Hidden Stat Line: Targets, Routes & Snaps from Week 3

Week 3 of 2020 felt a bit like Week 1 of 2019, featuring a bunch of breakout performances from rookie wide receivers. Minnesota's Justin Jefferson was the headliner with 175 yards and a TD, but Brandon Aiyuk, Gabriel Davis and Tee Higgins also put up big stat lines for the first time, with the numbers supported by encouraging target/snap/route usage in each case.

We also saw a few rookie wideouts take on larger roles that could hint at future production, namely KJ Hamler, Chase Claypool and John Hightower. On the other hand, Van Jefferson disappeared from the Rams offense, while Michael Pittman (leg) got his first NFL start but then needed surgery shortly after the game.

We'll take a look at all that and more in the game-by game recaps below, focusing on WRs and TEs as the follow-up to Monday's HSL: Week 3 Backfield Usage. The RB-focused article now includes my top-10 waiver targets for Week 4, in addition to the stat leaderboards and team recaps we've always provided.

(Snap totals, snap shares, carries and targets come from pro-football-reference.com. Data on dropbacks and routes run comes from Pro Football Focus. Stats on air yards and target share come from RotoWire's advanced stats pages.)

Dolphins (31) at Jaguars (13)

Dolphins

• Gesicki's snap share dropped from 73 percent in Week 1 to 55 percent in Week 2 to 49 percent in Week 3. However, Gesicki's .84 routes/dropback was a season high, up from .79 in Week 1 and .62 in Week 2. Of course, it was Week 2 when he had his career-best receiving line (8-130-1), in part because Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 47 passes. Fitzmagic chucked it only 20 times in Thursday's easy win.
• Williams played 66 percent of snaps before halftime; Gesicki got 60 percent; Ford took 51 percent. Everyone besides Parker saw less work after the break, as the Dolphins used 11 personnel (three-wide) on only 36 percent of their second-half snaps, while they went one-wide (Parker) 40 percent of the time. They've been more diverse than last season in terms of formations, but the repeated use of super-heavy looks was largely related to holding a multi-score lead for nearly 41 minutes of game time.
• Through three weeks, Gesicki leads the team with 19.7 percent target share, but he's not far ahead of Parker (17.7), Ford (16.7) Myles Gaskin (16.7) and Williams (14.6 percent). Those five have accounted for 85.4 percent of the team target total, with Jakeem Grant (five targets) the only other player to see more than two. Parker did miss the second half of the Week 1 game, and he's at 19.7 percent target share the past two weeks, which is only slightly lower than his 21.1 percent mark from 2019.
• Ford has run 95 percent of his routes from the slot, second-most among qualified wide receivers at the conclusion of Thursday's game. Gesicki is at 79 percent, tops among qualified TEs. (per PFF)
• Gesicki's 11.7 aDOT this season is second deepest among qualified TEs, behind only Mark Andrews (13.1).
• So far, Fitzpatrick has been a little more cautious under OC Chain Gailey, with his aDOT dropping from 9.0 last season (7th) to 7.6 this year (23rd). Fitz tossed three picks in the season opener but hasn't thrown any since then.

Jaguars

• The Jaguars ran 81 percent of their plays from 11 personnel, up from 59 percent in Week 2 and 66 percent in Week 3. The four-wide formations they used at times last year have all but disappeared under new OC Jay Gruden — 2.7 percent of snaps this season.
• D.J. Chark (chest/back) was out, which allowed Conley, Cole and Shenault to see season highs for snap share, though Collin Johnson (30%, two targets) and Dede Westbrook (24%, one target) also mixed in for some plays.
• RBs Chris Thompson and James Robinson combined for 12 targets, and No. 2 TE James O'Shaughnessy got four on 41 percent snap share.
• Gardner Minshew is on pace for 571 pass attempts, yet Cole leads the team with only 17 targets (on pace for 91). The Jags have nine players averaging between 2-6 targets per game, with Cole and Robinson the only guys above 8.0 YPT.
• Conley committed two drops, and he was overthrown by Minshew when he was wide open for a 28-yard touchdown. Conley accounted for four of the Jags' five targets 20-plus yards downfield, resulting in zero completions and one interceptions (yikes!), per PFF. Prior to Thursday, Minshew had completed four of six throws 20-plus yards downfield, picking up 109 yards and two TDs (with targets to four different players).
• Eifert's 10.7 aDOT is fifth deepest among qualified TEs, and Conley's 13.9 aDOT is 21st among WRs. Shenault (8.4) and Cole (7.2) have seen shallower targets, so Minshew's 7.6 aDOT is nearly identical to last year's 7.5.
• Shenault played only one snap in the backfield Thursday, down from eight the previous week, per PFF. He got 12 snaps in the slot and 32 out wide. The rookie has run only 25 percent of his snaps from the slot this year, while Cole has taken 71 percent of his snaps there, per PFF.

Bears (30) at Falcons (26)

Bears

• This was the second time this year where Miller has been barely noticable for most of an afternoon but then come up with the game-winning TD catch. It was a 28-yarder in Sunday's game, after a 27-yarder back in Week 2.
• Robinson and Graham are still the only Bears to go over .65 routes per dropback in a game, and they've done it every week this season. Both have hovered around .80 r/db, which is a bit lower than we'd usually see from the top options in a passing attack. Matt Nagy is rotating his backups in a bit more often than most coaches do.
• Miller and Mooney both had season highs for snap share, routes and routes per dropback, while Javon Wims dropped from 45 percent snap share Week 2 to 28 percent share Week 3. Not a huge difference, and still
• Robinson is on pace for 96-1,227-5 on 165 targets, which would be extremely similar to his 2019 production (98-1,147-7 on 154). The catch rate is down a tick and the yards per catch up a little, but NFL Next Gen Stats has his aDOT nearly the same — 11.1 in 2019, 10.7 in 2020. The only noticeable change in usage is that Robinson is playing a few less snaps per game (80 percent share, down from 94 in 2019) but being targeted on a higher percentage of his routes (29.0 instead of 24.4).
• Graham is eighth among tight ends in routes run (98), t-11th in targets (18) and 17th in yards (103) — encouraging usage, but the veteran TE has really made his living with a league-high five targets inside the 10-yard line, accounting for 46 percent of Chicago's team total. Graham had a three-yard TD and a two-yard TD in Sunday's win.
• Graham led the Bears with seven targets — catching four for 47 yards and a TD — after Nick Foles replaced Mitch Trubisky in the third quarter. Robinson got six looks and caught four for 54 and a score. Mooney, Tarik Cohen (torn ACL) and David Montgomery saw three targets apiece from Foles, with Miller getting two, and then Wims, Ted Ginn and backup TE Demetrius Harris seeing one apiece.

Falcons

• Julio Jones (hamstring) was inactive, and Russell Gage left the game in the first half with a likely concussion (finishing with 2-26-0 on three targets and 18% of snaps).
• Powell took over slot work from Gage, running each of his 22 routes from an inside alignment, per PFF. If you combine their stat lines, they put up 5-53-0 on seven targets, playing 72 percent of snaps and running .75 routes per QB dropback.
• Hurst is fifth among TEs with 104 routes run — 34.7 per game — but he's been targeted on only 15.3 percent of those, averaging 3.0 catches for 37 yards on 5.3 targets Touchdowns in back-to-back weeks have kept his head above water for fantasy purposes, but he's nowhere near the level of involvement we saw from Austin Hooper last year, despite running routes at a similarly high rate (Hooper averaged 36.8 per game last year, leading all TEs.
• Ridley is fourth among WRs with 127 routes run, drawing a target on 27.6 percent of those. His 35 targets are tied for third most in the league, and his 349 receiving yards are second best. Ridley also has four of the nine targets inside the 10-yard line, with Hurst and Gage getting two apiece and Ito Smith seeing one (Julio=0).
• Only 20 players have more air yards this season than the 250 that Ridley got in Sunday's game alone. Ridley's 559 air yards for the year give him a lead of 186 over second-place A.J. Green. Yes, he has 50 percent more air yards than any other NFL player.

Los Angeles Rams (32) at Bills (35)

Rams

• With the Rams playing from behind for the first time this year, Higbee's snap share dropped to 72 percent, down from 89 and 86 percent the previous two games. We did warn in HSL last week that he was still losing some snaps to Gerald Everett in obvious passing situations, and also being used as a blocker on some of his other pass snaps. Higbee's three-TD performance Week 2 came with just .50 routes per dropback, and he sunk even further to .40 r/db in Sunday's game. The sell-high window may be gone.
• On 3rd-and-medium/longs, Everett played six snaps to Higbee's one.
• Woods added three carries for 30 yards. He had 12 receiving yards in the first half and 92 total yards in the second half.
• Woods is averaging only 6.3 targets per game, but with 10.2 YPT and 21 rushing yards per game, he's sitting pretty with an average of 16.9 PPR points. It's also worth noting that the Rams haven't passed much, so his 19 targets equate to 22.4 percent share, similar to his 23 percent mark from last year.
• Kupp had his first big game of the year and now leads the Rams in target share (24.7 percent), catches (18) and receiving yards (228). Kupp's target share is up nearly three points from 21 percent last year, and he's played 85-to-90 percent of snaps each week. (More big games are coming.)
• Van Jefferson played 12 percent of snaps, down from 45 and 38 percent the first two weeks. Reynolds was the clear No. 3 receiver for the first time all season, seeing five targets on 90 percent snap share.

Bills

• Brown was listed as questionable with a foot injury and then left the game with a calf, explaining his drop from 92 and 93 percent of snaps the first two weeks to less than half the snaps in Sunday's win.
• TE Dawson Knox (concussion) was inactive, allowing Kroft to make his first start of the year and catch a pair of three-yard TDs.
• Davis, a rookie fourth-round pick, set career highs across the board, taking a leap from 49 and 36 percent snap share the first two weeks of his career. Brown's injury was a factor, plus the Bills ran a league-high 15 plays from four-wide formations.
• Even after a slower day, Diggs is at rock-solid 25 percent target share, on pace for a 107-1,536-11 receiving line. He had a one-yard TD overturned on review in the first quarter of Sunday's win, then had another would-be TD erased by a holding penalty on the very next snap.
• The Bills have gone four-wide 47 times this year, 20 more than any other team and 24 percent of their total offensive volume. That's part of the reason they're 30th in TE target share (10.7 percent) and 2nd in WR target share (71.4), though it's probably a case where the talent is guiding the formations, rather than the other way around.
• Josh Allen leads the NFL with 16 pass attempts from inside the 10-yard line. He also has three carries inside the 5-yard line, tied for 13th-most.

Washington Football Team (20) at Browns (34)

Football Team

• Steven Sims was listed as questionable with a toe injury. He returned punts and kicks but played just 35 percent of snaps on offense, down from 83 and 91 percent the first two weeks.
• Thomas is third among tight ends in target share (24.0 percent), tied for third in total targets (24), fourth in routes run (105) and ninth in snap share (83.1 percent), but he's produced only 1.14 PPR points per target, with a 50 percent catch rate and 7.8 yards per reception (3.9 YPT). He's averaging 4.0 catches for 31.3 yards per game. Thomas, Evan Engram and Chris Herndon are the only TEs with a dozen or more targets and less than 1.42 PPR points per target.
• McLaurin is 14th in target share (25.0 percent) and 17th in air-yard share (31.9). His 9.9 aDOT is way down from 13.8 last season, but he's made up for it with 181 yards after the catch, second most among all players. His 11.3 YAC average isn't sustainable. Even A.J. Brown and Deebo Samuel last year were a bit under 9.0.
• Inman's big day was marred by a fourth-quarter wrist injury. Sims and Wright likely will join McLaurin in three-wide packages if Inman misses time. Otherwise, it isn't clear if Sims or Wright will get most of the snaps.

Browns

• No. 2 tight end Hunter Bryant caught one of two targets for a three-yard TD, playing 63 percent of snaps. No. 3 receiver KhaDarel Hodge got 56 percent snap share but didn't catch the ball on his lone target.
• Hooper was above 85 percent snap share, .75 r/db and 17% target share for a second straight week, but he again saw only four targets with the Browns able to run the ball repeatedly.
• Beckham is eighth in the league for target share (27.3) but only t-25th in total targets (22). The Browns have attempted only 85 passes, third fewest in the league.
• Landry has been hyper-efficient with a 12-143-0 line on 13 targets, but he's seeing only 16.9 target share in a run-heavy offense. He should still have some big games when the Browns are forced to throw more, but he's looking more WR4 than WR3 for fantasy purposes. A potential shootout with the Cowboys in Week 4 could get him right in a hurry, however.

Titans (31) at Vikings (30)

Titans

• Cameron Batson actually played more snaps (60 percent) than Raymond, but Raymond had gains of 61, 44 and 13 yards on his three targets, playing a huge role in the win.
• Even Davis didn't quite get every-down usage, dropping from .96 r/db the previous week to .82 in Sunday's win. But he's on pace for 80-1,099-5, with a 78.9 percent catch rate and 10.8 YPT. Those efficiency numbers probably aren't sustainable, but 6.3 targets per game in a good offense is nothing to scoff at. Davis should be startable for fantasy teams until A.J. Brown returns from his knee injury.
• The usage stats were season highs for Smith across the board, though not by a large margin (he got 87 percent snap share, .59 r/db and 20.8 percent target share the previous week).

Vikings

• Jefferson was the big story of the week, decisively taking over the No. 2 WR job while Bisi Johnson played only five snaps. Chad Beebe then served as the No. 3, drawing one target on 11 routes while running 82 percent of his routes from the slot, per PFF.
• Jefferson ran only six of his 27 routes from the slot, but those plays accounted for 3-115-1 on four targets. He mostly worked inside at LSU, and the Vikings should find ways to give him more snaps there, even if they like Beebe over Bisi as the third receiver.
• Despite taking a back seat to the rookie this week, Thielen is sixth in target share (28.0) and fourth in team air-yard share (45.5) for the season. His 16.8 aDOT is a surprise, up from 9.2 in 2018 and 12.3 in 2019. Thielen and Jefferson saw three targets apiece 20-plus yards downfield in Sunday's loss, and Thielen is now tied for second in the league with nine deep targets on the year (four catches for 97 yards and three TDs).
• Smith has two catches and five targets through two games... no breakout there.

Raiders (20) at Patriots (36)

Raiders

• Henry Ruggs (knee) was inactive, and fellow rookie wideout Bryan Edwards left Sunday's game with an ankle injury. The Raiders were using Agholor, Jones and Renfrow as their receivers in the second half.
• Even after the dud, Waller is fifth among all players and first among tight ends in target share (29.5). He still isn't seeing many downfield throws, with a 5.6 aDOT ranking 15th among the 18 TEs with 15-plus targets this year. Waller has earned 59.1 percent of his yardage after the catch, second most of that group (Chris Herndon, 5.4 aDOT, 68.3 YAC percentage).
• Renfrow saw only five targets over the first two weeks of the season, playing 48 and 50 percent of snaps. He did get some work outside Sunday, with only 59 percent of his routes and four of his targets coming from the slot, per PFF. Over the first two weeks, he saw 69 percent of his routes and three of his five targets in the slot. Last year, he ran 71 percent of his routes from the slot, but he actually was more efficient outside (2.83 yards per route). While he isn't big or fast, Renfrow has shown some ability to get results on the perimeter, albeit with the ever-important small sample caveat.

Patriots

• RBs accounted for 46.4 percent of the Patriots targets Week 3, with Rex Burkhead alone taking 10 (35.7 percent).
• Harry and Byrd got most of the snaps in two-wide formations over the first two weeks of the season, but Edelman was more involved there Sunday, playing 10 snaps in 12/21 personnel (Byrd got 20, Harry got nine). Edelman took 18 snaps aligned out wide, compared to six and eight in the first two games, per PFF. That explains his season high for snap share and routes per dropback.
• Harry, on the other hand, finished with season lows for snap share, routes/db and target share. He's still at 24.4 percent target share for the year, but that number likely will drop if he continues to lose work to Edelman in two-receiver sets. Plus, Harry's aDOT is only 6.0 compared to 12.2 for Edelman and 8.8 for Byrd.
• Byrd has 13.3 percent target share and 90 percent snap share this year. The Patriots mostly seem to like him because the threat of his speed can keep one of the safeties out of the box while they run the ball.
• Ryan Izzo dropped to 62 percent of snaps, after 98 and 97 percent the first two weeks. Fellow TE Devin Asiasi got 42 percent, up from 16 and 14 percent previously. Izzo drew one target, Asiasi non.

49ers (36) at Giants (9)

49ers

• Jordan Reed drew six targets in the first half before exiting with an ankle injury. He's expected to be out for a couple months, while George Kittle (knee) could be back as soon as Week 4 (this coming Sunday).
• Aiyuk added 3-31-1 on the ground... shades of Deebo Samuel (foot) from last season. By the way, Samuel isn't expected back until Week 5, though he hasn't officially been ruled out for Week 4.
• Aiyuk has taken 78 snaps on the perimeter and only 21 from the slot in two games. His r/db rose from .77 in Week 2 to .92 in Week 3, with a corresponding bump in target share and a huge increase in production.
• This was Bourne's third straight game with either five or six targets. His 16.8 percent target share is tied with Reed for the team lead. Bourne has played 113 snaps out wide and only 50 from the slot, giving up his more familiar position to accommodate Trent Taylor in three-receiver sets while the Niners wait on Samuel to return. It isn't clear if Bourne will move back to the slot specialist role once Deebo returns. The other option would be demoting Bourne or Aiyuk to the No. 4 WR job, which doesn't seem ideal given that Taylor has only 5-37-0 on nine targets.

Giants

• C.J. Board and Damion Ratley shared the No. 3 receiver role with Sterling Shepard (toe) on IR.
• The snap/route/target-share numbers were about what you'd expect with Shepard and Saquon Barkley (torn ACL) out of the picture, but the Giants held possession for only 20 minutes, 16 seconds of game time, running 49 plays on offense.
• The Giants are dead last in PFF's team pass-blocking grades, but Daniel Jones is graded as the No. 10 QB (which seems curious, to say the least). Jones has been pressured on 41.5 percent of his dropbacks, the second-highest rate in the league (Jeff Dirskel - 47.4 percent), per PFF.

Texans (21) at Steelers (28)

Texans

• Kenny Stills caught three of four targets for 35 yards, but he played only 17 percent of offensive snaps. Fuller-Cooks-Cobb was the clear preferred grouping.
• Fuller, Cooks, Akins and Cobb all have consistently been above .70 routes/db when healthy.
• Fuller bounced back from last week's zero-target disaster, but his target share was still disappointing. Cooks leads the team with 19.6 percent target share this year.

Steelers

• Diontae Johnson suffered a concussion in the second quarter, allowing Claypool to see a huge increase from 30 and 37 percent of snaps the first two weeks.
• The Steelers like to use super-heavy formations with six offensive lineman and Claypool as the lone wide receiver. No. 6 lineman Jerald Hawkins logged 19 percent snap share Sunday, which largely explains Smith-Schuster's reduced playing time (it didn't really impact his route share anyway.
• Washington pretty much only plays in 11 personnel, which accounted for 46 of his 48 snaps Week 3. JuJu, Diontae and Claypool get all the WR snaps in heavier formations.
• Smith-Schuster's 17.6 percent target share is disappointing, but he has been extremely efficient with 17 catches and three TDs on 19 targets.

Bengals (23) at Eagles (23) — OT

Bengals

• With C.J. Uzomah (Achilles) out for the season and John Ross a healthy scratch, the Bengals tightened up their pass-catching rotation to focus on the four players above, though Auden Tate and Mike Thomas did combine for six targets and 67 percent snap share. Boyd is still the only Bengal to reach .90 r/db in a game this season, having hit that mark exactly in the Week 2 loss at Cleveland.
• Higgins took a nice step up from 65 percent of snaps and .62 r/db the previous week. It paid off in both targets and TDs, with his scores coming from four and one yards out. He and Boyd have seen two targets apiece inside the 10-yard line, while six different Bengals have seen exactly one. Higgins and Sample are tied for the Cincy lead with four RZ targets, 19 percent of the team total each.
• Green had a slower usage week but still ranks second in the league with 373 air yards.
• Boyd is now up to 19.3 percent target share for the season, creeping on Green (20.7) for the team lead. Boyd, of course, has been far more efficient with his looks, catching 21 of 26 targets for 230 and a TD.

Eagles

• Dallas Goedert (ankle) left the game in the first quarter, with DeSean Jackson (hamstring) then leaving in the second quarter. Jalen Reagor (thumb) and Alshon Jeffery (foot) were already out, so Deontay Burnett stepped up with 43 percent of snap share and 3-19-0 on four targets. No. 3 TE Richard Rodgers added two catches for 15 yards (two targets) on 36 percent of snaps.
• Ward and Ertz accounted for nearly half the targets and a far larger share of the production — 52 percent of the receptions and 63 percent of the receiving yards.
• Ertz is only 10th among TEs in target share (18.3), but his 24 targets are tied for third most, as the Eagles have been forced to throw a lot. His 194 air yards are second most at the position, with an 8.4 aDOT compared to 6.7 for Goedert. Ertz also had an 8.4 aDOT last year, while Goedert was at 6.0.
• Hightower saw a huge snap bump after playing only 40 and 10 percent the first two weeks, but all the routes and snaps didn't lead to targets.
• Per PFF, Ward got 74 percent of his routes and 10 of his targets from the slot, but it was his one perimeter target that produced a 29-yard TD. He ran just one route from an outside alignment Weeks 1-2, and he produced only 25 yards on 76 routes (yikes) last season when he wasn't in the slot. Anyway, the point is that injuries could force the Eagles to use Ward outside sometimes.
• Even after missing half this game, Jackson is tied for fifth in the NFL with 348 air yards.

Jets (7) at Colts (36)

Jets

• Josh Malone played 59 percent of snaps as the No. 4 receiver, with Lawrence Cager picking up 45 percent. Cager got four targets, Malone none.
• Backup RB Kalen Ballage played 30 percent of snaps and tied for the team lead with five targets.
• Berrios has a team-high 12 targets over the past two games, filling in as the slot man for Week 1 target leader Jamison Crowder (hamstring).
• The .81 r/db for Herndon was a season high, with his six pass-blocking snaps a season low, per PFF. Signs of life, maybe?

Colts

• Pittman played through an in-game injury but then had surgery for compartment leg surgery Sunday night. He could be back after a Week 7 bye, according to Ian Rapoport. In the meantime, Pascal figures to handle an every-down role, as Parris Campbell (knee) is already out long term.
• The blowout impacted snap shares. Hilton played 67 percent of snaps before the fourth quarter, and Doyle got 63 percent. Alie-Cox was at 57 percent before the final quarter.
• Alie-Cox had another nice stat line — this time with Doyle in the lineup — but his usage (seven routes) means the production won't continue unless his role changes drastically. Doyle had a 20-14 advantage over Alie-Cox in snaps from 11 personnel Sunday, and MAC ran only four routes on those 14 plays (while Doyle ran a route on 13 of his). In other words, Alie-Cox still sees the vast majority of his snaps on run plays.
• Daurice Fountain (32 percent of snaps) caught both his targets for 23 yards, while Ashton Dulion (22 percent) was held catchless on one target. Those two are the candidates for the No. 3 receiver job while Campbell and Pittman are out.

Panthers (21) at Chargers (16)

Panthers

• Ian Thomas played 69 percent of snaps and caught one of two targets for nine yards. He has four targets on 119 snaps this year.
• Samuel was mentioned in HSL: Backfield Usage this week, as he lined up in the backfield for nine snaps and took four carries for seven yards. He essentially had 18 percent snap share as an RB and 47 percent as a WR, allowing Seth Roberts (33 percent) to see a bit more work than usual as the fourth receiver.
• RB Mike Davis led the team with nine targets, seeing nearly as many as Moore and Anderson combined. Even so, Moore is 12th in the league in target share (25.5 percent), and Anderson is 21st (23.5 percent).  One big surprise... Moore's aDOT (12.8) being much deeper than Anderson's (8.7), still. They were obviously on different teams last year, but Moore was at 11.2 aDOT and Anderson at 15.1 (after 15.6 in 2018).

Chargers

• Rookie WR K.J. Hill played 49 percent of snaps and caught one of four targets for 15 yards. Mike Williams missed most of the second half with a hamstring injury.
• Allen is now tied for the NFL lead with 37 targets, trailing only DeAndre Hopkins in target share (34.3 percent). Alvin Kamara is the third player above 30 percent team share, FWIW.
• Allen and Austin Ekeler combining for 30 targets was a throwback to the Philip Rivers era.
• Guyton's target per route output remains extremely low, but he's at least doing more than Andre Pattion did in a similar role last season. Guyton had a 14-yard TD on two targets the previous week, and he caught two balls in Week 3.
• Henry is top five among tight ends in targets (23), target share (21.3 percent) and air yards (188), plus he's second in receiving yards (206). The only thing missing so far is a touchdown, which means he's a good buy-low candidate if his fantasy manager is focused on the flashy stuff instead of the consistent usage. Also relevant: Henry is a good real-life player, so this isn't a Logan Thomas situation where you're buying volume and nothing else.

Buccaneers (28) at Broncos (10)

Bucs

• Gronk came back from the dead, even with O.J. Howard playing 49 percent of snaps and catching three of four targets for 49 yards. The Bucs may need to lean on those two-TE sets, as Godwin is now set to miss time with a hamstring injury. That leaves Miller as the No. 2 receiver, a role that saw him get 69 percent snap share but only three targets when Godwin missed Week 2 against Carolina with a concussion. Oddly enough, Miller has done better with Godwin in the lineup, so far.
• Justin Watson, who missed Week 3 with a shoulder injury, played 89 percent of snaps when Godwin was out for Week 2, catching two of three targets for 48 yards. So maybe you'd consider him the No. 2 receiver, but Miller seems like the better bet for production even if Watson plays a few more snaps. Miller has been playing through hip and groin injuries himself, and it isn't clear Watson will be ready for Week 4. The Bucs may need Tyler Johnson or Jaydon Mickens to step up; neither was targeted in Sunday's win, but Johnson did play 31 percent of the snaps (compared to 3 percent for Mickens).
• Gronk had season highs for snap share, routes, routes/db and target, but he still took 11 snaps as a pass blocker, second most among all tight ends in Week 3 (Cincy's Drew Sample had 13 p-b snaps), per PFF.

Broncos

• Jeudy took all his snaps from 11 personnel, strictly serving as the No. 3 receiver in three-wide packages. That's not ideal, but it's also not the end of the world, as 77 percent of the Broncos' snaps and 80 percent of their pass attempts have come from 11 personnel this year. You may have noticed that Jeudy has seven or more targets in every game.
• Jeudy leads the team with 22.2 percent target share, ahead of Fant (19.4). In fact, the rookie is tied for 16th league-wide with 24 targets, and his 11.9 aDOT is sky-high by slot standards.
• Hamler also saw the most snaps of this group post-halftime in Week 2. He's been close to an every-down player since Courtland Sutton suffered the season-ending ACL tear.
• Fant is sixth among TEs in targets (21), fifth in air yards (182), seventh in target share (19.4 percent) and 11th in air-yard share (17.2 percent). He's also third in receiving yards (184), for those who care about such things.

Lions (26) at Cardinals (23)

Lions

• No. 2 TE Jesse James (49 percent) played more snaps than No. 3 WR Danny Amendola (45 percent) for the first time this year, as the Lions never fell behind by more than four points. Amendola finished with 1-18-0 on four targets, while James also drew four targets and produced 3-28-1 (plus the incompletion was an end-zone target that Matthew Stafford misfired).
• Golladay handled a normal workload, minus a few snaps, in his first game back from a hamstring injury.
• Jones didn't make much noise while Golladay was out, then saw his volume dip with his teammate's return. Jones is at 17.6 percent target share for the season, down a bit from 19 percent last year.
• Stafford is averaging 35.3 passes per game, down only slightly from 36.3 last year. But for some reason it feels like more than that? Maybe because his completion rate (62.3) and YPA (7.7) have dropped, while most QBs around the league are putting up better numbers than they had last year.
• Hockenson had season highs for targets, snap share and routes per dropback. The week prior, he got four targets while playing 69 percent of snaps and running .66 r/db.

Cards

• TE Darrell Daniels played more snaps (58%) than Dan Arnold (48%). The Cardinals 12 personnel (two TE) on 31 percent of snaps the first two weeks, but that dropped to 21 percent in Sunday's loss.
• Isabella got the stats, but Johnson was the No. 3 receiver in terms of snaps and routes. (Christian Kirk was out with a groin injury.)
• Hopkins leads the league in target share (35.9), so we don't really mind that his aDOT is down to 6.4 — a major drop from 11.5 in 2018 and 10.3 in 2019. The trend toward being more of a possession receiver started in Houston and now seems cemented with his move to Arizona.
• Fitzgerald is at 14.6 percent target share and 4.3 aDOT, down from 20.7 percent TS and 7.8 aDOT last season.

Cowboys (31) at Seahawks (38)

Cowboys

• Wilson, despite the huge stat line, was actually fifth among Dallas wideouts in snap share and routes, also behind Noah Brown (35 percent snaps, 22 routes).
• Dallas ran 13 plays from four-wide formations, something they didn't use at all Weeks 1-2. In other words, some of the routes/snaps that went to Wilson and Brown were coming from Schultz instead of the starting wide receivers. But not all of them...
• Lamb was the big loser from the backup WRs getting more work, dropping from 82 and 83 percent share the first two weeks to 60 percent in Sunday's loss.
• Cooper also lost some snaps, going from 94 and 91 percent to 79 percent. Same for Gallup, who went from 96 and 91 percent down to 85 percent in Week 3. Of course, the rotation might be necessary, considering Dak Prescott leads the league in pass attempts, completions and yards, with the Dallas offense ranking first in both overall pace (19.69 second per snap) and neutral situation pace (22.44). It might just be that fatigue demands the backups get some playing time. Wilson, of course, made a strong case to stay involved Week 4 and beyond.
• Ezekiel Elliott tied Cooper for the team lead with 12 targets. Zeke now has the second most targets (23) on the team this year, well behind Cooper (35) but ahead of Lamb (21), Schultz (20) and Gallup (20). That might actually be sustainable, especially if the Cowboys continue to rotate their backup receivers into the game while allowing Zeke to handle an every-down role.
• Gallup has been the deep threat at 16.4 aDOT, while Cooper (9.9) and Lamb (8.2) have seen more intermediate/short usage. Cooper and Gallup are two of the 11 players with more than 300 air yards this year.  

Seahawks

• Freddie Swain (45 percent snap share) and David Moore (41 percent) split the No. 3 receiver job, and Will Dissly (39 percent) worked as the No. 2 TE. The trio combined for four targets, giving them 15 total on the season (15.3 percent of the team share).
• Metcalf found redemption with a game-winning, 29-yard TD, but fantasy managers can't be happy about the careless, infamous goal-line fumble, even if the Seahawks are over it.
• Lockett is fourth in league in target share (29.6 percent), seventh in targets (29) and 18th in air yards (267).
• Metcalf is a bit lower at 22.4 percent target share, but his 372 air yards are third most and his 48.4 percent air-yard share third largest, with a 16.9 aDOT towering over Lockett's 9.2. Both look like legit WR1s for fantasy. The only small concern, which admittedly is nitpicking, is that Metcalf still doesn't have a red-zone target (Lockett leads the team with four). Of course, Metcalf may be the top distance scorer in the NFL right now (apologies to Reek), and his size should lead to some RZ work eventually.
• Olsen had his best game of the season but still only has 11.2 percent target share for the year, with 6.3 aDOT shallower than his Carolina usage (8.3 in 2018, 8.7 in 2019).

Packers (37) at Saints (30)

Packers

• With Davante Adams (hamstring) inactive, Lazard and MVS both handled every-down roles.
• Darrius Shepherd and Tyler Erivn split the No. 3 receiver role, with 37 percent snap share apiece. Ervin is an RB by trade, but Sunday night he got 15 slot snaps, seven out wide and only one in the backfield, per PFF.
• Tonyan only has seven targets on 67 routes this year, but his role as the pass-catching TE in an efficient offense at least hints at deep-league utility.
• Lazard has been targeted on 17.5 percent of his routes, nearly identical to his mark from last season (17.7 percent). However, his playing time has been more consistent, with at least 84 percent of snaps and .80 routes/db in every game.

Saints

• Jared Cook left in the third quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring/groin injury. He finished with 34 percent snap share and three targets, while rookie TE Adam Trautman got two targets on 52 percent of snaps. No. 3 receiver Deonte Harris played 36 percent of snaps, with No. 4 Bennie Bowler getting 18 percent and No. 3 TE Josh Hill at 33 percent. The Saints are using deep rotations with Michael Thomas (ankle) out.
• Apart from Smith and Sanders, the only Saint above .50 r/db was Alvin Kamara, whose 14 targets pushed his share for the season up to 30.4 percent, third largest in the league. Aaron Jones is second among RBs... at 17.8 percent!
• Smith has 13 targets and 128 yards in two games with Thomas sidelined, handling 18.1 percent target share. Sanders has eight targets (11.1 percent share) and 74 yards, but he did score a TD on SNF.

Chiefs (34) at Ravens (20)

Chiefs

• Robinson still gets more playing time than Hardman, who now has 117 yards on 10 targets this year.
• Kelce's 27 targets are second most among TEs and 11th overall.
• Patrick Mahomes has the sixth-shallowest aDOT (6.7) among qualified QBs, with only 9.1 percent of his attempts (25th) going 20 or more yards downfield, per PFF. Last year, he sent 13.0 percent of his throws 20-plus yards downfield, and his aDOT was 8.6. Both approaches seem to work just fine for him.
• Hill added two carries for 25 yards, after taking one for nine yards the previous week. He's quietly on pace for 1,365 total yards, 80 catches and 16 TDs.
• Watkins bounced back after an M.I.A. showing Week 2 that saw him miss some time with a head/neck injury and catch only one pass on 45 snaps. Watkins is averaging 5.0 catches for 51.7 yards on 6.7 targets per game even if we include the injury-impacted stinker, and he's handled 80 and 87 percent snap share in his two healthy contests. He seems like an acceptable WR3 for most fantasy teams.

Ravens

• Nick Boyle scored a TD, but his snaps dipped to 46 percent with the Ravens playing from behind and thus using three-wide formations more often. Snead bumped up from 66 and 63 percent snap share the first two weeks, while Boykin went up from 68 and 74 percent. Neither did anything with the extra playing time.
• For the second time this year, we saw a career high in snap share for Andrews, who had two drops and one other ball he could've made a tough play on downfield. His second drop came in the end zone, much to the chagrin of fantasy managers and Ravens fans alike.
• Andrews has the deepest aDOT (13.0) among qualified tight ends, with a 31.8 percent share of Baltimore's air yards.
• Brown has a 14.1 aDOT, with his 36.7 percent air-yard share ranking ninth in the league. Better days should be ahead for both him and Andrews.

Week 3 Leaders

Double-digit Targets

Team Target Share 20+ Percent

75+ Air Yards

35+ Routes Run