Dominate the season with FantasyLife+, which gives you the award-winning tools, rankings, and projections to make this fantasy season one for the ages! Use promo code SEASON20 for 20% off at checkout. Click here to get started!
Arizona Cardinals
Trey McBride ran 76 percent of his routes from the slot and caught six passes from the slot
That’s a season-high in slot usage by snaps and double his previous high-water mark for slot receptions. The Cardinals lost Marvin Harrison Jr. to a concussion early in Week 6. They shuffled around their receivers, leaving a vacant slot role for McBride. He made the most of it with eight catches for 96 yards.
Atlanta Falcons
Drake London is the WR2 in expected points since Week 2
The Falcons used London sparingly in Week 1 but have since made him the centerpiece of their passing attack, as they should. He has a 31 percent target share over his past five games and is averaging 20.3 PPR points. Buying high is tough in fantasy football, but London fits the bill as a player who should universally be valued as a top-five receiver and may not be viewed as such by some fantasy players.
Baltimore Ravens
Derrick Henry is on pace for 1,995 yards and 23 touchdowns
Though Henry is doing little as a pass-catcher, add in his receiving pace and he is tracking to clear 2,000 yards from scrimmage with 26 touchdowns. Henry has been a monster in Baltimore’s four consecutive wins.
The Ravens are favored in every game for the remainder of the regular season with an average spread of 4.9 points. May God have mercy on your soul if you faded The Big Dog.
Buffalo Bills
Ray Davis saw 67 percent of Buffalo’s carries
Davis ran 20 times for 97 yards. He ran a route on just under half of Josh Allen’s dropbacks but earned a 13 percent target share and turned that into three receptions for 55 yards. Even with James Cook healthy, it’s hard to imagine the Bills putting Davis back on the shelf entirely.
Carolina Panthers
Diontae Johnson is averaging 18.3 PPR points with Andy Dalton under center
The shine on Dalton has worn off after three straight losses, but Johnson’s outlook remains optimistic as long as the Panthers keep The Red Rifle on the sticks. Per RotoViz, he is the WR3 in expected fantasy points since Dalton took over and is dominating the Panthers’ targets with a 30 percent target share during that stretch. He also has a 46 percent air yards share.
Cincinnati Bengals
Tee Higgins has out-targeted Ja’Marr Chase in three consecutive weeks
Higgins has been active for four games. The only game he didn’t out-target Chase was his first of the season. He fell one short of Chase’s seven targets. Higgins has a 31-24 lead over Chase since then. He is also averaging more air yards than Cincinnati’s supposed WR1.
Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson’s 5.1 yards per attempt is the worst mark for a quarterback over the first six weeks (min. 150 attempts) in the past 20 years
I’m not breaking new ground by saying “Deshaun Watson is bad.” But he’s so dysfunctional that there’s nothing interesting in this offense. Watson is an anchor on the fantasy outlooks of every Cleveland player.
Denver Broncos
Devaughn Vele has a 19 percent target share across two games this year
Vele was a seventh-round pick with an underwhelming profile coming out of Utah. He turned heads in camp, made the 53-man roster, and led the Broncos in receptions in Week 1 with eight grabs. He returned to the lineup last week and tied for a team-high in catches once again. When Vele is on the field, he gets the ball.
Detroit Lions
David Montgomery is averaging more yards after contact per carry and more yards per route run than Jahmyr Gibbs
Montgomery is top-10 in YAC per carry and is one of four backs averaging at least two yards per route run. He has out-carried Gibbs 8-4 inside the five-yard line. The Lions just signed Montgomery to a two-year extension. Gibbs has little shot at a true breakout season with Montgomery around for the foreseeable future.
Green Bay Packers
Christian Watson has been targeted on 14 percent of his routes
That ranks 87th out of 127 wide receivers with at least 50 routes. Watson is also being platooned with Dontayvion Wicks in Green Bay’s WR3 role when both are healthy, exacerbating his target-earning struggles. He is a touchdown-or-bust WR4 on a good day.
Houston Texans
Tank Dell earned a 31 percent target share and Stefon Diggs earned a 24 percent target share
Dell was targeted on 28 percent of his routes in Nico Collins’ first game out of the lineup. He led the team in intermediate targets (four) and first-read targets (eight). Diggs also saw eight first-read looks. This is likely a 1A/1B situation until Collins returns, but Dell might be the favorite to earn the “1A” moniker.
Indianapolis Colts
Josh Downs leads the NFL in targets per route run (.34)
That is among receivers with at least 100 routes. He has a narrow edge over Malik Nabers. Downs is not beating the PPR scam with an aDOT of 5.1, but he’s scamming at levels never before seen.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence leads the NFL in drop rate (10.8 percent) among quarterbacks with 100 pass attempts
Lawrence had not one, not two, not three, but four dropped touchdowns in Week 6. Lawrence is far from blameless in the Jags’ embarrassing loss to the Bears, but his receivers robbed his box score was robbed of a few touchdowns last week.
Kansas City Chiefs
JuJu Smith-Schuster led the Chiefs in receiving yards in Week 5
Kansas City got their bye last week, making JuJu’s spike week seem more like a fading nightmare than the reality of their receiver room. Sans Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice, the Chiefs are back to square one at wideout. Xavier Worthy has been targeted on an abysmal 13 percent of his routes, leaving Smith-Schuster as their de facto WR1.
Las Vegas Raiders
Brock Bowers has been targeted on 27 percent of his routes
That is the highest rate among all tight ends with at least 50 routes. For reference, Justin Jefferson has a target rate of 28 percent. Bowers’ target rate is at an absurd 34 percent in two games without Davante Adams in the lineup. If you haven’t checked the newsfeed lately, Adams now plays for the Jets.
Los Angeles Chargers
J.K. Dobbins has averaged 1.9 yards after contact per attempt over his past three games.
He averaged .09 missed tackles forced per attempt during that stretch. Over the first two weeks, Dobbins posted 4.8 YAC per carry and .33 missed tackles forced per attempt. Both samples are absurdly small and the answer likely sits somewhere in the middle, but an immediate and sharp decline in efficiency is not a good sign for Dobbins.
Los Angeles Rams
Colby Parkinson led the Rams with 13 targets in Week 4
LA got their bye last week and Cooper Kupp may be able to return after the extra rest. If he can’t, we could be in for a heavy dose of targets for Parkinson. He ranks sixth in targets among tight ends despite being on one of the few teams with an early bye.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have a -11% pass rate over expected without Tua Tagovailoa as their starter
There is almost no scenario in which the Dolphins want to pass the football right now.
They get an Indy defense that opposing offenses have universally targeted on the ground. The Colts’ opponents have a 49.6 run rate this year and the lowest pass rate over expected by a wide margin.
Minnesota Vikings
Ty Chandler averaged 15.3 touches and 81.8 yards from scrimmage in four starts last year
Chandler scored in half of those games. Kevin O’Connell was more than willing to give Chandler the reins as the starter near the end of the 2023 season and he may be in a similar spot this week. Aaron Jones is dealing with a hamstring injury and may not play. The Vikings also traded for a running back, Cam Akers, casting further doubt on Jones’s status.
New England Patriots
Drake Maye created an explosive play (15+ yards) on 11.1 percent of his dropbacks
Maye gained 15+ passing yards five times in Week 6. Jacoby Brissett’s explosive play rate was 7.6 percent before being benched. Maye and the Pats offense are going to take their lumps, but the rookie is already more willing to take shots and hunt for big plays.
New Orleans Saints
Bub Means led the Saints in receptions (five)
He tied Alvin Kamara for a team-high in catches and targets (eight). Means ran a route on 71 percent of Spencer Rattler’s dropbacks last week, largely because Chris Olave left with a concussion after a few plays. Olave is out for Week 7 with the concussion and Rashid Shaheed is undergoing surgery on his meniscus, sidelining him for multiple weeks. Means may have stumbled into a No. 1 receiver role six weeks into his NFL career.
New York Giants
Malik Nabers is seventh among wide receivers in total EPA (25.6)
That is despite missing two games. The player who has generated the least EPA also plays for the Giants. That is Wan’Dale Robinson, with an astounding -18 EPA according to Sumer Sports. Robinson is second in the NFL in targets while averaging 4.8 yards per target. That is a lower clip than 16 players’ yards per carry. The Giants offense isn’t going to take off with Nabers back in the lineup, but it will be better.
New York Jets
Breece Hall earned a season-high, 86 percent snap share
Hall also set a high-water mark in route rate (76 percent). His 86 percent carry share was his highest since Week 1. Hall touched the ball 23 times for 169 times. You better believe both marks were the best of his season. There’s nothing an interim head coach loves more than to feed his top dog.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts completed one deep pass in three games without A.J. Brown
Hurts went 1-of-8 on his deep shots during this stretch and trailed only Tyler Huntley in PFF passing grade on deep attempts. He has completed four long balls—three of which were touchdowns—in his two games with Brown active.
Pittsburgh Steelers
George Pickens ran a route on 85 percent of the Steelers’ passing plays
He earned a 35 percent target share and accounted for 56 percent of the team’s air yards. Pickens was pseudo-benched two weeks ago but was back to his normal role in Week 6.
San Francisco 49ers
George Kittle is on pace for four-year highs in target share (24 percent) and targets per route run (.24)
This is most easily explained by the absence of Christian McCaffrey and the less prolonged absence of Deebo Samuel. However, Kittle has also been banged up and is undoubtedly playing at less than 100 percent. He is currently second in ESPN’s open score and first in their overall ranks among tight ends. CMC or not, Kittle is still a contender for the most talented tight end in the NFL.
Seattle Seahawks
Ken Walker is averaging 5.3 receptions per game.
Walker’s receiving usage was sparse at best through two years of his NFL career. It has taken off under first-year OC Ryan Grubb. He is on pace for 89 receptions and 578 yards. Walker’s rushing totals haven’t been elite, but he is scoring touchdowns and getting receiving usage that most backs only dream of.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucky Irving saw 70 percent of the Bucs’ snaps through three quarters
Seecond-year running back Sean Tucker saw most of his work in the fourth quarter. The Bucs had two drives in the fourth quarter, one of which saw both Irving and Tucker get work while the other contained six consecutive rushes for Tucker. Irving ran twice as many routes and saw double the carries of Tucker through three frames.
Tennessee Titans
Tony Pollard leads all running backs in yards after contact per attempt (min. 50 carries)
Pollard is averaging more yards after contact in 2024 than he has in any season since his rookie campaign. He is also top-10 in PFF rushing grade and missed tackles forced per attempt. This is the full Pollard experience. We weren’t wrong about him last year, just early.
Washington Commanders
Austin Ekeler leads all running backs in yards per route run (2.44)
Ekeler is also averaging a phenomenal 6.1 yards per carry, but PFF’s data casts some doubt on his rushing prowess. He ranks outside the top 50 running backs in rushing grade and yards after contact per carry. Still, it’s hard to fake his elite YPRR. At worst, Ekeler is a great weapon out of the backfield.
