The New England Patriots defense allowed the third-lowest YAC per reception at 4.8. The Seattle Seahawks defense was 19th at 5.6. New England played zone 68.9% of the time, the ninth-lowest. Seattle played zone 78.9% of the time, the eighth-most. So, New England was more about playing sticky while Seattle allowed more short receptions but rallied to tackle the receiver. In addition, Seattle was sixth in pressure rate, inducing quarterbacks to get the ball out quickly.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba had the most YAC during the season, including the playoffs, with 634, but that’s more due to sheer volume.
In terms of YAC per reception, the two opposing running backs led the way. Kenneth Walker III was at 10.9 while Rhamondre Stevenson was at 9.8. TreVeyon Henderson was at 7.2 but he’s a home run hitter that can score on any play. Volume may be an issue, though. Seattle allowed the most receptions (97) to running backs while New England allowed the fourth-most (84).
Smith-Njigba was at 4.8 from a YAC per reception perspective.
Volume is on the side of Smith-Njigba, but he will likely be shadowed by cornerback Christian Gonzalez, so YAC may be a difficult proposition.
Since Seattle likes to play zone at a high rate, drop back and keep everything in front, I like Stevenson to rack up the most YAC in this one. He will likely dominate the snaps at running back and I can envision him getting over four targets in this one. As mentioned above, Seattle allowed the most receptions to running backs. Stevenson was tied for eighth in broken tackles and second in rushing yards after contact per attempt. Stevenson had six games with a reception of at least 20 yards. He had a long of 48 yards in one game and a 55-yarder in another.
