Directional passing update for Week 3

Every week, we’re going to take a look around the league and see where different pass catchers are being targeted. It’s important to understand how a player is being used in order to see if they’re likely to sustain that production or not. We can also leverage the WR/CB Matchup Tool to exploit defenses in matchups where they may be lacking. 

Deep Passing

Takeaways

• The first thing that jumps off the page to me is that the Broncos have two receivers targeted 3+ times in this zone. I have them in the middle of the pack in pass rate over expected, so they’re not exactly letting Teddy Bridgewater cook (is that a thing?), but it’s an encouraging sign if you’ve bought into the Broncos’ offense.
• This tool is also not updated to reflect TNF from this week so Brandin Cooks will climb the leaderboard once it is.
• David. Njoku. I think if you gave me 50 guesses to name who was 8th in Deep Receiving Targets I wouldn’t have gotten to Njoku, but here we are.
• JD McKissic and Ty Johnson are the only RBs with even one deep target.
• Darren Waller and the aforementioned Njoku are the only tight ends with multiple deep targets.

Short Passing

Takeaways

• It will never not be funny to me that it’s the biggest guys (tight ends) and the smallest guys (slot receivers) that fill up the majority of this list.
• 5-of-12 leaders in this category are tight ends while 6-of-12 are wide receivers. “But wait…that’s only 11”. You’re absolutely right! The lone running back is D’Andre Swift. Swift has amassed 72 receiving yards on his 8 air yards over the middle of the field.

A Look at Week 3 Matchups

Here are the top three matchups from our WR/CB Tool this week.

Jakobi Meyers looks like a strong start this week based on his matchup with PJ Williams. 

Williams has offered very little resistance to the WRs he covered in the past and there’s not much of a reason to think Sunday would be any different. 

DeAndre Hopkins is a game-time decision on Sunday, but if he’s able to go you’re going to want to start him or have exposure in DFS. 

CJ Henderson allows 0.36 fantasy points per route. It’s not quite as bad as PJ Williams but when you’re giving up fantasy points at that rate and you have to line up across from Hopkins, you could be in for a long day. 

I’d imagine that Davante Adams doesn’t need much analysis but I wanted to highlight Sterling Shepard this week. 

The Falcons defense has had a Limburger stink on it for years and 2021 hasn’t changed much. Shepard has amassed 19 targets and 178 air yards through the first two weeks of the season. His WOPR is above 0.6 which is a solid output.