Unless we’re analyzing workhorse running backs or alpha wide receivers, a player’s usage can fluctuate from week to week. Some will shine and some will ruin your week. Remember, targets and opportunities are earned. In this series, I will provide weekly target shares, rushing attempt shares, and snap shares of SIX players (or group of players) to help you understand the value of each of them and decide whether to start ‘em, roster ‘em, or trade ‘em.
Cordarrelle Patterson (RB/WR – ATL)
Snap Share: 73% (8th)
Rushing Attempts Share: 63.6% (14 att – 12th)
Target Share: 12.5% (5 tgts – 12th)
Weighted opportunities: 16.1 (7th)
The amazing athlete Cordarrelle Patterson has taken the fantasy world by storm. Nobody expected this. After the first few weeks of the season everybody listed him as an easy sell, but it seems as if he now has an important role in an offense that is starting to work properly. He is slowly sending Mike Davis to the bench and with his pass-catching ability and top-speed, I would expect to continue seeing him as a special fantasy player and must-start every week. He was seventh in weighted opportunities, top 12 in both attempts and targets, and he is playing a lot of snaps. Cordarrelle Patterson is no longer a sell, he is an easy hold, and could even turn into a buy if people do not realize he has an important role in the offense.
Washington Football Team RB Room
Antonio Gibson vs J.D. McKissic
Snap Share: 41.7% vs 63.9% (30th vs 14th)
Rushing Attempts Share: 46.7% vs 13.3% (14 vs 4 att – 12th vs 42nd)
Target Share: 5.6% vs 16.7% (2 vs 5 tgts – 32nd vs 8th)
Weighted opportunities: 11.3 vs 11.9 (23rd vs 21st)
Antonio Gibson has not been worth it. Unfortunately, he has been badly affected by a shin injury that seems to bother him more each week. The team has been repeating he is okay and he is not expected to miss any games, but the workload he got in week 7 tells a different story. He was out-targeted (again) by McKissic, but now he was also out-snapped by McKissic. It may have been because of game-script, but each week that passes his value plummets. I urge you to sell whenever he has a one or two week good stretch. The injury and McKissic are not going away.
Elijah Mitchell (RB – SF)
Snap Share: 66.1% (13th)
Rushing Attempts Share: % (18 att – 3rd)
Target Share: 0.0%
Weighted opportunities: 10.4 (27th)
Elijah Mitchell is the RB1 in San Francisco and there should be no doubts after this week. Trey Sermon is now an afterthought in the depth chart and Elijah Mitchell could be a league-winner down the stretch. His weighted opportunities weren’t amazing because he received no targets from Jimmy Garoppolo, but with the snap share we saw, he should end up with at least two or three targets per game sooner rather than later. Whenever this starts to happen, Mitchell would automatically transform into a mid-RB2 on a weekly basis.
DeAndre Hopkins (WR – ARI)
Snap Share: 83.1% (26th)
Targets: 9 (11th)
Target Share: 32.1% (6th)
Team Air Yards: 77 (22nd)
Team Air Yards Share: 29.6% (22nd)
DeAndre Hopkins is back. His target share was again amazing, even in a horrendous shootout against the Houston Texans. People were starting to panic when the two game bad stretch came, but we need to remember he was playing injured. Kyler Murray is playing out of his mind and is leading the MVP race right now. Yes, I know he is spreading the ball a little bit more, but we shouldn’t expect Hopkins to suddenly lose his role in the offense. He is still a top 5 fantasy WR this year, and we should treat him that way. Just open up his schedule from week 11 and beyond… he is going to win you your league.
Marquez Callaway (WR – NO)
Snap Share: 91.9% (10th)
Targets: 7 (21st)
Target Share: 21.9% (22nd)
Team Air Yards: 57 (42nd)
Team Air Yards Share: 19.0% (47th)
The off-season hype has faded out after some disappointing performances. Honestly, we were asking for too much to expect him to become MT and he is obviously not Michael Thomas. Right now, Callaway is probably already in your waiver wire or he is going to be soon. Hear me out, as a non-believer, I would still advise you to pick him up. Jameis Winston is playing good football (10th in EPA/play) and when MT comes back, Callaway should see easier matchups. Michael Thomas is going to help this offense a lot and Callaway could be the most rewarded from this because we know he is the next best WR they have.
Evan Engram (TE – NYG)
Snap Share: 61.1% (23rd)
Targets: 8 (3rd)
Target Share: 24.2% (3rd)
Team Air Yards: 3 (41st)
Team Air Yards Share: 1.3% (42nd)
Is Evan Engram back? Evan Engram was one of those deep TE sleepers for this season and after not starting the season because of an injury, he had a bad couple of games. This week we saw him more involved in the offense, he was the second most-targeted player after Darius Slayton. This offense is still missing Sterling Shepard and Kadarius Toney, so we should still remain skeptical about what his role will end up being. Nevertheless, it is important to keep an eye on his usage these couple of weeks and pick him up if this usage stays the same. Bye weeks are here and it is always good to have a consistent tight end.
Hey, thanks for reading the article. My DMs are always open to any question, critic, or fantasy advice in any format. You can find me on Twitter @MisterMartinez9.
