We're at the point in the season where significant role changes are often due to teammate injuries, making it more important than ever to keep an eye on weekly NFL injury reports. Michael Wilson and Emanuel Wilson became two of the biggest fantasy stories in the aftermath of Week 11, but we also saw rookies like Bhayshul Tuten and Luther Burden taking on larger roles for reasons unrelated to injuries. With so many moving parts around the league, it'll be crucial to keep up with NFL player news and any updates to RotoWire's weekly projections.
1. WR Michael Wilson was the Week 11 leader in targets (18) and air yards (225).
- Key W11 Stats: 15-185-0 Receiving Line | 84% Route Share
QB Jacoby Brissett set an NFL record with 47 completions in a game where the Cardinals quickly fell behind by multiple scores and abandoned their lifeless rushing attack. Wilson, Greg Dortch and Xavier Weaver were the top three WRs, each with at least 70% route share, but Wilson had twice as many targets as Dortch (six) and Weaver (three) combined.
Wilson attracted a ton of streaming interest last week after Marvin Harrison's appendectomy, but it was still shocking to see the extent of his volume and production — even within the context of a game with 57 pass attempts for Arizona. Wilson's 18 targets amount to a sturdy 32.1% share, with his 225 air yards accounting for 60.6% of the team total. It was truly dominant usage, not just the product of elevated passing volume.
There's no question Wilson is in a good position short term, playing in a pass-heavy offense with nothing else left at WR until Harrison returns (which may not be until December). Longer term, there are plenty of reasons for skepticism, as Sunday marked Wilson's 31st NFL start but his first game with 100 yards. It was just his second game ever with more than seven targets, though he does have a solid track record in terms of per-target efficiency, with a 65.9 percent catch rate and 12.5 yards per catch for his career (8.3 YPT across 185 targets).
There are some similarities to Tre Tucker after his huge game earlier this season, and Wilson is actually a full year older, turning 26 in February. A sustained track record of low target rates prior to Sunday's explosion is the other warning sign, with the caveat that Arizona's coaching staff hasn't exactly been noted for brilliant WR usage.
Wilson, to me, passes the eye test to a degree, whereas Tucker has always looked like someone who should be a No. 4 receiver rather than a long-term starter. Tucker, to be fair, has squeaked out some fantasy value since his three-TD game, but there's no remaining doubt it was a one-hit wonder rather than a breakthrough.
2. RB Emanuel Wilson played 94% of Week 11 snaps after Josh Jacobs' exit.
- Key W11 Stats: 61% Route Share | 12 touches for 49 yards and a TD
Third-string RB Chris Brooks barely saw the field even after Jacobs left in the second quarter with a knee injury. Wilson didn't have any gains of more than 11 yards, but he rarely left the field and scored a TD, showing enough to make him a strong RB2 if Jacobs misses time.
Reports on Monday said Jacobs escaped with a knee contusion, which would seem to hint at playing Week 12 against Minnesota, but Wilson needs to be added everywhere in case his backfield mate is absent/limited.
3. WR Stefon Diggs handled a season-high 89% route share in Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 71% Snap Share | 9-105-0 | 11 Targets, 100 Air Yards (both team highs)
Diggs' two largest snap shares and two largest route shares of the season have come in the past two games, with 19 targets and 151 yards to show for it. After lingering around 55-65% route share for the first half of the season, he's essentially a full-time player again, with target volume to match.
His 29% TPRR has held steady with more playing time, and the elite catch rate (81.9%) seems mostly sustainable with both Diggs and Drake Maye playing so well. Diggs looks like a high-end WR2 for the home stretch, or possibly even a WR1. He's the perfect trade acquisition for a contending dynasty team.
4. RB Sean Tucker got 14 of Tampa Bay's final 17 carries in Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 21 of 35 RB Opportunities | 140 Total Yards + 3 TDs
Tucker and White shared work early in Sunday's game, similar to the previous contest, until Tucker ripped off a 43-yard TD run in the second quarter. From that point forward, Tucker got 13 more carries and two targets on 50% snap share, while White saw three carries and one target on 55% of snaps (White's snap share was boosted by Tampa Bay falling behind by multiple scores in the fourth quarter).
Not counting the final drive, Tucker played 60% of snaps after his long TD run, adding two additional touchdowns (one receiving) in the process. There's no question he pushed White aside, but now Bucky Irving (shoulder/toe) appears close to a return, potentially limiting Tucker's ability to build on the huge performance.
You may recall that Tucker had a similar game against the Saints last year, and then basically disappeared once both Irving and White were healthy. Bucs coach Todd Bowles talked about getting Tucker more involved numerous times, including this summer, but it never actually happened until Irving got injured (and even then it took a few weeks before Tucker took a significant share of the work away from White).
Tucker is a good player, with a natural knack for running, and he could be a problem for Irving's fantasy value even if Tucker doesn't get enough touches to be a recommended lineup option. That's especially true with Irving coming back from a long injury absence, not to mention being one of the smallest lead backs in the league.
Looking beyond the next few weeks, White is scheduled for unrestricted free agency this offseason, while Tucker is a restricted free agent. That likely means Tucker will be back in 2026 and White won't, though we did see the 49ers trade Jordan Mason to Minnesota on an RFA tender last spring.
5. WR Luther Burden handled a career-high 62% route share in Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 44% Snaps | 3-27-0 on 5 Targets
WR Olamide Zaccheaus, meanwhile, plummeted to 14% snap share and 21% route share, including only 12% of snaps in 11 personnel. Burden joined Rome Odunze and DJ Moore as the regulars in 11, with each of the three logging between 13 and 21 slot snaps.
It's an obvious step forward for Burden, who may eventually prove to be Chicago's best wide receiver, but his volume projection still isn't great in the short term. The Bears won't always use two-TE sets as much as they did this past Sunday against Minnesota, but it has been a consistently big part of the offense whenever Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland both have been available.
Burden still got just 21% of snaps in 12 personnel (two TEs) on Sunday, leaving his route share well below Odunze's 79% and Moore's 85%. Plus, the target distribution has been awfully flat since a Week 5 bye, with Odunze's 21.4% share leading the team while five others land between 8-16%.
Odunze cooling off from his hot start to the season is perhaps promising for Burden long term, but this current version of the Chicago offense just doesn't look fantasy-friendly, keeping two RBs, two TEs and three WRs involved every week. For now, Burden is only a lineup option in very deep leagues, needing a breakout game or Odunze/Moore injury before we can take him more seriously as a short-term play.
6. RB RJ Harvey got 61% of snaps and 64% of RB opportunities in Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 53% Route Share | 14 Touches for 50 Yards
Harvey was the starter and lead back after J.K. Dobbins (foot) went on injured reserve, but the rookie's role was far from dominant, ceding seven touches (including a TD) to Jaleel McLaughlin and some passing-down snaps to Tyler Badie. Harvey finished with an 11-30-0 rushing line and 3-20-0 receiving line, unable to get much going against a tough Chiefs defense.
Still, the rookie should be a solid fantasy RB2 for the next couple weeks if he maintains his 60%-ish share of the backfield in far more favorable matchups against Washington and Las Vegas.
7. RB Bhayshul Tuten had 14 carries on 43% snap share before the fourth quarter Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 14 of 28 RB Opportunities (50%) pre-Q4 | 15-74-1 Rushing Line
Tuten left early in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, but not before taking 15 carries for 74 yards and a TD while essentially splitting backfield work 50/50 with Travis Etienne. We'd previously seen weeks with Tuten getting around one-third of the touches, but Sunday's distribution was something entirely new.
Tuten told reporters his ankle injury is minor, leaving Etienne with a somewhat shaky Week 12 workload projection at Arizona. Granted, Sunday's win over the Chargers was an odd game, and it's possible Etienne would've taken a larger share of the carries if there hadn't been so many raw carries to go around (42 total for Jacksonville's RBs, including eight by LeQuint Allen in garbage time.
8. WR Jakobi Meyers led the Jaguars in Week 11 targets (six) and air yards (57)
- Key W11 Stats: 82% Route Share | 5-64-0 Receiving Line
Meyers got more playing time in his second game with the Jaguars, ranking second to only Parker Washington in routes run (82%) during a run-heavy blowout win. Meyers was the only Jaguars with more than three targets, 38 air yards or 25 receiving yards, easily besting each of those numbers. Granted, WR Brian Thomas (high-ankle sprain) may be back to complicate things soon.
9. WR Troy Franklin handled an 80% route share and 184 air yards in Week 11.
- Key W11 Stats: 66% Snap Share | 4-84-0 Receiving Line | 8 Targets (team high)
WR Marvin Mims finished with just 25% snap share and 30% route share in his return from concussion protocol, having basically no impact on Franklin and Pat Bryant, both of whom topped 80 receiving yards. The deep shots to Franklin were something we haven't seen much of, and it could perhaps continue (to a lesser extent) if Mims remains marginalized.
10. WR George Pickens has 26.3% of Dallas' targets since CeeDee Lamb returned.
- Key W7-11 Stats: 39.6% Air-Yard Share | 78+ Yards in Each Game
Pickens' numbers improved earlier this season right after Lamb suffered a high-ankle sprain, but the numbers haven't dropped back down with Lamb back in action the past four games. Lamb leads the team with a 27.8% target share in that stretch, but Pickens isn't far behind, with at least six targets and 78 yards in each game, including a 9-144-1 showing at Las Vegas on Monday.
TE Jake Ferguson has suffered, with just 15% of the Dallas targets since Lamb returned, though Ferguson has partially made up for it with three TDs in the past four games (despite averaging a mere 23.8 yards.
