When it comes to fantasy football, there’s truly no rest for the wicked.
Even with the regular season long gone, fantasy managers are already prepping their best plans for the 2026 season. There’s no time like the present to begin seeking out new edges to grind and finding those one or two key datapoints that could unlock a player to put our roster over the top for next season.
The fine folks at Rotoworld, of whom there are many, were kind enough to let me lay out some of my early findings from this past season and put them into an article I hope will prove helpful in the coming months.
While the landscape of teams will change and some players will find new homes, I think it’s important to identify key stats to hold on to that could signal whether to draft or fade certain players next draft season. Let’s get started.
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1. Zay Flowers was one of five receivers (min. 80 targets) to average a minimum of 5.0 yards after catch per reception (YAC/REC) and a minimum of 2.0 yards per route run (YPRR). The only other receivers to meet both markers were Amon-Ra St. Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, and George Pickens.
2. Khalil Shakir led all receivers (min. 80 targets) with a 7.6 YAC/REC.
3. Removing all screen passes, Drake Maye’s 70.8 completion percentage led all quarterbacks (min. 200 dropbacks) this season and is the fourth-highest completion percentage among 363 QBs since 2016. Shedeur Sanders’ 53.3 completion percentage ranked 38th of 38 QBs this season and is 352nd out of 363 QBs since 2016.
4. Shedeur Sanders’ 14.8 percent negative play rate (sacks+interceptions+fumbles lost ÷ total plays) was the highest of any quarterback this season (min. 200 dropbacks). Bo Nix, Matthew Stafford, and Caleb Williams were the only QBs with a negative play rate below 6.0 percent.
5. From Weeks 8-18, Colston Loveland ranked ninth among tight ends in routes run (205), eighth in targets (41), and ninth in targets per route run (0.227 TPRR).
6. Among 23 rookie tight ends (min. 50 targets) since 2016, Harold Fannin‘s 0.247 TPRR ranks second behind only Brock Bowers (0.259 TPRR). Fannin’s 4.9 YAC/REC ranks…
7. Among running backs with at least 50 carries this season, Keaton Mitchell‘s 16.9 explosive run rate (runs of 10-plus yards, EXPL%) ranked second only behind Tank Bigsby (20.6 percent). Mitchell’s 18.2 percent EXPL% since 2023 leads all running backs (min. 100 carries).
8. Jaxson Dart finished his rookie season with a 0.060 EPA per play, ranking 15th among all QBs (min. 200 dropbacks). Dart’s EPA per pass was 0.098, which ranked 25th among 38 QBs.
9. Drake Maye‘s 0.418 EPA/pass led all QBs, while Jared Goff finished second with a 0.381 EPA/pass. Maye is one of only four QBs since 2016 to have an EPA/pass of 0.400 or higher. Matt Ryan (2016), Patrick Mahomes (2018), and Ryan Tannehill (2019) are the other QBs to achieve said feat, with Ryan and Mahomes both winning the MVP in their respective seasons.
10. Cam Skattebo had the lowest yards before contact per attempt (1.24 YBCO/ATT) of any running back this season (min. 100 carries), but had the second-highest missed tackles forced per attempt (0.26 MTF/ATT) and the fourth-highest yards after contact per attempt (2.82 YACO/ATT).
11. Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty had the second-lowest YBCO/ATT (1.24), but also ranked 16th in MTF/ATT (0.17) and 17th in YACO/ATT (2.38). Jeanty had 53.4 percent of his runs go for a loss or no gain — the second-highest total behind only Quinshon Judkins (56.5 percent).
12. Tetairoa McMillan finished his rookie season with only two top-12 PPR finishes and five top-24 PPR finishes. Despite this, McMillan was the WR14 in expected fantasy points (199.3 EP) and ranked 20th among all receivers with a 0.218 TPRR.
13. Despite seeing just 20 targets over the final four weeks of the season, Luther Burden‘s 0.308 TPRR ranked third among all receivers (min. 20 targets) behind only Puka Nacua (0.343 TPRR) and Chris Olave (0.310).
14. Luther Burden’s 7.8 YAC/REC over that span led all 29 receivers. Parker Washington‘s 6.9 YAC/REC ranked second-highest.
15. Bryce Young had a career year in 2025. His 3,011 yards and 23 touchdown passes are both career bests. Among 38 QBs with at least 200 dropbacks, Young also ranked 29th in success rate (44.2 percent) and 30th in EPA/play (-0.033).
16. No quarterback had more dropped passes in 2025 than Trevor Lawrence (39). Those 39 dropped passes are tied with Aaron Rodgers (39, 2024) for the most any quarterback has had since 2020.
17. After being named as the Saints’ starting QB in Week 9, Tyler Shough ranked as the QB12 in fantasy points per game (20.02) and was the QB10 in expected fantasy points (174.0).
18. Josh Allen led all quarterbacks in fantasy points over expected (73.8 FPOE) this season. Cam Ward ranked last among QBs with -55.1 FPOE.
19. From Weeks 11-18, Kenneth Gainwell ranked second in targets (51), receptions (44), and receiving yards (363), among running backs, while also finishing sixth in expected fantasy points. He was on a 17-game pace for 94-771-6 on 108 targets. For perspective, Christian McCaffrey was the only RB to surpass 80 receptions and was one of only two RBs to see 100-plus targets.
20. Alec Pierce led all receivers (min. 50 targets) in air yards per target (19.0) and yards per reception (21.3 YPR). Christian Watson finished second among receivers in both AY/Tar (17.8) and YPR (17.5).
21. Davante Adams led all receivers in end zone targets (27) and end zone receptions (14). Adams’ 27 end zone targets and 14 end zone receptions in a season are the most any receiver has seen in PFF’s database, which tracks back to 2015.
22. Chargers rookie TE Oronde Gadsden‘s 9.0 AY/Tar ranked third-highest among all TEs (min. 300 routes run). Gadsden led all TEs with a 13.6 YPR, but finished 22nd in TPRR (0.173).
23. One more note on Kenneth Gainwell — among 54 RBs with a minimum of 100 touches, Gainwell’s 1.19 fantasy points per touch led all running backs. Jahmyr Gibbs’ 1.15 PPR/touch ranked second.
24. Xavier Worthy had the lowest catchable pass rate (64 percent) among all receivers (min. 50 targets). Luther Burden’s 92 percent catchable pass rate led all receivers.
25. Among QBs with at least 200 dropbacks this season, Lamar Jackson‘s 0.59 fantasy points per dropback tied for second-highest with Jaxson Dart. Josh Allen led all QBs with 0.66 FP/drpbk.
NOTE: Stats and information courtesy of PFF.com, RotoViz.com, ProFootballReference.com, NextGenStats.NFL.com, 4For4.com, FantasyPoints.com and RBSDM.com. All scoring is based on full-PPR leagues.
