“Better than average” is an annual measurement of how players did the previous season. Not just their total yardage or fantasy points. What this considers what player posted the most fantasy points against the particular defense. Who had a Top-4 or a Top-8 performance? With 16 games by each defense, anyone that scored in the best eight for that position was “better than average.”
This considered a standard fantasy performance scoring with a reception point for running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. The “BTA” score adds up the instances of whether a score was the highest, in the best four or eight allowed to the position by a defense. In that way, a No. 1 showing gets counted three times (as the No.1, in the Top-4 and the Top-8).
This is actually more accurate than considering total fantasy points. This indicates how well a player did versus all others that faced the same defense. Each defense only gives up one instance of a No. 1.
Patrick Mahomes was injured last year to explain his No. 5 placement. Baker Mayfield, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Jared Goff fared better in this metric than just total points. Josh Allen, Carson Wentz, and Kirk Cousins came off worse.
Here are just the No. 1 performances allowed by a defense (a total of 32).
