Hidden Stat Line: Targets, Routes & Snaps from Week 8

Hidden Stat Line: Targets, Routes & Snaps from Week 8

This article is part of our Hidden Stat Line series.

If you haven't already, check out the twin brother to this article, Hidden Stat Line: Backfield Breakdown, complete with sortable stat leaderboards, team-by-team usage recaps and waiver-wire recommendations for the upcoming week. Now, let's look at wide receivers and tight ends...

Week 8 Sortable Stat Leaderboards

Tight Ends

(Bold indicates Top 5 for the week)

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir Yards
1Darren Waller79%250.83627%12
2Travis Kelce76%350.761226%118
3T.J. Hockenson74%340.721025%70
4Evan Engram82%390.871024%-
5Noah Fant78%330.75924%67
6Hayden Hurst80%290.81723%37
7Mark Andrews62%290.78623%44
8Dalton Schultz95%360.8821%73
9Robert Tonyan61%240.55718%71
10Jimmy Graham63%270.59717%55
11Jared Cook54%330.77717%62
12Eric Ebron87%280.82516%30
13Gerald Everett55%280.44916%40
14Harrison Bryant80%230.79312%15
15Trey Burton51%150.42412%22
16Greg Olsen54%220.54411%19
17Rob Gronkowski71%270.64410%-
18George Kittle66%220.49410%42
19Hunter Henry97%390.81410%6
20Mike Gesicki57%170.7129%36
21Irv Smith79%12

If you haven't already, check out the twin brother to this article, Hidden Stat Line: Backfield Breakdown, complete with sortable stat leaderboards, team-by-team usage recaps and waiver-wire recommendations for the upcoming week. Now, let's look at wide receivers and tight ends...

Week 8 Sortable Stat Leaderboards

Tight Ends

(Bold indicates Top 5 for the week)

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir Yards
1Darren Waller79%250.83627%12
2Travis Kelce76%350.761226%118
3T.J. Hockenson74%340.721025%70
4Evan Engram82%390.871024%-
5Noah Fant78%330.75924%67
6Hayden Hurst80%290.81723%37
7Mark Andrews62%290.78623%44
8Dalton Schultz95%360.8821%73
9Robert Tonyan61%240.55718%71
10Jimmy Graham63%270.59717%55
11Jared Cook54%330.77717%62
12Eric Ebron87%280.82516%30
13Gerald Everett55%280.44916%40
14Harrison Bryant80%230.79312%15
15Trey Burton51%150.42412%22
16Greg Olsen54%220.54411%19
17Rob Gronkowski71%270.64410%-
18George Kittle66%220.49410%42
19Hunter Henry97%390.81410%6
20Mike Gesicki57%170.7129%36
21Irv Smith79%120.817%7
22Tyler Higbee60%240.3847%12
23Jonnu Smith81%210.6427%14
24Dallas Goedert84%250.7414%13

  

Wide Receivers

(Bold indicates Top 15 for the week)

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir Yards
1Stefon Diggs91%210.95950%85
2Jarvis Landry78%240.831144%118
3Jakobi Meyers98%2811044%75
4DK Metcalf96%4111542%145
5Braxton Berrios84%310.891139%24
6Cooper Kupp97%620.982136%142
7Corey Davis79%280.851035%121
8Julio Jones83%340.941033%151
9Michael Gallup87%400.891232%81
10Robby Anderson83%320.94831%69
11Davante Adams95%420.951231%133
12Adam Thielen90%151429%8
13Justin Jefferson65%140.93429%17
14Jeff Smith84%330.94829%84
15Chase Claypool77%290.85928%86
16Brandon Aiyuk90%430.961128%99
17Travis Fulgham94%330.97727%67
18Willie Snead72%290.78727%70
19Anthony Miller76%390.851127%67
20Keenan Allen98%460.961127%79
21Jerry Jeudy89%400.911026%159
22Tee Higgins78%280.74926%91
23Kendrick Bourne86%410.911025%71
24JuJu Smith-Schuster77%290.85825%44
25Sterling Shepard70%350.781024%-
26A.J. Brown95%320.97724%33
27Jalen Reagor73%230.68623%74
28DJ Moore89%330.97623%92
29Preston Williams90%230.96523%54
30Darius Slayton92%440.98922%-
31Jaydon Mickens63%210.5820%-
32Tyler Boyd75%350.92720%59
33Auden Tate45%160.42720%40
34Mike Williams87%430.9820%136
35Greg Ward94%310.91519%23
36Curtis Samuel76%300.88519%52
37Mecole Hardman68%310.67919%59
38Henry Ruggs75%270.9418%58
39Hunter Renfrow21%110.37418%15
40Zach Pascal75%300.83618%66
41Mike Evans90%380.9718%-
42Marvin Hall69%320.67718%118
43Marvin Jones98%481718%100
44Damiere Byrd100%281417%43
45Allen Robinson97%450.98717%87
46Tre'Quan Smith78%410.95717%79
47Josh Reynolds81%550.87916%89
48Scotty Miller76%350.83615%-
49Darnell Mooney93%450.98615%102
50A.J. Green85%330.87514%54
51Tyler Lockett87%400.98514%73
52Robert Woods93%570.9814%47
53Calvin Ridley33%150.42413%51
54Amari Cooper75%390.87513%33
55CeeDee Lamb47%300.67513%43
56DaeSean Hamilton94%410.93513%56
57Tyreek Hill76%400.87613%131
58Rashard Higgins71%230.79312%49
59Marcus Johnson62%230.64412%52
60John Brown81%210.95211%4
61Cole Beasley62%180.82211%9
62Denzel Mims96%340.97311%84
63Demarcus Robinson55%280.61511%63
64Russell Gage56%270.75310%1
65Danny Amendola67%350.73410%43
66Jalen Guyton87%410.85410%93
67Diontae Johnson77%300.8839%57
68DeVante Parker59%170.7129%3
69Nelson Agholor78%270.929%11
70KJ Hamler80%390.8938%10
71Marquise Brown94%350.9528%6
72Juwan Johnson86%360.8437%20
73Marquez Valdes-Scantling83%360.8213%17

   

Game-by-Game Usage Breakdowns

(Snap shares come from pro-football-reference.com. Data on dropbacks and routes run comes from Pro Football Focus. Targets, targets share and air yards come from airyards.com.

Falcons (25) at Panthers (18)

Falcons

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Julio Jones 83%  34 .94 10 33.3% 151 7-137-0
Hayden Hurst 80%  29 .81 7 23.3% 37 5-54-0
Russell Gage 56%  27 .75 3 10.0% 1 2-25-0
Calvin Ridley 33%  15 .42  4 13.3% 51 3-42-0
  • Calvin Ridley injured his left foot in the second quarter and missed the rest of the game. Jones and Christian Blake both played 26 of 33 snaps (79 percent) in the second half, while slot man Russell Gage got only 14 (45 percent). Olamide Zaccheaus played only nine snaps all night and finished without a target for a second straight week.
  • Jones caught four of six targets for 85 yards in the first quarter. He was mostly held in check the rest of the night, but cruised past 100 yards. These are his stat lines in three games since returning from a hamstring injury: 8-137-2 (10 targets), 8-97-0 (9 targets), 7-137-0 (10 targets).
  • Over the past three games, Jones accounted for six of Atlanta's 10 targets 20-plus yards downfield, while Ridley got three and Gage one, per PFF.
  • Ridley and Jones have played only four full games togethers - Weeks 1,2,6 and 7. Ridley has an 8-7 advantage in deep targets in those games, and also a slight edge in total targets (36-35).
  • Gage caught six passes for 54 yards Week 7, but he's otherwise seen five or fewer targets in every game since Week 2.
  • Hurst went over 50 yards for a third straight week and got seven targets for the second week in a row. He's played 73 percent or more of offensive snaps in four straight games, with .85 routes per dropback in that span. Hurst was at .77 routes/db the first four weeks of the year — not a huge difference, but the little bit of extra playing time has been helpful.

  

Panthers

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
DJ Moore 89% 33.97 6 23.1% 92 2-55-0
Robby Anderson 83% 32.94 8 30.8% 69 5-48-0
Curtis Samuel 76% 30.88  5 19.2% 52 4-31-1
  • Ian Thomas had season highs for catches (three), yards (28) and snap share (74 percent), but he saw only three targets on 28 routes. For the season, he's been targeted on 15 of 221 routes (6.8 percent), the lowest rate of any TE with 20 or more routes run, per PFF.
  • Last week, the Panthers released Seth Roberts, who averaged 13.3 offensive snaps and 8.3 routes run over the first seven games. Brandon Zylstra got 24 percent of snaps as the No. 4 WR on Thursday, while Samuel hit season highs for both snaps share (76 percent) and routes/db (.88).
  • Samuel added three carries for 23 yards and a touchdown, playing seven snaps in the backfield, 26 in the slot and eight out wide, per PFF. He's seen backup RB work, sporadically, during Mike Davis' six-week run as the starter. Those snaps may not exist for Samuel once Christian McCaffrey returns from an ankle injury, which could happen as soon as Week 9.
  • Moore was 0-for-3 before he caught two of three targets for 55 yards on the Panthers' final drive. Moore has games with 13, 11 and nine targets this year, but he also has two games with six, two with five and one with only four. He's averaging 4.1 catches for 77.8 yards on 7.4 targets, compared to his 2019 averages of 5.8 catches for 78.3 yards on 9.0 targets.
  • Anderson's volume has been a little more consistent, with eight or more targets six of eight games. But he hasn't put up 100 yards since Week 5, and hasn't scored a TD since Week 1. His game look like what most people expected for Moore, while Moore's looks more like an optimist's version of what was expected from Anderson.

  

Steelers (28) at Ravens (24)

Steelers

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Eric Ebron 87% 28 .82515.6% 304-48-1
Diontae Johnson  77% 30 .88 9.4% 571-6-0
Chase Claypool  77% 29 .859 28.1% 865-42-1
JuJu Smith-Schuster  77% 29 .858 25.0% 447-67-0 
  • Ray-Ray McLoud played 42 percent of snaps and had a six-yard reception on his lone target, while James Washington got only 19 percent and saw one incomplete target (Washington also drew a DPI penalty early in the game). McLoud ran 18 routes to Washington's three.
  • Johnson was spotted in the medical tent getting his hamstring looked at in the first quarter, but he wasn't out of the game for long. It's possible the injury contributed to his disappearing act. He got 10, 13 and 15 targets in the other three games this season where he played 25 percent or more of snaps.
  • Ebron had a drop in the first quarter but made up for it with some key plays in the second half, including his second TD of the year. He's played more than 70 percent of snaps in every game since Week 1, drawing 4-to-8 targets in each contest and consistently ranking among the TE leaders in routes per dropback. The production has been far less consistent than the volume, but Ebron is at least on the map as a solid streamer or low-end TE1.
  • Claypool couldn't get anything going downfield, but he did bounce back from a one-target performance the previous week, scoring a TD while leading the Steelers in both targets and air yards. Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster saw at least a quarter of the team's targets for a second straight week.

  

Ravens

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Marquise Brown  94% 35 .95 2 7.7%6 1-3-1
Willie Snead 72% 29 .78 7 26.9%70  5-106-0
Mark Andrews  62% 29 .78 6 23.1%44 3-32-0
  • Devin Duvernay played a season-high 45 percent of snaps and caught one of three targets for 39 yards, connecting with Lamar Jackson on a deep throw over the middle to convert a 3rd-and-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The rookie's playing time over the past three games increased from 29 to 36 to 45 percent.
  • Miles Boykin played a season-low 40 percent of snaps, catching two of three targets for 20 yards and his first TD of the year. Boykin has two-to-five targets in every game, but his playing time over the past three games declined from 57 to 45 to 40 percent.
  • This was Andrews' fourth game of the year with single-digit PPR points. He hasn't reached 60 yards in any game this year, and he's now on pace for 53-629-11 on 89 targets.
  • Brown scored his second TD of the year, but the two targets were four fewer than his previous season low. He's on pace for a 62-866-5 receiving line on 101 targets, despite being 14th among WRs in target share (24 percent) and sixth in air-yard share (40 percent). Hollywood wasn't thrilled after Sunday's loss.

  

Patriots (21) at Bills (24)

Patriots

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Damiere Byrd 100%  28 1.0 4 17.4% 43 3-39-0
Jakobi Meyers 98%  28 1.0 10 43.5% 75 6-58-0
Ryan Izzo 74%  12 .43 3 13.0% 12 2-24-0
Gunner Olszewski  65% 20 .71 0 0.0%  0 0
  • With Julian Edelman (knee) on IR and N'Keal Harry in the concussion protocol, Meyers and Olszewski joined Byrd as the main grouping for three-wide formations.
  • Dalton Keene (knee) and Devin Asiasi (personal) both were inactive, leaving Izzo as the only tight end. The Patriots adjusted by using 20 personnel (3 WRs, 2 RBs, 0 TE) for 15 plays, typically pairing James White and Rex Burkhead in the backfield.

  

Bills

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Stefon Diggs  91% 21 .95 9 50.0% 85 6-92-0
John Brown  81% 21 .95 2  11.1% 4 1-21-0
Tyler Kroft 64% 12 .55 1  5.6% 111-11-0
Cole Beasley 62% 18 .82 2  11.1% 9 2-24-0
Gabriel Davis  60% 10 .45 2  11.1% 54 0-0-0
  • Josh Allen attempted only 18 passes, while the Bills ran 38 times for 190 yards and three TDs. The Patriots also had far more carries (34) than pass attempts (25), but in their case it may have been about the personnel as much as the weather. Buffalo, on the other hand, ranked eighth in pass-play rate (61.6 percent) coming into Week 8.
  • Beasley fell shy of double-digit PPR points for the first time since Week 1.
  • Diggs pushed his target share up to 29 percent, seventh best in the league.

  

Tennessee Titans (20) at Cincinnati Bengals (31)

Titans

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
A.J. Brown  95% 32.97 7 24.1% 33 4-24-1
Jonnu Smith  81% 21.64 2 6.9% 14 2-29-0
Corey Davis 79% 28.85 1034.5%  1218-128-1 
  • Adam Humphries suffered a concussion, finishing with no catches and two targets on only 12 snaps. Kalif Raymond filled in as the No. 3 receiver with 39 percent of snaps, catching his lone target for 11 yards.
  • The Titans now have played three games with both Brown and Davis active (Weeks 1, 7-8). Davis leads the team with 28 percent target share in those games, followed by Brown (23 percent), Smith (13 percent), Humphries (12 percent), Anthony Firkser (7 percent) and Derrick Henry (6 percent). Davis also has 41 percent of the air yards in those games, compared to only 23 percent for Brown. My money is still on Brown as the team's No. 1 receiver, but it's a real question/debate.

   

Bengals

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
A.J. Green 85% 33 .8714.3%  54 2-19-0
Drew Sample85% 25 .6612.9% 50-0-0
Tee Higgins 78% 28 .74 25.7% 91 6-78-0
Tyler Boyd 75% 35 .927 20.0% 59 6-67-1
Auden Tate45%  16 .427 20.0% 407-65-0
  • Tate worked as the No. 4 WR ahead of Mike Thomas, who played only six snaps and wasn't targeted. Prior to Sunday's game, Tate was a healthy scratch Week 6 and played only 8 percent of snaps Week 7.
  • Higgins is up to seven straight games with at least three catches and five targets, and he's now at five in a row with more than 60 yards. If we don't count the Week 1 game where he played only 15 snaps, he's averaging 4.7 catches for 69.7 yards and 0.4 TDs on 7.4 targets... a solid WR3 in most fantasy leagues.
  • The Bengals have played six games with Green, Boyd and Higgins in full-time roles (Weeks 1 and 5 being the exception). Boyd leads the team with 22 percent target share in those games, followed by Green (21 percent), Higgins (17 percent) and Sample (9 percent). In terms of air-yard share, it goes Green (33 percent), Higgins (26 percent) and then Boyd (21 percent).

  

Raiders (16) at Browns (6)

Raiders

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Darren Waller 79% 25.83 6 27.2% 125-28-0 
Nelson Agholor 78%  27.90  2 9.1% 11
Henry Ruggs 75%  27.90  4 18.2% 58 2-8-0
 Hunter Renfrow21%  11.37 4 18.2% 15 4-26-1
  • The Raiders heavily relied on multi-TE formations, leaving No. 3 receiver Renfrow with a season-low 15 snaps. Despite the limited playing time, he scored the only TD of the game.
  • Waller's snap share was also a season low, with Foster Moreau (43 percent) getting a bit more playing time than usual. Waller previously had played at least 89 percent of snaps every week this year.
  • Ruggs has landed between 61-to-75 percent snap share and 3-to-5 targets in each of his five NFL games.

   

Browns

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Harrison Bryant  80% 23 .79 3  12.0% 15 3-25-0
Jarvis Landry  78% 24 .83 11 44.0% 118 4-52-0
Rashard Higgins  71% 23 .79  3 12.0% 49 1-14-0
KhaDarel Hodge  69% 21 .72 0 0.0% 0 0
  • Donovan Peoples-Jones played only four snaps, with Hodge returning from IR to handle the No. 3 WR role. Hodge didn't actually get any targets, in part because Baker Mayfield had only 25 pass attempts.
  • Bryant got more playing time than David Njoku (59 percent snap share) and the same number of targets. Bryant lost a fumble, and Njoku had a costly drop in the fourth quarter. Bryant ran 23 routes to Njoku's 13.
  • Landry's first game without Odell Beckham (ACL) was at least encouraging from a usage standpoint. In addition to 44 percent of the targets, Landry accounted or 60 percent of Cleveland's air yards.

  

Colts (41) at Lions (21)

Colts

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Zach Pascal  75% 30  .83 17.6% 66 3-44-0
Marcus Johnson  62% 23 .644 11.8% 52 2-39-0
Michael Pittman  58% 20 .56 2.9% 2 1-6-0
Trey Burton  51% 15 .42  11.8% 22 3-9-0
  • With four WRs, three TEs and three RBs getting significant playing time, the Colts threw 34 passes but didn't have any one player get more than six targets (Pascal).
  • T.Y. Hilton missed the second half with a groin injury. He caught both of his targets for nine yards on 28 snaps (36 percent). Hilton still doesn't have a TD this season, and he's put up just one game with double-digit PPR points.
  • Depth receiver Ashton Dulin left the game with a knee injury, playing only 12 percent of snaps. Dulin might've seen some extra playing time if he hadn't been hurt, given that Hilton suffered the groin injury.
  • Pittman returned from IR, playing for the first time since Week 3. He played only nine of 22 snaps in the first quarter, but the injuries to Dulin and Hilton allowed Pittman to play 22 of 34 snaps in the second half.
  • Johnson led the team's WRs with 27 snaps (79 percent) in the second half, ahead of Pascal (68 percent) and Pittman (65 percent). Pascal ran 73 percent of his routes from the slot, per PFF, playing each of the team's 48 snaps in 11 personnel. Johnson played 18-of-18 from 11 personnel after halftime, with Pittman getting 16 and Dulin two.
  • Pascal played only 10 of the 28 snaps that weren't in 11 personnel. So he isn't necessarily the No. 1 receiver if Hilton misses time.
  • Jack Doyle caught two of three targets for 18 yards and a touchdown on 58 percent of snaps, but he ran only 14 routes (.39 per dropback). Mo Alie-Cox caught three of four targets for 37 yards, running nine routes and playing 42 percent of snaps.
  • The Colts have played three games with Burton, Doyle and Alie-Cox all in the lineup. Burton leads the group with 15 targets and 50 routes (on 99 QB dropbacks) in those games. Doyle has six targets on 43 routes. Alie-Cox has seven targets on 25 routes.

  

Lions

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Marvin Jones 98% 48 1.07 17.5% 100 3-39-2
T.J. Hockenson 74%  34 .7210 25.0% 70 7-65-0
Marvin Hall  69% 32 .67 17.5% 118 4-113-0
Danny Amendola  67% 35 .734 10.0% 43 3-54-0
  • Golladay injured his hip in the second quarter and missed the rest of the game. Hall replaced him and led the team in receiving, highlighted by a 73-yard gain that came up eight yards shy of the end zone.
  • The 10 targets were a career high for Hockenson, who now ranks 11th among tight ends in targets (41) and 10th in target share (17 percent). His route/snap shares have hovered around this 65-80 percent range all year.
  • Matthew Stafford threw for 336 yards and three TDs, but he also took five sacks, lost a fumble and tossed a pick-six. This was his first game since Week 1 with more than 36 pass attempts (42), and just his second 300-yard game of the season (the other was the week before at Atlanta).

  

Vikings (28) at Packers (22)

Vikings

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Adam Thielen  90%15 1.0 4 28.6% 8 3-27-0
Irv Smith  79%12  .80 1 7.1% 7 1-16-0
Justin Jefferson  65%14 .93 4 28.6% 17 3-26-0
  • Kirk Cousins threw only 14 passes, while Dalvin Cook ran for 30-163-3 and also led the team in receiving (2-63-1). The Vikings love to run the ball in any weather, but the extreme we saw Sunday likely was related to bad weather. Nobody on the Vikings reached even 20 air yards.
  • Kyle Rudolph ran nine routes and caught his lone target for a 12-yard gain. Over the past three games, Smith has an 11-7 advantage over Rudolph in targets and a 71-56 advantage in routes.
  • Smith has run routes on 76 percent of QB dropbacks the past three games, up from 53 percent over the first four weeks of the season. There's some potential here for a mini-breakout in the second half of the season.
  • Jefferson's reduced snap share wasn't caused by losing playing time to other wide receivers. Rather, the Vikings used a bunch of single-wide looks with Adam Thielen as the only WR. It didn't have much impact in terms of routes, as Jefferson was off the field for just one pass play.
  • Jefferson has 26 percent target share since joining the starting lineup Week 3. Only 11 players have seen larger target shares over that same stretch, but the raw volume (6.8 per game) haven't been nearly as prolific in Minnesota's run-first offense. This was the same floor we saw from Jefferson in the Week 5 loss at Seattle (3-23-0 on five targets).

  

Packers

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Davante Adams  95% 42 .95 12 30.8% 133 7-53-3
Marquez Valdes-Scantling  83% 36 .82 1 2.6% 17 1-19-0
Robert Tonyan  61% 24 .55 7 17.9% 71 5-79-0
  • The No. 3 WR role was a rotation between Equanimeous St. Brown ( percent), Tyler Ervin ( percent), Darrius Shepherd ( percent) and Malik Taylor ( percent).
  • Jace Sternberger caught three of four targets for 46 yards on 37 percent of snaps. He ran only 14 routes (.32 per dropback).
  • Allen Lazard (core) wasn't quite able to make it back, after practicing throughout the week. MVS has produced only 0.70 yards per route in Lazard's absence, with eight catches for 96 yards in four games (18 targets, snap share above 80 percent each week). Translation: Lazard should be pretty safe as the No. 2 WR as soon as he's cleared to play.

  

Jets (9) at Chiefs (35)

Jets

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Denzel Mims 96%  34 .97 3 10.7% 84 2-42-0
Braxton Berrios 84% 31 .89 11 39.3% 24 8-34-0
Jeff Smith 84% 33 .94 8 28.6% 84 3-29-0
  • Chris Herndon caught one of two targets for three yards, handling his largest snap share (70 percent) since Week 4. Signs of life? Ha, probably not.
  • Jamison Crowder (groin) and Breshad Perriman (concussion) both were inactive and have now missed four games apiece this year.
  • With Crowder out and Mims in for the past two weeks, Berrios has led the team with 34 percent target share, followed by Mims (22 percent) and Smith (16 percent).

  

Chiefs

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Tyreek Hill 76%  40 .87 6 12.8% 131 4-98-2
Travis Kelce 76%  35 .76 12 25.5% 118 8-109-1
Mecole Hardman 68%  31 .67 9 19.1% 59 7-96-1
Demarcus Robinson55%  28 .61 5 10.6% 63 4-63-1
  • Byron Pringle also got a good amount of playing time, catching three of four targets for 22 yards on 56 percent of snaps (24 routes).
  • Le'Veon Bell and Clyde Edwards-Helarie combined for only six of the team's 47 targets.
  • Snap shares were impacted by the blowout, with backup QB Chad Henne getting 12 snaps (18 percent) at the end of the game. Henne also got 10 snaps (20 percent) the previous week in Denver.
  • Kelce played 43 of 46 snaps through three quarters, and Hill played 42. In other words, their lower-than-usual snap shares were strictly a product of the blowout.
  • In terms of snap shares, the fourth quarter provided a boost for Hardman (16 of 20) and Pringle (14), while Robinson got only five plays.

   

Los Angeles Rams (17) at Dolphins (28)

Rams

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Cooper Kupp 97% 62.98 21 36.2% 142 11-110-0
Robert Woods 93%57.90 8 13.8% 47 7-85-1
Josh Reynolds  81%55.87 9 15.5% 89 4-44-0
Tyler Higbee  60%24.38 4  6.9% 12 2-14-0
Gerald Everett 55%28.44 9 15.5% 405-32-0
  • The Rams ran 92 plays, including 61 passes from Jared Goff.
  • Woods added two carries for nine yards and a TD, his second rushing score of the year. He already has twice as many touchdowns (six) as he had in 15 games last season. Woods is averaging 2.0 carries for 13.5 yards per game, up from 1.2 carries for 8.8 yards per game over the previous two seasons. The touchdowns and added rushing work have made up for disappointing target volume (6.8 per game) in what mostly was a run-heavy offense before Sunday's pass-happy affair.
  • Kupp is now up to 26 percent target share, 11th among WRs. Woods is only at 20 percent.
  • Higbee has one game with double-digit fantasy points, and he still hasn't seen more than five targets in a week. It's not quite as bad as the 2017-18 version, but it's closer to that than it is to the late-2019 Higbee.
  • Everett has four straight games with three or more receptions, but he still runs routes on less than half of Jared Goff's dropbacks, so there's a zero-catch floor even if we haven't seen it for a while.

  

Dolphins

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Preston Williams  90% 23 .96 5 22.7% 54 2-15-0
DeVante Parker  59% 17 .71 2 9.1% 3 1-3-1
Mike Gesicki  57% 17 .71 2  9.1% 36 1-8-0
  • The Dolphins ran only 48 plays, in part due to two non-offensive TDs, but also because they struggled to move the ball. Tua Tagovailoa completed only 12 of 22 passes for 93 yards and a TD, with both he and Myles Gaskin losing fumbles.
  • Gesicki actually played fewer snaps than Durham Smythe (65 percent) and got the same number of targets. But Gesicki ran 17 routes to Smythe's six.
  • Gaskin led the team with six targets. He and Williams were the only Dolphins with more than two.
  • Williams ahead of Parker was an unexpected twist, perhaps related to the groin injury that limited Parker's practice participation last week? Parker had played at least 79 percent of snaps in five straight games before he dropped to 59 percent Sunday.
  • Isaiah Ford and Williams both played 15 of 15 snaps in 11 personnel, with Parker getting 14 and Jakeem Grant one.
  • It was the running formations where Parker lost out, logging only 13 of 28 snaps when the Dolphins used 12 personnel or 21 personnel. Williams played 27 of 28, and Jakeem Grant took 15 of 28.
  • Prior to Sunday, it was Williams who had been rotating out to accommodate Grant. Maybe that's just a one-week thing, but it does make me hesitant to start Parker until we see more.

  

Chargers (30) at Broncos (31)

Chargers

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Keenan Allen  98% 46 .96 11 26.8% 79 9-67-1
Hunter Henry  97% 39 .81 4 9.8% 6 4-33-0
Mike Williams  87% 43 .90 8 19.5% 136 5-99-1
Jalen Guyton  87% 41 .85 4  9.8% 93 1-3-0
  • The Chargers used three running backs but otherwise did very little rotating on offense, with four guys playing at least 87 percent of snaps.
  • Guyton saw two of his four targets 20-plus yards downfield. He's seen either one or two of those deep targets in every game since Week 1.
  • Williams got four deep targets, catching two for 60 yards.
  • This game actually reduced Allen's target share for the season, though 30 percent is still good for fourth best in the league.
  • The Chargers now have played three games with Allen, Henry, Williams and Justin Herbert all healthy from start to finish (Weeks 2, 7-8). Allen has 30 percent target share in those games, followed by Henry (17 percent) and Williams (13 percent). The team's RBs combined for 31 targets in those three games, while Guyton got only nine (8 percent).

  

Broncos

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
DaeSean Hamilton  94% 41 .93 5 13.2% 56 4-82-1
Jerry Jeudy  89% 40 .91 10 26.3% 159 4-73-0
KJ Hamler 80% 39 .89 3 7.9% 10 3-13-1
Noah Fant  78% 33 .75 9 23.7% 677-47-0
  • Albert Okwuegbunam played 17 snaps and scored a nine-yard TD on his lone target. He continues to look good, but there's not a ton of work available now that Fant is healthy. The rookie ran only 12 routes in Sunday's win.
  • With Tim Patrick (hamstring) inactive and Hamler healthy, the Broncos used Jeudy and Hamilton as their outside receivers while Hamler played the slot.
  • Jeudy ran only 10 percent of his routes from the slot, down from 56 percent the previous week and 79 percent through the first five games of the season, per PFF.
  • Jeudy has been targeted on 23.5 percent of his slot routes, producing 1.32 YPRR despite having eight drops. He's been targeted on only 17.3 percent of his non-slot routes, but he's put up 2.22 YPRR. Samples here are still small, of course, consisting of 136 slot routes and 81 non-slot routes.
  • This was Hamler's first week as a regular in the slot. Prior to Sunday, he'd run only 24 of his 100 routes from the inside.
  • Fant is sixth among TEs with 20 percent target share, with at least five targets, three catches and 35 yards in every game this year.

  

Saints (26) at Bears (23) — OT

Saints

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Juwan Johnson 86% 36 .84 3 7.3% 20 1-5-0
Tre'Quan Smith 78% 41 .95 7  17.1% 79 5-43-0
Jared Cook 54%  33 .77 7 17.1% 62 5-51-1
Deonte Harris  53% 29 .67 3  7.3% 6 3-19-0
  • Alvin Kamara led the team with 13 targets, equating to 31.7 percent share.
  • Michael Thomas (hamstring), Emmanuel Sanders (COVID-19) and Marquez Callaway (ankle) were all inactive, so the Saints had Johnson fill in as a starter while Harris occupied his usual role as a slot specialist for spread formations.
  • Cook scored for the third week in a row and got more than five targets for the first time since Week 1.

  

Bears

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Allen Robinson 97%45  .98 7 17.1% 87 6-87-1
Darnell Mooney 93% 45 .98 6 14.6% 102 5-69-1
Anthony Miller 76%39 .85 11 26.8% 67 8-73-0
Jimmy Graham 63%27 .59 7 17.1% 55 2-13-0
  • Each of Chicago's top-three WRs scored more than 15 PPR points. Graham was the odd man out.
  • Six days removed from a concussion, Robinson played nearly every snap and broke out of a mini-slump. However, his target share over the past three games has been only 17 percent, right in the same range as Graham (18 percent), Miller (17 percent) and Mooney (16 percent) during that stretch.
  • Rookie TE Cole Kmet handled career-high 43 percent snap share, up from 35 and 32 percent the previous two weeks. He only saw one target, a two-yard gain where he appeared to lose a fumble but then was ruled down because his forward progress had been stopped.
  • Graham got seven targets, but he played only 30 of 51 snaps (59 percent) in 11 personnel, with Kmet getting 17. Prior to Sunday, Graham had played 78 percent of the team's snaps in 11 personnel.
  • It'll be tough for Graham to maintain his fantasy production from the first half of the season if he's lingering around .60 routes/db instead of his 0.75 r/db mark from Weeks 1-7.
  • Mooney finally had a big game, in his sixth straight appearance with five or more targets. He even connected with Nick Foles for on a deep ball, finally, picking up 50 yards.

  

49ers (27) at Seahawks (37)

49ers

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Brandon Aiyuk  90% 43 .9611  27.5% 99 8-91-1
Kendrick Bourne  86% 41 .9110 25.0% 71 8-81-0
George Kittle  66% 22 .49 4 10.0% 42 2-39-0
Trent Taylor 50%  32 .71  4 10.0% 29 3-32-0
  • Deebo Samuel (hamstring) was inactive. Bourne filled in as a starter outside, while Taylor got most of the slot work.
  • Kittle suffered a foot injury that may end his season, and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered another high-ankle sprain.
  • Ross Dwelley was the No. 2 TE with 56 percent of snaps, and he actually ran more routes (30) than Kittle. However, Jordan Reed (knee) could be ready to return from IR for Thursday's game against Green Bay.
  • The 49ers previously played without Kittle and Samuel in Weeks 2-3, with Reed getting 23 percent target share, followed by Bourne (18 percent), Aiyuk (18 percent), Dwelley (8 percent) and Taylor (6 percent). Reed drew 13 targets on only 32 routes, and he didn't even make it through the second game healthy.

     

Seahawks

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
DK Metcalf 96%  411.0  15 41.7% 145 12-161-2
Tyler Lockett87%  40.98 5 13.9% 73 4-33-0
Will Dissly63% 16.39  1 2.8% -3 1-17-0
Greg Olsen 54% 22.54 4 11.1% 19 0-0-0
  • David Moore played only 20 snaps and caught each of his three targets for 18 yards and a touchdown. He's seen either three or four targets in each of the past four games. Freddie Swain played 19 snaps Sunday, but he wasn't targeted.
  • Dissly/Olsen has been pretty close to a 50-50 split for two weeks now. It isn't so much that Dissly is taking more snaps away from Olsen, though that is happening a little bit. The bigger issue for Olsen is Jacob Hollister getting most of the snaps alongside Dissly in 12 personnel, a look the Seahawks happen to be using more often as the season moves along.
  • Olsen played 56 of 72 snaps in 12 personnel through the first five games, while Dissly got 71 and Hollister only 16. Over the past two weeks, it's been Dissly on 71 of 71, with Hollister getting 43 and Olsen only 27. There's really not any trend working in Olsen's favor here.
  • Lockett still holds the slight edge in target share, with 26 percent to Metcalf's 24 percent.
  • DK is tied for the NFL lead with 44 percent air-yard share, well ahead of Lockett (31 percent).

  

Cowboys (9) at Eagles (23)

Cowboys

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Dalton Schultz 95%  36 .808 21.1% 73 6-53-0
Michael Gallup 87%  40 .8912 31.6% 81 7-61-0
Amari Cooper 75%  39 .87 13.2% 33 1-5-0
CeeDee Lamb 47%  30 .67  13.2% 43 4-27-0
  • Lamb did add 19 yards on a carry, but his snap share was a season low, down from 55 percent the previous week. He's been at 55 percent or lower in three of the past four games, and he's averaging only 3.7 catches for 30.3 yards on 7.0 targets since Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending injury.
  • No. 4 WR Cedrick Wilson played only 24 percent of snaps, while No. 2 TE Blake Bell got 52 percent.
  • Gallup got double-digit targets for the first time all year, ending a four-game stretch with six or fewer chances. He still has just one game with 15 or more PPR points this year.
  • Schultz had his best game since Week 4, and also handled the largest snap share of his career, though it wasn't a huge difference from 88, 81 and 80 percent the previous three weeks. He's now averaging 4.0 catches for 36.7 yards on 5.7 targets in three games sans Prescott.
  • Cooper is now down to 5.0 catches for 54.7 yards and 0.33 TDs on 7.3 targets without Dak.

  

Eagles

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Travis Fulgham 94%  33 .97 7 26.9% 67 6-78-1
Greg Ward94% 31 .91 5 19.2% 23 3-10-0
Dallas Goedert84% 25 .74 1 3.8% 13 1-15-0
Jalen Reagor 73%  23 .68 6 23.1% 74 3-16-1
  • John Hightower led the team with 92 air yards, despite getting only three targets and 16 percent of snaps. He didn't catch any passes, and now has nine receptions (for 166 yards) on 24 targets this year.
  • The Eagles ran 49 of 62 snaps (79 percent) from 11 personnel, with coach Doug Pederson showing a clear preference for Ward and Reagor over backup tight end Richard Rodgers.
  • This was the first time Fulgham and Reagor have both played in a game, not to mention Goedert being back in the lineup. Suddenly, the Eagles offense doesn't look so bad, as long as we don't look to closely at the O-line.
  • Ward played each of the 49 snaps in 11 personnel, but he got only three of eight snaps in 12 personnel (Fulgham - 7, Reagor - 3, Hightower - 3). Ward ran 90 percent of his routes from the slot, per PFF. In other words, he'll likely be the odd man out if Reagor and Fulgham both are still healthy when Zach Ertz (ankle) is ready to return. FWIW, Ertz isn't likely to be back before late November of early December.
  • Fulgham has 26 percent target share in his five games, ranking 11th in the league (3-game min.) over the past five weeks.

  

Buccaneers (25) at Giants (23)

Bucs

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Mike Evans 90%  38 .90 7 17.5% - 5-55-1
Scotty Miller 76%  35 .83 6 15.0% - 3-35-0
Rob Gronkowski 71%  27 .64 4 10.0% - 4-41-1
Jaydon Mickens 63%  21 .50 8 20.0% - 5-36-0
  • Mickens as the No. 3 WR was a bit of a surprise, though Tyler Johnson also got a lot of playing time (50 percent snap share) and caught both his targets for 35 yards. Justin Watson played only 7 percent of snaps.
  • The four targets were Gronk's fewest since Week 4, and the 71 percent snap share his smallest since Week 2. No matter, The Autumn of the Gronk™ continued in full force, with the  living legend scoring a TD for the third straight week.
  • Gronk played 27 of 31 snaps in 11 personnel, and he played five of seven snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long. He doesn't lose routes to Cameron Brate the way O.J. Howard used to.
  • The Bucs have played four games without Chris Godwin (finger) this year. Evans is averaging 6.0 catches for 80.5 yards and 1.0 TD on 8.3 targets with Godwin inactive. In four games with Godwin playing, Evans has averaged 1.5 catches for 12.8 yards and 0.75 TDs on 3.3 targets, essentially turning into late-stage Jerome Bettis.

  

Giants

 SnapsRoutesRoutes/DropbackTargetsTarget ShareAir YardsReceiving Line
Darius Slayton 92%  44 .98 9 22.0% - 5-56-0
Evan Engram 82%  39 .87 10 24.4% - 5-61-0
Sterling Shepard 70%  35 .78 10 24.4% - 8-74-0
Golden Tate 51%  26 .58 3  7.3% -2-31-1 
  • Tate scored a TD for the second straight week, but he's seen only six targets over the past three games, and he hasn't gone any higher than 63 percent snap share since Week 6.
  • Shepard has six, eight and 10 targets in his three healthy games (Weeks 1, 7-8), but his 24 total targets in those games put him slightly behind Engram (26) and only slightly ahead of Slayton (22).
  • Slayton accounted for three of the Giants' six targets 20-plus yards downfield Monday night, though he didn't catch any of them. For the season, he has 10 of the team's 19 targets in that range, catching four for 126 yards and two TDs, per PFF.

  

Top Waiver/FAAB Targets (WR/TE)

(Limited to players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues.)

  1. WR Corey Davis
  2. WR Sterling Shepard
  3. WR Marvin Jones
  4. WR Jalen Reagor
  5. TE Jordan Reed
  6. WR Kendrick Bourne
  7. WR Preston Williams
  8. TE Eric Ebron
  9. WR Josh Reynolds
  10. WR Marcus Johnson

  

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Donabedian
Jerry was a 2018 finalist for the FSWA's Player Notes Writer of the Year and DFS Writer of the Year awards. A Baltimore native, Jerry roots for the Ravens and watches "The Wire" in his spare time.
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