Opportunity is king when it comes to fantasy football production. Therefore, it is important to be aware of each player’s opportunity share. Past opportunity helps us predict future usage and, in turn, future fantasy output. But I understand that not every fantasy gamer has the time or resources to stay on top of the recent trends. So, I am doing the research for you.
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As a weekly series here at Create-A-Rank, I look at every box score, track target share, snap share, and air yards. I compile all of the trends that I find useful or interesting here in order to help you make better lineup and roster decisions. Pair this with our weekly rankings, WRs vs CBs Matchups chart, and other articles to give your teams an edge over the competition. Without further ado, here is everything I took away from an exciting Week 8 of snaps, targets, air yards, and trends.
Game Day Stats
- After Bears RBs combined for just five rush attempts in Week 7, David Montgomery had 27 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown in Week 8. Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis combined for an additional six attempts.
- Jonnu Smith led the Titans in targets, receptions, and receiving yards with Delanie Walker inactive.
- DaeSean Hamilton had just one target (incomplete) even after the Emmanuel Sanders trade.
- Josh Reynolds led all Rams not named Cooper Kupp in targets (eight).
- Darrell Henderson out-touched Todd Gurley 13 to 10.
- Michael Thomas caught all of his 11 targets.
- Leonard Fournette fell short of 20 carries (19) for the first time since Week 3. However, he had season-highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (60).
- Kyle Allen hadn’t thrown an interception all season before throwing three against the 49ers.
- Latavius Murray led the Saints with 12 targets and scored the first receiving touchdown of his career.
Snap Share
Running Backs
- Devin Singletary played on 68-percent of the Bills offensive snaps while Frank Gore played just 29-percent. That was their highest and lowest snap share share, respectively, since Week 1.
- David Montgomery had a season-high 73-percent snap share compared to Tarik Cohen’s season-low 21-percent.
- Lions backfield snap rates in the first game without Kerryon Johnson: Ty Johnson: 40-percent, Tra Carson: 30-percent, J.D. McKissic: 25-percent, Paul Perkins: 10-percent.
- Leonard Fournette played a season-low 79-percent of the snaps while Ryquell Armstead was in on a season-high 21-percent.
- The Rams backfield was basically an even split in snaps:Todd Gurley: 52-percent, Darrell Henderson: 48-percent
- Latavius Murray has played 82.5-percent of the Saints offensive snaps over his two starts.
- Rashaad Penny had his second-highest snap rate (30-percent) of the season as the Seahawks made an effort to show him off prior to the trade deadline.
Wide Receivers
- Christian Kirk played 86-percent of the snaps in his first game back from injury.
- Calvin Ridley saw his second-highest snap rate (80-percent) of the season in Atlanta’s first game since trading Mohamed Sanu to New England.
- Falcons wide receiver Russell Gage had a season-high 59-percent snap share in Atlanta’s first game since trading Mohamed Sanu to New England. His previous high was 22-percent in Week 5.
- Broncos wide receiver Fred Brown had a season-high 63-percent snap share in Denver’s first game since trading Emmanuel Sanders to the 49ers. His previous high was 15-percent in Weeks 5 and 6.
- No Packers WR reached a 70-percent snap rate against the Chiefs. Allen Lazard led the wayvat 67-percent while Geronimo Allison, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Jake Kumerow played 64-, 62-, and 51-percent, respectively.
- Deandre Carter played 57-percent of the Texans offensive snaps with Will Fuller out. His season average coming in was 11.75-percent. Kenny Stills played 96-percent.
- Mecole Hardman played just 15-percent of the snaps in the loss to the Packers. His previous low was 48-percent in Week 7.
- Mohamed Sanu played 54-percent of the snaps in his Patriots debut.
- D.K. Metcalf played a career-high 92-percent of the snaps in Seattle’s win over the Falcons.
- Emmanuel Sanders played 82-percent of the snaps in his 49ers debut.
Target Rate
- Christian Kirk had a season-high 32-percent target share in his first game back from injury.
- Despite the increased snaps with Sanu out of the picture, Calvin Ridley still only saw a 13-percent target share.
- To coincide with his increased snaps, Russell Gage had a season-high 17-percent share of the Falcons targets.
- Allen Robinson has seen a target rate of 20-percent or higher in every game this season.
- Alex Erickson saw a 13-percent target rate one week after his 33-percent share in Week 7.
- Even with the increased snap share, Broncos WR Fred Brown had a six-percent target rate.
- Allen Lazard led all Packers WRs with a 15-percent target rate.
- D.J. Chark had a season-high 35-percent target rate.
- Sammy Watkins received 22-percent of Matt Moore’s targets.
- Robert Woods had a season-low six-percent target rate even with Brandin Cooks out with a concussion. Josh Reynolds, on the other hand, saw a season-high 26-percent of the targets.
- Mohamed Sanu saw a 14-percent target share in his Patriots debut.
- Golden Tate has had a 25-percent target share since returning from suspension.
- Emmanuel Sanders saw a 23-percent target share in his 49ers debut.
- One week after posting a season-high 27-percent target share, A.J. Brown saw just 9-percent of Ryan Tannehill’s targets.
Top-five WRs in Week 8 target rate:
- D.J. Chark 35-percent
- Keenan Allen 34-percent
- DeAndre Hopkins 33-percent
- Christian Kirk 32-percent
- Cooper Kupp/Jarvis Landry 32-percent
Top-five TEs in Week 8 target rate:
- George Kittle 32-percent
- Darren Waller 27-percent
- Noah Fant 25-percent
- Travis Kelce 22-percent
- Dallas Goedert/Hunter Henry/Jonnu Smith 21-percent
Top-five RBs in Week 8 target rate:
- Latavius Murray 28-percent
- Aaron Jones 24-percent
- Saquon Barkley 24-percent
- Dalvin Cook 23-percent
- Leonard Fournette 21-percent
Top-15 in Week 8 Air Yards (AirYards.com)
- Kenny Golladay 188
- Mike Evans 182
- Auden Tate 171
- JuJu Smith-Schuster 165
- Curtis Samuel 159
- Julio Jones 145
- Josh Reynolds 138
- Corey Davis 138
- Tyrell Williams 137
- Cooper Kupp 123
- Christian Kirk 122
- Tyreek Hill 121
- DeAndre Hopkins 114
- Mike Williams 112
- James Washington 105
