Unexpected Observations from Week 1

Justin Freeman's Unexpected Observations from Week 1 Justin Freeman Published 09/14/2021

The NFL offers the longest and most newsworthy off-season in all of professional sports. Over the course of the off-season, our opinions on players are swayed by persuasive beat reporter updates, tweets from influential fantasy analysts, grainy training camp videos, eye-opening preseason highlights, and cherry-picked statistics that confirm that our favorite players are indeed set up to smash this season. But then week one happens.

It turns out that we didn't know as much as we thought we knew. And perhaps the coaches may not have been telling us the truth about how they planned to use their roster this season. So, should we adjust? Indeed we must!

While week one is a very small sample size, it is far and away the best signal of what to expect moving forward. But the devil is in the details. We will not find what we are looking for in the traditional box score. Instead, we must dive into snap counts, target distributions, and the percentage of routes run to see the bigger picture.

My weekly process to maintain excellent projections here at Footballguys begins each week by combing through these "peripheral" numbers to separate the sticky stats from the fluky ones. Let's go team-by-team rapid fire to see what stood out in my week one journal.

Routes run and dropback data in this article is from Pro Football Focus. I prefer to focus on the percentage of routes run which is simply a player's routes divided by the team's total dropbacks.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Devin Duvernay (56% routes run) appears to have won the WR3 job over James Proche (13%).

Buffalo Bills

  • The Bills lined up in 11 personnel all day with a little bit of 10 (this means 3-4 WRs playing together).
  • Emmanuel Sanders is a full-time player (93% snaps).
  • Gabriel Davis could still be a GPP play (61% of routes as the WR4).

Carolina Panthers

  • Christian McCaffrey is back to his old workload, carry on.
  • Terrace Marshall could have sticky usage (64% routes run as the WR3).

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Cedrick Wilson will be the next man up with Michael Gallup out.
  • Don't give up on Ezekiel Elliott (84% of snaps, 71% of routes) in this explosive offense.

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • You pretty much have to toss this game out - an absolute disaster for Green Bay.

Houston Texans

  • There was a weird script in this game but Nico Collins encouragingly takes the WR2 job behind Brandin Cooks.
  • There were way too many 2-TE sets in this offense for my taste (178% combined snap rate for tight ends).
  • Mark Ingram is the hammer in this offense (63% of carries) while David Johnson is the pass game specialist.

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Keep an eye on James OShaughnessy (16% targets on 77% routes) - this could be a thing.
  • Marvin Jones and D.J. Chark played slightly ahead of Laviska Shenault (94%, 88%, 79% of routes respectively).
  • The running back situation in Jacksonville is rough. Urban Meyer does not care about 2020's James Robinson (31% of team rush attempts).

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Mecole Hardman still ran routes on 83% of Chiefs' dropbacks but will have a hard time stealing targets from two of the best pass-catchers in football.
  • Demarcus Robinson is operating over Byron Pringle for WR3.

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Darren Waller -- that's about all you need to know (35% targets on 93% routes).
  • Disappointing dilution of routes among the wide receivers as the team used plenty of Foster Moreau (43% routes).

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Mike Williams' game has sticky stuff to back it up (84% routes run).
  • Jalen Guyton was working way ahead of Josh Palmer (71% vs 16% routes) in Week 1 but remains a situation to monitor.
  • Donald Parham was used much more as a blocker than Jared Cook (similar snaps, vastly different routes run).

Los Angels Rams

  • Robert Woods' role was way down and I want to investigate this further. My initial feeling is that this is perhaps a gameplan thing.
  • Van Jefferson ran a lot more routes than Woods (85% vs 67%).
  • Tyler Higbee is going to have big usage, coming off a 100% snap rate.

Miami Dolphins

  • Devante Parker and Jaylen Waddle were full-time players but what does this mean with Will Fuller back next week?
  • Did Mike Gesicki get hurt? He was hardly used (39% snaps vs 70% for Durham Smythe). I'll be looking into this story.

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • The Juwan Johnson (12 snaps) and Adam Trautman (51 snaps) splits are curious! This was a strange game script after all.
  • Every other wide receiver is playing for 2nd behind Marquez Callaway (88% of routes) but it is currently Deonte Harris (58%) with Tre'Quan Smith out.

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • This Jets backfield is rough as three players (Coleman, Carter, and Johnson) all attempt to drain blood from the same turnip.
  • Denzel Mims is buried on the depth chart (only 5% snaps).
  • The depth chart was clearly Corey Davis and Elijah Moore as the 1s with Braxton Berrios as the slot man.
  • Jamison Crowder is likely to return in week two.

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

  • Of course, Raheem Mostert's injury has implications on Elijah Mitchell and Trey Sermon. Sermon being a surprise inactive clouds the picture of future usage.
  • The entire internet has already talked about the strange usage from Aiyuk (47% of snaps and 54% of routes). Speculation is running wild.

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

  • Dyami Brown ran 92% of routes along with 93% of snaps. He will be a popular addition this week.
  • Last year's "Mr. Peripheral" Logan Thomas does what he always does (100% snaps).
  • J.D. McKissic still ran a route on 38% of dropbacks so I would advise caution on saying Gibson has claimed the pass-catching role after his 26% target day.
Photos provided by Imagn Images
Tags:
Analysis Nelson Agholor Odell Beckham Jr Trinity Benson Giovani Bernard Braxton Berrios Christian Blake Kendrick Bourne Tyler Boyd Antonio Brown Dyami Brown Marquez Callaway Parris Campbell Chris Carson Quintez Cephus Ja'Marr Chase D.J. Chark Jr Nico Collins Brandin Cooks Jared Cook Jamison Crowder Corey Davis Gabe Davis Will Dissly Jack Doyle Devin Duvernay Ezekiel Elliott Zach Ertz Dee Eskridge Mike Evans Gerald Everett Leonard Fournette Will Fuller V Russell Gage Michael Gallup Mike Gesicki Chris Godwin Dallas Goedert Kenny Golladay Jimmy Graham A.J. Green Rob Gronkowski Jalen Guyton Mecole Hardman Jr. Deonte Harty Najee Harris Hunter Henry Tyler Higbee Tee Higgins Nyheim Hines T.J. Hockenson Austin Hooper Hayden Hurst Mark Ingram II Justin Jefferson Van Jefferson Jerry Jeudy David Johnson Diontae Johnson Juwan Johnson Daniel Jones Marvin Jones Jr Ronald Jones II Christian Kirk Cole Kmet Terrace Marshall Jr Christian McCaffrey J.D. McKissic Jakobi Meyers Denzel Mims Elijah Mitchell Elijah Moore Rondale Moore Foster Moreau Raheem Mostert David Njoku K.J. Osborn James O'Shaughnessy Joshua Palmer Donald Parham Jr Zach Pascal Tim Patrick Donovan Peoples-Jones Kyle Pitts Michael Pittman Jr Byron Pringle James Proche II Kalif Raymond Jalen Reagor Josh Reynolds Calvin Ridley Demarcus Robinson James Robinson Ben Roethlisberger Chester Rogers Drew Sample Emmanuel Sanders Trey Sermon Tajae Sharpe Laviska Shenault Jr Sterling Shepard Darius Slayton DeVonta Smith Jonnu Smith JuJu Smith-Schuster Durham Smythe Matthew Stafford Amon-Ra St. Brown Courtland Sutton Freddie Swain Jonathan Taylor Adam Thielen Logan Thomas Adam Trautman C.J. Uzomah Jaylen Waddle Darren Waller Quez Watkins Mike Williams Tyrell Williams Cedrick Wilson Jr. Robert Woods Olamide Zaccheaus
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