Fantasy Football Stat of the Day: The long-TD scorers

(Leading up to the 2021 NFL season, FTN’s Tyler Loechner will dive into the fantasy football numbers to bring you his Fantasy Stat of the Day, five days a week.)

Not all TDs are created equal. Davante Adams was able to rack up the fantasy points with his plethora of 1- and 2-yard scores in 2020, but the more exciting plays — and the plays that have the best chance to turn the fantasy tides — are long passing scores.

So which WRs are the best at reliving long. Game-altering TDs for your fantasy squad? That’s what today’s Stat of the Day piece aims to answer.

Be sure to check out FTN’s Out of Pocket QB stats tool to explore more of the data yourself!

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Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the ultimate definition of “boom or bust”

The chart below shows the top 10 players (minimum 5 receiving TDs) from the 2020 season based on the average length of all of their TD receptions:

Player	TDs	Avg. Dist. Of TDs
Marquez Valdes-Scantling	6	43.7
Mike Williams	5	35.8
Nelson Agholor	8	34.6
Will Fuller	8	33.4
Justin Jefferson	7	30.3
Brandin Cooks	6	28.2
Christian Kirk	6	26.7
Chase Claypool	9	26.6
Tyreek Hill	15	26.1
James Washington	5	25.4

A few notes from this study:

Marques Valdes-Scantling is a free dart throw. He costs nothing in most drafts (correctly), but MVS is a tantalizing one-week filler due to the fact he can score 10-plus fantasy points on a single play. His average of 44 yards per TD was easily the most in the league last year.
Nelson Agholor could be a make-or-break WR in New England. The NE passing attack in 2020 was atrocious, but it’s a whole new ballgame in 2021: The QB is potentially new, as is virtually every single target in the target tree aside from Jakobi Meyers and James White. While drafting any NE receiver is scary, Agholor has proven his ability to be a downfield threat. He has the highest ceiling of the bunch.
Justin Jefferson and Chase Claypool were rookie cheat codes, and they won’t be flukes. Jefferson and Claypool were not glorified goal-line RB. Jefferson earned his TDs, burning defenses for a 30.3 average TD length. Meanwhile, Claypool collected 2 more TDs than Jefferson on the year, averaging 26.6 yards per score.
This stat alone shows why Tyreek Hill is worth a first-round pick. Last year, Hill had 15 total TDs with over 25 yards per TD. That means he’s scoring nearly 10 points on a single play every single week.