I know everything. That's why they call me the Oracle. It's a good stage name even if it isn't true – or close to accurate. What I do know though are some interesting tidbits that I bet you could win many a bar bet with. In what follows, I'll point out some statistical findings that might cause you to look at players in a different way for 2014. Even if what follows doesn't do that, I hope it will still be an interesting read. If not, just skip to a random article in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide. That one is bound to be entertaining.

LEAGUE NUMBERS

Last season was the highest scoring in NFL history. Teams scored an average of 46.8 points a game, three tenths more than the previous record from 1948. The Broncos led the way with an average of 37.9 points a game (606 total). No team was within 10 points of that mark. Eleven teams scored at least 400 points overall. The previous record was nine in 2008 and 2012.

The Broncos became the first team ever to have five 10-touchdown performers: Demaryius Thomas (14), Knowshon Moreno (13), Julius Thomas (12), Eric Decker (11) and Wes Welker (10). More touchdowns were scored last year than ever before. There were 1,338 total scores, surpassing the 2012 record of 1,297.

123 of 256 NFL games, that's 48 percent, were decided by seven points or less (the 4th most of any season, ever).

According to @NFLConcussions, 25 percent of first round draft picks the last two years suffered a concussion during their rookie season. According to ESPN, the only quarterback selected in the top 10 in the Entry Draft over the last 30 years to be selected to first team All-Pro status is Peyton Manning. According to @NFL_Stats, the average NFL game features 10 minutes 43 seconds of actual game play. The rest is commercials, replays and a running clock with no actual game action.

QUARTERBACK

An NFL record seven QBs finished the year with a QB Rating in triple-digits: Nick Foles (119.2), Peyton Manning (115.1), Josh McCown (109.0), Philip Rivers (105.5), Aaron Rodgers (104.9), Drew Brees (104.7) and Russell Wilson (101.2).

Five quarterbacks had a QB rating over 100 in two WR base sets: Nick Foles (139.7), Peyton Manning (115.9), Russell Wilson (108.7), Philip Rivers (107.1) and Cam Newton (104.9). Seven quarterbacks had a a QB rating over 100 in three WR sets: Peyton Manning (116.6), Nick Foles (115.9), Jay Cutler (114.4), Tony Romo (105.2), Philip Rivers (104.1), Aaron Rodgers (103.2) and Tom Brady (100.0). How shocking is it to see Cutler at #3?

Six quarterbacks had a a QB rating over 100 in four WR sets: Peyton Manning (111.3), Drew Brees (110.2), Philip Rivers (106.4), Aaron Rodgers (105.2), Josh McCown (104.2) and Nick Foles (100.6).

Drew Brees threw for more than 5,100 yards in 2013. That was his 4th season of 5,000 passing yards. There have only been eight seasons, ever, of 5,000 passing yards, meaning Brees has as many passing seasons of 5,000 yards as every other quarterback who has ever played. Brees is also the first to pass for 5,000 yards in 3-straight years and the last four years he's thrown for 20,435, the highest four year total on record. He's also thrown for 30 scores in 6-straight years to set another all-time record.

Andy Dalton will likely throw fewer passes this year for a new look Bengals club. Still, can't overlook what he did last year. That effort included 4,274 passing yards. That's more than Big Ben (4,261). He completed 363 passes. That's more than Tony Romo (342). He tossed 33 scores. That's more than Matthew Stafford (29). I know, right?

Joe Flacco is boring. He's also extremely consistent. The last five years, he's completed between 306 to 362 passes each year. Flacco has thrown for between 3,610 and 3,912 yards each year. He's thrown between 19 and 25 scores every stanza. Boring as all get out, but consistent. Over those five years, he averaged 3,715 yards and 21 scores a season. Those numbers are very similar to the totals posted by Alex Smith (3,313 yards, 23 scores) and Colin Kaepernick (3,197 yards and 21 scores) last year (more on that duo in a moment).

Nick Foles threw for 27 scores and just two interceptions last season. That's the best TD/INT mark in football history for a quarterback who tossed at least 20 scores.

Colin Kaepernick is a fantasy football star. Or is he? Check out the following comparison with the man who he replaced in San Francisco, Alex Smith. Here are the numbers from Kaepernick and Smith last season.

Colin: 243 completions, 58.4 completion %, 3,197 yards, 21 scores, 8 INTs
Smith: 308 completions, 60.6 completion %, 3,313 yards, 23 scores,7 INTs

On the ground, things were pretty damn close too.
Colin: 524 yards, 5.7 YPC, 4 TDs
Smith: 431 yards, 5.7 YPC, 1 TD

How much closer is that than you expected? Fall off your chair?

The Peyton Manning Show...

Peyton Manning had the most passes of at least 25 yards (46). He was followed by Drew Brees (41), Andy Dalton (36), Russell Wilson (36) and Philip Rivers (35).

Peyton Manning led quarterbacks with 43.9 percent of all of his passes going for first downs. What makes that even more remarkable is that he also led the NFL in passing attempts (659). Jason Campbell was the worst at 27.1 percent.

Peyton Manning led the AFC with 8.3 percent of all of his passes going for a touchdown (55 of 659). The next two men tossed 32 (Philip Rivers at 5.9 percent) and 33 (Andy Dalton at 5.6 percent) scores – but the final two men in the top-5 were at 28 (Ben Roethlisberger at 4.8 percent) and 23 scores (Alex Smith at 4.5 percent). Oh wait, I almost forgot to mention the man who led football – that was Nick Foles at 8.5 percent.

Peyton Manning had the best completion percentage in the red zone (71.8 percent). Nick Foles (70.3),Philip Rivers (65.5), Aaron Rodgers (63.0) and Andy Dalton (61.5 percent) rounded out the top-5.

Peyton Manning led AFC QBs with a 114.9 QB Rating at home. Which is a bigger shock, Jake Locker at #4 (95.1) or E.J. Manuel at #7 (91.8) in the AFC? The NFC leader was Aaron Rodgers (126.4) followed by Drew Brees (126.3) and Josh McCown (119.7). Two guys that really struggled were Robert Griffin III (80.9) and Matthew Stafford (79.5).

Peyton Manning completed 450 passes. Three quarterbacks who played in all 16 games threw less passes than Peyton Manning or Drew Brees completed (Brees had 443 completions). Russell Wilson threw 407 passes last year. Colin Kaepernick threw 416 passes. Geno Smith threw 443 passes.

Eli Manning was terrible last season with 18 scores and 27 interceptions. Still, over 16 games the past five years, his average season has resulted in 4,144 yards and 26 scores. Do you know which quarterbacks failed to reach both those marks last season? Here's a short list: Tony Romo, Nick Foles, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck, Colin Kaepernick, Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco to name a few. Oh heck, Aaron Rodgers and Robert Griffin III also failed to get there.

The NFL leader in QB Rating on the road was Nick Foles at an ungodly 138.4. That's insanely high and light years ahead of Peyton Manning (115.3). Two others were over 100 in Philip Rivers (107.1) and Josh McCown (103.5). Surprisingly, Tom Brady was only 20th in football at 82.3.

Philip Rivers became the first quarterback from the Chargers to lead the NFL in completion percentage since Dan Fouts pulled off the trick in 1979? His 69.5 percent mark was a career best, his first season over 66 percent, and it was actually the 6th greatest season of all-time.

As well loved as Ben Roethlisberger is, he's simply not an elite fantasy quarterback, not even close. He's played 10 years. Do you know how many times he's thrown for 4,000 yards, a level that nine quarterbacks reached last season (including Big Ben)? Twice. Two times in 10 years. How many times has he thrown 30 scores? Once. That was back in 2007. How many times has he thrown 27 scores? The answer is twice. Nick Foles threw for 27 scores in 13 games last season. Why is all of this true? Because

Big Ben has appeared in 16 games only twice in 10 years.

The last three years, an average Tony Romo season resulted in 30 scores and 4,305 yards. Matt Ryan and Tom Brady didn't get to those numbers last season (Ryan had only 26 scores while Brady had only 25). Neither did Romo to be fair, but his 3-year average is much better than most seem to give him credit for on draft day.

Alex Smith averaged 6.6 yards per pass attempt last season. Nick Foles led the way at 9.1. That's a huge difference. As a result Smith averaged 220.9 yards per game through the air. That's more than 100 yards lower than Drew Brees, per game, and he was down more than 120 yards from Peyton Manning. Smith's 3,313 passing yards and 23 scores were career bests.

Russell Wilson is a running quarterback. He's averaged 524 yards a season through two years on the ground. Still, he's averaged just 2.5 rushing scores a season. Moreover, if we remove the December 16th game against the Bills in 2012 when he scored three times on the ground, he's rushed for two scores in the other 31 NFL games he has played. Read that again. Two in 31 games. Ryan Fitzpatrick ran for three scores last season.

RUNNING BACK

Among runners who had at least 50 carries on grass last season, the leader in YPC was James Starks (6.0 YPC). If we bump that mark up to 100 carries the leader becomes Andre Ellington (5.7). If we bump it up to 125 carries the leader becomes LeSean McCoy (5.4). The amazing part about that is that McCoy recorded that mark over 259 carries. No other back with 125 carries was over five yards. The next closest was Jamaal Charles who ran for 4.9 per carry on 242 runs. Among runners who had at least 50 carries on artificial turf last season, the leader in YPC was Matt Forte (5.5 YPC). If we bump the mark up to 100 carries we end up with a surprising name – LeGarrette Blount (5.3). If we ratchet things up to 125 carries, the leader was DeMarco Murray (5.2).

Reggie Bush ran for 1,006 yards. That's more than Zac Stacy (973), Fred Jackson (890) and Le'Veon Bell (860). Bush was also one of six runners to run for 1,000 yards while catching 50 passes. Here is the list: Matt Forte, Jamaal Charles, Knowshon Moreno, DeMarco Murray and LeSean McCoy.

Jamaal Charles is the leading running back in NFL history with a 5.6 YPC mark (minimum 1,000 carries). He also led the NFL with eight rushing scores from inside the three-yard line last season. That's a rather interesting development for a player who had never had eight rushing scores in a season before last year. However, his rate of eight scores in 12 attempts inside the three yard line left him tied for 5th in the NFL with a 66.7 percent mark (Frank Gore). Here is the leader board above that duo: Joique Bell (70 percent, seven scores), Knowshon Moreno (71.4, five scores), LeSean McCoy (71.4 percent, five scores) and Eddie Lacy (87.5 percent, seven scores).

Speaking of Jamaal Charles, he became the second runner in league annals to post 100 yards from scrimmage with a score in each of his clubs first seven games (O.J. Simpson in 1975). Despite that, he was actually more productive as the year wore on, as he scored 11 times with an average of 137.4 yards from scrimmage over his final seven outings.

Amongst all backs who ran the rock at least 15 times on third down last season, no runner had more success at converting first downs than Rashad Jennings, who was 11-for-16 (68.8 percent). Two men were close on his heals: Joique Bell (12/18, 66.7 percent) and Adrian Peterson (12/18, 66.7 percent). By the way... per 20 carries in his career, Jennings has averaged 86 yards rushing. In 17 games in which he was the starter, he has run for 891 yards and six scores while catching 39 passes for some pretty terrible teams and last year he ran for 532 yards and five scores in eight games as a starter.

Chris Johnson gets bashed all the time. He's also just the 6th running back in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons. The others, and the list doesn't include Adrian Peterson, follow: Barry Sanders, Corey Dillon, Curtis Martin, Eric Dickerson and LaDainian Tomlinson. Obviously that makes him the only back in football who has hit four digits each of the past six years.

The Lions had the first two running backs in NFL history to run for 500 yards while also hauling in 500 yards of passes in the same season. Of course they were Joique Bell and Reggie Bush.

Marshawn Lynch might be in trouble in 2014. Since 2001, among running backs who had a minimum of 75 carries, there is a significant fall off once runners hit 27 years of age. As a 28 year old, their rushing total drops 15 percent. As a 29 year old, the total goes down 25 percent. As 30 year old, the total is down 40 percent. Lynch is 28 years old and has carried the balls 1,002 times the last three seasons (including the playoffs, for a rate of 334 a year).

Ryan Mathews ran for 1,255 yards last season. That was two yards less than Marshawn Lynch and 77 yards more than Eddie Lacy. Mathews also averages 4.4 YPC for his career, the same mark he posted in 2013. Knowshon Moreno (4.3), Lynch (4.2), Lacy (4.1), Frank Gore (4.1) and CJ2K (3.9) are five 1,000 yard rushers that failed to match that mark in '13.

LeSean McCoy became the first Eagle runner to lead the league in rushing yards since Steve Van Buren in 1949, as he set a club record with 1,607 yards. No other runner in football hit 1,340 rushing yards. The difference over a 16 game season was 16.7 yards a week. Hey, 1.7 points a week matters. How many matchups did you lose by that much last season?

LeSean McCoy led all runners with 47 carries of at least 10 yards. Might surprise you a bit to learn the rest of the top-5: Matt Forte (41) and Jamaal Charles (37) make sense but then check out the two vets in Marshawn Lynch (36) and Frank Gore (32). You knew that was gonna happen, right? *Note: DeMarco Murray also had 32 such runs. I didn't want to leave him out.
Dexter McCluster was one of 11 runners to catch 50 passes for 500 yards (53 receptions, 511 yards). He ran the ball eight times for five yards. Amazing.

Darren McFadden is always hurt. Still, here are his numbers per 16 games for his career: 887 rushing yards, 5.5 rushing scores and 42 receptions with another 1.2 scores. How many runners went for 885 yards on the ground, 42 reception and six touchdowns total in 2013? The answer is only seven men: Charles, Forte, Moreno, Murray, McCoy, Fred Jackson and Chris Johnson.

Alfred Morris has run for at least seven scores and 1,275 yards the last two seasons. Adrian Peterson hasn't done that. Neither has Frank Gore or Marshawn Lynch.

No runner was more effective in his first 10 carries of a game than DeMarco Murray (5.8 YPC), who was a tenth ahead of Andre Ellington and seven tenths ahead of Adrian Peterson (minimum 100 carries). At the other end of the spectrum, when the carries piled up, the best runner in the league in terms of YPC on carries over 21 in a game was... wait for it... Ryan Mathews (5.0 YPC).

DeMarco Murray caught 53 passes in 14 games in 2013. He played 23 games his first two seasons and caught 61 passes. He also scored 10 touchdowns in 2013 after scoring six times the first two years.

C.J. Spiller ran for 933 yards. He only had two rushing scores. The next highest total for a runner who had only two rushing scores was the 709 yards produced by Lamar Miller.

Pierre Thomas led all players in the NFL with a 91.7 percent completion ratio on passes thrown to him as he secured 77 of 84 Drew Brees passes. The top three were rounded out by Danny Woodhead (87.4) and Jacquizz Rodgers (83.9). Were you aware that Thomas' total of 77 receptions was not only the most in football but that it is one grab less than the combined total of C.J. Spiller (33) and Le'Veon Bell (45)?

Two running backs were able to convert at least half of their runs inside the 10 yard line into scores (minimum five scores). Care to guess? You won't get it right so I'll just tell you: Joique Bell (7/12) and Steven Ridley (6/12). The top three runners in the NFL at converting carries into first downs were all quarterbacks: Cam Newton (40.5), Terrelle Pryor (32.5) and Russell Wilson (32.2).

The top runner was Mike Tolbert at 30.7 percent followed by James Starks (30.3) and Montee Ball (29.2).
Shane Vereen, jacked up hand and all, caught 47 passes last season. That's the same total as Fred Jackson and five more than Chris Johnson. Shane accomplished that in eight games. That pace of 16 games would lead to 94 receptions. No runner had 78 receptions last year.

Danny Woodhead did a lot of good things including leading football with 19 receptions in the red zone last season. No other running back had 11 such receptions. Woodhead also led all runners with nine receptions inside the 10 yard line. No other runner had six such receptions.

WIDE RECEIVER

Kennan Allen isn't very fast but he's shifty, notice there's an “f” in there and not a double “t,” and he knows how to move the chains. Last season 54 of his 104 targets went for a first down. He was the only wideout in football who was at better than 50 percent at 51.9 percent.

Anquan Boldin led the NFL with 27 receptions for first downs when his team was on 3rd down. He was the go to man for the Niners. Three other wideouts caught 24 such passes: Antonio Brown, Pierre Garcon and Jordy Nelson. Brown led wideouts with 11 first down reception on 3rd down on plays needing seven or more yards. That was one ahead of Boldin and four others (Pierre Garcon, Josh Gordon, Vincent Jackson and Calvin Johnson).

It doesn't make any sense. I admit that off the top. Still, facts are facts. Do you know which player caught the most touchdowns in the 4th quarter last season? I could give you 25 guesses and I'm pretty confident you would never say Jerricho Cotchery. Yes, he is the answer. What's even more remarkable is that Cotchery has never been a big touchdown producer. That's about as obvious a statement as you will ever read. Some details. Cotchery started his career in 2004. Over the previous nine years prior to last season, he had scored a total of 20 times. Yes, a third of all his scores came last year (he scored 10 times). More germane to the point is the fact that Cotchery scored six times in the fourth quarter. In nine previous seasons he had never scored six times in a season. Moreover, he had scored four times over the previous three seasons. Yes, in 16 fourth quarters, he scored six times in '13 after he scored four times over his previous 164 quarters.

Don't overlook Victor Cruz after a down 2013. Per 16 games he's averaged 80 receptions, 1,261 yards and eight scores. Andre Johnson has hit all three of those numbers only twice in his 11 year career.

Just for the heck of it... Harry Douglas had more receptions than Calvin Johnson (85 to 84).

Julian Edelman, who was born in Redwood City, California (about seven miles from my birthplace), catches passes from Tom Brady (who was born in the same town I was. I actually went to school with all three of Brady's sisters, but I'll share that story another time). Edelman caught 105 passes, the fourth most in football. He had 1,056 receiving yards. That mark was just 20th. Of the 23 wideouts that went for 1,000 yards, his YPC total of 10.1 was the lowest (Kendall Wright was next at 11.5 YPC).

Edelman caught 27 passes over seven games in October and November. He caught 29 passes in three games in December (Weeks 13-15) and he caught 27 passes in his first two games of the season. It was a year of highs and lows.

Larry Fitzgerald jumped on opponents early scoring eight of his 10 touchdowns in the first half. Guys like Vincent Jackson (seven), Alshon Jeffery (seven), Andre Johnson (five) and Pierre Garcon (five) couldn't match that touchdown mark if you allowed then to use first and second halves.

Josh Gordon led the NFL with 30 receptions of more than 20 yards. The man who was second on the list is no surprise – DeSean Jackson with 25. The third ranked guy will cause some eyebrows to be raised. Take your time. We're in no hurry. We've got all the time in the world. Still waiting. About had enough with this lame stalling tactic? Antonio Brown with 23. Jackson does lead the NFL with 21 touchdown catches of at least 30 yards since 2008. He's tied with Brown's old teammate in Pittsburgh, Mike Wallace. Which player led the NFL in receptions of at least 25 yards last season? The answer is Jordy Nelson (19).

A.J. Green set an NFL record with his total of 260 receptions his first three years (one more than Anquan Boldin). Green, who has caught 97 and 98 passes the last two years, is joined by Andre Johnson and Brandon Marshall as the only three wideouts who have caught at least 95 passes each of the last two years.

Pierre Garcon did something no one in a Redskins uniform had done since Art Monk in 1984. He led the NFL in receptions with 113. Furthermore he joined two other receivers in the high rent district. Jimmy Smith (2001), Antonio Brown (2013) and Garcon as the only three wideouts to catch at least five passes in every game of a season.

DeSean Jackson has appeared in 50 wins in his career, 36 loses and one tie. He averages 0.52 receiving scores in wins, 0.17 receiving scores in loses and he didn't score in the tie.

Vincent Jackson had 81 passes thrown his way that weren't converted into a reception. That was the most in football, one more than A.J. Green. Obviously, it should be pointed out that Green caught 98 passes while Jackson hauled in 20 less with 78 total grabs. Jackson was the only one of 14 wideouts to go over 1,200 yards to have fewer than 80 receptions (he had 78). On the flip side think of it. Each one of his receptions was for nearly four more yards than Pierre Garcon (15.7 YPC compare to 11.9).
Calvin Johnson has gone for at least 1,450 yards and 12 scores each of the past three season (and four of the past six). He was the only wideout in football to hit both numbers last season.

An average Julio Jones game over his past 21 outings: 5.7 receptions, 84.6 yards and 0.57 scores. Per 16 games, that would equate to 91 receptions, 1,354 yards and 9.1 scores. How many wideouts hit all three of those marks last season? Two: Demaryius Thomas and A.J. Green.

Brandon Marshall led the NFL in drops with 12. Only two other wideouts were in double-digits: Cecil Shorts (10) and Wes Welker (10).

Cordarrelle Patterson became the first player in NFL history with 100-yd kickoff return for a score, 75 yard touchdown catch and 50 yard touchdown run in the same season. Yes, he's wildly talented. However, the Vikings didn't use that talent much in the passing game. Almost two-thirds of his targets came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Moreover, 22 of the targets were on passes that were behind the line of scrimmage. That's shocking.

Were you aware that Torrey Smith (1,128) had more receiving yards than guys like T.Y. Hilton (1,083), Victor Cruz (998) and Larry Fitzgerald (954)? For his career he's averaged 17.2 yards per grab. Everyone's long ball favorite, DeSean Jackson also has a mark of 17.2 YPC.

Golden Tate led all wideouts, who caught at least 20 passes, with a YAC mark of 8.0. In fact, he earned 57 percent of his 898 yards after the catch. His YAC mark was more than double the 3.2 mark of Brandon Marshall. Think about that for a brief moment. How bad was that 3.2 mark by Marshall? It was the worst in football for any wideout that had more than 750 yards. Thirty-eight receivers went for 750 yards. On the flip side, no wideout had more first downs than Marshall who had 70. Coming full circle Marshall had more receptions for first downs than Tate had overall catches (64).

Nate Washington is old and sucky (technical term). He's also averaged 896 receiving yards the past three years. That's only two yards less than Golden Tate had last season and it's 58 yards less than Larry Fitzgerald and 47 less than Marques Colston.

Demaryius Thomas was the only player in football who had more than 700 yards after the catch with 704.

Wes Welker is the only player in NFL history with five seasons of 104 catches. The slacker only had 73 last year. That was his first season under 86 since 2006. He did miss three games of action or he likely would have gotten to 86 yet again.

Kendall Wright only scored twice last season so he's overlooked by many. Do you know how many WRs had 90 receptions and 1,000 yards last season? The answer is seven: Garcon, Brown, A. Johnson, Edelman, Marshall, Green and Wright. The Titans wideout also averaged 6.3 YAC. None of the other six men who caught 90 for 1,0000 bettered that mark. Another diddy... Wright had more receiving yards (1,079) than Keenan Allen (1,046).

TIGHT END

Martellus Bennett led all tight ends with at least 40 receptions with a 6.2 YAC mark. That means he personally generated more than 50 percent of his yards since his YPC mark was 11.7. That's especially interesting when it's also noted that his longest catch of the year was only 43 yards. If we drop the reception total down to 30, the leader becomes Brent Celek who averaged a whopping 9.5 YAC. Not a single wideout in football who caught 20 passes could match that mark, not one.

Vernon Davis was the only tight end in football who caught at least 10 passes of 25 or more yards in 2013. Davis scored 13 times in 2009 and 13 times in 2013. In the 48 games in between, three seasons worth of action, he scored 18 times. Still his five year average is 8.8 scores a year. Jason Witten has scored nine times in a season just one time (nine in 2010).

Jimmy Graham scored 16 times last season and has 41 scores in 62 career games. That average of 0.66 scores a week equates to 10.6 scores per 16 games. Pales in comparison to Rob Gronkowski though. Gronk has scored one more time than Graham but he's appeared in 12 fewer games giving him a per TD scoring average of 0.84 a week. Further, Gronk has scored 36 times in his last 38 games (playoffs included). Compare that number to all-time greats Jason Witten (0.30) and Antonio Gates (0.53). Graham did have 368 more yards and 22 more targets than any other tight end in the game. Just thought I should mention that.

Greg Olsen has scored at least five times in 6-straight years. He's also gone at least 69-816-5 the last two years. Some names that haven't reached all three of those marks the last two years include Vernon Davis and Rob Gronkowski . The last five weeks of the season Olsen also had 42 targets. Only one other tight end had more targets in that time: Jimmy Graham.

Jordan Reed had 30 first downs last season on 45 receptions. Some context. The only man with a better percentage who had at least 30 first downs was Gronkowski who had 31 first downs in 39 catches. Mr. Graham, who doubled Reed's first down total with 61, caught 86 balls. That meant Graham had a first down rate of 71 percent on his receptions while Reed's mark was 67 percent. Reed was also the only tight end in football who recorded a first down on more than 47 percent of his targets. His mark was 50.8 percent, the second best mark in football regardless of position. Mr. Reed has serious breakout potential in 2014 if he can avoid concussions.

Julius Thomas and Jimmy Graham both had 10 touchdowns in the first half. No player in football, regardless of position, had more receiving scores during the first half of games. Think of it like this. Thomas and Graham scored more times in the first half of games than the combined total of Antonio Gates (four), Coby Fleener (four) and Heath Miller (one) – for the season.

Delaine Walker was 10th at the tight end position with 60 receptions. He had 86 targets on the year. Jimmy Graham had 86 receptions last year on 142 targets, the most at the position. By the way, the 86 targets Walker received was the fewest of any 60 reception tight end in the league.

Jason Witten is going to the HOF. He had 73 receptions for 851 yards last season. For his career, per 16 games, he's averaged 80 receptions and 896 yards. He's also caught at least 73 passes for 851 or more yards each of the past seven seasons. Perspective. Only four other men reached both of those totals – 73 and 851 – last season. One of them retired (Tony Gonzalez) while another (Antonio Gates) is a poor bet to remain at that level in 2014.