Fun NextGen stats from the Conference Championship games

By Rhys Knott

Even though there were only two games this week there were still some fun NextGen stats. And some of them will blow your tiny mind!

NextGen Fastest carries

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Jahmyr Gibbs has had some rookie season. He scored 14 touchdowns in 18 games and averaged 5.6 yards per touch! He only racked up 56 yards in Santa Clara. But he did clock the fastest speed of the weekend on a 13-yard rush. Gibbs was the only player to go over 20 mph this week. He hit 20.93 mph.  

The second-fastest carry also came in the game in Santa Clara too. But it was by a 49er; Brandon Aiyuk recorded a 51-yard reception that saw him hit 19.90 mph. Aiyuk only caught 3 of his 8 targets but made the most of the ones he did haul in.  

Gus Edwards isn’t usually talked about as the Ravens fastest running back, but he hit 20.23 mph in Week 7 (Keaton Mitchell hit 20.27 mph in Week 14), and this is Edwards’ 3rd entry into the fastest carries top 20. Edwards’s fastest carry this week was on a 16-yard catch. He traveled at 19.33 mph as the Ravens struggled to find much space against the Chiefs’ defense.  

Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the first Chief in the top 5. He only caught 2 passes in the game in Baltimore, but on his 32-yard reception, he clocked 19.04 mph. And that was enough to get him behind the Ravens pass defenders.  

While we’re talking about receivers who should have been more involved in the passing game, Odell Beckham Jr. Is one of the receivers who clocked the 5th speed this week this week. Beckham did see 6 targets, but he only caught 3 of them for 22 yards. The pass he caught for 8 yards saw him hit 18.82 mph.  

Jameson Williams also carried the ball at 18.82 mph when he ran in a 42-yard touchdown. Which begs the question, why did Ben Johnson stop calling the misdirection plays?  

NextGen Remarkable Rushes

Unsurprisingly Jameson Williams’ carry is also the most remarkable rush of the weekend. According to the NextGen algorithm, Williams should have only gained 8 yards. He went 34 yards over expected. That was the most remarkable rush by some distance. Seriously Ben, what the actual hell?  

That Williams run was 13 yards over expected than the second-placed carry. Christian McCaffrey went 21 yards over expected on a 25-yard rush.  

From here on out it’s a quarterback show. Lamar Jackson ran the ball 8 times against the Chiefs. Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and Zay Flowers combined to run the ball 8 times! So that might have been where the Ravens went wrong. But on a 21-yard Lamar went 18 yards over expected.  

Desperation might be a stinky cologne, but it’s also a great motivator. And it motivated Brock Purdy all the way to the 4th and 5th places in this list. His 4th placed entry is a rush that went 17 yards over expected. He ran the ball 21 yards as the Lions’ defense forgot he was actually allowed to do that.  

Purdy’s second most remarkable rush of the weekend also went for 21 yards. The algorithm expected it to go just 6 yards, so he was 15 yards over expected. Who needs Lamar Jackson?  

Fastest Sacks

The fastest sack of the season took just 1.7 seconds back in Week 14, so these fastest sacks aren’t really what you’d call “fast”. But they are what you would call “sacks”.  

The best of a bad bunch came from Nick Bosa. “Small Bear” hadn’t had a sack for 4 games, so this week he thought he’d have himself 2. His fastest one came in 3.91 seconds. If you’re going to hold on to the ball for nearly 4 seconds, then you are going to get sacked by someone, possibly by your team at the end of the end.  

Bosa’s former teammate Charles Omenihu recorded the second-fastest sack when he decked Lamar Jackson in 4.34 seconds.  

There’s another Chief at 3 on the list, it’s everyone’s favorite Greek pass rusher, George Karlaftis. Karlaftis made his sack in 4.55 seconds.  

“Small Bear” is back at 4th, he got another sack that took even longer than the first one. Presumably, Jared Goff was having a drink or something. Bosa’s second entry in the top 5 took him 4.59 seconds.  

Alim McNeil, who hasn’t had a sack since Week 11, made the fifth-fastest sack this week. He got to Purdy in 4.68 seconds. 

 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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