Fun NextGen Stats from Week 5

By Rhys Knott

If Week 4 was a good week to be a defense Week 5 saw a resurgence for the offenses. And guess what? Miami are back in the NextGen stats mix. They might have come up against the Bills defense (who don’t like turf fields or jet lag) last week. By the end of the season the top 10 fastest carries will all be by Dolphins and some of them will probably be by players you’ve never heard of. 

NextGen Fastest Carries from Week 5

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Tyreek Hill won (again) this week (and he was 6th on the list too). He became the first player this season to reach 22 mph. He touched 22.01 mph on a 64-yard touchdown reception. Dolphins now have seven of the fastest ten carries his season. Three of them are Tyreek’s. 

Dolphins’ rookie De’Von Achane is second, giving him three of the fastest 10 carries in 2023. Achane clocked 21.76 mph on his 76-yard touchdown run against the Giants (more on that later). 

Ja’Marr Chase has been waiting for Joe Burrow’s calf injury to heal and his patience was rewarded this week. Chase caught 15 passes for 192 yards against the Cardinals. On his 63-yard touchdown reception he traveled at 21.54 mph. Chase is the fastest non-Dolphin in 2023. 

Breece Hall is keeping up the AFC dominance in this week’s top five, Hall’s 72-yard touchdown run against the Broncos means Aaron Jones is the only NFC player in this season’s top 10! Hall was just 0.04 mph slower than Chase as he was recorded at 21.50 mph. 

A surprise entry in this week’s top five, Jaleel McLaughlin hit 21.17 mph on a 38-yard carry against the Jets defense. 

Remarkable Rushes from Week 5

NextGen calculates “expected yards” based on where the play happens, how close defenders are and other factors including speed and acceleration. So, unsurprisingly, the Dolphins do ok in this category too. 

In fact, De’Von Achane’s 76-yard touchdown run leads the list in Week 5. That was 65 yards more than the algorithm expected it to go. It was Achane’s third entry into the 2023 top 10. Even with him likely to miss some time with a knee injury he has to beat OROY, doesn’t he? 

Another repeat offender is second this week, Breece Hall’s 72-yard touchdown romp in Denver was 62 yards more than expected That’s Hall’s second entry in the 2023 top 10! 

Even Zack Moss must have been shocked by his Sunday afternoon’s work. He carried the ball for 165 yards, a new personal best (by 43 yards), and he scored two rushing touchdowns for the first time since 2021. His 56-yard run was 46 yards more than expected. 

David Montgomery tried his hardest to make sure we didn’t forget about the NFC. The 26-year-old Lion ended their Week 5 game against the Panthers with 1129 total yards and a touchdown. His 42-yard run went 38 yards further than expected. 

James Conner wants to make sure you don’t forget about the Cardinals (as much you’d like to), He averaged 7.7 yards per carry on Sunday and his 35-yard carry went the full 35 yards further than expected! 

NextGen Fastest Sacks from Week 5

Christian Wilkins and Emmanuel Ogbah tied in first after both taking 2.49 seconds to get to poor Daniel Jones. The Giants have allowed their QB to be sacked 18 times in the last two weeks! 

A.J Epenesa, who the Jags made look like Nick Bosa, was the undoubted star of the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With the Bills defensive missing five of their defensive front Epenesa recorded two sacks for the first time in his career. He also recovered a fumble for just the second time in his career. Epenesa took just 2.57 seconds to get to Trevor Lawrence who stood up under some serious pressure. 

Kansas City stalwart Chris Jones makes an appearance at fourth in the list, he’s recorded at least one sack in every game he’s played in 2023. In Week 5 he defended a pass and finished the game against the Vikings with three QB hits too. His sack of Kirk Cousin took just 2.67 seconds. 

Quincy Williams is having quite the breakout season in New York. He’s almost stealing the spotlight from his brother Quinnen. Williams is the first linebacker on the list this week, he sacked Russell Wilson twice as the Broncos dissolved in front of their home fans. Williams’ fastest sack of the week took him just 2.74 seconds. 

In a shocking turn of events a Patriot also finds his way on to the list. Who knew any of their players were actually doing good things in 2023? Ja’Whaun Bentley took 2.74 seconds to sack Derek Carr too. Didn’t stop the Saints absolutely thrashing the pants off the Pats in Foxboro though. 

Special Mention  

Special shout out to Jason Pinnock who ran 110.1 yards on his 102-yard interception return. That was the longest play of Week 5 by 19.1 yards and fifth longest play of the season so far. In case you’re wondering De’Von Achane’s 76-yard touchdown run was the second longest. He ran 91 yards to run it in, what a showoff. 

Feature Image Credit: Miami Dolphins

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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