Through three weeks, Bryce Young leads the league in passing yards, Kenneth Walker leads in rushing yards, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads in receiving yards, but everybody knows that. Yards are the main stat that everyone pays attention to, but it doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. If you really want to get a good idea of how everyone is performing, you need to dive deeper into the advanced stats.

With three weeks under our belt, we’re starting to get a good idea of how everyone will play this year, so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at some of our advanced stat leaders and see which players are really at the top of their game to begin the season.

Quarterback

Big Time Throws: Tyler Shough (8)

Tyler Shough has been leading the NFL in big time throws every single week. PFF defines a big time throw as “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window,” and through three weeks, nobody has more than Shough.

His eight BTT are two more than any other quarterback in the league, with Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Bryce Young trailing with six. To give you an idea, Shough is on pace for 45 big-time throws this season, which would be two less than Matthew Stafford had last year (47), and he led the league by 16 BTTs in 2025. No one else had more than 31.

Average Depth of Target: Lamar Jackson & Bryce Young (10.5)

We do have a tie between Lamar Jackson and Bryce Young for average depth of target. Through three weeks, Young and Lamar Jackson are throwing the ball 10.5 yards downfield on average, and neither of them has more than three turnover-worthy plays this season. You don’t typically see a player with an ADOT above 10 through the whole year, but for now, those two are chucking it downfield.

Adjusted Completion Percentage: Michael Penix (86.4%)

I made the cutoff for quarterbacks 25 attempts, and with 26 on Thursday Night Football, Michael Penix just meets the criteria to be considered for the leader in adjusted completion percentage. On TNF, Penix completed 72 percent of his throws, but when you take drops, throwaways, and batted balls out of the equation, he’s completing 86.4 percent of his passes. If you wanted to make it 50+ attempts to ensure only players with multiple games are counted, Geno Smith would be leading with an 84.0 percent ACP.

Drop Percentage: Jordan Love (12.2%)

No quarterback in the NFL has received less help this year than Jordan Love. On top of having the worst rushing game and pass protection in football, Love also leads the league in receiver drop percentage at 12.2 percent. Only two other quarterbacks – Jayden Daniels and Baker Mayfield – are also above 10 percent. The Packers have completely let Love down.

Pressure to Sack Percentage: Brock Purdy (0.0%)

Sacks are a quarterback stat. Sometimes your offensive line gets blown up, and there’s nothing you can do, but there’s also an art to avoiding sacks, even when your lineman makes a mistake. Brock Purdy has been excellent at that this year. He’s been pressured 24 times, but hasn’t been sacked once. His offensive line has been great, but he’s been able to make plays even when the pressure is on him. He also led the league in this stat last year at 9.2 percent, so he just knows what to do when he’s under pressure.

Wide Receiver

Yards Per Route Run: Zay Flowers (9.36)

Zay Flowers is currently the runaway leader in yards per route run this season, largely due to injury. I only included players with 10+ targets on this list, and Flowers has 12, but he’s also only ran 25 routes this season. He’s been incredibly efficient, but once he gets to the average of someone like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is averaging 4.35 YPRR on 93 routes, his number should drop quite significantly. For example, last year Puka Nacua led the league with 3.71 YPRR, so 9.36 is unsustainable.

Average Depth of Target: Ted Hurst (24.4)

Of all the receivers with 10+ targets this year, Ted Hurst, the rookie out of Georgia State, leads the league with an average depth of target of nearly 25 yards. Nobody else is even close, with Rome Odunze in second place with an ADOT of 17.8. Hurst has been targeted 13 times, catching six of them for 103 yards and a touchdown, but Baker Mayfield has taken some deep shots to the rookie to get this number up.

Contested Catches: Chris Olave & Garrett Wilson (8)

When it comes to contested catches, nobody has been better than the two former Ohio State teammates, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, who lead the league with eight apiece. Behind them are George Pickens and JSN, who have six each. They’re both on pace for 45 contested catches, which would blow Puka Nacua’s 2025 mark of 27 out of the water. When in doubt, look for a former Buckeye.

First Downs Converted: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (22)

Surprise, surprise, the receiver that leads the league in yards also leads in first downs converted. This is a pretty insane pace, given that last year’s leader, Puka Nacua, gained 80 first downs all season (JSN had 79 himself). This year, JSN is on pace for 125 first downs, and Chris Olave, who has 20, is on pace for 113. We’ll see if either of them can beat Nacua’s 2025 mark.

Running Back

Yards After Contact: Kenneth Walker III (303)

Kenneth Walker has been an absolute beast this season, and as it stands, he has nearly 30 more yards after contact than any running back in football, with 303. With 360 yards on the year, that means 84 percent of his rushing yards have come after contact this season. Yeesh.

Yards After Contact Per Rush: Kenneth Walker III (4.66)

So it’s no surprise that Walker also leads the league in yards after contact per rush at 4.66 yards. Only six players in the entire league are averaging more than four yards after contact per rush, but only one of them – Bijan Robinson – has over 60 carries like Walker. He’s running like a madman right now.

Missed Tackles Forced: Kenneth Walker III (34)

Would you also be shocked if I told you that Walker led the league in missed tackles forced with 34? No? Well, you might be shocked to hear that his 34 missed tackles are 12 more than anyone else in the league. Jahmyr Gibbs has 22, and behind him, Bhayshul Tuten has 15.

Tuten is closer to having zero missed tackles forced than he is to Walker’s number. Last year, Robinson led the league with 86 MTF, and Walker is almost halfway there after three weeks. He’s currently on pace for 192 MTF. Just insane.

10+ Yard Runs: James Cook (12)

The only advanced stat that Walker doesn’t lead in is 10+ yard runs, which goes to James Cook with 12. He is one of three running backs – Cook, Gibbs, and Walker – to have 10+ runs of 10+ yards this season, so it’s easy to see why he’s also second in the league in yards per attempt at 6.0. After leading the league in yards last year, Cook has been even more efficient and explosive this year.