The Fantasy Football Numbers Do Lie: Exposing stats for Week 5 and beyond

Better fantasy football days are ahead for Brock Purdy. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A simple look at a box score or a study of fantasy football categories doesn’t always tell the whole story of how a player is performing. Dalton Del Don attempts to identify misleading numbers that are worth a closer look.

Yes … The Numbers Do Lie.

Purdy isn’t top 10 in TD passes this season despite having the second-most passing yards and leading the league in YPA by a full half-yard. He also leads the NFL in adjusted EPA/play and has 257 more air yards than any other quarterback. Purdy is throwing by far the deepest downfield among the leaders in percentage of air yards deemed catchable.

Purdy led the NFL in TD% each of the least two seasons (6.9% & 6.2%), but he’s fallen outside the top 12 this year at 4.1%. He’s dealt with the most dropped deep passes while somehow creating the most time to throw behind a shaky offensive line. After recording the best YPA (9.6) season of all time last year (minimum 350 pass attempts), Purdy’s remarkable efficiency (9.3 YPA) has remained despite the 49ers ranking 31st in yards after the catch this season.

Purdy has underwhelming TD stats despite ranking fourth in red-zone attempts and sixth in passes inside the 10. He ranks fourth in end-zone targets. Dak Prescott somehow has more TD throws despite not attempting a single pass inside the 10-yard line this season. Joe Burrow has 17 attempts inside the 10 and 14 inside the five.

Purdy has averaged more RZ passes and EZ targets over the first four weeks than when he threw 26 touchdowns over the final 12 games last season, so regression is coming.

Purdy has proven he can play without his star teammates, and they are all finally getting healthy outside of Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers routinely have the highest weekly implied team total, and San Francisco’s defense has suffered injuries and was allowing the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/the-fantasy-football-numbers-do-lie-exposing-stats-for-week-5-and-beyond-145749463.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-03 14:57:49

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