Mahomes posts NFL's lowest average target depth at 6.2

Ward and Watson are next at 6.4

Wire Report IntelligenceUpdated 4h1 min read

Lowest avg depth of target this season (min 75 dropbacks) Patrick Mahomes 6.2 Cam Ward 6.4 De Via @PFF on X

What happened: PFF's season leaderboard for quarterbacks with at least 75 dropbacks has Patrick Mahomes at 6.2 yards average depth of target, the lowest mark in the league. Cam Ward and Deshaun Watson are tied next at 6.4, with Daniel Jones and Jacoby Brissett at 6.5.

Why it matters: For Patrick Mahomes, the shallow profile underscores how often the passing game is working underneath rather than hunting vertical shots. That can still produce efficiently: ESPN Stats & Insights noted Mahomes completed all 14 of his play-action attempts for 201 yards and a touchdown Sunday.

By the numbers: Mahomes leads this five-quarterback group at 6.2, only 0.2 yards below Ward and Watson and 0.3 below Jones and Brissett. The gap from first to fifth is just 0.3 yards, a tightly packed cluster among passers who have already cleared 75 dropbacks.

What to watch: Watch whether Mahomes' average target depth climbs as the sample grows and whether Ward, Watson, Jones and Brissett remain bunched near the bottom of the league table.

Sources

@PFF 2026-10-01T20:32:38.243989+00:00

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