NFL Trends Deep Dive with Next Gen Stats Research Analyst James Reber

·50 min·3 clips

Chip blocks add about six-tenths of a second: 3.4 seconds to pressure instead of 2.8.

1. NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on March 19, 2026 focuses on chip blocks, split-safety coverages, and fantasy draft angles. 2. Marcus Grant hosts with Michael F. Florio and Laquan Jones, and James Reber joins from the NFL Next Gen Stats research team. 3. The episode asks how two data trends, chip blocks and too-high coverage, can help fantasy managers identify players and teams. 4. The show opens with T.Y. Hilton’s retirement and asks whether he belongs in a fantasy Hall of Fame. 5. Florio calls Hilton a Hall of Very Good and points to the Andrew Luck years as his peak fantasy stretch. 6. Laquan Jones says Hilton’s career changed when Andrew Luck retired, which cut off the ceiling Hilton had built. 7. The hosts explain Hilton’s nickname by tracing it to his father Tyrone and to his sons Eugene Hilton Jr. and Ty Hilton. 8. Reber defines chip blocks as a tight end, running back, or wide receiver giving blocking help before releasing into a route. 9. He says chip blocks give offenses a five-and-a-half-man protection and add about 0.6 seconds before pressure arrives. 10. Reber says that extra time can help quarterbacks get through progressions, hit deep balls, and avoid sacks. 11. He says chip usage rose from 21% in 2023 to nearly 27% last season. 12. Reber ties that rise to coaching influence from Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, plus Kevin O’Connell, Liam Coen, and Clint Kubiak. 13. He notes that some teams chip because their offensive line or quarterback needs help, not because the tactic is always a strength. 14. Reber flags Hunter Henry as a veteran who caught every one of his 21 targets after a chip block. 15. He says Hunter Henry’s catch rate was 100% when chipped and 59.1% when not chipped. 16. The discussion moves to Brock Bowers, who had only 24 chip blocks and a 6.2% chip rate. 17. Reber says Bowers caught all seven of his targets off chips, but his usage at the line of scrimmage could change with Clint Kubiak in Las Vegas. 18. The episode then turns to Colby Parkinson, who had seven targets on 14 red-zone chips for the Rams. 19. Reber explains too-high coverage as split-safety looks like Cover 2, Cover 4, and Cover 6, and says every NFL defense used it at least 30% of the time. 20. The fantasy angle closes with Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 841 receiving yards against too-high coverage and with Emeka Egbuka, Tetairoa McMillan, Michael Pittman, and DK Metcalf as names to watch.

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