Fantasy Football Six-Pack: Justin Fields makes a run at history

If you're still alive in the fantasy semifinals, perhaps you've got the NFL fully solved. It's possible you don't need any additional statistical nuggets to help decipher the league. For everyone else, here's a six-pack of stats that may not actually help you, but also can't hurt...

100.8 - Justin Fields has averaged 100.8 rushing yards per game over his last eight, dating back to mid-October when the Bears finally began leaning into his strengths as an offensive playmaker. Josh Jacobs is the only running back in the NFL averaging over 100 rushing yards per week for the season. Fields currently leads the league in yards per carry (7.0) and he's one of only seven players to have already reached 1,000 yards. If he or his team care at all about snatching Lamar Jackson's single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206), it's his. Runs like this from Fields have simply become every-week occurrences:

30 - Travis Kelce ranks fifth in the league in total targets at the moment (127), but he's the across-the-board leader in terms of the most high-value opportunities. His 30 red-zone targets put him well in front of the pack. He also leads the NFL in targets inside the 10-yard line (17) and inside the 5 (11). And, of course, we're not just talking about generic pass attempts here — these are premium targets, via Patrick Mahomes. As we've discussed before, Kelce offers the greatest possible positional advantage in fantasy. He may have actually wrecked the position for future generations.

23 - Drake London has been targeted 23 times over Atlanta's past two games, which might not be notable in a standard-issue offense, but it certainly is when a team averages just 23.3 throws per week. He saw 11 chances Sunday in Desmond Ridder's first pro start on only 26 pass attempts. With 165 yards over his last two games, London is definitely surging at the right time. Even in a run-committed offense, he's approved for flexing. He's drawn an absurd 46% of the available targets over his last two, a throwback to his USC days.

18.0 - After Jaylen Waddle's three-catch, 114-yard performance Saturday, he's averaging a league-leading 18.0 yards per reception for the year. Many aspects of Miami's season have been delightful for fantasy purposes and we probably haven't spent enough time applauding Waddle's usage. His average depth of target in 2021 was just 7.1 yards, which never seemed appropriate to his skill set. This year, his aDOT has jumped to 12.2. Generally speaking, it's nice to see uncoverable burners like Waddle drawing high-yield targets.

14.98 - This is the average weekly fantasy total delivered by tight ends facing the Arizona Cardinals' defense this season in Yahoo default scoring. If an individual player was producing this way at tight end, he'd be the second highest-scoring guy at the position, behind only Travis Kelce (16.6). The Cards have actually allowed the most receptions (91), receiving yards (994) and touchdowns (10) to opposing tight ends, an impressive triple crown. Either Cameron Brate or Cade Otton (or both) should visit the end zone this week, just in case you're streaming this dreadful position in a deep league.

4.42 - Tyler Allgeier has averaged 4.42 yards after contact per attempt over the past four weeks, the fourth-best rate in the league among backs with at least 20 carries during that stretch. For the season, the rookie is picking up 3.52 yards after contact per carry, the eighth-highest mark in the league. So this is definitely a case in which the advanced stats match the eye test. Allgeier is excellent, a powerful runner who basically never goes down without a messy skirmish. He's still stuck in an unfortunate RBBC arrangement, sure, but at least it's a high-volume committee. The Falcons are running the ball 32.6 times per game, making them the third most run-heavy team in the league.

Listen to the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast