Fantasy Football Usage Report for Week 6

Nothing's more satisfying than a predictable breakout.

Brian Thomas Jr. was getting quality targets in the Jacksonville Jaguars' offense even before his massive Week 5. The tea leaves for a big showing out of Kareem Hunt were there before Monday night, as well.

Studying usage trends can help us get ahead of these big weeks. That's what we'll try to do today for Week 6 and beyond.

Below are noteworthy usages for players across key fantasy skill positions. We'll start with the running backs before diving into pass-catchers and players who are getting fed in the red zone.

All snap-rate and average depth of target (aDOT) data is via Next-Gen Stats unless noted otherwise. A "deep" target here is a target 16-plus yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Fantasy Football Running Back Usage

As always, we'll begin with the weekly running back usage chart.

The chart below lists out the workload and productivity of each back in their most relevant sample. That sample is noted in the far right-hand column. For some players -- like Alexander Mattison -- multiple splits are listed depending on the health of a teammate.

Within the chart, "Adjusted Opportunities" is carries plus two times the player's target total as targets are worth twice as much as a carry for running backs in half-PPR scoring. The "RZ Share" is the percentage of team carries or targets the player has received inside the red zone. The players are sorted by their FanDuel salary on the Week 6 DFS main slate. Players who are not on the main slate are listed at the bottom, and those on bye are omitted. "YFS" is yards from scrimmage

I omitted Devin Singletary given that even if he's able to return this week, it's likely his role will be altered going forward with how effective Tyrone Tracy Jr. was as a fill-in in Week 5.

• Kenneth Walker III's passing-game usage is noteworthy. Even in a game where the Seattle Seahawks barely ran the ball, Walker had 21 adjusted opportunities for 76 yards from scrimmage. That gives another boost to his weekly median expectation.
• The sample on Rico Dowdle is all 5 games because his snap rate has been between 43.9% and 50.7% in each. But the Dallas Cowboys did lean on him more in Week 5, giving him 20 carries and 2 targets for 114 yards from scrimmage. The snap rates just didn't change quite enough for me to justify making that his split in the table, but I do think his stock is on the rise.
• Breece Hall's biggest issue has been efficiency, not volume. His 24.2 adjusted opportunities per game rank third on that chart among players with multiple games in their split, trailing only Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley. If you think the New York Jets can turn their ground game around, Hall's a quality buy-low option.
• Typically, we focus on just teams playing the upcoming week, which is why Kareem Hunt isn't in the table. But he played 62.5% of the snaps on Monday night with 27 carries and 117 yards from scrimmage, so he's a featured back until Isiah Pacheco returns.

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver and Tight End Usage

JuJu Smith-Schuster and Travis Kelce

As mentioned above, we typically focus on just the teams in action this upcoming week, and the Kansas City Chiefs are on bye.

But we gotta talk about JuJu Smith-Schuster before waivers run Tuesday.

In the first game without Rashee Rice, Smith-Schuster basically took over that role. He was second on the team with eight targets with just one being deep, but it didn't matter because he was able to produce after the catch.

Here's the full target distribution from Monday night.

Smith-Schuster is a priority waiver add and a season-long starter going forward.

Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy also set new season-highs in targets, and both had multiple red-zone chances (one of which was a short rushing touchdown for Worthy). Thus, we should boost expectations for both.

For now, Kelce's the top pass-catcher here. Smith-Schuster is currently No. 2 with Worthy having the upside to surpass him as he gets more comfortable in the offense. Overall, we just got a lot more clarity here than I expected to have just one week into Rice's absence.

Darnell Mooney and Drake London

We talked about this a bit in the Week 5 fantasy football takeaways, but the Atlanta Falcons' offense is worth a deep dive.

Through the first five games this year, it's as we expected: two players dominating the looks.

It's just not the two we expected.

Drake London is largely living up to the hype, and as we discussed in Week 4's usage report, his red-zone role is very nice.

But, whew, doggies, can we talk about Darnell Mooney's downfield role?

Mooney has averaged 3.4 deep targets per game. His 17 total downfield looks are tied for most in the league, and he has been decently productive on those looks, as well. It's frankly a bit surprising he has surpassed 70 yards just twice so far.

That'll change if Mooney keeps getting fed like this, and frankly, they have no reason not to maintain it. As a result, Mooney's a guy we can target with alternate receiving yardage overs, and he's the archetype of receiver we should covet in DFS, as well.

Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers

There are a lot of moving pieces for the Las Vegas Raiders right now with a potential quarterback change and trade winds swirling around Davante Adams. We can likely feel confident, though, that Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers are going to be key factors in the passing game.

We've got a two-game sample on the Raiders without Adams. In those, Bowers and Meyers have gotten a hefty load.

We haven't seen the yardage for Meyers yet -- his max on the season is 72 in Week 5 -- but the building blocks are there.

As for Bowers, he has topped 90 yards twice. All other tight ends in the league have combined to hit that mark seven times. In a different offense, he'd be in the TE1 discussion.

The quarterback situation does keep Bowers out of that tier, but he is good enough to rank just one step below. We should continue to buy into Bowers even in poor game environments and tough matchups.

Red-Zone Usage

James Cook

Although the Buffalo Bills' offense has sputtered of late, James Cook continues to get work in the red zone.

Cook handled six of eight red-zone chances in Week 5, pushing his season-long red-zone share up to 32.6%. That's still below-average for a legit back, but it's better than where Cook has been at times in the past.

If the Bills' offense continues to struggle, it's possible we see Cook's involvement increase. His 20 carries last week were tied for the second most in his career. When you add in his red-zone usage, I'm still bullish on Cook despite the team's issues.

D'Andre Swift

D'Andre Swift's red-zone role still kinda stinks. Roschon Johnson snagged two extra touchdowns in close this past week. But Swift did log his best red-zone usage of the season.

Against the Carolina Panthers, Swift had nine total red-zone chances. He had three the entire season before that. His red-zone share was 50.0%, pushing his season-long mark to 24.5%.

This is still well below where you'd like it, and with how effective Johnson has been in short-yardage situations, I don't expect it to change. It's the biggest knock against Swift's outlook as things stand. Sunday did at least provide us some hope, though, and it was the second straight week where Swift pushed his stock the right direction.

George Kittle

George Kittle has always had a big weekly ceiling thanks to his yardage upside. That's true this year, too, as he leads the team with a 23.6% target share in the games he has played.

The red-zone role is especially juicy.

In Week 5 alone, Kittle had a whopping six red-zone targets. That pushed his season-long red-zone target share up to 36.0% in the games he has played.

Kittle has scored in three straight, so you won't catch anybody napping on him. But for season-long, you could argue he's the top tight end of all. And for DFS, this gives him two sources of upside at tight end, a position where most options have zero.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.