Welcome to my new corner of the internet: Under The Hood. I hope you weren’t looking for something seedier. This will just be some nerding out about NFL deep stats. I’ll attempt to give you some under the radar reads on what’s happening around the NFL and what might translate down the road. I’ll keep it to ten bullets so you can get back to your other dirty internet habits expeditiously.
- The Seahawks had the second-highest situation neutral pass rate week 1 at 67.+%. Atlanta’s coaches apparently thought making one of the best QBs in the league beat you was the way to go? Can I get some of whatever they’re smoking? If the trend continues for Seattle, Russ was drastically underpriced this redraft season.
- CeeDee Lamb played 54 of his 59 snaps in the slot. We’ve come to learn that quality receivers in the slot can be a lethal weapon. It did wonders for Amari Cooper on this same offense. Expect big things from the rookie as the Cowboys get drawn into shootouts with a shaky defense.
- I’m not the biggest RoJo truther but I bought in after Leonard Fournette signed and started going five rounds ahead of him. Jones out rushed Fournette with ease against a stiff Saints run defense. He was also better than confirmed dust, LeSean McCoy, in passing work catching two of three targets on 11 routes run. McCoy only garnered one target on 20 routes.
- The 49ers targeted backs on 15 out of 33 passes and only 11 to WRs. Apparently they’re going to wait out the Deebo Samuel IR stint. George Kittle getting hung out by Jimmy Garrapolo isn’t going to help. Keep an eye on Jerick McKinnon in deep PPR leagues.
- John Ross played the most snaps of any Bengals WR (57/68, 2 more than Tyler Boyd). Ross is a dangerous man. The Browns coverage unit is bottom of the barrel. Am I telling you to play him in the showdown slate tonight? Do you need me to spell it out for you that I am? Did Grizzly Adams have a beard?
- Draft season darling Mike Gesicki got off to a pedestrian start. He did, however, see 39 non-inline (slot or wide) TE snaps. With Devante Parker’s hamstring doing it’s usual early season clam-job the opportunity is still there for brighter days ahead.
- I’m hesitant to touch any part of Cleveland’s offense at the moment. Odell Beckham Jr. could be a buy low, though. He saw half (10/20) of the Browns WR targets. Jarvis Landry is clearly not 100%. Baker can’t be this bad at finding open receiver, right? RIGHT?!? Tell me it will all be ok!
- Irv Smith Jr. split almost everything with Kyle Rudolph: 32 snaps for Rudolph/31 for Irv, 2 targets for Rudolph/1 for Irv, 15 routes run for Rudolph/16 for Irv. Week 1 was a double whammy for Irv’s backers. We were taking a leap of faith on two conclusions that were wrong, at least for one week: that Smith would earn the bigger TE role and that targets would flow his way with very little in the pass-catcher cupboard. There may not be a game Minnesota trails by more in all season. This was the spot and he waffled.
- Were we a year early on the Marques Valdez-Scantling breakout? He had an aDOT of 21.5 catching 4/6 with 96 yards and 1 TD. The Vikings decided to extend their summer vacation into week one and neglected covering anyone. It’s still encouraging for a WR that’s worked at his craft to become a deep threat.
- The Falcons defense is still trash. That will lead to Matty Ice hucking the ball all over in the waning of the second half. He totaled 507 intended air yards while completing 450 of them. Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Russell Gage all produced that sweet garbage time elixir for you. Look for the trend to continue until the team shakes up the coaching staff.
