Statistics and analytics play a significant role in fantasy football. As more and more stats are used to track the performance of NFL players, analytics have become a huge part of the game to study the players.
These analytics help in determining not just the performance but also the selection of the players into the squad. This is generally helpful in fantasy football.
One such stat that’s grown in popularity and being used more is that of Air Yards.
Air Yards is an interesting stat and in this page we will explain what it means and why it’s important in fantasy football.
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Air Yards in Fantasy Football
Air yards was first created by Josh Hermsmeyer and has become increasingly popular stat in the NFL since its creation. Air Yards are becoming extremely crucial especially in the season-long fantasy football and daily fantasy football formats.
So what are Air yards?
In simple words, Air Yards are a stat that measures the number of yards a ball travels in the air, from the line of scrimmage to the point of contact.
For example, if the quarterback throws the ball from 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage to a wide receiver who is 25 yards past the line of scrimmage, then it would be counted as 25 air yards.
In this case, if the catch is not completed by the wide receiver, it would still count as 25 air yards. But it will not be tracked when measuring completed air yards.
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Why are Air Yards important?
Air yards are a fascinating stat that determine the upside of a particular player in fantasy football.
Air Yards give us a general idea of the receiver’s potential and which player does the quarterback and the head coach trust the most down the field. This is very much helpful in determining the usage of a particular player and also the fantasy value for the upcoming games.
Air Yards enable the fantasy manager to understand how the player is being utilized. One indicator of a player who is regressing is when the player has more post-catch yardage when compared to the mediocre or below average air yards.
In fantasy football, air yards come in crucial. Generally the player with the highest air yards leads the league in fantasy points. However this might now be the case for every receiver and quarterback. In such cases, fantasy managers can assess whether a certain player is worthwhile banking on for a breakthrough by using air yards.
With the 2024 fantasy football season on the horizon, be sure to check out our free Fantasy Trade Analyzer to lock down your squad for the year.
FAQs
A. Air yards is a stat that measures the total yards traveled by the ball from the line of scrimmage to the point of contact on the field.
A. Completed Air Yards (CAY) determines the air yards on completed passes.
A. Incomplete air yards (IAY) or Unrealized air yards (UAY) measure the distance of the ball traveled to the target but which are not completed by the receiver.
A. The WR air yards and QB air yards are pretty much similar. We saw that WR air yards are calculated by the distance traveled by the ball past the line of scrimmage to the point of contact. Similarly, the QB air yards show the number of yards the ball travels to the target.
