NFL Air Yards Report For Week 7: Emeka Egbuka Is Back

There’s perhaps nothing more tilting in fantasy football than unrealized air yards, but they do help paint a picture. Every Wednesday here at Fantasy Life I’ll be highlighting some pass catchers who stood out in the air yards department for the given week.

Let’s take a look at what happened in Week 6.

NFL Air Yards Report for Week 7 in Fantasy Football

DeVonta Smith | WR | Philadelphia Eagles

Week 6 air yards: 179 (2nd)

Following a two-game absence (hamstring), DeVonta Smith was busy on Sunday, catching 7-of-14 targets for 75 yards and a touchdown. It didn’t look very promising to start, as Tanner McKee and the offense looked really bad. And for most of the game, it stayed that way, as the Eagles had a ton of plays end up losing yards. This offense is obviously going to take a hit without Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season, but in McKee’s first start he sent 30% of the targets Smith’s way, with plenty being down the field.

Smith ranked second in air yards this weekend, seeing a few contested-catch opportunities down the sideline. And as one of the better contested-catch wideouts in football, Smith can come down with those looks more often than not. But given the state of this offense right now, I would like to see more looks over the middle of the field for Smith, who ran crossing routes just 2.9% of the time on Sunday. He returned to 29% hitch routes, which is all too similar to Kevin Patullo’s brutal passing scheme from a year ago.

Emeka Egbuka | WR | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 6 air yards: 136 (10th)

Well this was a change.

Emeka Egbuka posted 136 air yards in Week 6, a top-10 mark in the NFL. But it’s especially notable when you consider that from Weeks 4-5, Egbuka had seen a combined 89 air yards. Egbuka saw a whopping 16 targets against the Steelers on Sunday, but was able to corral only 7 of them for 48 yards and a touchdown. His day could have been massive, as Egbuka was lined up in a bunch formation on the right side of the field. With the Steelers in man coverage, Egbuka ran almost a wheel route from the slot, which made the Pittsburgh corners collide. Egbuka was wide open down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown, but he couldn’t complete a one-handed catch.

This week was probably an outlier for Egbuka’s air yards, as he didn’t suddenly run more vertical routes in this game. But overall, I do like how Zac Robinson is trying to get his top receiver easy looks, as Egbuka leads the NFL in routes run from motion (53).

KC Concepcion | WR | Cleveland Browns

Week 6 air yards: 55 (40th)

KC Concepcion continues to be used as a short-area target in Cleveland’s offense, as the Browns are trying to get him the ball in space and let him make plays after the catch. His current aDOT of 5.7 is the 11th-lowest among wide receivers with at least 50 routes run this season, while his 6.3% WR screen rate is a top-10 rate in football. Concepcion has accounted for just 15% of Cleveland’s air yards this season, as nearly half of those looks have gone to fellow rookie Denzel Boston.

This usage from Concepcion has actually really hurt the fantasy potential of tight end Harold Fannin, who soaked up a ton of the underneath targets in this offense a year ago. But Fannin’s 15% TPRR is well below the 22% mark he posted as a rookie.