Aug 17, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey (22) takes the field against the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
The beginning of a new NFL season brings with it the first edition of 32 Observations by PFF Analyst Mark Chichester, finding an interesting piece of information about all 32 teams after four weeks of preseason football.
If you would like to make some observations of your own, you can do so with PFF Elite, where you can find several signature statistics for every offensive and defensive position in football, thanks to Premium Stats 2.0.
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills: Wide receiver Robert Foster‘s average depth of target sat at a whopping 32.3 yards downfield during the 2018 preseason. This is the deepest depth of target that we’ve seen since PFF started grading preseason games back in 2013.
Miami Dolphins: 62.7 percent of running back Kenyan Drake‘s rushing yards came from breakaway runs (runs of 15-plus yards) this preseason, which was the fourth-highest rate among running backs.
New England Patriots: Safety Damarius Travis produced for five defensive stops on third down this preseason, which was the most among safeties and tied with Carl Lawson for the most among all defensive players in the league.
New York Jets: Linebacker Neville Hewitt was the first defender to make contact with the ball carrier on 19 of his defensive snaps this preseason, which was the third-best mark among linebackers.
AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens: Running back Mark Thompson forced a total of 19 missed tackles this preseason, 15 as a runner and four as a receiver. His 19 total forced missed tackles were the second-most ever recorded by a running back in a preseason.
Cincinnati Bengals: Third-year cornerback KeiVarae Russell was targeted in coverage six times on deep passes during the preseason. He didn’t allow a single reception, forcing two incompletions, coming away with one interception and allowing a 0.0 passer rating — the best mark among cornerbacks with at least five deep targets this preseason.
Cleveland Browns: First overall pick Baker Mayfield produced a passer rating of 121.1 when he was kept clean from defensive pressure this preseason, which paced the league’s rookie signal-callers and is the third-best mark ever recorded by a rookie quarterback with at least 40 clean pass attempts in a preseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Rookie wide receiver James Washington was targeted seven times on deep passes this preseason, and he caught five of those targets for two touchdowns. His 150 deep receiving yards and his 153.3 WR rating on deep passes both led the league’s wide receivers this preseason and are both the second-best marks ever recorded by a rookie wide receiver.
AFC SOUTH
Houston Texans: Interior defensive lineman Brandon Dunn accumulated a run-stop percentage of 30.0 percent this preseason, the best mark that we’ve recorded for a defensive tackle in six years of grading the preseason.
Indianapolis Colts: Interior defensive lineman Hassan Ridgeway logged five defensive stops and three tackles for loss or no gain against the run on first down this preseason, both of which ranked first among interior defensive linemen.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Third-year running back Brandon Wilds was stopped for zero or negative yardage on just 11.1 percent of his rushing attempts this preseason, which was the best rate among running backs with at least 25 rush attempts.
Tennessee Titans: In four preseason games, the Titans defense missed just 20 tackle attempts — the third-fewest among defenses.
AFC WEST
Denver Broncos: Rookie linebacker Josey Jewell recorded 10 defensive stops against the run this preseason, good for second-most among linebackers. Within those 10 stops were five tackles for…
