In 1 Big Thing, Blair Andrews uses the RotoViz tools to take a deep dive into an interesting, unique, and potentially actionable development from the last week of fantasy football.
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both finished as top-four receivers in Week 8. On the season, Hill ranks No. 1 in PPR. Waddle is No. 5. Since 2000, there have only been six other occasions of two wide receiver teammates ranking inside the top-five after eight weeks.
Hill and Waddle’s Place in History
A number of things stand out about the performance we’re seeing from Hill and Waddle. First, no other player on this list is even close to Hill’s reception or yardage total. The next closest player in terms of yardage is Eric Moulds, who trails Hill by over 150 yards despite seeing seven more targets in 2002. Moulds’ top teammate in that season, Peerless Price, had only 13 more yards than Waddle does through eight weeks.[1]
Combined, Hill and Waddle have 158 more receiving yards than the next best duo (Moulds and Price), and over 300 more yards than the third-place tandem (Randy Moss and Wes Welker in 2007). They have more receptions than any other teammate combo despite trailing the leaders in targets by 16. They rank No. 3 in PPR scoring even though they are last in total touchdowns.
Waddle for his part, is also doing something pretty special. Only three players with top-five teammates were more efficient. As a pair, Hill and Waddle have caught nearly 72% of the passes thrown their way, which only Moss and Welker beat (75%). And Hill and Waddle are doing this even though Hill is the league leader in total air yards and Waddle has increased his aDOT from 7.0 to 10.5. No top-five duo ranks higher in yards per target or yards per reception.
Can the Dolphins Duo Keep This Up?
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Moulds and Price were actually the No. 1 and No. 2 receivers in the league after eight weeks in 2002. It was a different era. |
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