The best (and by best, we mean worst) part about fantasy football is getting very excited about a player and then spending your Sunday upset when they aren't getting the ball. The best way to avoid these frustrations is by developing an understanding of usage trends, so we can have realistic expectations for players' workloads
No matter how talented we believe a player is, if they're playing a complementary role in the offense, they will have a hard time producing fantasy points. It sounds simple, but the players who are on the field and see more touches are going to have the easiest path to producing fantasy points. Monitoring usage trends will keep you informed on which players are (or will be) in the best position to accumulate fantasy points.
For most NFL fans and fantasy players, reviewing the data on player usage is far too difficult and time-consuming. But there's no need to look any further. We've got you covered with the Sporting News Usage Report, where we'll take you through some of the most significant trends regarding player usage and discuss how it will impact players' fantasy values.
WEEK 4 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Fantasy Football Week 4 Usage Report: Biggest running back utilization trends
J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers
| Los Angeles Chargers: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Snap Share | Rush Attempt Share | Route Share | Target Share | Goal Line Rush Share | 3rd Down Snap Share | 2 Minute Drill Snap Share |
| J.K. Dobbins | LAC | RB | 64% | 75% | 52% | 15% | 0% | 82% | 50% |
| Gus Edwards | LAC | RB | 36% | 15% | 32% | 0% | 0% | 9% |
50% |
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers coaching staff tried their hardest to utilize a running back by committee approach this season. In the first two weeks of the year, the snap and rush attempt splits between J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards were quite close to 50/50. The success of Dobbins and the struggles of Edwards left Harbaugh no choice.
Dobbins commandeered this backfield in Week 3. He played 64 percent of the snaps and handled the vast majority of the backfield opportunities. This shouldn't exactly come as a shock to anyone who has watched Dobbins and Edwards play football this year. With this sort of workload and the efficiency we've seen out of Dobbins this year, he's firmly into RB2 territory in the coming weeks. He also presents a strong buy-low opportunity if someone gets caught box score watching.
Rachaad White and Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Snap Share | Rush Attempt Share | Route Share | Target Share | Goal Line Rush Share | 3rd Down Snap Share | 2 Minute Drill Snap Share |
| Rachaad White | TB | RB | 71% | 38% | 50% | 18% | 100% | 73% | 67% |
| Bucky Irving | TB | RB | 34% | 56% | 20% | 9% | 0% | 27% | 0% |
The calls for Bucky Irving have grown louder with each week that passes. Irving has been the team's leading rusher throughout the season, and Rachaad White continues to build his case to be the league's least efficient ball carrier.
Week 3 was a step in the right direction for Irving. He may have only played 34 percent of snaps, but he handled the bulk of the rushing work and approached the 10-percent target share threshold that is crucial for running backs. Head coach Todd Bowles came out and said after the game on Sunday that Irving deserves more work given his recent performances. If Irving can keep up the productivity in an expanded role, he could have standalone value as opposed to just being a handcuff.
WEEK 4 WAIVER WIRE ADVICE
Full Waiver List | Top Players to Target | How to spend FAAB
Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, New York Jets
| New York Jets: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Snap Share | Rush Attempt Share | Route Share | Target Share | Goal Line Rush Share | 3rd Down Snap Share | 2 Minute Drill Snap Share |
| Breece Hall | NYJ | RB | 71% | 49% | 50% | 14% | 100% | 87% | 88% |
| Braelon Allen | NYJ | RB | 30% | 33% | 18% | 9% | 0% | 13% | 12% |
After scoring two touchdowns in Week 2, rookie running back Braelon Allen saw an expanded role in Week 3. He played 30 percent of snaps and handled a sizeable portion of the carries. This sort of workload is enough to provide some standalone value, and his production in this game solidified his status as a coveted bench stash.
Allen's usage could leave some Breece Hall managers worried, but it's important to provide some context to this situation. First off, the Jets had this game firmly within their grasp by halftime, allowing them to mix up the running back rotation to get some touches for their rookies. Hall was also the primary back in every high-leverage situation: goal line rushes, third downs, and the two-minute drill. Hall still saw 21 opportunities in this contest and will see a greater percentage of the touches in tighter games. There is no need to be fearful of Allen's impact on Hall's production.
Johnathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
| Indianapolis Colts: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Snap Share | Rush Attempt Share | Route Share | Target Share | Goal Line Rush Share | 3rd Down Snap Share | 2 Minute Drill Snap Share |
| Jonathan Taylor | IND | RB | 85% | 70% | 82% | 10% | 57% | 75% | 67% |
| Trey Sermon | IND | RB | 9% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 14% | 17% | 33% |
A week after not playing a single snap in the fourth quarter, Jonathan Taylor reclaimed his bell cow role in Week 3. He did cede some goal line work to Trey Sermon, which resulted in a punch-in score. Outside of this, Taylor was the clear feature back and saw a workload that will consistently translate to RB1 production.
It is worth noting that Taylor was driven off the field in the fourth quarter of Week 2 because the Colts were playing from behind. Indianapolis played with a lead for all 60 minutes in this one. Keep an eye out for Taylor's role in the Colts' next comeback effort.
WEEK 4 FANTASY ROSTER MANAGEMENT ADVICE:
Stock watch | Trade advice | Sleepers | Busts
Fantasy Football Week 4 Usage Report: Biggest wide receiver and tight end utilization trends
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
| Baltimore Ravens: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Route Participation | Target Share | Targets per Route Run | aDOT | Air Yards Share | Endzone Targets | Wide Rate | Slot Rate | Inline Rate |
| Zay Flowers | BAL | WR | 88% | 27% | 0.27 | 0.8 | 6% | 0 | 47% | 53% | 0% |
| Rashod Bateman | BAL | WR | 71% | 27% | 0.33 | 8.8 | 75% | 1 | 75% | 25% | 0% |
| Isaiah Likely | BAL | TE | 29% | 7% | 0.2 | 3 | 6% | 0 | 20% | 40% | 40% |
| Nelson Agholor | BAL | WR | 47% | 7% | 0.13 | 5 | 11% | 0 | 75% | 25% | 0% |
| Mark Andrews | BAL | TE | 24% | 7% | 0.25 | 5 | 11% | 0% | 0% | 25% | 75% |
When building out these charts, we typically only include the players who run at least five routes each week in an effort to filter out the players who play a niche role within the offense. Well, "elite TE" Mark Andrews failed to reach this threshold after running just four routes in Week 3.
It became clear in Week 1 that the Ravens' TE room would feature a heavier rotation than we had seen in previous seasons. This was enough to cause some concern for Andrews in regard to his fantasy value. After Andrews' Week 3 dip in usage, the panic button has been firmly pushed. His lack of a consistent role is enough to keep him on the bench until there is more clarity on how John Harbaugh plans to deploy his tight ends.
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
| Buffalo Bills: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Route Participation | Target Share | Targets per Route Run | aDOT | Air Yards Share | Endzone Targets | Wide Rate | Slot Rate | Inline Rate |
| Dawson Knox | BUF | TE | 49% | 7% | 0.12 | 1.5 | 2% | 0 | 18% | 35% | 47% |
| Mack Hollins | BUF | WR | 51% | 7% | 0.11 | 18 | 21% | 0 | 83% | 11% | 6% |
| Dalton Kincaid | BUF | TE | 49% | 16% | 0.29 | 12.4 | 36% | 2 | 12% | 59% | 29% |
| Curtis Samuel | BUF | WR | 26% | 10% | 0.33 | -0.7 | -1% | 0 | 22% | 67% | 11% |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | BUF | WR | 66% | 7% | 0.09 | 8 | 9% | 0 | 91% | 9% | 0% |
| Khalil Shakir | BUF | WR | 63% | 19% | 0.27 | -1 | -3% | 0 | 9% | 91% | 0% |
| Keon Coleman | BUF | WR | 31% | 3% | 0.09 | 18 | 10% | 0 | 100% | - | 0% |
Another week is in the books, and it's yet another game where Dalton Kincaid saw perplexing usage. His week was saved by a touchdown, but his role within the offense is still not where fantasy managers had hoped when they drafted him as the TE5.
Yes, the 49-percent route participation is likely depressed by the fact that the Bills blew out the Jaguars this week. However, Kincaid still ran fewer routes than fellow TE Dawson Knox in the first half of the game, before things got out of hand. Playing fewer snaps is one thing; running fewer routes than Knox is a completely different story. The hope was that Kincaid would become the No. 1 pass catcher in Buffalo. This won't happen if he's running a route on 50 percent of dropbacks in a game where Josh Allen is firing on all cylinders. This should make Kincaid managers uneasy, to say the least.
Malik Nabers, New York Giants
| New York Giants: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Route Participation | Target Share | Targets per Route Run | aDOT | Air Yards Share | Endzone Targets | Wide Rate | Slot Rate | Inline Rate |
| Malik Nabers | NYG | WR | 90% | 34% | 0.34 | 11.4 | 63% | 2 | 60% | 40% | 0% |
| Darius Slayton | NYG | WR | 72% | 6% | 0.07 | 7 | 6% | 0 | 79% | 21% | 0% |
| Jalin Hyatt | NYG | WR | 15% | 3% | 0.17 | 45 | 21% | 0 | 83% | 17% | 0% |
| Theo Johnson | NYG | TE | 80% | 6% | 0.06 | 4 | 4% | 1 | 13% | 39% | 48% |
| Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG | WR | 74% | 23% | 0.28 | 2.1 | 8% | 0 | 28% | 72% | 0% |
| Daniel Bellinger | NYG | TE | 18% | 3% | 0.14 | 17 | 8% | 0 | 14% | 43% | 43% |
The New York Giants drafted Malik Nabers to be the engine of their offense. He has met, and exceeded, every lofty expectation put in front of him through three career games. Nabers is currently fantasy's WR1 and seems to be a high-end WR1 option for the rest of the year.
Over the last two weeks, Nabers has dominated all other WRs in virtually every utilization and production metric. Between Weeks 2 and 3, Nabers ranks first among WRs in targets, target share, air yards, air yards share, and fantasy points per route run. We are witnessing a star being born right in front of our eyes and those who have him in fantasy should be ecstatic.
Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs
| Kansas City Chiefs: Week 3 Utilization | |||||||||||
| Name | Team | Position | Route Participation | Target Share | Targets per Route Run | aDOT | Air Yards Share | Endzone Targets | Wide Rate | Slot Rate | Inline Rate |
| Rashee Rice | KC | WR | 81% | 36% | 0.41 | 3.7 | 33% | 0 | 53% | 47% | 0% |
| Travis Kelce | KC | TE | 76% | 13% | 0.16 | 4.6 | 15% | 0 | 22% | 38% | 41% |
| Xavier Worthy | KC | WR | 67% | 10% | 0.14 | 11.3 | 28% | 1 | 71% | 29% | 0% |
| Skyy Moore | KC | WR | 14% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 67% | 33% | 0% |
| Justin Watson | KC | WR | 41% | 3% | 0.06 | 14 | 9% | 0 | 77% | 24% | 0% |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC | WR | 41% | 8% | 0.18 | 4.3 | 8% | 0 | 41% | 59% | 0% |
| Noah Gray | KC | TE | 21% | 5% | 0.22 | 10.5 | 13% | 1 | 0% | 44% | 56% |
Rashee Rice, the NFL's leader in YAC, has seen a steady dose of targets from Patrick Mahomes throughout the season. Week 3 was just another day in the neighborhood for Rice, who saw the ball thrown his way on 41 percent of his routes and led the team in targets by a wide margin.
After Rice dominated in Week 1 on national television, he received comparisons to Amon-Ra St. Brown. After an additional two games, these comparisons seem quite apt. Rice is incredibly skilled on short, quick routes and is an absolute killer after the catch. It requires a special talent to score nearly 30 fantasy points on a 3.7-yard aDOT, but Rice is that special talent.