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Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.

1 Pass Completion

A trio of position players completed passes this week. Perhaps, I should be more specific that they each completed one pass to their own team, but more on that in a moment. On Thursday, we saw Logan Thomas, a TE on a Football Team, hit Terry McLaurin on a 28-yard completion in the first quarter, the longest pass play of the day for Washington. Washington only really needed Antonio Gibson on Thursday, but we’ll get to him in a little bit. Cole Beasley joined in the fun on Sunday, throwing a 20-yard pass to Gabriel Davis in the Bills’ victory over the Chargers. Which brings us to the more infamous player who completed only one pass on Sunday. This, of course, needs a qualifier, because Kendall Hinton did complete two passes to the wrong team, and only one to his own team. A stat line of 1 for 9 with 2 INTs is not something I thought I would see in the NFL in a game that didn’t include some sort of blizzard or hurricane. Here we are, in 2020, where a practice squad player gets to start at QB because he was a backup QB in college.

51.4 Fantasy Points

We’re not here for tiny numbers, generally speaking, though sometimes they can be fun. Let’s break down the top fantasy performance of the season. Tyreek Hill did most of his damage in the first quarter, coming just a few yards shy of the all-time record for receiving yards in a single quarter. Hill started off with a 34-yard completion on the very first play of the game. He added another 23 yards on the same drive and had 57 yards total before 2 minutes had elapsed in the game. Two drives later, Hill got loose behind the defense and caught a 75-yard touchdown, his 6^th receiving TD from Patrick Mahomes of 50 yards or more. A good quarter, you say? There was still 7 minutes left to go! On the next Chiefs drive, Hill caught 3 more passes, capping it off with a 44-yard TD reception. Hill ended the quarter with 7 receptions on 7 targets for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. In comparison, Hill slacked off the rest of the game and finished with “only” 13 receptions for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns.

3 Touchdowns on the Ground

Tyreek Hill wasn’t the only player to find the end zone three times in Week 12. A pair of running backs managed that feat. First, on Thursday, Antonio Gibson was all the offense that Washington needed to defeat the Cowboys in their annual “why do the same teams always play on Thanksgiving?” afternoon naptime entertainment. Gibson started the game just fine, scoring early to put fantasy owners at ease. It was his finish that was truly impressive. He had fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 23 and 37 yards to turn his average day into the best game of his rookie season. A pick-six by Washington on the play following Gibson’s last touchdown put away the game for the Football Team and also buried the Cowboys' last playoff hopes for this year. Gibson was outdone on Sunday by Derrick Henry, who did almost all of his damage in the first half against the Colts. Henry finished with 178 yards and 3 more touchdowns. This brings his season totals to a league-leading 1,257 rush yards and 12 touchdowns, just one behind Dalvin Cook.

1 WR Over 1,000 Yards

We’re 12 weeks into the season, so while almost every team has played 11 games, we have just one wide receiver averaging 100 yards per game, Davante Adams at 100.9 yds/gamee – a definite departure from the high-flying passing numbers that we’ve seen in recent years. Tyreek Hill is the only WR who has cracked the 1,000-yard mark (1,081) and it took a monster game from him on Sunday to do so. His teammate, Travis Kelce, who is the TE1, 2, and 3 is second in the league in receiving yards with 978. On the rushing side, we have two players averaging 100 yards per game – the aforementioned Derrick Henry with 114 yds/game and Dalvin Cook just behind him at 113 yds/game. The lack of a truly dominant top end in fantasy football has probably prevented teams from running away with it and made waiver wire moves and starting the right guys in the right matchups even more important in this chaotic football season.

23 Fantasy Kicker Fantasy Points

In a surprise to no one, kicker ownership is completely off track. This week’s top kicker was Younghoe Koo of Atlanta who went 5/5 on field goals and 4/4 on extra points for a whopping 23 points, second on his team to only the D/ST, who put up 28 fantasy points on their own. Of course, the Raiders turning the ball over 5 times helped, but I digress, this is about the ridiculous ownership numbers of kickers. Going by our drinkfive writer’s league, Koo is the only kicked owned (by yours truly) of the top 12 kickers this week. In fact, only 5 of the top 20 are on a team at all. The average ownership in Fleaflicker of the top 12 kickers is only 34.5%. So have fun picking a kicker for next week, I suggest that whatever you do, just swap out the kicker you have for someone at random!

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.

3 Safeties

Safeties are coming in bunches this season. Yesterday, there were three scored by three different teams - the Indianapolis Colts, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Seattle Seahawks. The first two were via sacks and the last one was a blocked punt that was nearly recovered for a TD instead of a safety. But, as I said, these things come in bunches. Of the 15 safeties that have been scored this season, two came in Week 2, three came in Week 3, and three more came in week 11. Minnesota has been involved in 3 of them - giving up 2 of them early in the season and finally returning the favor this week against the Jaguars - a must-have score that came in a game that wound up going to overtime. Indianapolis has been involved in 4 safeties this season - 3 in their favor and one against them, on a flag for intentional grounding in the end zone. The Seahawks have also been involved in 3 safeties this season - all 3 of them in their favor and all 3 of them occurring in weeks where 2 other teams have managed to score a safety.

1,039 Receiving Yards

Vikings rookie WR Justin Jefferson is now third among all wide receivers in the league (through Sunday's games) with 1,039 receiving yards. As expected, as a rookie, he started the season slow with only 70 yards in his first two games. Since then, he's averaging 97 yards per game, has put up 5 games over 100 yards, and scored 7 touchdowns.  He's now the #4 fantasy wide receiver with 178.6 points on the season, averaging about 15 points per game. With drop-offs of all the rookie QBs who were once playing well this season, Jefferson's name is now coming up in offensive rookie of the year conversations, and he could definitely be a strong contender if he keeps up this pace to close out the season. Jefferson's pace is rather historical, he has the second-most receiving yards by a rookie WR through his first 12 games. He's quite behind Odell Beckham's pace of 1,305 in 2014, but he's slightly ahead of Randy Moss in 1998 and Anquan Boldin in 2003. All three of those guys won the offensive rookie of the year award.

1,114 Receiving Yards

Travis Kelce turned in another huge game on Sunday night and is now just 5 yards behind the league leader in receiving yards - DK Metcalf with 1,119 yards.  Kelce is 4th in the league with 82 receptions and naturally leads all tight ends with 8 touchdowns. Kelce is leading all TEs is all statistical categories and is just shy of 200 points on the season. His average of 16.5 points per game is almost 4 points ahead of the second-best TE, Darren Waller. Waller had a historically great game on Sunday against the Jets, scoring 38.5 fantasy points, the best mark on the season for a TE by almost 6 points (and the high-water mark for Week 13 so far). In the Raiders' last-second victory over the Jets, Waller had 13 receptions for 200 yards and scored 2 touchdowns. This is the 4th time in NFL history that a tight end has had a game with 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. He'll need a lot more games like this if he wants to catch Travis Kelce for the points total this season - Kelce still has roughly a 45-point lead with just 4 games to go in the NFL regular season.

31 Fantasy Points on a D/ST

The New England Patriots turned in the D/ST performance of the season on Sunday while visiting the Chargers in Los Angeles. Their 31 points tops the Falcons' 28 points they got just last week. The Patriots tore apart rookie QB Justin Herbert and held him to a 49.1% completion rate for 209 yards and 2 interceptions. Along the way, the Patriots returned a punt for a touchdown and also blocked a field goal attempt at the end of the 2nd quarter, and returned that for a touchdown as well. Add 3 sacks and zero points allowed to all of that and you arrive a 31 fantasy points for a D/ST that had a decent chance at being on the waiver wire, as they're only 66% owned in Fleaflicker leagues. This performance sort of came out of nowhere considering the Patriots D/ST has scored 32 total points since Week 4. Next up for the Patriots, the other Los Angeles team, again in Los Angeles, coming up on Thursday night.  A quick turnaround might mean that the defense is still pumped up for this rematch of Super Bowl LIII.

4 of the Top 10 QBs

I like to use our drinkfive.com fantasy league as a way to find interesting or noteworthy stats, but often I find us a bit lacking in some areas. Often this comes in the form of nobody owning a kicker worth a damn on any given week (The top 3 this week are owned! But only 4 of the top 10). D/ST is another position where this crops up, this week nobody had the Patriots and only 5 of the top 10 teams were rostered. This also occasionally happens at the tight end position, but what I never find is a staggering lack of ownership at the quarterback position. This week, only 4 of the top 10 QBs (so far, there are 6 guys left to play) are on rosters. This is mostly due to the fact that there were lots of big performances from the middle and lower tiers of QBs. Derek Carr led the way with 4 total touchdowns, one of them a last-second bomb to keep the Jets winless. Baker Mayfield’s 4 first-half touchdown passes vaulted him into the QB2 spot of the week, scoring a Browns record 38 first-half points.

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.

1,250 Receiving Yards

The leader in receiving yards this season currently sits at 1,250 yards and it’s not even a wide receiver. Travis Kelce is your league leader in receiving yards, and he’s currently sitting 70 yards above the next closest player, DK Metcalf, who leads all wide receivers with 1,180 yards. Kelce’s dominance is incredible at the TE position, where he truly has no equal this season. He has finished the week as the top TE 5 times this year. He has nearly 60 more points than the second highest scoring TE this year, Darren Waller, and could probably not play another snap this year and still easily finish as the TE1 for 2020. You can combine the TE6 and TE7’s points on the year and still not reach Kelce’s 222.16 total points. Kelce is the 6^th highest scoring non-QB on the season, ahead of all but 3 RBs and 2 WRs – all of whom have at least 5 more touchdowns than he does. Kelce has 6 games this year where he’s scored 20+ points, and another 5 of them where he has at least double digit points. This is shaping up to be a top 3 all-time fantasy season for a TE, with 3 full games left to play, he’s got a real shot at beating the 3^rd best season, his own 2018 season where he scored 245.1 points, and he’s on pace to pass Jimmy Graham’s 2^nd place season in 2013 where he scored 260.5. Rob Gronkowski’s top spot could fall if Kelce has a few good games, he has the all-time record of 285.9 points from the 2011 season.

6.3% Difference in Points

The top tier of quarterbacks is as crowded as it’s ever been. There are 5 quarterbacks at the top of the heap with only a 6.3% difference between the QB1, Kyler Murray (336.44) and QB5, Josh Allen (315.34). The other QBs filling out tier 1 are Patrick Mahomes (334.32), Russell Wilson (321.7) and Aaron Rodgers (317.3). This top play has made the season very enjoyable to watch and also means that the MVP race is wide open. Early in the season, it was Wilson’s to lose. Then Kyler took over, but has had a poor 4 game stretch recently where his team went only 1-3. Recently, the talk has been all about Mahomes, but he just threw 3 picks yesterday, leading us to bring Aaron Rodgers into the conversation. Both of those two, by the way, have won the award before. So, what will the rest of the season bring us? Will Josh Allen be able to lead his team to 3 more victories to close the season and enter the conversation? All I know is that it’s very likely to be one of these top QBs, because this is real life, not fantasy football, where a non-QB like Dalvin Cook (averaging 23 points per game) or Derrick Henry (who has just one game finishing in the 20’s and 3 games with 35+ points) is the real MVP.

1,035 Rushing Yards

While we’re talking about end of season awards, let me bring up a name I have not heard mentioned yet. James Robinson for offensive rookie of the year. This is probably a very hard award to win when you are on a 1-win team, but let’s look at the rest of the field. Traditionally a QB would win, but Joe Burrow was injured too soon and Tua Tagovailoa started too late in the year. Justin Herbert was leading the way for a while, but he is only 3-9 this season and has put together his last 3 games with only 3 TDs, 5 INTs and 7 sacks, including that ugly shutout to the Patriots in week 13. Chase Claypool has slowed his torrid TD pace after scoring 8 times between weeks 2 and 11. Jonathan Taylor is getting going too late, Antonio Gibson’s injury eliminated him before he could even reach 1,000 yards from scrimmage and Justin Jefferson is on a sub .500 team and is arguably not even the best WR on his own team. This leaves us with James Robinson, who is not the one left over, but truly the one leading the pack, he’s just been hiding away in Jacksonville. Robinson reached the 1,000 rush yards mark in only 13 games, the fastest that an undrafted free agent rookie has ever gotten there. He’s only the 4^th UDFA rookie to rush for 1,000 yards. He also has 46 receptions for 326 yards and has 9 total touchdowns. He is 4^th in the league in yards from scrimmage and a serious candidate to be the first ever UDFA to win offensive rookie of the year honors.

7 Rookie QBs with Starts in 2020

Continuing the rookie discussion, this season is the fifth in a row where at least 6 rookie QBs have found themselves starting a game. Jalen Hurts’ start, and win, in Philly over the Saints marks him as the 7^th rookie this year to start a game. Hurts’ win against New Orleans was very impressive for a few reasons, mainly because the lowly Eagles took down the top seed in the NFC, but also because both Hurts and Miles Sanders rushed for over 100 yards, something that nobody has done all season against the Saints (or even in their last 50 games). Overall, the 2020 QB class has been a mixed bag at best. With Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa only playing about half a season each, Jalen Hurts getting a start very late in the year and Justin Herbert standing out among the group, only to go 3-9, it’s no wonder we’ve forgotten some of the other rookie QBs. Want to guess? I’ll give you a moment…

0 Offensive Points from the 1^st Place Football Team

What some might describe as “truly 2020” I might just chalk up as being purely NFL Least this season. The Washington “Not Sure If We’re A” Football Team scored exactly zero points with their offense on the field on Sunday while assuming sole possession of first place in their division. Washington managed to kick 3 field goals and scored two defensive touchdowns in their 25-15 victory over the reigning NFC champs, the San Francisco 49ers. The Football Team (must I capitalize them both?) managed a pitiful 108 yards passing between Alex Smith and Dwayne Haskins combined, and only 98 rushing yards, thanks in part to Haskins’ 4 carries for -12 yards which brought them back below the century mark. In a game that set NFL football back 10 years, the fantasy scoring for Washington was led first by their D/ST, then by their kicker, Nick Mullens. At least the 49ers had a QB and WR in double digits to avoid further embarrassment in this column.

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.

37+ Fantasy Points

A trio of quarterbacks leads the NFL in fantasy points for week 15. At the top of the group is Eagles rookie Jalen Hurts, who had his first start last week after seeing a handful of snaps in almost every game this season. Hurts’ debut was not bad, he had over 100 yards passing and the Eagles upset the Saints, but this week showed that he’s a legit QB. Hurts threw for 338 yards with 3 TDs, adding 63 yards and another TD on the ground for a total of 37.82 fantasy points. Zero turnovers, despite the loss, is probably the most important stat to the coach, and it’s clear that this job is about to be his to lose, and Wentz might be looking for a new home next year. Meanwhile, Josh Allen and Ryan Tannehill both eclipsed 37 fantasy points while leading their teams to 48 and 46 points respectively. Between them, they threw for 632 yards, 5 TDs, and ran for 4 touchdowns – two apiece. Both Tannehill and Allen are probably on lots of teams that are going to the finals, but if you managed to start Hurts and are going to the finals, well, just exactly how do you get around with those giant brass balls of yours?

1106 Days

There were three wide receivers of note that scored their first touchdown in a year or more on Sunday, but none of them had a gap like Dez Bryant, who scored for the Ravens. It was his first touchdown in 1,106 days, more than 3 years ago on December 10^th, 2017 – which was a 50-yard strike from Dak Prescott. Bryant was joined by fellow veteran WRs Antonio Brown (462 days) and Larry Fitzgerald (364 days – ok ok not technically a year). Both of whom caught touchdowns last year and today from the same QB, though Brown (and Brady) have the distinction of both moving to a new team. Honorable mentions go to Jake Kumerow (426 days) and Marcus Mariota – 445 days since his last passing TD and 772 days since his last rushing score. While we’re at it, might as well congratulate those who have never scored before - Lil’Jordan Humphrey (NO), Quez Watkins (PHI), Darrynton Evans (TEN), and Jalen Hurts (PHI) getting his first rushing TD, the only way the bookies count a real TD scored.

1,679 Rushing Yards

Derrick Henry, or El Tractorcito if you’ll help me propagate his fantastic nickname a little bit, is absolutely crushing everyone in rushing yards this year. He’s averaging 120 yards per game (ok, 119.9, but this is about gushing here…) and only needs to average a bit over 160 yards the last 2 games in order to reach the fabled 2,000-yard season. Through 14 games this year, he’s already passed his total from last year where he led the league with 1,540 yards in 15 games. Henry has nearly doubled up the 10^th highest rushing total on the year, Jonathan Taylor’s 842 yards. Henry’s only real competition at this point is Dalvin Cook, with 1,484 rushing yards. Cook actually leads the league in yards from scrimmage with 1,833, on pace for 2,256 total yards on the season. Cook has now cracked 300 points on the season, Henry is third with 278 and there’s a huge gap between him and 4^th place. Both Cook and Henry have gone over 300 touches for two years in a row, so be careful drafting next year

27 Passing Touchdowns

Justin Herbert tied the rookie passing touchdowns record this past Thursday, adding two more to his season total and tying Baker Mayfield’s record of 27 he set in 2018, and hasn’t yet matched in his career. Herbert still has two games left in the season in order to assume the mantle all on his own, though it should be noted that Mayfield started only 13 games in 2018, matching Herbert’s total so far this year. Herbert’s OT win over the Raiders probably put him back firmly in the lead for offensive rookie of the year, especially with the one-yard rushing touchdown to seal the game at the end of overtime, and despite Anthony Lynn’s apparent attempts to get his quarterback killed. Herbert is truly putting together an impressive rookie year, especially when one takes into account that the plan was not for him to start much, if at all this year. He has a 27:10 TD to INT ratio, something that QBs like Kyler Murray, Jared Goff, and Matt Ryan cannot boast. His 4 rushing TDs is also something that Mayfield could not match in his rookie year – he did not find the end zone on his own until his second season.

88 Total Rushing Yards

Who says you need a running game to be balanced or have success in this league? On Sunday, the Buccaneers and Falcons combined for a whopping 88 rushing yards between the two teams. Leonard Fournette led the way with a blistering 49 yards (and 2 scores, giving him a new fantasy day in the end), and 3 players wound up with negative rushing totals on the game, keeping us below 90. Brian Hill really helped that along, with 5 attempts for -2 yards. He added 2 catches for 9 yards, meaning he averaged exactly 1 yard per touch on the day. So, what did this lack of a rushing attack mean for the game as a whole? Well, the game blew the Vegas total out of the water, with 58 total points – under bettors were counting their winnings after a whopping 17 points in the first half. 22 teams passed the 88-yard mark and 5 players did it all on their own. In fact, those 5 all went over 120 rushing yards, leaving this game in the dust.