Fantasy Football Edge: 40 Fantasy Facts

By Moe Koltun, Matt Cott and Matthew Schwimmer of RotoAnalysis.com

With 3 weeks (and 1 game) in the books, preseason rankings can be thrown out the window and we can look at exactly what has happened so far. Here are 40 interesting facts that you may not have realized early this season.

1. After 3 weeks, Robert Griffin III is leading the NFL in fantasy points with 78.
2. RG3 has more points than Jimmy Graham and Aaron Rodgers… combined.
3. The Redskins' schedule the next 9 weeks is the Buccaneers, Falcons, Vikings, Giants, Steelers, Panthers, Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants, good for exactly one and a half good passing D's (the Falcons and then 50/50 on the Eagles).
4. Brandon Marshall has 26 fantasy points through 3 weeks, made up of one good 9 reception, 119 yard 1 TD game, one bad 2 reception 24 yard game, and one mediocre 5 reception 71 yard game.
5. However, Marshall is 9th in the NFL in targets this season with 31.
6. His next 5 games are against the Cowboys, Jaguars, Lions, Panthers, and Titans, all of which are sub par or worse pass defenses.
7. Joique Bell, Kevin Walter, Shaun Draughn, Armon Binns, Adam Vinatieri, Brandon Stokley, and T.Y. Hilton are among the players with more points than Washington receiver Pierre Garçon so far this season.
8. Shonn Greene hasn't rushed for more than 4.2 yards per carry since his rookie season, and is averaging 2.8 yards per carry.
9. Bilal Powell is averaging 4.0 yards per carry in limited work this season against tough competition.
10. Andre Brown is currently a top 10 running back in fantasy points.
11. Ahmad Bradshaw averaged 3.9 yards per carry last season, although he's improved to 4.3 YPC this year.
12. Andre Brown is currently averaging 5.6 Yards Per Carry on 33 rushes with a long of only 31, showing consistency on most of his runs. He also has 3 TD's to go with that, and 5 receptions for 36 yards in the receiving game.
13. Although he may split time with Ahmad Bradshaw for the upcoming weeks, Andre Brown is Football Outsider's 3rd ranked RB in terms of efficiency.
14. New York Giants running backs are averaging an astounding 7.7 yards-per-carries on runs up the middle.
15. Mark Ingram has had exactly one fantasy point in two out of his three games.
16. Pierre Thomas is averaging 7.3 yards per carry in extremely limited work, and Sproles is averaging 8.9 YPC but only has 7 attempts on the season, although all of them came last week.
17. Darren Sproles also has 18 receptions for 163 yards and 1 TD, and has been a very effective blocker in the mold of Pierre Thomas.
18. In contrast, Ingram is averaging 2.9 yards per carry in slightly more work (27 carries).
19. Greg Zuerlein has made 100% of his field goals, is tied for the 2nd longest in the league, is the only kicker in the NFL to be perfect 4 or more times from 40+, and also has made 100% of his extra points. He's basically the perfect kicker at this point, the only qualm being they don't use him enough.
20. Stevan Ridley still ranks in the top 15 of carries despite his weekly carries and yards-per-carry falling every week since week 1.
21. Only two of the top seven current leading scorers amongst tight ends were drafted in the top eight.
22. Although Darren McFadden is 27th in DVOA, his team is adjusting to a new blocking scheme and he looked much better last week.
23. Despite spending 2 of his last 4 seasons in the CFL, Andrew Hawkins ranks 3rd in efficiency amongst WR's, ahead of Calvin Johnson.
24. In addition to leading the league in rushing scores, Arian Foster leads the league in carries, he already has 19 more carries then the 13th most active rusher. Ben Tate will get his looks, but Foster is still the man.
25. Fantasy owners looking for playoff schedules already should know that the Texans play the Colts and Vikings in week 15 and 16.
26. Although Heath Miller leads tight ends in touchdowns, he's only averaging 8.6 yards per catch.
27. Despite supposedly having a knack for being a good longball, Carson Palmer has completed as many deep passes to teammates (1) as opponents (1) in 10 attempts.
28. Palmer is second in the league in passing attempts, a trend that probably won't continue.
29. Drew Brees owners can hope for better days: receivers have dropped an average of 4 deep balls a game from him in comparison to 2 last year.
30. The Cardinals have completed 16 of 20 passes to receivers in the slot. Larry Fitzgerald spent time in the slot last weekend for the Cardinals.
31. Despite only having 16 catches on the season, Santonio Holmes is 7th in the league in targets.
32. Over the past two seasons Vernon Davis has 13 touchdowns. That's .41 TDs a game and one TD for every 9.46 catches.
33. Over the past three weeks Davis has 4 touchdowns. That's 1.33 TDs a game and one TD for every 3.25 catches. This pace won't continue and while he's a top 5 guy, he's getting overrated right now.
34. Eric Decker has more receptions and more yards than Demariyus Thomas through three games.
35. Eric Decker is 6'3', 218 pounds, and runs a 4.45 40 yard dash. Demariyus Thomas is 6'3'', 224 pounds, and runs a 4.39 40 yard dash, yet is considered to be vastly more athletic than Decker.
36. The Saints have let up more than 100 yards to opposing running backs every single week, and have now let up 24, 32, and 39 points each of the past 3 weeks.
37. Reggie Wayne has 40 targets this year, tops in the NFL, and over 32% of Andrew Luck's passing attempts. Danny Amendola has 37 targets this year which is good for 3rd, and is the target of over 35% of Sam Bradford's passing attempts.
38. Are the only receivers with 6 or more catches every game this season: Reggie Wayne, Victor Cruz, Percy Harvin, Calvin Johnson, and Michael Crabtree. Target these guys in PPR formats.
39. Although he had a breakthrough debut, Mikel Leshoure only broke one tackle and averaged 1.35 yards after contract.
40. On the other hand, despite only averaging 3.6 yards-per-carry, Donald Brown is averaging over 3 yards-per-carry after first contact.

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