Random Fantasy Football Musings Following NFL Week 5

By Vincent Frank on Wednesday, October 12th 2016
Random Fantasy Football Musings Following NFL Week 5

There have been some pretty dynamic receiving tandems in the NFL through the first five weeks of the season, one more so than in Oakland and Pittsburgh. 

Players Team Rec Yards TD
Antonio Brown, Sammie Coates Steelers 56 868 7
Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper Raiders 55 811 6
Travis Benjamin, Tyrell Williams Chargers 49 752 4

While Sammie Coates' production in Pittsburgh has been surprising, it's not the most-surprising thing on this list. Even without Keenan Allen on the field, the San Diego Chargers' production at receiver has been absolutely amazing. Benjamin and Williams are combining to catch 67 percent of the passes thrown in their direction.

With Colin Kaepernick replacing Blaine Gabbert under center in San Francisco, there's some hope that the team might actually perform at a decent level offensively. 

Interestingly enough, the biggest impact this might have is on the running game, where Carlos Hyde has already proven to be a darn good fantasy running back thus far this season. 

Hyde enters Week 6 ranked seventh in fantasy points, fifth in touch distribution, fifth in rush attempts, fourth in touches and in the top 10 in fantasy consistency. 

This could increase even more with Kaepernick under center. The mere threat of the quarterback's ability to go the distance on the ground will likely open up more rushing lanes for Hyde to run through. That's something to watch heading into Week 7. 

Increases in opportunities should find their way across the board in San Francisco. While no one is suggesting that Kaepernick is going to somehow morph into an elite he should help others perform at a higher level from a fantasy perspective. Let's take Torrey Smith as an example for a second. 

Player Rec Targets Catch % YPR YPT Yards TD
Torrey Smith 9 23 39.1 11.8 4.6 106 1

These are some disturbingly bad numbers right here. They also point to Gabbert's struggles more than anything. Of the 23 times Smith was targeted, he was considered open 16 times. Of those 16 times, only 10 of those passes were on target. Smith caught nine. 

Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller is catching 25-of-29 passes thrown in his direction this season. Since Brian Hoyer took over as the team's starter, Miller has caught 18-of-20 passes with three touchdowns in as many games. 

Not necessarily a coincidence, Hoyer himself has put up some absurd numbers during this three-game span. He's completed 91-of-128 passes (.711 comp percentage) with 1,016 yards and six touchdowns compared to zero interceptions. Doing the math there, that's a 110.1 quarterback rating.

If we were to extrapolate this three-game performance over the course of a 16-game schedule and use last year's fantasy stats at quarterback (reach, we know), that would have made Hoyer the seventh-best fantasy quarterback. One takeaway here. Hoyer remains a viable fantasy option with Miller acting the part of his stack partner. 

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