The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Yahoo’s Fantasy Football newsletter, “Get to the Points!” If you like what you see, you can subscribe for free here.
One of the most important habits we can develop as fantasy football managers is a willingness to engage with advanced data to better understand our player base. It’s obvious that we do this because traditional surface-level statistics rarely tell the full story.
It only takes a moderate amount of digging to identify players who are actually performing at an elite level despite their fantasy year-to-date numbers. This is how you find the best buy-low candidates in the game. Of course, this is also a way to flag great players who are doomed by their team’s circumstances, so be careful with the names below.
Here, we introduce three low-key stars for the 2024 season (one at each key position), along with fundamental data that reveals how well they perform.
Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions
Goff is currently fantasy’s QB18 in terms of total points and is barely clinging to the top 12 at his position in points per game. But what Goff has been dealing with is undeniable.
He leads the NFL in yards per attempt (8.9).
3rd in completion rate (71.1)
His average distance after the catch is 7.3 yards per attempt. Definitely the best of his career and a great indicator of accuracy.
Goff doesn’t offer a meteoric rise, but he plays at a ridiculous level and commands one of the best offenses in the NFL. Epic fantasy days await.
Tony Pollard, RB, Tennessee Titans
Pollard has definitely jumped off screens this season, looking suspiciously similar to his pre-injury self. He’s just barely in the top 20 in the league in rushing yards (339) and averages a shrugging 4.3 YPC, but many of those four-yard gains were gems.
According to PFF, he averaged an impressive 4.02 yards per attempt after contact, the best mark among players with 50 or more carries.
He forced 18 missed tackles on rushing attempts, one of the highest totals in the league.
Although his team’s offense is horrendous and routinely undermined by QBs, Pollard has been a major success story, averaging 13.6 fantasy points per game.
Khalil Shakir, WR, Buffalo Bills
Shaquille returned from an ankle injury with a quiet game Monday night, but let’s not overlook how close to perfect his season has been otherwise.
He has caught 20 of 21 targets and has the highest catch percentage (95.2%) among receivers with at least 20 chances.
2nd at the position in passer rating when targeted (147.8)
He is among the top in yards per route run (2.39) and yards after the catch per reception (7.5).
According to Next Gen, it achieved a distance of 4.4 yards on target. This is still one of the best records in the NFL.
Shaquille, who is averaging 9.4 fantasy points per game, will be healthy and have an easier schedule, which could be key to some notable performances. He’s also not competing with new recruit Amari Cooper. These two complement each other and operate in different areas of the field.
