What a weird weekend for the NFL.
Across the league, it felt like the Wide Receiver position collectively had a miserable week; a MULTITUDE of star wideouts posted outright duds, on rationale ranging from bad QB play, early injury, sudden onset illness, and/or overall ineptitude.
The list is massive, including the likes of Deebo Samuel, Demario Douglas, Jordan Whittington, JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVonta Smith, Tank Dell, Jameson Williams, Diontae Johnson, Josh Downs, Tyreek Hill, and Jayden Reed. With the two games featured on Monday Night Football, the Bucs got the worst news with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans down for at least the near future. It was rough – putting it absolutely mildly.
With the bye week likely further strapping the options for your starting lineups, it was probably rough sledding for many, and could very well continue to be unless things shape up.
To that purpose, it’s important to dive right into the numbers to better make decisions on who represents your team from week to week. The focal point of this series, again, is to highlight specific snap shares across the league that are trending in the right (or wrong) directions, helping you make decisions with your waivers and lineups. Seeing not only WHO received the lion’s share of opportunities but WHAT they did with them can forecast the players with the highest chances of balling out each week and helping you rack up your wins.
To do this, I’ve scoured PFF snap counts, as well as targeted statistics courtesy of ESPN, to get an overall usage percentage (carries and targets divided by snap count) to find out who to target in your fantasy lineups and what to make of weekly good or bad situations across the league.
With seven weeks now spent this season, you know what’s next – let’s dive right into some more unique and interesting positional situations across the NFL.
New Orleans Saints
Wide Receivers
vs. Denver Broncos (vs. WR – 2nd)
Previous Matchups:
| Player | Week 5 Snap Count & Trend | Week 5 Usage Percentage & Trend | Week 6 Snap Count & Trend | Week 6 Usage Percentage & Trend |
| Cedrick Wilson Jr. | 12 (+36) | 0% (+14.58) | 36 (+12) | 8.33% (+6.25) |
| Mason Tipton | 19 (+39) | 21.05% (-5.53) | 29 (+29) | 6.90% (+8.62) |
| Bub Means | 1 (+61) | 0% (+8.06) | 50 (+12) | 16.00% (-7.94) |
Week 5: at Kansas City Chiefs (3rd)
Week 6: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28th)
The Saints are a shell of what they were to start the season.
It’s hard to blame them to this point – injuries have absolutely decimated New Orleans through seven weeks. The offense is limping through each matchup week to week, and reinforcements aren’t guaranteed anytime soon. QB Derek Carr has been out indefinitely with a strained oblique, and in his place rookie Spencer Rattler has done his best to replicate production, though it hasn’t gone all that well. Given that star wideout Chris Olave has been in concussion protocol, and Rashid Shaheed is out for the year with a knee injury, the WR corps has struggled to find anyone to live up to their vacated numbers.
The trio of Cedrick Wilson Jr., Mason Tipton, and rookie Bub Means were at the tip of the spear here on Thursday Night, but with the uncertainty and drop in talent, the offense struggled to put up points. The Broncos’ defense made life miserable for OC Klint Kubiak‘s unit, holding them to a mere 10 points. Tipton led all Saints’ pass catchers with nine targets, and had a modest output against a tough Denver secondary. Bub Means, a high waiver priority of late, saw the highest snap count of any receiver for New Orleans in the game but had a limited amount of opportunity sent his way by Rattler. The veteran wideout Wilson has been an afterthought on this team since signing from Miami, but did well in garbage time and could see his usage go up for the immediate future, given that he scored the sole TD for the home team on the night.
Either way, the production here shouldn’t be highly coveted until the Saints’ stars return to the fold. Olave may come back sooner rather than later if he can progress through protocol, though Carr is still likely weeks out from his return. Until then, the Saints will have to do with what they have, and you may want to consider other options on the waiver.
Buffalo Bills
Wide Receivers
vs. Tennessee Titans (vs. WR – 6th)
Previous Matchups:
| Player | Week 5 Snap Count & Trend | Week 5 Usage Percentage & Trend | Week 6 Snap Count & Trend | Week 6 Usage Percentage & Trend |
| Keon Coleman | 38 (+3) | 13.16% (+3.91) | 43 (-2) | 9.03% (+) |
| Amari Cooper | N/A (CLE) | N/A (CLE) | N/A (CLE) | N/A (CLE) |
| Khalil Shakir | N/A (DNP) | N/A (DNP) | 25 (+13) | 8.00% (+10.42) |
| Mack Hollins | 33 (-8) | 18.18% (-15.74) | 45 (-4) | 4.44% (-2.0) |
| Curtis Samuel | 34 (-32) | 14.71% (+35.29) | 25 (-23) | 16.00% (+34.0) |
Week 5: at Houston Texans (21st)
Week 6: at New York Jets (4th)
What a difference a trade makes.
The Bills made waves across the league last week with the acquisition of talented wideout Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns. An AFC East contender once again in 2024, the Bills had been hurting for production in their WR room and decided to make the move. For years, Cooper has been trapped under poor QB play, so many were excited to see what he could do with a better cast surrounding him once again. As of Week 7, it’s looking like a good move so far – not just for Cooper, or QB Josh Allen, but also for the majority of Buffalo’s other pass catchers.
Against the Titans, Cooper’s presence seemed to open up opportunities across the board for everyone else on the Bills’ offense, especially rookie Keon Coleman. The numbers had been hit-and-miss over the last few weeks for the former Florida State product, but he delivered one of his best stat lines of the season at home this past weekend, going for the team lead in targets and snap count. He wasn’t the only one who had a bounce-back week either, with Khalil Shakir also coming back into the fold with a 7-7-65 game.
Mack Hollins and Curtis Samuel weren’t so lucky against Tennesse, however. Both received a single target apiece, with both failing to bring it in for the catch. The latter had his playtime reduced to two total snaps, making his usage statistics a bit of an outlier given how little he played in this game. Hollins at least played a large portion of the game, but he was extremely inefficient and an afterthought for Allen on the day.
It should be noted that the Titans were indeed down both of their starting cornerbacks against Buffalo. The outcome of the game as such wasn’t surprising, but the fact that Cooper’s game seemed to elevate almost everyone else in this matchup was extremely encouraging. The former Brown and Cowboy is probably the receiver to have on this Bills squad for the long run, but if Coleman can continue to feed off of lessened coverage, he’ll put up solid numbers over the remainder of the season.
New York Giants
Running Backs
vs. Philadelphia Eagles (vs. RB – 7th)
Previous Matchups:
| Player | Week 5 Snap Count & Trend | Week 5 Usage Percentage & Trend | Week 6 Snap Count & Trend | Week 6 Usage Percentage & Trend |
| Tyrone Tracy Jr. | 45 (-6) | 44.44% (-21.36) | 66 (-27) | 34.85% (-11.77) |
| Devin Singletary | N/A (Inj.) | N/A (Inj.) | N/A (Inj.) | N/A (Inj.) |
| Eric Gray | 26 (-20) | 30.77% (+2.56) | 14 (-8) | 21.43% (+11.9) |
Week 5: at Seattle Seahawks (23rd)
Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals (15th)
I hope your fantasy roster doesn’t have to resort to the New York Giants RB room.
Devin Singletary returned from a two-game absence due to a groin injury, and his stats were…middling, at best. The Eagles imposed their will on their hapless NFC East rivals early, so the Giants abandoned the running game fairly early in this matchup. Even to that point, however (and through most of the season), Singletary wasn’t producing much. GM Joe Schoen famously decided to replace longtime franchise face Saquon Barkley with the former Houston Texan, and thus far it’s been a move that has left many Giants fans wanting.
Because of his injury woes and lacking game output, rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. has been called up. Against Philadelphia he had a rough day – but his numbers tell you the Giants coaching staff still like him and will continue to give him the ball, even with Singletary healthy. It helps that with similar usage numbers, Tracy outproduced his fellow RB (albeit, not by much). His booming output against Seattle has likely bought him some good grace for the weeks ahead.
Gray looks to be the odd man out with the veteran back in play, as he saw his snap count drastically reduced from the previous games. He should be safely left on waivers, given that even with an increased share of opportunities over the last few weeks, he failed to do much. Between Singletary and Tracy, if you’re hurting at RB there are (probably) worse options out there, but neither of late has inspired much confidence. Blame the Giants coaching and front office for that.
New York Jets
Wide Receivers
at Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. WR – 10th)
Previous Matchups:
| Player | Week 5 Snap Count & Trend | Week 5 Usage Percentage & Trend | Week 6 Snap Count & Trend | Week 6 Usage Percentage & Trend |
| Garrett Wilson | 69 (-12) | 33.33% (-17.54) | 61 (-4) | 16.39% (-0.6) |
| Allen Lazard | 72 (-39) | 12.50% (-0.38) | 59 (-26) | 11.86% (+0.26) |
| Davante Adams | N/A (LV) | N/A (LV) | N/A (LV) | N/A (LV) |
| Mike Williams | 36 (-17) | 7.84% (+2.69) | 32 (-13) | 9.38% (+1.15) |
Week 5: at Minnesota Vikings (London, UK) (32nd)
Week 6: vs. Buffalo Bills (9th)
The Jets also made a move to acquire a star WR, but it hasn’t helped them in the win column just yet.
Davante Adams was handpicked by QB Aaron Rodgers to be freed from a bad situation in Las Vegas, and join an underperforming Jets squad filled with high hopes. Considering their rapport dating back to their Green Bay Packers days, it was expected that the two would come out firing, possibly at the expense of New York’s other receivers. At least for a week that wasn’t the case, but it does feel like the writing is on the wall for the less-talented wideouts in the Jets’ corps.
Garrett Wilson had a decent game, racking up the second-most yards for the Jets through the air while tying Adams (and RB Breece Hall, oddly enough) for the team lead in targets. The Steelers’ defense made life hard for the offense as a whole, but it was encouraging that Rodgers still chose to try and target his promising young receiver. Adams saw the volume that many hoped for, but his connection with the veteran QB is rusty off the bat, and may need a few weeks to fine-tune.
Meanwhile, Allen Lazard still got a healthy amount of targets and usage, producing well with so many mouths to feed on the road. It’s interesting to note given just how down many were on the former Packer wideout after last year’s abysmal showing. He’s shut up the detractors for the most part, but I don’t feel great about his chances going forward once Adams gets situated. As for Mike Williams, I would not be surprised if he gets dangled as trade bait before the deadline.
Considering how pass-heavy this game became with New York trailing late, it may be an outlier rather than an indicator of future roles for the Jets playmakers. There’s likely room for Adams and Wilson to coexist and thrive in this offense, but we may need a few more weeks to be sure.
Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@bearydoesgfx on X)