The fantasy football playoffs are now behind us, which means it's time for the real NFL playoffs to begin. But that doesn't mean fantasy football is entirely done. There are plenty of ways to keep playing fantasy during the NFL playoffs, which means you still need to stay in the know.
To help you out, we've dug through the data to find must-know stats on 10 players heading into Wild Card weekend.
Chiefs at Texans
Jeremy Maclin picked it up starting in Week 12, but why? He was the 33rd-highest scoring receiving in standard leagues from Weeks 1-11, and he jumped all the way to seventh from Weeks 12-17. Outside of a massive influx in touchdowns (just two in Weeks 1-11 but six in Weeks 12-17), Maclin also saw a boost in his overall efficiency.
He gained a decent 1.86 yards per route run from Weeks 1-11, but that number skyrocketed to 2.75 from Weeks 12-17. The key to this success isn’t all that easy to find. His targets per game increased, but only slightly, so that alone doesn’t explain the improvement. Additionally, his average depth of target only changed a little (from 10.8 to 10.2).
The possible answer: He ran more pass routes from the slot, and he ran fewer (but more meaningful) routes in general. From Weeks 1-11, Maclin ran 27.4 percent of his route from the slot, but over the final six games of the season, that number increased to 40 percent. He also averaged about 37 pass routes per game over the first 11 weeks of the season, compared to 29 routes per game over the final six. But, as noted above, his targets per game increased, which indicates he was running more meaningful routes. This is a prime example of quality over quantity.
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