Each week, I’ll look at snaps, usage, touches, target shares
and pull out the highlights you need to know from each game. Snap
shares are in parenthesis next to each player’s name.
Chicago ran into all kinds of problems at running back this week.
Khalil Herbert
(65.6%), Rochon Johnson (9.4%) and Travis
Homer (0%) were all active and all got injured. D’Onta
Foreman was inactive. Monitor the injury status of this group
to see if Foreman will have any value moving forward.
Running backs didn’t matter for the Bears as D.J. Moore
(87.5%) went ham with 10 targets, 8 catches, 230 yards and 3 TDs.
His 10 targets represented a 40% target share. Darnell Mooney
(78.1%) had 4 targets and zero catches.
TE Cole Kmet (82.8%) saw a 20% target share and is the only other
notable pass-catcher in the offense.
Equanimeous St. Brown (37.5%) has moved into the No.3 WR role
for the Bears bud doesn't have any fantasy value.
The Commanders fell behind early and only ran the ball 10 times.
Brian Robinson Jr. (35.7%) played fewer snaps than Antonio Gibson
(54.3%) but out-touched Gibson 10 to 4. Robinson is the better
fantasy play when Washington is in positive or neutral game script.
It was a quiet night for Terry McLaurin (82.9%) and Jahan Dotson
(80%) as Curtis Samuel (70%) and tight end Logan Thomas (78.6%)
got the most receiving work. Thomas led the group with a 22.9%
target share.
JAX @ BUF
Offensive Snaps Jaguars: 88
Bills: 60
Jaguars ran more plays than anyone else in the league this week.
Not surprisingly Travis Etienne (83.0%) had his best fantasy game
of the season (26-136-2, 4-48-0). Tank Bigsby (14.8%) isn’t
being used enough for stand-alone value.
Zay Jones (43.2%) missed the last two weeks and had to leave
this game with a knee injury. Calvin Ridley (85.2%) and Christian Kirk (83.0%) are the receivers to have here. Both saw a 21.6%
target share this week along with TE Evan Engram (85.2%).
The Bills were having trouble sustaining drives which led to
a bad day at the office for James Cook (61.7%). Latavius Murray
(18.3%) and Damien Harris (18.3%) are still involved which caps
Cook’s upside as an RB2.
Buffalo rotates their third receiver which makes all of them
unplayable as Flex options. Stefon Diggs (86.7%) and Gabriel Davis
(90.0%) both cracked 100-yards in this game.
Dawson Knox
(70.0%) out-snapped Dalton
Kincaid (53.3%). Kincaid’s snap share has hovered in the 50’s
the last three weeks compared to 79.7% in Week 1.
NYG @ MIA
Offensive Snaps Giants: 72
Dolphins: 54
The anemic Giants offense switched up their backup running back
this week. Eric Gray played 41.7% of the snaps behind Matt Breida
(58.3%) while Gary Brightwell (0%) stuck the sidelines. Only Breida
is viable as a desperation play.
Darius Slayton
(68.1%) and Wan’Dale
Robinson (66.7%) played the most snaps at WR for the Giants
but Robinson left with a concussion and they still used six receivers
which makes all them less than ideal in your starting lineup.
Darren Waller (91.7%) had his best fantasy game of the season
(8-86-0) and saw a 36.7% target share.
Miami was so efficient in their dismantling of the Giants that
they only ran 54 plays. Raheem
Mostert (59.3%) and Devon
Achane (48.1%) both got 12 opportunities. Achane is averaging
12.1 yards per carry (38 rush attempts) and has scored 7 times
in five weeks. Who says you need volume to be a RB1?
Tyreek Hill (8-181-1) saw a 32.1% target share while playing
just 46.3% of the snaps. Cedrick Wilson picked up the slack from
Tyreek playing 53.7% of the snaps. Jaylen Waddle (81.5%) and Hill
are the only two wideouts to consider.
NO @ NE
Offensive Snaps Saints: 72
Patriots: 54
Kendre Miller (36.1%) took over the backup running back role
for the Saints this week behind Alvin Kamara (62.5%) and looks
to be a good bench stash moving forward.
With Juwan Johnson out, the Saints used Foster Moreau (66.7%)
and Jimmy Graham (37.5%) to fill the void, while Taysom Hill (38.9%)
played his typical role. You can avoid everyone but Taysom in
this scenario.
It’s a struggle to find any fantasy value with the Patriots
right now. Rhamondre Stevenson (50.0%) and Ezekiel Elliott (46.3%)
continue to share playing time but it’s difficult to recommend
them as Flex options given the state of the offense.
Kendrick Bourne (87.0%) and DeVante Parker (98.1%) are the top
two wideouts but until this offense shows some signs of the life
they can be left on your bench. JuJu Smith-Schuster (50.0%) left
with a head injury.
BAL @ PIT
Offensive Snaps Ravens: 70
Steelers: 66
Gus Edwards (42.9%) and Justice Hill (55.7%) split the running
back duties for the Ravens. Hill is the preferred option here
as he works in the receiving game.
Zay Flowers
(98.6%) continues to be the dominant WR in the Ravens offense
(28.9% target share) and the only wideout to consider for your
starting lineup. Rashod
Bateman (38.6%), Nelson
Agholor (58.6%) and Odell
Beckham Jr. (52.9%) are secondary pieces that don’t have enough
value in an offense that has TE Mark
Andrews soaking up a 26.3% target share.
We’re almost at an equal split between Najee
Harris (56.1%) and Jaylen
Warren (48.5%) in snap share. Harris is still getting a few
more touches but it’s easy to see Warren the better player and
the preferred fantasy back to have in this offense.
Miles Sanders (46.5%) not only lost a fumble but is losing snap
share to Chuba Hubbard (49.9%). The Panthers were down early so
we don’t want to read too much into this but it wouldn’t
be surprising to see a more even split moving between the two
Carolina backs moving forward.
Adam Thielen (97.2%) saw a 37.1% target share and continues to
be viable weekly fantasy option especially in PPR leagues. He
has two 100-yard game and 3 TDs in five games. D.J. Chark (98.6%)
and Jonathan Mingo (85.9%) were the top three wide receivers and
this trend should continue as long as they are healthy.
We knew Jameson Williams (46.7%) was going to be on a snap count
in his first game this season. Marvin Jones (58.3%), Kalif Raymond
(48.3%) and Josh Reynolds (46.7%) all saw significant action.
Reynolds led the group with a 18.5% target share but Goff only
had 28 attempts.
TE Sam LaPorta (86.7%) continues to be a monster, scoring twice
on only 4 targets.
HOU @ ATL
Offensive Snaps Texans: 58
Falcons: 77
Dameon Pierce saw high 87.0% rush share despite playing just
58.6% of the snaps. He’s been inefficient to start the season
with just 2.9 yards per carry. Devin Singletary (29.3%) did have
a carry.
Tank Dell (36.2%) left this game with a concussion which allowed
John Metchie to play 43.1% of the snaps.
TE Dalton Schultz (58.6%) saw a 31.3% target share, easily his
highest of the season.
A result that should surprise nobody, Tyler Allgeier (44.2%)
saw 17 touches compared to Bijan Robinson’s (61.0%) 16.
This is a slight dip for Bijan and a reminder that Allgeier is
going to be used in this offense on a weekly basis.
It was tight end week across the league indicated by Kyle Pitts
(53.2%) finally seeing some action (11 targets) with a 28.9% target
share. Fellow tight end Jonnu Smith (63.6%) is still involved
and finished with a 6-67-0 line.
TEN @ IND
Offensive Snaps Titans: 60
Colts: 66
Tyjae Spears (51.7%) continues to see significant playing time
for the Titans. His TD came on an end-around and he now has at
least 4 targets in four of five games.
DeAndre Hopkins (83.3%) saw a high 32.4% target share. With Treylon Burks still sidelined, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (70.0%) saw the biggest
snap share of the secondary receivers but he isn’t fantasy
viable.
Jonathan Taylor’s return to action was limited to just
10 snaps which allowed Zack Moss (80.3%) to dominate the slate
and finish with a 23-16-2, 2-30-0 line. We may not get a full
workload from Taylor for a few weeks.
WR Josh Downs (71.2%) saw a 25% target share while Alec Pierce
(98.5%) saw just an 8.3% target share. Downs has twice as many
targets than Pierce through give games.
Expect QB Anthony Richardson to miss several weeks with a shoulder
injury.
CIN @ ARI
Offensive Snaps Bengals: 82
Cardinals: 57
Joe Mixon (76.8%) has multiple opportunities at the goaline but
couldn’t score. His 29 touches were second on the week behind
Travis Etienne’s 30.
No Tee Higgins,
no problem. Just throw it to Ja’Marr
Chase (92.7%). He had a whopping 43.2% target share and finished
with 15-192-3. Trenton
Irwin (75.6%) filled the Higgins role with Tyler
Boyd (73.2%) seeing 7 targets.
James Conner (21.1%) left this game with a knee injury which
allowed Emari Demercado (77.2%) to see 11 touches. Demercado is
worth a bench stash in deeper leagues.
Marquise Brown (91.2%) saw a 33.3% target share while Rondale Moore (66.7%) broke another long run (41 yds) going 3-50-0 on
the ground. Moore is too inconsistent to be counted on as a Flex
spot in 12-team leagues.
PHI @ LAR
Offensive Snaps Eagles: 79
Rams: 56
The Eagles running back rotation remains consistent with D’Andre
Swift (62.0%) and Kenneth
Gainwell (38.0%) taking all the snaps.
It wouldn’t be tight end week without Dallas Goedert (94.9%)
joining in the fun. There are a lot of weapons on the Eagles offense
so it might be a while before we see another Goedert game like
this (8-117-1).
The Rams welcomed the return of Cooper Kupp (94.6%) which took
away some of the target upside for Kyren Williams (83.9%). Williams
is still a solid RB2 with a high snap share.
No restrictions for Kupp as he saw 35.3% target share and finished
with 8-118-0. What’s more encouraging is that Puka Nacua
played every snap and saw a 32.4% target share. Tutu Atwell (89.3%)
was the third receiver which left Van Jefferson (3.6%) out in
the cold. He can be dropped.
KC @ MIN
Offensive Snaps Chiefs: 66
Vikings: 72
The Chiefs three-headed running back attack is still plodding
along. Isiah
Pacheco (59.1%) is the only one worth considering unless an
injury occurs.
Cam Akers (29.2%) has solidified his spot as the No.2 RB in Minnesota
but is still behind Alexander Mattison (51.4%). The Vikings are
a pass-heavy team that turns the ball over which forces them to
abandon the running game.
Justin Jefferson (70.8%) left in the 4th quarter with a hamstring
injury. The biggest usage bump as result was for Brandon Powell
(30.6%). K.J. Osborn (88.9%) and Jordan Addison (75.0%) would
be the top two fantasy options if Jefferson misses any time.
NYJ @ DEN
Offensive Snaps Jets: 65
Broncos: 63
Breece Hall’s snap shares: Wk1 – 31.5%, Wk2 –
34.0%, Wk 3 – 49.2%, Wk4 – 44.1%, Wk 5 – 52.3%.
While he’s still sharing time with Dalvin Cook and Michael Carter, it’s notable he had a 68.8% rush share this week
against the Broncos, by far his highest percentage of the season.
We should expect this kind of usage moving forward making him
a low-end RB1.
With Javonte Williams inactive, Jaleel McLaughlin (33.3%) and
Samaje Perine (60.3%) split the RB work. McLaughlin had 12 touches
to Perine’s 10. Both should be owned and can be deployed
as a Flex with McLaughlin being the preferred option.
Brandon Aiyuk (78.9%) saw a 28.0% target share while Deebo Samuel
(73.2%) is playing through multiple injuries.
Tight End week saw three TDs from George Kittle (78.9%) on 4
targets.
GB @ LV
Offensive Snaps Packers: 58
Raiders: 64
Reportedly, Aaron Jones was set to be a big part of the gameplan
but he was Inactive due to a hamstring injury. AJ Dillon (63.8%)
shared RB duties with Patrick Taylor (36.2%) with Dillon seeing
20 carries for 76 yds and 1 TD. Taylor had 4 touches.
Christian Watson (84.5%) was back in a full-time role after being
limited last week with a hamstring injury. Romeo Doubs (86.2%)
was the only other Packers’ receiver to play more than 22%
of the snaps.
Another day at the inefficient office for Josh Jacobs (84.4%).
Dude’s getting all the work though with 25 touches in this
game. He’s averaging 2.9 yards per carry this season.
