1. TE Oronde Gadsden led the Chargers' skill-position players in Week 8 snaps (79%).
- Key W8 Stats: 85% Route Share / 21% Target Share / 5-77-1 Receiving
There's not much to say about Gadsden that hasn't already been said, including in this space last week. The biggest remaining question after Week 7 was what his role would look like in a game where the Chargers used heavier personnel and/or didn't attempt a lot of passes.
We got an answer Thursday night, and it was best-case scenario for fantasy purposes, with Gadsden getting the most snaps of any Chargers RB/WR/TE in a game where the team's 11 personnel rate plummeted to 39%. Gadsden took 23 of 27 snaps in 11 personnel (85%) and 23 of 29 snaps in 22 personnel (79%) — the Chargers' two most heavily used groupings Thursday night.
Gadsden played 33 of the 46 snaps (72%) that weren't in 11 personnel, while Will Dissly was a healthy scratch and Tyler Conklin played just one snap before the fourth quarter. The Chargers countered Brian Flores' defense with heavier packages, as many teams have done before, but Gadsden was a crucial part of it rather than losing playing time to Dissly/Conklin on a night when 300-pounders Tucker Fisk and Scott Matlock each played twice as many snaps as Keenan Allen.
Gadsden may not be a great blocker, but the Chargers clearly trust him to do it, keeping him on the field for 87% of snaps through three quarters Sunday night. He's a full-time player, with excellent market shares over his past three games: 19.0% of targets, 20.8% of air yards, 77.4% route share and 77.4% snap share.
It is still possible Gadsden sinks to something like 15-17% target share, if only because there's so much competition for looks, but he'd probably still be a solid fantasy starter in that case, with the Chargers' passing game being among the most valuable in the league. If he hangs around 20%, like he did the past three weeks, he'll be a top-six TE who also merits FLEX status on teams that have McBride/Kraft/Warren/Bowers.
Rookie TE with 300+ receiving yards in a 3-game span, since the 1970 merger:
Kyle Pitts (4th pick in 2021)
— Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem) October 24, 2025
Brock Bowers (13th pick in 2024)
Oronde Gadsden II (165th pick in 2025)
2. WR Quentin Johnston has a 9.4% target rate over his past three games.
- Key W5-8 Stats: 0.66 Yards Per Route Run / 86% Route Share / 12.0% Air-Yard Share
The asterisk here is that Johnston missed Week 6 with a hamstring injury, after running a team-high 31 routes in a Week 5 loss to Washington (4-40-0 on six targets). Between that game and the two he's played since returning from injury, Johnston has totaled just 70 yards on 10 targets (9.1%), lagging far behind Ladd McConkey (32 targets, 29.1%) and Keenan Allen (28 targets, 25.5%), with the aforementioned Gadsden now seemingly more of a priority as well.
Johnston's strong start to the season was backed by standout usage*, but it was always going to be difficult to maintain a target share above 20% while competing with McConkey and a rejuvenated Allen. It's impressive how much Johnston has improved since a brutal rookie season, but he's still never passed the eye test the way that McConkey and now Gadsden do.
Johnston's playing time seems safe — it was Allen who missed out on routes due to heavy-personnel usage last Thursday — which at least means he'll still have splash games as the downfield / red-zone-oriented guy in an offense with a lot of cumulative receiving production. That could work out alright for standard scoring, but Johnston is on the ropes as a fantasy starter for full-PPR formats, needing a strong performance this Sunday at Tennessee to prove he's still worth a lineup spot when fantasy teams are closer to full strength.
*In Weeks 1-4, Johnston led the team in targets (36), yards (337), TDs (four) and air yards (461), with a 24.5% target rate.
3. RB Tyrone Tracy played 78% of snaps after Cam Skattebo's injury.
- Key post-Injury Stats: 9 of 12 RB Opportunities (75%) / 59% Route Share
Despite being a former college wide receiver, Tracy hasn't shown the kind of receiving potential that we saw from Skattebo both last year at ASU and this year for the Giants. But that won't necessarily stop Tracy from getting targets, as he'll likely be on the field a lot for a bad team that's often chasing deficits.
Devin Singletary remains competent, but he's never added value in the passing game, and his usage after Skattebo's departure was limited to three carries on a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter. Tracy might've topped 80% snap share after Skattebo left, if not for that one series being so long (and adding fatigue as a factor) and the Giants falling so far behind (though he did get some work in garbage time, as well).
Tracy's role moving forward could be even better than what he saw last year after initially becoming the starter and lead back in Week 5. He averaged 68.3% snap share from that point forward, with 13.8 carries for 62.4 yards (4.5 YPC), 2.6 catches for 18.7 yards on 3.6 targets (5.2 YPT), and six total TDs in 13 games.
4. RB Tank Bigsby took 79% of non-kneel-down snaps in the fourth quarter.
- Key W8 Stats: 7 of 9 RB Opportunities in Q4 / 9-104-0 Rushing
RB Saquon Barkley's huge day ended when he hurt his groin on a 27-yard carry on the final play of the third quarter. Bigsby had just two carries and three snaps up to that point, but he broke off a 29-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and kept it going from there. Will Shipley barely subbed in during the fourth quarter, taking two carries for two yards on three snaps. Bigsby, meanwhile, took seven carries for 86 yards on 13 snaps.
It wasn't a close game, but most of the production came before starters were pulled, suggesting Bigsby may genuinely be ahead of Shipley moving forward (especially in light of Bigsby's impressive Week 8 performance). Barkley said he expects to be back after the Week 9 bye, but Bigsby should be rostered everywhere in case it doesn't play out that way.
5. WR Jaylin Noel has 140 yards and 13 targets on 41 routes the past two weeks.
- Key W7-8 Stats: 45.1% Route Share / 31.7% Target Rate / 9-140-0 Receiving (13 Targets)
On a per-route basis, Noel has easily been Houston's most productive pass catcher with Nico Collins (head) and Christian Kirk (hamstring) missing time over the past two weeks. Noel is tied with Dalton Schultz for the team lead in targets over that stretch, even though the rookie has run just 41 routes (compared to 65 for Schultz, 70 for Xavier Hutchinson and 64 for Jayden Higgins).
Noel barely plays in heavy packages, and even in 11 personnel he's been splitting slot work with Braxton Berrios (41 routes, 8 targets, 37 yards). The glass-half-full outlook is that Noel is playing well in real life, with he and Berrios combining for 21 targets in a two-week stretch while essentially sharing the No. 3 receiver job.
That's good news for Noel's dynasty value, undoubtedly, but the bad news short-term is that his team didn't want him in a full-time role even when Collins and Kirk were out of the picture. With one or both of the veteran wideouts now likely returning, Noel may not get an immediate chance to build on what he's shown the past few weeks. The same is true for Jayden Higgins, who led the team in route share (82%), targets (eight) and air yards (85) during Sunday's win over San Francisco.
Higgins and Noel are both worth keeping on benches, with upside to eventually emerge as Houston's No. 2 receiver, but the short-term outlook is cloudy, competing with each other and Hutchinson even if Collins or Kirk misses more time.
6. WR Chimere Dike has 163 yards and 24% air-yard share over the past two games.
- Key W7-8 Stats: 2.62 YPRR / 76.5% Route Share / 10.3 aDOT
The volume doesn't immediately jump out, with Dike at 17.4% target share and a 19.4% target rate the past two weeks. It's the efficiency that's truly surprising, with Dike catching 11 of those 11 targets (for 163 yards) in an offense where everyone else is struggling to convert opportunities into production.
That's obviously unsustainable, but there are still a lot of positive indicators for Dike here, especially relative to his laughably bad numbers from Weeks 1-6 (26 yards on 85 routes). He didn't catch a single pass that travelled 10-plus yards downfield over the first six games, but he's brought in five of those the past two weeks, including a 38-yard TD.
Dike even got playing time in 12 personnel this past Sunday, taking 67% of those snaps (compared to 16% in Weeks 1-7). Things may change some once Ridley is back, but Dike at least figures to be the regular No. 3 receiver in an offense that uses 11 personnel a lot and faces negative game scripts with absurd regularity. I'm not sure what to make of Dike, considering he looked genuinely bad before the past two weeks and is still stuck in a horrible offense. But he's at least on the radar, along with Ayomanor, to potentially put up solid numbers later this season if Cam Ward makes some progress and Ridley remains out/traded.
7. RB Jordan Mason had five touches and 34% snap share in Week 8.
- Key W8 Stats: 5 of 18 RB Opportunities / 7 Total Yards / 25% Route Share
Mason got at least 28 snaps and 11 touches in each of Minnesota's first six games, including Weeks 1-2 when Aaron Jones was healthy. With Jones returning from injured reserve for Week 7, it seemed likely that Mason would have the better half of a timeshare.
That wasn't the case Thursday night, although a lack of overall play volume and negative game script were also big factors in Mason's lack of touches. Still, his role was discouraging long before the game got out of hand, with Mason taking just 40% of snaps and three touches in the first half while Jones was at 60% and five touches. That's a major problem for Mason's fantasy value, on top of the pre-existing problems created by Minnesota's disappointing offense.
8. WR Christian Watson had 85 receiving yards and 72 air yards in Week 8.
- Key W8 Stats: 62% Route Share / 72 Air Yards / 4-85-0 Receiving (4 targets)
In his first game back from an ACL tear, Watson ranked third among Green Bay's wide receivers in snap share (56%) and route share, getting nearly as much playing time as rookie Matthew Golden. What's more, Watson caught each of his four targets for 85 yards, with 72 of those being air yards.
A high-volume role is unlikely with Tucker Kraft, Josh Jacobs and Romeo Doubs all playing well right now, but Watson could end up with a lot of the work that people were eager to give Golden. That might even work out to WR3 value for fantasy purposes, especially in standard-scoring formats where TDs and long gains carry more weight than volume.
9. RB Nick Chubb handled a 43% snap share and 19 touches in Week 8.
- Key Stats: 19 of 36 RB Opportunities / 17-56-0 Rushing
Left for dead by many after a Week 7 with just 26% snap share and five carries, Chubb bounced back in Week 8 with the help of favorable game script and a better matchup. He's still not someone we want to be starting, especially against Denver this week, but it does seem like declarations of Woody Marks' predominance were premature. While Marks may dominate in negative game script, Chubb still has a role for early downs, short-yardage situations and clock-killing spots.
10. WR Darius Slayton led the Giants in targets (five) and air yards (71) in Week 8.
- Key Stats: 69% Route Share / 2-26-0 Receiving (5 Targets)
Slayton had a lot of fantasy attention right after Malik Nabers suffered an ACL tear, but the veteran then injured his hamstring the very next week. Finally back in action for Week 8, Slayton wasn't quite a full-time player but nearly had a big game anyway.
His most memorable play was one that didn't count, with a 68-yard TD on a 4th-and-long nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Slayton. It was the right call, at least technically speaking, though wideouts usually get away with similar push-offs, especially when there's contact both ways.
In any case, Slayton led the Giants in targets and air yards even with that deep play not counting. It was a poor game for the New York passing game in terms of both volume and production, but Slayton could emerge with some fantasy value in the second half of the season, sharing the field with the likes of Wan'Dale Robinson, Tyrone Tracy, Theo Johnson and Lil'Jordan Humphrey. Nobody there really demands touches, so Slayton could kind of default into 5-7 targets per game.
