Don’t Trust The Box Score: Pat Bryant is the Weapon Denver Needs

Trust The Film

Fantasy football is all about the box score: Yards and TDs equal fantasy points, and fantasy points win your league.

But not every 5-100-1 is built the same. That’s why we use not only advanced analytics, but also film to identify talented players on the verge of delivering numbers.

Every week, I’ll bring my 2 years of experience analyzing college and NFL film to highlight when the box score doesn't match reality, showcasing a few players who performed significantly better or worse than the box score indicates.

Pat Bryant, WR, Denver Broncos

Pat Bryant returned Sunday from an ankle sprain, catching four passes for 56 yards and a TD. 

Bryant drew some preseason hype, and his Week 9 film shows why that hype could still come to fruition.

Bryant’s first step on this route freezes the CB to the outside. That wasted movement by the CB allows Bryant to pivot inside quickly and get into his slant.

That creates enough separation for Bryant to get a pass in stride and pick up 12 yards.

Bryant’s savvy off the line with faking one route then running another made him successful in college, and it translated in this game.

Bryant runs a streak against a Cover-1 broken coverage. That leaves Bryant wide open for the TD, but QB Bo Nix underthrows Bryant.

Bryant adjusts to the underthrown pass, keeps his footing, and catches the ball with his body. The momentum carries Bryant into the end zone before either defender gets to him.

This wasn’t a particularly difficult rep for Bryant, but it did highlight the hands to adjust and finish an underthrown TD.

Bryant’s after-catch ability also highlights why he should continue getting more targets.

He runs a sharp curl against slightly deeper coverage. As the ball arrives, Bryant steps toward Nix to create a bit more separation from the CB. That lets him shift his weight around the defender while making the catch.

That awareness allows Bryant to break the tackle and pick up additional yardage.

Upon contact, Bryant lowers his head and stays on his feet after a hard shoulder hit. Bryant keeps fighting for an extra yard.

Bryant looks like a throwback to one of HC Sean Payton’s best WRs, Michael Thomas. Bryant certainly isn’t going to put up the 1,700+ yards this year that we saw at Thomas’ peak, but I do think a role can be crafted similar to his.

Bryant runs sharp slants with nuanced fakes to keep CBs honest. He offers some after-catch ability to break tackles and score TDs.

If Bryant is still sitting on your league’s waiver wire, go grab him immediately. The Broncos offense has been improving, scoring 26+ in three straight games. Bryant could continue seeing more work if Jaylen Waddle misses time after the bye week with a concussion. 

Ryan Flournoy, WR, Dallas Cowboys

George Pickens missed Week 9 with shoulder and hamstring injuries, opening the door for Flournoy to get more playing time. He was already on the field plenty, even when Pickens was playing, running a route on 77.9% of the Cowboys dropbacks from Weeks 1-8. That increased to 100% last week with Pickens missing the game.

The results were less than stellar for fantasy managers with Flournoy catching 2 of his 3 targets for 53 yards. Though, he nearly had a TD (which we will get into in a bit).

The film does show a young, ascending player who deserves these snaps and could earn a larger role if the Cowboys let Pickens walk after this season.

Flournoy works out of the stack on this play, allowing him to run an out route while Sauce Gardner gets lost in the traffic. Dak Prescott threw a poor pass that fell off before reaching Flournoy, forcing the WR to come back and scoop up the pass.

He adjusts well and still has the speed to get to the outside and get the first down.

Flournoy also showed he can win one-on-one deep. Gardner sticks with him off the line, but Flournoy has the outside leverage.

Prescott throws a 50/50 ball, and Flournoy uses physicality to keep Gardner off him as Flournoy moves upfield, tracking the ball. That was enough to keep Gardner a step back and Flournoy gets under the pass for a catch.

Flournoy nearly had a TD in this game, but a bad pass by Prescott led to it coming in short.

Flournoy navigates through the traffic and turns ahead of S Camryn Bynum to gain positioning. He keeps drifting deeper into the end zone and toward the open space away from Bynum. 

Prescott’s pass comes in short, hitting the goal line well underthrown. Prescott was trying to fit the ball low as Bynum closed, but leading Flournoy more to his outside shoulder would have resulted in a TD. 

Flournoy still nearly catches the TD but couldn’t get to the spot in time.

Overall, this was an excellent showing from Flournoy despite only having 2 catches in the game. He showcased the ability to beat different coverages, along with working in sync with Prescott to try and get open.

Flournoy has developed a more advanced skill set since coming out of Southeast Missouri State in 2024. That doesn’t mean he’ll develop into a superstar, but he can become a useful fantasy player.

Flournoy’s athleticism (4.44 speed) and technique make him worth hanging onto for the rest of the season, along with a strong buy in dynasty. 

Tank Dell, WR, Houston Texans

Week 9 marked Dell’s second game this season since he missed all of 2025 after sustaining multiple torn ligaments and a dislocated left kneecap in December 2024. Regaining his speed and movement skills remained in question entering this season.

But Dell’s film shows a player close to the 2023 version, who finished as WR19 in PPR points per game.

Dell works from the slot on this play with burst off the line to zoom past the shallow zone of the secondary. That allows C.J. Stroud to get the ball out quickly into the open zone for Dell.

Dell tracks the ball well, getting under it while preparing himself to potentially evade S R.J. Mickens. Mickens gets a piece of Dell to get him down, but it still results in a 32-yard play.

The most impressive part of Dell’s game was the short-area quickness in his routes that made him so dangerous in college and his first two years in the NFL. 

Dell gets off the line quickly once again and makes a sharp cut with one foot in the ground, pivoting back before CB Tarheeb Still can react. That creates enough separation for Stroud to get the ball out to Dell for a short gain.

He does catch the ball into his body, which may indicate rust coming off such a long absence, but the result was positive.

The Texans offense continued to use Dell wisely. Putting him in motion to enhance his explosion off the line gave the Chargers defense problems, and it shows up again on this play.

The motion creates enough momentum for Dell to use the double move to get outside the CB and then turn upfield and zoom past him, separating with speed.

Stroud places the ball perfectly for Dell to catch it in stride as the CB falls down. Dell outruns the rest of the defense going all the way for a TD.

This game wasn’t exactly the prime Dell that we saw in his first two seasons, but he flashed the route running and athleticism that made him so successful in the first place.

Before the season, I wasn’t sure he would ever play football again. Now, I’ll be surprised if Dell doesn’t get back to being at least a WR3 (barring injury).

He was one of the headliners in our waiver article this week and could become a fantasy producer down the stretch if the 55.8% route participation improves.

Dell also sits as an intriguing dynasty target. The risk of rei-njury certainly looms large, but that may make him cheap enough to target without much haggling. Our Dynasty Trade Value Chart has him equal to a 2028 third round pick.