Numbers tell at least part of the story in any sport. It's not always the most obvious way to evaluate players in football, but in fantasy football the numbers do matter, a lot. Ray Flowers is here to break down that aspect of the game. In his Numbers to Know piece each week he'll attempt to do just that by dazzling you with a look at the statistical milestones that you need to know about. 


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THROWERS

Kirk Cousins threw for 283 yards and two scores Monday night. That given him three games, out of four, in which he has thrown for at least 250 yards and two scores while posting a QB rating over 102. Are you sure he is as bad as you think he is merely cause he struggled, massively, against the Giants on September 25th? Cousins is 0-6 in his last six starts however. The footsteps you're hearing are those of Robert Griffin III.
 
Nick Foles has an 82.5 QB Rating. Perspective. The "awful" Tom Brady has a mark of 85.5. Foles has also thrown five interceptions and lost three fumbles in five games. Last year in 13 outings he had two interceptions and two lost fumbles. He also averaged better than two passing scores a game last season. This year that mark is down to 1.6 per contest. More piling on. In his last two outings he has two passing scores, three interceptions and has thrown for an average of 201 yards. Just saying. 

Andrew Luck leads the NFL with a 323.4 yard per contest mark, one tenth ahead of the man he replaced - Peyton Manning. Luck also has an NFL leading eight touchdown passes in the second half this season, the same total as Peyton Manning (3) and Aaron Rodgers (5) - combined. 

Eli Manning has completed 70.6 percent of his passes the past three weeks. His average toss this season has been for two less yards than last year (7.5) and as a result his season long completion rate of 66.9 percent that dwarfs the 57.5 mark he posted last season. He's also working with a 1.8 TD/INT rate compared to his abysmal 0.67 mark from last season. 

Philip Rivers has been great this season, as well as extremely effective. No passer in football can better his 8.75 yards per attempt this season. 

Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in football when operating out of a 3-wideout set, at least according to QB Rating (108.0). The others that round out the top-5 (all have marks over 101): Big Ben, Peyton Manning, Austin Davis and Andy Dalton

Ben Roethlisberger leads the NFL with 14 pass completions of at least 25-yards. Drew Brees (7) and Tom Brady (7) have the same amount when you combine their efforts. 

Russell Wilson, after his massive game on MNF (a career best 122 rushing yards on 11 carries)  is averaging 52.3 yards a game as a runner. The following quarterbacks don't have 52 yards rushing this season: Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles, Ben Roethlisberger, Jay Cutler, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and, get this, Cam Newton


RUNNERS 

 3: The number of games in a row that Marshawn Lynch has scored a touchdown... as a receiver (he has 11 touchdowns overall in his last eight games - including the playoffs). Lynch had a total of five receiving scores in his career before his recent run. He's also caught 13 passes in four games this season, a pace that would result in 52 receptions which would be a career best (the last time he had 40 receptions in a season was 2008). Oh, and last season Lynch ran for 1,257 yards and 12 scores. His current pace is 1,224 yards and 12 scores. Talk of his demise was totally overblown. 

416: The number of carries DeMarco Murray is on pace for, a mark that would tie Larry Johnson's all-time single season record. Murray has never carried the ball 220 times in a season before meaning his total of 130 carries is already more than halfway to his career-high mark. Murray has run for five scores in five games and he's gone for at least 100 yards in all five outings. Going back to last season he’s averaged 5.2 yards per carry over 19 games. How long can he keep this up until he breaks down?

Despite running for six yards on September 28th Arian Foster has a four game average of 101 yards per game on the ground. That would exactly match the mark he posted in 2010 when he ran for 1,616 yards. Despite playing through injury Foster is also averaging 21.5 carries a contest. Over 16 games that equates to 344 carries. His career-high was 351 in 2012. No other runner, besides DeMarco Murray, is averaging more than 95 yards a week on the ground. 

Frank Gore is not wearing down, at least not yet folks. He has run for 100+ yards in 2-straight games. The last time he did that was in 2011 when he hit 100 in 5-straight outings. 

Roy Helu has just 17 carries on the year though he has run for 79 yards and a score. He's also fourth in football with 218 receiving yards at the running back position. Did you notice that he has only one less catch than Darren Sproles but 20 extra receiving yards? If Alfred Morris were to ever go down...

Chris Ivory leads all runners in football with a 6.7 YPC mark in the second half (minimum 20 carries). If we lower the mark down to 15 carries the leader becomes Darren Sproles (8.1 YPC). 

Eddie Lacy averaged 8.1 YPC in Week 5 with 3.8 of those yards per tote coming after contact. I know everyone hates Lacy but did you notice that his current 4.0 YPC mark for the year is one tenth off the mark he posted last season (4.1)? #Truth

Shane Vereen has 37 carries this season and he hasn't suffered one "stuff." No other runner has that many carries and no stuffs. In terms of being stuffed the leader is a surprising name - LeSean McCoy (19). The only other runners with double-digit marks are two of the best in the business: DeMarco Murray (14) and Matt Forte (13). Speaking of Forte, no player in football has more yards after the catch as a receiver (324). In an interesting twist, the #2 man on the list is also a runner, Fred Jackson of the Bills (241). Forte also leads all runners with 36 receptions (10 more than FJax). At his current pace Forte would catch 115 passes this season for 960 yards. Yes, he's still a running back. Amazingly he has only one touchdown this season despite touching the ball an average of 23.6 times a week. 

RECEIVERS 

3: The number of touchdowns that were called back on Percy Harvin during Monday Night Football. Shocking really. As a result of all the penalties Harvin officially ended the night with two rushes for seven yards and four receptions for 27 yards. Through four games he has one score and is averaging 11.6 yards as a runner and 33.3 yards as a receiver. Why aren't the Seahawks trying to get the ball in his hands more is one of the mysteries of the universe, along with how does this fish have human teeth?

102: The number of passes that Brandin Cooks is on pace to haul in this season. No rookie has caught 100 passes before. Cooks has basically been Harvin Jr. though. Through five games he's posted one score and is on pace for barely 800 yards as a receiver with another 205 on the ground. Would you be happy with a 100-800 line with 200 rushing yards and three scores? Would be a hell of a rookie season but I bet folks would be unhappy with it in the fantasy game. 

Dwayne Allen has scored in four of five games this season while Travis Kelce has scored in 3-straight. Add together the seven scores they have produced and you get the number that Julius Thomas has all by his lonesome. Speaking of Thomas, some other facts. (1) He has 20 receptions. Niles Paul has 22. (2) He has 24 targets, the same total as Owen Daniels. (3) He has 226 yards. Heath Miller has 243. Julius better keep scoring to maintain his elite fantasy value. Oh, there is this. Thomas has caught 20 of 24 targets this season, good for a completion rate of 83.3 percent. No wide receiver or tight end in football has a better mark (minimum 20 receptions). 

Pierre Garcon has been all over the map this season. Here are his per game reception totals: 10, 1, 11, 2 and 2. Remember, he became only the third player in league history to catch at least five passes in each of the 16 games of an NFL season last year. So how is it that three times out of five games he's been held to two or fewer receptions? Not just that, he's only received a total of 13 targets in those three games. The other two games he's played he's caught 21 of 28 targets. All told he's still on pace for 83 receptions and 890 yards. That would, of course, be a massively disappointing season. 

James Jones is on pace for 84 receptions, 1,088 yards and eight scores. #JustSaying. 

Julio Jones and Jeremy Maclin lead the NFL with 57 targets a piece. Three others are also over 50: Jordy Nelson, Antonio Brown and T.Y. Hilton

Emmanuel Sanders is averaging 108.8 yards per contest through four games. Over his previous four seasons he never reached 50 yards in a contest. He still also has only 11 touchdowns in 60 career games including none this year. T.Y. Hilton is the only other wideout with at least 325 yards receiving who hasn't scored. Hilton has 31 receptions for 381 yards. 

Demaryius Thomas had the best receiving day in Broncos history in Week 5 with eight grabs, 226 yards and two scores. The last two years he scored 10 and 14 times. He's on pace for 12 this year, an exact match to his average the past two seasons. Thomas is averaging 91.8 yards per game this season. The last two years the mark was 89.6 and 89.4. Thomas is on pace for 84 receptions. He caught 94 and 92 passes the last two seasons. All is once again right in the world after his massive Week 5 outing. Thomas is also averaging 10.3 yards after the catch, the best mark in football. Julian Edelman is averaging 10.3 yards a catch and Brandon Marshall is a 9.9. Thomas is averaging more yards after  he catches the football. 


Listen to Ray Flowers' show Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear me hosting my own show Sunday nights, 7-10 PM EDT.