This is the Air Yards Report Week 9! Find out which players led the week in Air Yards and how YOU should use Air Yards when determining your fantasy lineups.
What are Air Yards?
Air Yards measure how many yards the football travels past the line of scrimmage on a passing play. Some Air Yards have completed passes and some are incomplete passes. They are not a perfect measurement of future fantasy success but a tool that we can utilize to help us make lineup decisions.
In 2022, the Air Yards receiving leaders were Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and Stefon Diggs. All five players finished within the top six scorers at the WR position. The only top-six WR not in the top five in Air Yards was CeeDee Lamb: he finished No. 9.
Air Yards Standouts Who Shined in Week 8
CeeDee Lamb | Dallas Cowboys – 144 Air Yards (5th Overall)
CeeDee Lamb flashed his first week winning upside game of the season finishing with 41 fantasy points on 12 receptions, 158 yards receiving, and two touchdowns. While this is likely Lamb’s best performance of the year, the Cowboys rest of season schedule features some great potential blow up spots. This includes two matchups against the division rival Eagles and potential shoot outs in the fantasy playoffs against Buffalo, Miami, and Detroit. I’d be buying high on Lamb in redraft as he is locked and loaded as a WR1 the rest of the way.
DeAndre Hopkins | Tennessee Titans – 134 Air Yards (8th Overall)
All it took to unleash DeAndre Hopkins was the insertion of mayo chugging Will Levis into the starting lineup. On the receiving end of Levis YOLO balls, Hopkins finished Week 8 with three touchdowns on four receptions. Obviously, this efficiency is bound to regress. However, Hopkins is a fine WR3 option with Levis chucking footballs his way.
Garrett Wilson | New York Jets – 164 Air Yards (3rd Overall)
In what amounted to the ugliest football game of the week, Garrett Wilson somehow scored 17.6 fantasy points.
While the injury to Aaron Rodgers had most fantasy gamers concerned about Wilson’s rest of season outcomes, the fact is that he remains the driving force of the Jets passing attack seeing a 41.8 percent Air Yards Share. With this kind of volume, he remains a solid WR2 play.
Players Who Disappointed but will Bounce Back
Chris Olave | New Orleans Saints – 170 Air Yards (2nd Overall)
Chris Olave is on full blown Prayer Yards alert! He finished with only 9.6 fantasy points last week. Derek Carr and his 26.8-percent (No. 28) Deep Ball Completion Percentage isn’t the answer his prayers are looking for. His boom game is likely to happen at some point, but he is best viewed as rich man’s Gabe Davis rest of season.
Davante Adams | Las Vergas Raiders – 139 Air Yards (6th Overall)
Davante Adams scored only 2.1 fantasy points last week after failing to connect on two Jimmy Garoppolo bombs. With coach Josh McDaniels gone, his disciple, Garoppolo, now benched, and rookie Aiden O’Connell now at quarterback, things look pretty bleak for Adams. However, the night is darkest before the dawn. In Adams’s last game with O’Connell as starter, Adams posted a respectable WR19 finish. Continue to treat Adams as a high end WR2 for the rest of the season.
Christian Watson | Green Bay Packers – 119 Air Yards (15th Overall)
Christian Watson is the WR 87 on the season. He has yet to have a weekly finish above WR24 and posted only 6.3 fantasy points last week.
His high ADOT of 15.8 yards suggests there is some high variance in his fantasy output although he has yet to really crush it. Expect a boom week some point this season. He remains a boom/bust WR3.
