Fantasy Football: 16 Efficiency Leaders Via Advanced Stats

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is enjoying the start of Training Camp; football is back! The sources used for data in this article are PFF, Fantasydata.com, and Next Gen Stats.

I just finished my 2024 Player Rankings model, and one of my big focuses this off-season was to take an even deeper data-driven approach to looking at players.  So often, we see analysis and content and hear dialogue about players that often only touches on the surface. We hear the same discussions over and over about depth charts, ADP, and basic stats like yards, TDs, and fantasy points. All these are good, but there is much more to look at when comparing players.

I summarized the players with the most well-rounded analytical profiles regarding many of the key advanced stats we use to gauge efficiency, skill level, and performance.  This wasn’t just air yards and yards per route run advanced stats we see used so often; I used subscription-based data and looked at many different key performance metrics.  See the graphic for all the Top Efficiency Leaders according to Advanced Stats.

When comparing QBs, Cowboys Dak Prescott and 49ers Brock Purdy were by far the most efficient QBs last year, with Purdy being #1 amongst all QBs in True Passer Rating, #1 in Deep Ball Percentage, and #1 in TD Rate, while Dak was #2 in Big Time Throws and also #2 in True Passer Rating.

When looking at all RBs, Dolphins RB Devon Achane was the most impressive from an analytics standpoint. He was #1 in Elusive rating,  #1 in Rushing Yards over Expected per attempt, #1 in Rushing Efficiency, and #2 in Breakaway percentage.  Steelers RB Jaylen Warren, who is catching a lot of preseason buzz, was #1 in Juke Rate, #3 in Elusive Rating, and #5 in Yards Created per Attempt amongst all NFL runners last season.

At the WR Position, the Lions Amon-Ra St.Brown was the top dawg in terms of his analytical scores across all categories looked at, but Texans Nico Collins, Bears DJ Moore, and 49ers Bradon Aiyuk were not far behind.  We knew these guys were good, but their overall analytical grades were extremely impressive.

Finally, at the TE position, two stalwart vets, Ravens Mark Andrews and 49ers George Kittle, do pretty much everything well, from catching the ball, running with it after the catch, along with being adequate enough blocking, which keeps them on the field.  Andrews was #1 amongst all TE’s in First Downs per route run, #2 in Targeted QB Rating, #5 in Yards per reception.  Kittle was #1 according to PFF in Grade per Pass Route, #4 in Targeted QB Rating, and #1 in Yards per reception.