Hidden Stat Line: Targets, Routes & Snaps from Week 15

If you're looking for the RB equivalent of this usage-focused Week 15 recap, here's the link:

Hidden Stat Line: Week 15 Backfield Breakdown

Now let's check out the wide receivers and tight ends... 

Week 15 Usage Leaderboards

Tight Ends

Bold indicates Top 5 for the week.

Wide Receivers

Bold indicates Top 15 for the week.

Game-by-Game Breakdowns

Chargers (30) at Raiders (27)

Chargers

• Allen, playing through a hamstring injury, was limited from the start of the game. He played 43% of snaps in the first quarter, then 65% in the second. Allen played only 16% of snaps after halftime, without getting any targets.
• Williams, playing through a back injury, also had his role scaled back. Williams played 59% of snaps in the first half, but only 25% after halftime.
• Johnson scored his second TD in as many weeks, following his 6-55-1 receiving line on 74% snap share Week 14. For the season, he has 337 receiving yards on 109 routes (3.09 YPRR), while Guyton has 468 yards on a team-high 495 routes (0.95 YPRR). Johnson has drawn a target on 21 of 109 routes (19.3%), while Guyton has seen a pass on just 46 of 495 (9.3%). The latter has seen far more playing time this year, but Johnson arguably offers more upside if the Chargers end up resting Williams and Allen in Weeks 16 and/or 17.

Raiders

• Bryan Edwards ran 10 routes and played 32% of snaps, including 43% of snaps in the second half after Hunter Renfrow (concussion) left the game. With Renfrow forced out and Henry Ruggs still on the COVID-19 list, the Raiders had only three wide receivers available after halftime Thurdsay night (Agholor, Jones, Edwards).
• Jones made his second start of the year but was targeted on just two of his 23 routes.
• Agholor has six or more targets in five straight games, averaging 4.8 catches for 65.8 yards and 0.4 TDs in that stretch. He had big games against the Chiefs (6-88-1) and Colts (5-100-1), but put up modest numbers against weaker defenses (ATL, NYJ, LAC).
• This was Waller's third straight game with double-digit targets, bumping his season average up to 9.2 per game. He's up to 93-967-8 on 129 targets, after last year's 90-1,145-3 on 117 targets. The extra volume and touchdowns have more than made up for the YPT decline, and even the YPT (7.5) now looks pretty good after the recent hot streak.

Bills (48) at Broncos (19)

Bills

• John Brown (ankle) was designated to return from IR last week, but he wasn't activated for Saturday's game. He could be back Week 16, dropping Davis to the No. 4 WR spot.
• This was Diggs' third straight game with double-digit receptions. He now leads the league in catches (111), and he temporarily held the No. 1 spot for receiving yards (1,314) before Travis Kelce played Sunday.
• Diggs got two targets 20-plus yards downfield, including a 55-yard reception. He'd seen just three deep targets over the previous three games, without catching any of them.
• Davis also got two deep targets, but didn't catch any of them. He's seen a team-high nine targets 20-plus yards downfield with Brown out for the past four games, well ahead of Diggs and Beasley (five apiece), per PFF.
• Beasley has averaged 15.0 PPR points and 8.6 targets in the six games Brown has missed, compared to 13.0 points and 6.1 targets when Brown has played.
• Diggs is averaging 18.1 PPR points and 12.2 targets without Brown, compared to 19.5 points and 9.4 targets when Brown plays.
• Davis, as you might expect, has the most drastic splits with/without Brown. The rookie is averaging 11.3 PPR points and 5.6 targets when Brown is out, but only 6.5 points and 2.4 targets when Brown plays.

Broncos

• Drew Locked threw for only 132 yards on 32 attempts, with Fant accounting for more than half the yardage. The Denver wide receivers combined for 37 yards.
• This was the seventh straight game with Patrick, Jeudy, Hamler and Fant all healthy and getting regular playing time. Here's the receiving distribution from that period (Weeks 9-15, including the Kendall Hinton game):

Receiving Distribution Weeks 9-15

Panthers (16) at Packers (24)

Panthers

• Moore handled his normal role and didn't show any sign of the ankle injury he suffered Week 12. He forced three missed tackles and picked up 67 yards after the catch, per PFF.
• Anderson hit the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career, albeit during a season-worst fantasy performance.
• Samuel had two drops and a fumble (he recovered it). He played six snaps in the backfield and took two carries for six yards. Samuel has taken at least one carry in every game this season, though never more than four.

Packers

• Tonyan extended his TD streak to five games, but he got only four targets after seeing exactly five each of the previous four weeks. Two of his catches came in the red zone on the opening drive, including a one-yard touchdown. Tonyan was then quiet for the rest of the night.
• Aaron Rodgers finished with season lows for pass attempts (29) and yards (143), plus a season-high five sacks. The Packers had a 21-3 lead after three straight TD drives to open the game, but they then punted on five consecutive series before adding a field goal late in the fourth quarter.
• Lazard's snap share was up from 69% and 69% in the previous two games, with six targets tying for the most he's seen in five weeks since returning from core muscle surgery. He was far more productive than Valdes-Scantling, whose snap share fell below 70% for the first time since Week 2. This was the fifth week in a row with MVS' snap share decreasing (92>85>79>75>70>65).
• Lazard caught five of his six targets, but the one he missed stood out, as it was a bad third-down drop on the final drive of the first half.
• Valdes-Scantling is averaging 1.8 catches for 28.0 yards and 0.2 TDs in five games since Lazard returned from IR.
• Tough break for fantasy managers who rode Adams to the playoffs. He entered Saturday with an eight-game TD streak, scoring 18.1 or more PPR points in each of those games. Even after the dud, his numbers from 12 appearances this season prorate to 131-1,581-19 over a 16-game schedule.

Texans (20) at Colts (27)

Texans

• Akins lost some playing time to each of Darren Fells (26%), Pharaoh Brown (25%) and Kahale Warring (17%), a trio that combined for 23 routes and three targets. Akins has seen three, six and six targets in three games without Will Fuller, averaging 3.3 catches for 26.7 yards.
• Coutee played more than 70% of snaps for a third straight week. He's caught 16 of 19 targets for 218 yards and two TDs in the three games since Fuller was suspended, getting 74% of his routes and 74% of his targets from the slot, per PFF.
• Cooks has seen eight and seven targets in his two games without Fuller, putting up 5-65-0 and 6-59-0 (both against the Colts). He'll getter better matchups the next two weeks, playing at home against Cincinnati and Tennessee. Cooks came off the field for just one snap in Sunday's loss, despite sitting out with a back injury the week before.
• Hansen was productive again, despite seeing just three targets after back-to-back games with seven. He's topped 50 yards in each game since the Fuller suspension.

Colts

• Hilton didn't extend his three-game streak with 80-plus yard and a touchdown, but he was still second-most-productive among Indy pass catchers, behind only Pascal.
• Pascal caught exactly one pass in each of the previous three games, and this was his first time all season with more than 58 yards in a game. The 87 percent snap share was his largest since Week 6.
• Pascal ran 65 percent of his snaps from the slot, per PFF, but he also played 15 of 19 snaps in 12 personnel. Pittman also got 15, while Hilton took just six.
• Pascal has seen more work in two-TE formations the past two weeks, after taking just 43% of snaps in 12 personnel Weeks 7-13. He led the team in routes Sunday for the first time since Week 8.
• Pittman broke out for 223 receiving yards in a three-game span Weeks 9-11, but he's managed only 11 catches for 135 yards on 22 targets the past four weeks while Hilton has been thriving.

Lions (25) at Titans (46)

Lions

• A banged-up Matthew Stafford (thumb/rib) was pulled in the fourth quarter, allowing Chase Daniel to play the final two drives. Jones padded his stat line with three catches for 37 yards on those last two series, and he's now caught five of six passes from Daniel this year, accounting for one-fourth of the QB's targets. I mention this because Stafford might be shut down now that the Lions are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Hockenson, the team's other fantasy-relevant pass catcher, has hauled in just two of five targets for 10 yards from Daniel, though the tight end was on the receiving end of the backup QB's only touchdown pass.
• Prior to Sunday's loss, Hockenson had four straight games with seven or more targets and double-digit PPR points. He didn't lose any route share or snap share in Week 15; the targets and catches just didn't happen.
• Jones was a disappointment during Kenny Golladay's first stretch of missed time, but it's been a totally different story Weeks 9-15, with the 30-year-old averaging 6.1 catches for 73.4 yards and 0.57 TDs on 9.1 targets per game (a 16-game pace of 98-1,175-9).

Titans

• MyCole Pruitt played 55% of snaps and saw two targets on six routes. Anthony Firker logged 25% and got just one target on 13 routes.
• Cameron Batson was the only wideout besides Brown and Davis to run more than two routes. Batson ran 10 routes and got one incomplete target.
• The 93% snap share was Smith's second-largest of the year, up from 62% in Week 14. Geoff Swaim (ankle) played at least 48% of snaps in five straight games before sitting out Week 15. Another Swaim absence in Week 16 would be beneficial for Smith's target projection.

Buccaneers (31) at Falcons (27)

Bucs

• Brown had his best game as a Buc despite playing less than half the snaps for a second straight week.
• Evans maintained his lead in target share (20.6%) since Brown joined the team. But it's been a pretty even distribution, with Brown (18.0%), Godwin (17.1%) and Gronk (13.6%) also getting regular work, plus Brate (7.9%) and Miller (4.4%) poaching a few looks. And Tom Brady always sends at least a handful of passes to his running backs, no matter who they are or aren't.

Falcons

• Gage played more snaps outside (44) than in the slot (15) for a third straight week. He's seen eight, seven and 10 targets in those games, producing 4-51-1, 5-82-0 and 5-68-1. Gage's aDOT over the past three weeks is 11.8, up from 7.5 in Weeks 1-12.
• Ridley is now averaging 22.8 PPR points and 11.6 targets in five games with Julio Jones inactive this year. (Ridley is averaging 17.5 points and 8.0 targets when Jones plays.)
• Hurst scored double-digit PPR points for the first time since Week 9, but he still lost a bunch of snaps and a dozen routes to Stocker. Hurst has played only 61% of the snaps in 11 personnel the past four weeks, though he did get 73% in Sunday's loss.

Jaguars (14) at Ravens (40)

Jags

• Here's the receiving distribution for Gardner Minshew's eight starts, Weeks 1-7 and 15:

Ravens

• Brown had two drops and a go-ahead touchdown the previous week. He didn't have the big moment this time, but he played a much better game top to bottom. His only incomplete target was a bad throw by Lamar Jackson into double coverage (intercepted) on the opening drive. Hollywood later had gains of 28 and 44 yards.
• Devin Duvernay played only 6% of snaps, buried behind the Snead/Boykin/Dez rotation.
• Andrews has been disappointing this year, but he does rank Top 5 among tight ends in target share (4th - 23%), air yards (4th - 753) and half-PPR points (5th - 125.8).

Patriots (12) at Dolphins (22)

Pats

• Meyers had his first big game since Week 10, after averaging 3.5 catches for 38 yards on 5.0 targets over the previous four weeks. He still has excellent efficiency numbers fo the season, catching 72.1% of his targets for 9.1 YPT. Meyers ranks ninth among qualified WRs in yards per route (2.32) this season, and he's third in target share (30%) over the past nine weeks.
• Keene and Asiasi split snaps again with Ryan Izzo (knee) on injured reserve. Asiasi still hasn't seen a target, and Keene has only three. Still, it'll be interesting to see if they do anything over the final two weeks, potentially setting up for some breakout appeal next offseason.

Dolphins

• DeVante Parker (hamstring), Jakeem Grant (hamstring) and Mike Gesicki (shoulder) all were inactive, and Preston Williams (foot) is still on IR. That's how you end up with an offense basing its passing game around a rookie who played option QB last season and has already been cut by one NFL team. It isn't clear Bowden will be a big part of the offense if/when the Dolphins get healthy, but it does at least seem he has an NFL position to focus on, having played the majority of his snaps in the slot for four straight weeks.
• Bowden took 37 snaps in the slot, 24 out wide, three in the backfield and one in-line, per PFF.
• For the season. Bowden has produced 1.62 yards per route in the slot, catching 15 of 17 targets for 136 yards. The 1.62 YPRR puts him 32nd among the 81 WRs who have run at least 80 routes from the slot.

Bears (33) at Vikings (27)

Bears

• Miller played fewer snaps than Javon Wims (33%) but did run three more routes. The snap share for Miller was a season low, as he played just 13 of 23 snaps (57%) in 11 personnel (Wims got 11 of the snaps, while Mooney and Robinson took 22 apiece).
• Kmet played every single snap, after logging 70-85% the previous four weeks. But he saw just two targets, as he blocked on six of his pass snaps and Mitchell Trubisky finished the game with 21 attempts.
• Mooney is now 3-for-21 on targets 20-plus yards downfield, while Robinson is 10-for-21, per PFF.  Mooney did score his fourth TD when he was left open in the flats for an eight-yard score early in the game.

Vikings

• Kyle Rudolph (knee) was out another week, and this time Smith handled a three-down role, after getting only 35% of snaps Week 14 in his first game back from an injury absence of his own. Regardless, Smith was more productive (4-63-1 on four targets) in the first game Rudolph missed.
• The Vikings technically aren't eliminated from playoff contention, but qualification involves a highly unlikely series of events. Football Outsiders puts Minnesota's chances at 0.8 percent, while the Bears improved to 35.8 percent and the Cardinals to 64.9 percent.
• The Vikings play the first game of Week 16, facing New Orleans on Friday. That means the Vikings won't be eliminated before their game starts, which should ensure full workloads for all the key guys. Any thought of taking the foot off the gas pedal isn't likely to come into play until Week 17.

Seahawks (20) at Washington Football Team (15)

Seahawks

• Hollister and Dissly continued their timeshare, after Greg Olsen (foot) was designated to return from injured reserve. With Olsen out the past four games, Hollister saw 12 targets and Dissly got seven.
• The Seattle passing game has been mediocre since Week 9, and the targets have also been spread out a bit more, with Metcalf at 23 percent target share Weeks 10-15 and Lockett at 22 percent. Over the first nine weeks of the season, Lockett saw 25 percent and Metcalf got 24 percent.
• Over the past six weeks, Seattle ranks 20th in pass-play rate (54%) in neutral game script. Over the first nine weeks of the season, Seattle was second at 62%. The passing has been less frequent AND less efficient during the second half of the season, while the Seahawks defense has played much better and allowed the team to continue winning.

Football Team

• Dwayne Haskins dropped back 62 times and attempted 55 passes, 10 more than his previous career high. He still fell shy of 300 yards, completing 69.1 percent of his throws for 5.4 YPA.
• Alex Smith has the shallowest aDOT (5.3) among qualified passers, but Haskins (6.6) isn't too far behind, sitting fourth from the bottom. OC Scott Turner has really kept the focus on short passes, and Haskins has the third-quickest average time from snap to throw (2.48 seconds). Smith is closer to the middle of the pack for that one, with the 13th-fastest average time (2.65 seconds) from snap to throw.
• For the season, McLaurin accounts for 25.6% of Haskins' targets and 36.1% of his yardage. Thomas is at 21.7% and 17.4%, respectively.
• Thomas has seen seven or more targets in three straight games, and five or more in six of his past seven. He still hasn't finished a game with fewer than four targets all year, and his total of 90 is tied with Hunter Henry for fifth among tight ends.

49ers (33) at Cowboys (41)

49ers

• Aiyuk is up to six consecutive games with 17.5 or more PPR points. He's seen nine or more targets in five in a row, including totals of 14, 16 and 13 within the last three weeks. He's averaging 7.5 catches for 94.7 yards and 0.67 TDs on 11.5 targets over his last six appearances.
• Reed has seen four-to-six targets in five straight games, landing in the 41-51% snap range each time. However, he's caught only 53.8% of his targets for 5.5 YPT during that time, coming up empty in the weeks with no touchdown.
• Bourne scored a 49-yard touchdown on a meaningless hail mary to end the game. Prior to that, he caught three of three targets for 37 yards and played fewer snaps than James.
• I couldn't find details, but I saw at least one report suggesting James suffered an ankle injury, which could move Bourne back to the No. 2 role for Week 16.

Cowboys

• He needed a TD for a decent fantasy line, but this was Gallup's seventh straight game with five or more targets. On the other hand, his 66% snap share was a season low, down from 94% and 94% the previous two weeks.
• Reserve wideout Noah Brown played 29% of snaps and caught one of six targets for 13 yards. Cedrick Wilson logged 28% and didn't see any targets, but he did a complete a 12-yard pass to Tony Pollard, and he also fielded punts.
• This was Andy Dalton's fifth straight start. Here's the Dallas receiving distribution for Weeks 11-15:

Jets (23) at Rams (20)

Jets

• Mims returned to a three-down role after missing the previous game due to COVID-19 protocols.
• The eight targets for Crowder were his most since Week 6. You might remember he had double-digit targets in each of his first four appearances this year....

Rams

• Kupp and Woods both played 42 of 42 snaps in 11 personnel. Higbee got 32 of 42, and Reynolds took 31 of 42.
• In 12 personnel, Higbee and Everett both played 17 of 17, while Reynolds (14), Woods (11), Kupp (6) and Van Jeffeson (3) all got some WR work.
• Kupp has played just 33% of snaps in 11 personnel the past six weeks, averaging 6.0 catches for 63.5 yards on 7.3 targets in that stretch. He averaged 6.7 receptions for 70.1 yards on 9.1 targets through his first seven games of the season, back when he was still getting most of the snaps in multi-TE formations.

Eagles (26) at Cardinals (33)

Eagles

• The Eagles split playing time between five wide receivers, with each finishing between 0.33 and 0.60 routes per dropback. Reagor got the most targets, while Jeffery got the most routes and snaps, and Ward scored a pair of touchdowns.
• Watkins made an impact for the first time, after getting one target and 32% of snaps the week before. He's moved ahead of John Hightower (healthy scratch) for the part-time, speed-demon role. Those two could end up battling for a single roster spot next summer.
• Ertz has played 72% and 75% of snaps the past two weeks, after getting only 44% in his first game back from IR. He's tied with Jeffery for second on the team in routes (49) the past two weeks, but that's still just 55.1% share.
• Through two Jalen Hurts starts, Goedert is the team leader in both route share (58.4%) and target share (21.2%). However, he's also taken 13 pass-blocking snaps, tied for second most in the NFL over the past two weeks. And 58% route share is still far from ideal, even for a tight end.

Cardinals

• Maxx Williams ran only seven routes on 34% of snaps, but he did gain 42 yards on his lone target to set up a score early in the game.
• Kirk is this year's top guy for fun stats along the lines of "Player X had _ percent of his fantasy points in _ percent of his games." I actually added up the numbers last week, so we'll wait until the end of the season to use that one again. #contentmoderation
• Arnold saw a season-high five targets after scoring three touchdowns on seven targets the previous two weeks. He again boosted his case for more playing time, but the Cardinals still like Williams' blocking, and Maxxxxx even had the aforementioned big play in Sunday's win.

Chiefs (32) at Saints (29)

Chiefs

• Hardman saw a league-high four targets 20-plus yards downfield, but he didn't catch any of them. The nine-target stat line looks like an aberration, as Robinson still got more snaps and routes.
• Watkins is averaging 5.5 targets and 46.3 yards in four games since returning from IR. Hardman is averaging 5.0 targets and 25.0 yards in the same stretch, while Robinson is at 3.0 and 28.8. None seems especially useful for fantasy purposes right now, but we'll probably see a blow-up game from at least one of them in January.

Saints

• Adam Trautman played 37% of snaps and finished without a target on seven routes. He cut into Cook's workload Weeks 9-13, but the veteran returned to his familiar role Week 14 and kept it for Week 15.
• Cook played 65% of snaps in the second half, running a route on 14 of Drew Brees' 18 dropbacks (78%) after the break.
• Smith played 23 of 27 snaps (82%) in the first half, with Sanders getting 68%, Johnson at 57% and Humphrey at 36%. But then Smith injured his ankle, further weakening a wideout group that already was missing Michael Thomas (IR - ankle).
• After halftime, Johnson played 96% of snaps, though he still didn't catch a pass. Sanders played 77%, with Humphrey at 65% and Tommylee Lewis at 19%.

Browns (20) at Giants (6)

Browns

• KhaDarel Hodge returned from a hamstring injury but played only 13% of snaps and ran three routes. He's spent some time in the No. 3 receiver role this season, but Peoples-Jones seems to have taken it over for now, dropping 2-92-1, 3-74-0 and 3-55-0 the past three weeks.
• Since Odell Beckham's season-ending injury, Landry ranks ninth in the league in target share (28%). He's up to four straight games with six or more catches and eight or more targets, scoring three touchdowns in that stretch. Start him, start him, start him.

Giants

• Slayton led the group in snaps and routes for a third straight week. It still hasn't resulted in better production, but he did see eight and nine targets (17 total) the past two games, while Shepard got five and seven (12 total).
• Engram is third among TEs with 96 targets this season, and he's fourth in target share (22%). He's seventh in receiving yards (572), and still has only two TDs (one rushing).

Steelers (17) at Bengals (27)

Steelers

•  Ebron was carted to the locker room after injuring his back in the second quarter. The Steelers initially said he was questionable to return, but after halftime he was ruled out for the rest of the game. Fullback Derek Watt (concussion) also left the game in the first quarter, so McDonald was the only remaining FB/TE.
• Johnson wasn't benched or injured and didn't have any drops. Actually, he did appear to hurt his foot or leg at one point in the fourth quarter, but he was out on the field for the next drive. He finished with 4.5 YPT, dropping to 6.0 for the season.
• The flip side is that Johnson has finished with double-digit targets nine times this season, including all but one of the games where he's played more than half the offensive snaps.
• Claypool last played more than two-thirds of snaps in Week 9. Since then, he's averaged 3.7 catches for 45.7 yards and 0.5 TDs on 7.5 targets per game. It's been much worse over the last four, with just 39.8 ypg and no touchdowns. Bench him, bench him, bench him.
• McDonald has been targeted on just 13 of 137 routes (9.5%) this year, catching nine passes for 61 yards. He looked washed up last season, and I don't think I noticed him once this year until Monday night. Even in a three-down role, expectations for fantasy production should be low.

Bengals

• Boyd was concussed early in the game. After the first quarter, Erickson played 64% of snaps and ran a route on nine of Ryan Finley's 10 dropbacks.

WR/TE Waiver Targets

Only includes players below 60 percent rostered on Yahoo.

1. WR Russell Gage
2. WR Nelson Agholor
3. WR Rashard Higgins
4. TE Jordan Reed
5. WR Darnell Mooney
6. WR Lynn Bowden
7. WR Jakobi Meyers
8. WR Jalen Reagor
9. WR Laviska Shenault
10. TE Austin Hooper