Fantasy football stats to know for Week 1

Week 1 is here. Week 1 is here. Week 1 is here.

Nope. It doesn’t matter how many times I say it, it doesn’t get old. Every Monday here at FTN Fantasy, I will be providing fantasy football stats to know ahead of the week to help set the tone for your research and preparation. 

Calvin Ridley dominates without Julio Jones

Everyone is excited about Calvin Ridley ahead of the 2021 season, and they should be. He is already an incredible player, but now with Julio Jones in Tennessee, Ridley is the unquestioned top player on this Atlanta offense. Per FTN Fantasy’s splits tool, Ridley is averaging 11.1 targets, 7.25 receptions and 107 receiving yards per game in eight contests with Jones out of the lineup since the 2018 season. And in 2020, Ridley led the NFL in air yards (1,918), while handling just over 41% of the Falcons’ air yards. He was also the first read 26% of the time, a top-nine rate in the league, and now Jones is gone. Ridley should get off to a great start Week 1 at home against the Eagles.

A.J. Brown averaged 3.15 yards per route run vs man coverage in 2020

That was the fifth-highest mark in football, while his 36 receptions against man coverage were also good for fifth in the league. This is notable when you consider the Titans face the Cardinals in Week 1, a team that has played as much man coverage as anyone in football lately. And with Vance Joseph returning as the defensive coordinator, don’t expect much to change. Entering the season, Arizona has one of the worst cornerback groups in all of football, making this an outstanding matchup for A.J. Brown (and Julio Jones) to begin the season.

14% of Dalvin Cook’s carries in 2020 went for 10-plus yards 

Per FTN’s advanced rushing stats, that was the seventh-highest mark in the league. It shouldn’t be too shocking considering Dalvin Cook is among the league’s best running backs, and I expect him to get off to a tremendous start to the 2021 campaign. Cook faces a Cincinnati defense that was bottom-eight in both fantasy points and rushing yards per game to opposing backfields last year. Meanwhile, 14.9% of the carries against the Bengals went for at least 10 yards, which was the highest rate in the NFL. 

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The Jaguars allowed 10 100-yard games to wide receivers last season

That was the most in the league last year and interestingly enough, one of those performances was to Brandin Cooks, who went for 8-161-1 against Jacksonville. Of course, not many are excited about the Texans this season and I will note that the Jaguars added Shaquill Griffin to their secondary in the offseason and if sophomore C.J. Henderson can take a step forward in Year 2, this secondary can improve tremendously. But in deeper leagues or three-receiver formats, don’t be terrified of starting Cooks this week.