Directional passing update for Week 7

During the NFL season, we’re going to break down how different offenses are utilizing their weapons all over the field. As the year goes on, patterns begin to emerge that will allow us to anticipate and exploit mismatches between a defense and an offense that we’re targeting. 

Short Passing

Najee Harris continues to lead all running backs in this area of the field. Turning -16 air yards into the fifth-most receiving yards in this section of the field is pretty impressive. Cooper Kupp continues to be rock solid in 2021 and shows up at the top of this list, along with CeeDee Lamb and DJ Moore. Travis Kelce is the only other non-WR on this list besides Harris.

We’ve seen quite a shakeup in this list over the past couple of weeks. We now have three tight ends appearing in the top 10 with Dalton Schultz sitting atop the list. Leonard Fournette is the only running back on this list. Similar to Harris in the short-left section of the field, it’s rather impressive that he’s turned -14 air yards into 138 receiving yards. Here’s a look at some of the most prominent names in the short passing game and their outlook for this weekend. 

Deep Passing

Only seven wide receivers have gained at least 90 yards on deep middle targets. It’s very rare to be targeted in this section of the field. Marquise Brown is leading the way with 7 targets, but Henry Ruggs has been the most productive with 44.75 YPA on the four targets he’s seen.

Only a dozen wide receivers have seen at least 7 targets to the deep right section of the field this season. Ja’Marr Chase continues to lap the field here with more than 110 additional yards than the next closest wide receiver. 

Here’s a look at the slate of matchups on tap for the featured wide receivers in this group.