Strategy

Mike Williams has not faced a cornerback ranked inside the top-30 though. Last season, Williams played against six top-30 CBs. He failed to finish inside the top-40 WRs in each of those six weeks.

Noah Brown has been sneaky good this season. He’s top-25 in Yards Per Route Run, Yards Per Target, and Yards Per Reception. Because of injuries, he’s seen a 21.3-percent (No. 32) Target Share. Fading Marquise Brown last week was not a good call, but it’s hard to bet against Darius Slay this season. Slay is No. 3 in Coverage Rating (+45.8) and No. 3 in Catch Rate Allowed (28.6-percent).

Greetings to fans and followers of frenetic and fast football. Welcome to another edition of the Pace of Play report where we shine a light on the fastest teams in the NFL. We glare at the teams who play at a funereal pace. We look at matches in the coming weeks slate that should produce a lot of plays. This allows you to maximize (or minimize) your exposure to players in those contests. Because players need to run plays to score fantasy points, this is another useful tool to look at when making lineup choices or setting DFS lineups. No need to thank us, though. Just enjoy and absorb.

Chris Olave saw over 100 Air Yards for the third consecutive week and continues to break the value index. Olave was the Saints leading receiver with with Michael Thomas hobbled by a toe injury seeing seven targets. Olave leads the league in both Air Yards and Unrealized Air Yards meaning that no matter who is throwing him the football, be it Jameis Winston, or Andy Dalton, he is going to have slate breaking potential. Olave has not reached his ceiling and is in a great spot to finally do so this week against a Seahawks secondary that was recently lit up the Detroit Lions. Olave is a must play wide receiver in all formats at his cost.

George Pickens led the Steelers with 157 Air Yards last week and is only three Air Yards behind Dionte Johnson for the season leader in Air Yards among Steelers. Pickens will likely soon be the leader among Steelers wide receivers in Air Yards with Kenny Pickett now at quarterback. Pickett had more Deep Ball Attempts in his 13 pass attempts (4) than Mitch Trubisky had all season (1). Pickens has massive blow up potential entering week five and is a great play in all formats.

It’s not only the cornerback matchup that is a problem for Marquise Brown; the Panthers have a good pass defense. Only two defenses have been targeted more than Carolina AND allowed fewer passing yards. Terry McLaurin’s Target Share is 16.5-percent (No. 56). McLaurin’s Target Share has NEVER been below 23.0-percent in his career. Nico Collins’15.5-percent (No. 60) Target Share is lower than one would want to see for a dart throw, but Collins does have a nine-target game this season where he exceeded 120 Air Yards.

Back once again like a renegade master, I have returned to cast my eyes over the speed at which NFL offenses are currently operating. It’s time once again for the Pace of Play report. The Pace of Play is a metric that fantasy managers in all formats should be aware of. You see, we need players to make plays in order to score fantasy points. The more plays a team runs, the more chances for fantasy points there are. It’s yet another useful tool to help us in making lineup choices and propel us to a title or a big DFS win. The possibilities are almost endless.

Buffalo’s lethal defense brought Tua Tagovailoa back to earth following his show-stopping Week 2 performance, limiting the Dolphins to 186 passing yards on 18 attempts. His output should have been far worse. It looked as if he would not return from the gruesome head injury he suffered late in the second quarter. The Bengals defense offers quite the exploitable matchup as they have struggled to slow down inferior offenses in three straight weeks. Tua is proving to be one of the most accurate passers in the league, and will be a top-12 option tonight.

Amari Cooper is looking like his old self again. After being out targeted by Donovan Peoples-Jones 11 to 6 in week one, Cooper has regained his anticipated stranglehold on the Browns passing attack. Cooper has seen double digit targets, and over 120 Air Yards each of the past two weeks.  Look for Cooper to continue his dominance this week against Falcons.

Marvin Jones continues to pace the Jaguars in Air Yards. While he has been outscored in fantasy points by both Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, Marvin Jones remains the Jaguars preferred downfield target with an average target distance of 14.3 yards. If Trevor Lawrence is forced to air it out with the Jaguars going against an explosive Eagles offense, look for him to try to find Marvin Jones for a long touchdown.

Baltimore will have its hands full containing Stefon Diggs, opening up Davis. Davis had a 100-percent Route Participation and 98.3-percent Snap Share in Week 1, operating at full speed in the Buffalo offense. Coming off injury, he saw similar usage in Week 3. With Davis being a WR2 in a high-powered offense with opportunity, expect a bigger game than usual from him facing a struggling secondary

The Eagles have not allowed 100 yards rushing each of their last two games, with D’Andre Swift the sole 100-yard rushing opponent in Week 1. Philadelphia has tended to lead big in games, leading to a pass-heavy opponent Game Script. Robinson was closer to a 50/50 Snap Share split with Etienne in a close Week 1 game, while he had more snaps in Week 2 and 3 blowouts. Expect a soaring Eagles team to be competitive against Jacksonville, leading to more Etienne passing-down snaps.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh Mitch has looked too much like Chicago Mitch. Heading into Week 3, he was putting up 5.1 (No. 33) Yards Per Attempt and a -11.8 (No. 40) Expected Points Added. On Thursday, he threw for 204 yards against the Browns. This was less than Cleveland had given up to both Joe Flacco and Baker Mayfield in Weeks 1 and 2. With the Steelers now 1-2, and near the bottom of all offensive categories, those of us that drafted Pickett should get excited, right?

D.K. Metcalf is still top-30 in Target Share and Snap Share this season, but the Geno Smith-led Seahawks offense isn’t utilizing Metcalf optimally. Shepard is top-20 in Target Share and Air Yards Share. On top of that, he’s No. 33 in Yards Per Route Run. He currently leads the NFL in Target Separation Vs. Man and is the undisputed top option in the Giants’ passing offense.