“Juwan Johnson is the Saints' clear lead TE and a potential deep fantasy sleeper. Week 1 usage: * 74% snaps * 80% routes * 5 targets (15% share)”

Air yardage leaders at TE in Week 1:
99 - Mark Andrews
95 - Travis Kelce
93 - Kyle Pitts
83 - Darren Waller
74 - Pat Freiermuth
70 - Logan Thomas
60 - Dalton Schultz
56 - Juwan Johnson
54 - Harrison Bryant
42 - TJ Hockenson

The five tight ends with 20%+ target shares in Week 1:
Pat Freiermuth - 27.0%
Tyler Higbee - 26.8%
Mark Andrews - 24.1%
Travis Kelce - 23.1%
Kyle Pitts - 21.9%

Pat Freiermuth in Week 1 vs the Bengals:
74.2 PFF grade - 3rd among all TEs
5 receptions - 3rd
75 yards - 3rd
29 YAC - 3rd
2.42 yards per route run - 2nd
2 missed tackles forced - 1ST

“Thus far, 6 wide receivers have hit a 35% target share. Cooper Kupp did it Thursday. Justin Jefferson did it today. And so did the three stud wideouts who switched teams: Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, and AJ Brown. The last one? Donovan Peoples-Jones.” He also had 3 contested catches which tied for 1st in the NFL.

“Last season, Justin Jefferson saw 24% of his targets against a linebacker or safety in primary coverage. In Week 1, that number was 60% -- those targets turned into 5 receptions for 148 yards and 2 TDs.”

Amon-Ra St. Brown now has 8+ catches in 7 straight games, one behind the all-time record held by Michael Thomas and Antonio Brown. St. Brown also has a TD grab in 5 straight games played, the longest streak by a Lion since Calvin Johnson in 2011.

“Michael Thomas participated in 83% of Saints' passing plays despite a hamstring injury that kept him limited all week in practice. 27% target share”

“We knew Treylon Burks wouldn't play a lot Week 1, but we wanted to see if he could make an impact. Burks: 3-55 on 5 targets and 13 routes (4.23 YPRR). All other TEN WRs: 9-114 on 14 targets and 72 routes (1.58 YPRR). He's a clear BUY or HOLD.”

“David Montgomery had a rough Week 1 but was still clearly the RB1 for Chicago. Snaps 66% Routes/dropback 67% Attempts 53% Short down & distance 100% Long down & distance 77% Two-minute offense 80% Led team with 24% target share.”

“Obviously I was charting Curtis Samuel but man the other takeaway from that tape is a whole bunch of people ripped the Jahan Dotson pick and they’re gonna need to walk that back. They just looked at big boards, didn’t watch him play. That guy is a 100% baller and it’s not a shock” … “Jahan Dotson: Has the best hands among the top prospects in this class and sports a 96th percentile (!!) success rate vs. zone coverage in RP. Just a damn good player.”

Joe Burrow on Ja'Marr Chase: "As much as we got him the ball on Sunday, we've got to get him the ball more."

“Ja'Marr Chase was a combined 8 inches away from 4 more TDs”

I don’t usually just share highlight clips, but this compilation of all of Travis Etienne’s Week 1 rush attempts and targets shows he’s clearly got the juice.

“Drake London was the FIRST Wide Receiver taken in the Draft then in Week One, he lead EVERY Rookie in Target Share AND PFF Receiving Grade yet in the Offensive Rookie Of the Year odds, he’s BEHIND Dotson and Pickens.”

Miles Sanders goal-line rushes in week 1: 3
Miles Sanders goal-line rushes in 2021: 6

Miles Sanders week 1:
13 carries, 96 yards (7th)
7.4 yards/run (5th)
6.0 yards after contact/run (4th)
Rushed over expected yards on 75 % of carries (1st)

Michael Pittman hasn't seen a target share south of 23% in a single game since Week 10 of last year. In week 1 he was at 26.5%.

Designed rushing attempt share + scramble rates for Week 1:
28%, 21% Jalen Hurts
28%, 11% Trey Lance
25%, 13% Josh Allen
22%, 11% Marcus Mariota
21%, 3% Kyler Murray
21%, 17% Justin Fields
19%, 6% Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson is the only quarterback to ever clear 150 rush attempts in a single season. Trey Lance has 44 rush attempts in four extended appearances. 17-game pace: 187 rush attempts.

“Saquon Barkley played 83% of snaps and posted a whopping 74% route participation. He dominated opportunities for the Giants.
62% of attempts
40% target share
22% of his carries went for 10-yards or more 6.8 yards per attempt after contact
Legit RB1 overall upside rest of way”

“George Pickens was on the field for 91% of the Steelers' passing plays. He only had a 9% target share, but still a positive sign for the second-round rookie that he was out there.”

Three running backs saw at least 90% of their team's running back rushes this week: Joe Mixon, Jonathan Taylor, and Derrick Henry. The next player on that list, who was at an 84.6% share, is Cordarrelle Patterson. His single-game high last year was 73.7%.

“As Aaron Jones was wrapping up his media time today, he pointed towards [Robert Tonyan’s] locker & said, “that’s who people are sleeping on.” Then he got on a roll talking about it. Said Tonyan has incredible chemistry with 12 & he could easily lead Packers in receptions.”

Chase Edmonds saw 73% of the RB opportunities Week 1 — 22% more than his 2021 average.

Excluding a 2018 game where Jeff Wilson Jr. was knocked out in the first quarter with a shoulder injury, he's started in 8 career games for the 49ers. Per-game averages:
18.6 carries
90.3 rushing yards
2.5 targets
9.5 receiving yards
1 TD
17.6 PPR fantasy points

“Kyle Pitts had yet again more disappointing results but lead the team in snaps played and tied for the team lead with London with a 22% target share.”

A.J. Brown posted a 95% route participation and dominated looks from Jalen Hurts with a 44% target share in Week 1. He accounted for 70% of the team's air yards and posted a 3.97 YPRR.

“Jalen Hurts through 20 career starts Passing Yards -- 4,306 Rushing Yards -- 1,146 Only player in #NFL history to have 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards through 20 career starts (accomplished the feat in 19 starts).”

Chart showing that Jalen Hurts’ stats through is first 20 career starts stack up surprisingly well against Joe Burrow and Kyler Murray.

Jalen Hurts was the most accurate QB on throws past the sticks in Week 1 according to PFF.

Jalen Hurts dropped back 42 times Week 1. That’s a sharp increase from the average 32.7 he saw on a per game basis last year.

“Jonathan Taylor's 61% route participation was a big development in Week 1. Handled half of the long-down-distance & two-minute offense. Great news.”

The Dolphins led the entire NFL in Pass Rate Over Expectation Week 1.

/r/fantasyfootball thread: “The “eye test” returns: Who passed and failed the eye test in week 1?”

Thread on /r/DynastyFF with week 1 stats from notable rookie WRs.

Pretty cool find on /r/DynastyFF: “I made a fully searchable trade database tool”

Cold Water:

Derek Carr in his last 11 games: 14 TDs, 13 INTs, 11 fumbles, 5-6 record.

Mike Gesicki played fewer snaps than Durham Smythe and ran a route only 41% of plays.

“Dawson Knox:
1-5-0 on 2 targets
Played 50 of 58 snaps
Ran routes on only 25 of 38 dropbacks
Despite sitting only 8 plays, he lost out on 13 possible routes, because he was pass blocking. Maybe that was game plan-specific usage, but it's not a good sign.”

Mike Evans in 10 career matchups against Marshon Lattimore don’t look promising for this week.

“Devin Duvernay scored two touchdowns but only participated in 51% of the routes and registered a 14% target share. Long way to go before you can put him in any lineups”

Khalil Herbert had two goal-line carries in week 1, while David Montgomery had zero.

The Fun Stuff:

Lamar Jackson told the media three times that “respectfully” he’s no longer talking about his contract.

David Montgomery ain’t no fool.

“A painter produces art. A gamer produces nothing.” … Explain this.

“If you can't handle me when I'm waking up at 3am in a cold sweat to check waivers, then you don't deserve me when my fantasy team wins a championship.”

Broncos country. Let’s ride.

The Giants rolling out their new and improved offense

“Oh my… Allen Robinson just revealed why he’s off to a poor start in Los Angeles:”

👋 That’s it for now. Join our community on Patreon and get access to our Discord chat, where everyone shares and discusses the beast headlines/analysis, daily. You can also follow us on Twitter, where we browse over 1,000 analysts and beat writers and retweet/post all the good stuff.