Fantasy football is driven by data, and reviewing key utilization statistics even from “Bye-pocalypse” Week 7.
Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs leads the position in utilizations at 157, just one more than Jacksonville’s Travis Etienne. The latter has seen his work around the stripe increase of late, and his fantasy value hasn’t been stronger as a result. Meanwhile, Jacobs has struggled to matter most weeks.
Puka Nacua still leads the way for receivers with 84 targets, six ahead of Stefon Diggs. Aside from Nacua’s well-documented meteoric rise, no one really stands out from the first 10 receivers. Then we start seeing a bunch of surprise inclusions among the most targeted, such as Arizona’s Marquise Brown (61), Adam Thielen (60), Zay Flowers (60), Jakobi Meyers (57), and Christian Kirk (57) filling out the 11-15 slots, respectively. Among that group, Meyers has to be considered the safest to remain heavily involved. He has been quarterback-proof, is shielded by Davante Adams, and thoroughly knows the system he’s in.
Utilization trends are taking full shape, and fantasy gamers get a reprieve from bye weeks, so let’s see if we can find any useful intel from player involvement.