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This new season-long mini-series is brought to you by the RotoUnderworld Game Analyst Team. The Game Analyst Team consists of over 75 individuals that chart and re-watch every snap from every game in the NFL between game end, and Monday afternoon. The guys you have generally not heard from before stop in to drop some tidbits from their weekly game charting process in hopes to give us a sneak peek into the depth of the games each Sunday.

Buffalo is doing the small things to beat every team they should beat, what are we supposed to make of the Week 1 game against Pittsburgh, though? There is a recipe to beat Josh Allen, will Kansas City expose him in Week 5? Denver was finally brought down to earth after playing an AFC powerhouse in Baltimore. The Ravens looked strong despite barely cresting 100 rushing yards for the 43rd straight week, and will have a tough matchup in Week 5 against Indianapolis on Monday Night Football.

After last week’s dud performance, Brandin Cooks is now $300 cheaper on DraftKings, but still number one on the Air Yards Value List. As THE passing game on a poor Texans offense, last week’s five-reception, 47-yard scoreless performance can be expected on occasion. However, he still saw 83 Air Yards on a day where Davis Mills threw only 191 Air Yards. While J.C. Jackson, and the Patriots secondary presents another tough matchup, he should be confidently inserted into lineups across all formats again this week.

Courtland Sutton leads the league with 10 Deep Targets, and is currently seeing a 17.7 (No. 5 among qualified wide receivers) Average Target Distance. He also is near the league lead in Unrealized Air Yards. Regardless of whether Teddy Bridgewater or Drew Lock is throwing him the ball this week, he should be a lock for tournament lineups. He makes for a perfect contrarian play facing off against the Steelers defense.

Chase opportunity, and the production will come. Antonio Brown and Courtland Sutton are two receivers who have been receiving mouth-watering opportunity shares. Both players have posted a 20 point week, but a lack of touchdowns have pushed down their value.

Chase Edmonds is the buy of the week. He’s efficient, consistent, and the clear number one back on a team that has the league’s number one Game Script. James Conner is dust. Don’t let a few touchdowns scare you away from a PPR RB1.

David Montgomery is week to week with a knee injury. Damien Williams (provided he is good to go with a thigh bruise) should step right into a high-volume role in the Bears offense. Williams has had fantasy success and is a two-way threat that should play on passing downs and see the goal-line work. We do not know how long Montgomery will be out. Williams should be a very hot addition this week and should be very useful in the short term, and potentially longer. 

Dawson Knox appears to be this year’s Robert Tonyan. The third-year player now has caught four TD passes, including two this past weekend in the Bills 40-0 rout of Houston. Knox should be viewed as a TE1 moving forward. He is one of the Bills’ best red zone threats and is coming off a season-high eight targets.  

Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs will certainly get his fair share, but Emmanuel Sanders behind him is in line to eat on this generally pass-heavy Bills team. Sanders had 6 (No. 5 among qualified wide receivers) Deep Targets and 335 (No. 8) Air Yards entering Week 4. Josh Allen likes to air it out, so expect Sanders to see plenty of run in what should be another high scoring affair Sunday night.

Pat Freiermuth and Eric Ebron only have a combined 19 targets out of Big Ben’s 170 pass attempts through four weeks. The Broncos, outside of five receptions to Mark Andrews last week, have not allowed more than three receptions to a tight end group so far this season. Freiermuth will have a hard time breaking out in Week 5 facing a good secondary with a small Target Share.

Kyler Murray took the Arizona Cardinals on the road and stomped Sean McVay’s previously-unbeaten Los Angeles Rams, leaving Arizona as the NFC’s only remaining undefeated team and +55 in Points Scored differential. Heading into Week 4, his 29.7 Fantasy Points per Game, 83.0-percent True Completion Percentage, 73.3-percent Deep Ball Completion Percentage and Rushing TDs were all ranked No. 1 at the quarterback position.

Starting 2020 with lackluster performances against two of the NFL’s top defenses, Clyde Edwards-Helaire had been all but written off at age 22. In 2021 Weeks 3 and 4 though, Edwards has now put up back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. Although KC’s goal line carries have been going to Darrel Williams, Edwards-Helaire has been efficient when given the opportunity, ranking top 12 in both Evaded Tackles and Juke Rate.

The Infirmary is loaded up heading into week 4 and there are some big time names currently tending to their individual ailments. Running backs are beat to hell everywhere, a QB visiting the “Big Apple” will have no one to throw to and the Gronk-a-Saurus will miss a return to his old stomping grounds. Football cares not for an individual’s star power or grand narratives made for television; no, football is cold and heartless. It’s not all bad, though. The Infirmary explains why.

With oft-relied on veteran James White out for the season, the opportunity here lies with J.J. Taylor. While his workout metrics won’t wow you, he did have an 11.15 (78th-percentile among qualified running backs) Agility Score. In addition, his Target Share in college was a stout 11.9-percent, which ranked in the 85th-percentile. The Patriots have been careful to hang on to Taylor; perhaps they’ve been prepared for just such a circumstance. 

A bet on volume is a shaky bet. But Nick Westbrook-Ikhine ran a route on 82-percent of Ryan Tannehill’s dropbacks last week. Now, A.J. Brown and Julio Jones are out. After the Jets this week, the second-year WR has the Jaguars on tap. That Jaguars defense rank third-to-last in Pass DVOA. I’d flex Westbrook-Ikhine in both contests. Brown and Jones are no bets to make it back for Week 5. Let’s stash the Titans’ No. 1 WR for the foreseeable future before the price goes up.

Kadarius Toney totaled season highs last week with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton leaving the game early. The rookie WR totaled a 67.7-percent Snap Share, leading to 29 routes run. Toney earned three targets, more than in his first two games combined, and parlayed the opportunity into a 2-16 receiving line. While that’s nothing that’ll get the group chat talking, he has a first-round pedigree. This week, he’ll audition himself for a bigger role. And if he sticks, he has a juicy matchup against the Cowboys next week.

Jaylen Waddle is primed to deliver free money for those willing to take the Over 49.5 receiving yards line on Underdog Fantasy. Waddle’s Target Share has risen dramatically since Jacoby Brissett became the starting QB in Week 3.

Noah Fant will bounce back when he matches up against a Baltimore team that has allowed the most receiving yards to TE’s through Week 3. Targets will funnel to Noah Fant and Courtland Sutton because the Broncos are without another WR, after K.J. Hamler tore his ACL last week against the Jets.

As we close in on the first quarter of the NFL season, we’ll break down the high and low-efficiency outliers at wide receiver. Most of these receivers end up in starting lineups more often than not, while a couple may fit more in deeper leagues with multiple flex spots. It’s a fun and eye-opening exercise to use the Data Analysis Tool to sort through the efficiency outliers at different positions.