If you're looking for an edge in your fantasy football league, understanding and utilizing "crazy time stats" can give you a significant advantage over the competition. Crazy time stats are a relatively new phenomenon, and they refer to the statistical outliers that occur during the course of a football game. By understanding which crazy time stats are most predictive of success, you can make better decisions about which players to start and which ones to sit.

Crazy Time Stats 101

One of the best examples of a crazy time stat is the "Hail Mary" completion. In football, a Hail Mary is a long pass attempted near the end of a half or game when there's little chance of success but a successful completion would be hugely impactful. Because Hail Marys are such low-percentage plays, they tend to produce a lot of statistical outliers. For instance, a wide receiver who normally catches 50% of his targets might catch just 2% of Hail Marys, or a quarterback with an 80% completion rate might complete just 20% of Hail Marys.

While these types of outliers can be frustrating in the moment, they can actually be quite useful for fantasy football owners. That's because they can help you identify which players are likely to have big games and which ones are more likely to struggle. For instance, if you know that a particular wide receiver has a history of catching Hail Marys, he's someone you'll want to start on days when your other options are struggling.

CRAZY TIME STAT #1: The "Hail Mary" Completion

The first crazy time stat we'll discuss is the "Hail Mary" completion. As we mentioned earlier, a Hail Mary is a long pass attempted near the end of a half or game when there's little chance of success but a successful completion would be hugely impactful. Because Hail Marys are such low-percentage plays, they tend to produce a lot of statistical outliers.

For instance, a wide receiver who normally catches 50% of his targets might catch just 2% of Hail Marys, or a quarterback with an 80% completion rate might complete just 20% of Hail Marys. While these types of outliers can be frustrating in the moment, they can actually be quite useful for fantasy football owners.

That's because they can help you identify which players are likely to have big games and which ones are more likely to struggle. For instance, if you know that a particular wide receiver has a history of catching Hail Marys, he's someone you'll want to start on days when your other options are struggling.

CRAZY TIME STAT #2: The "Red Zone" Target

Another crazy time stat that can be useful for fantasy football owners is the "red zone" target. The red zone is the area on the field between the 20-yard line and the goal line—it's where teams are most likely to score touchdowns. Not surprisingly, red zone targets tend to be highly correlated with touchdowns.

However, there tends to be quite a bit of variation from team to team in terms of how often they target their receivers in the red zone. Some teams will target their receivers nearly 50% of the time while others will do so less than 25% of the time. This stat can be useful for fantasy owners because it can help them predict which players are likely to see an uptick in scoring opportunities (and therefore production).

Conclusion: Crazy Time Stats Can Help You Maximize Your Wins!By understanding which crazy time stats are most predictive of success, you can make better decisions about which players to start and which ones to sit . . . giving you an edge over your opponents! So keep an eye out for red zone targets and hail mary completions - they could mean the difference between winning and losing!