Box scores lie. Usage tells the truth.
We dug into the playing time, routes, carries, and targets behind the fantasy points to identify the biggest buy-low opportunities, sell-high candidates, and rankings movers heading into Week 3.
Here are the 10 biggest fantasy takeaways from Week 3 usage.
1. The Training Wheels Are Off Jeremiyah Love
| Snap Rate | 42.9% | 63.0% |
| Route Rate | 32.9% | 38.9% |
| Carry Share | 39.2% | 77.8% |
| Target Share | 10.8% | 9.6% |
Love went from committee back to almost-bellcow in his third NFL game, crushing his previous highs in snap rate, route rate, and carry share.
His raw volume and production were inflated by the Cardinals running 81 snaps (almost 1.5 games’ worth). But a 77.8% carry share and 9.6% target share are RB1-caliber marks.
RB Tyler Allgeier is still a pest in two areas:
- He just barely trailed Love with a 37% route rate in Week 3, playing on most third-down and two-minute snaps.
- He out-snapped Love 5 to 4 inside the 49ers’ 10-yard line and 3 to 2 inside the five.
Frankly, Allgeier has done nothing to earn that work. He ranks 44th among 54 qualifying RBs at 0.54 yards per route and has failed to find the end zone on his two carries inside the 10.
It’s only a matter of time before Love starts taking that work, too. Remember that the rookie missed the second half of August with a high-ankle sprain. He’s just rounding into form.
Fantasy impact
Love is trending up steeply. He already looks like at least a strong weekly RB2 and will climb into RB1 territory if he can capture some more passing-down and goal-line work.
2. It’s Getting Worse For Omarion Hampton
| Snap Rate | 58.2% | 63.2% | 42.0% |
| Route Rate | 33.3% | 26.5% | 18.6% |
| Carry Share | 57.1% | 71.9% | 53.6% |
| Target Share | 0.0% | 7.7% | 3.0% |
Hampton in OC Mike McDaniel’s offense is not working. He’s mustered just 3.9 yards per carry through 3 games.
Hampton’s individual metrics, namely yards after contact and missed tackles forced per attempt, are fine. But among 51 RBs with 20+ carries, he ranks:
- 37th in yards before contact per attempt
- 35th in rush yards over expected per attempt
He’s also been targeted on just 3 of 24 routes, catching 2 for 21 yards.
A desperate Chargers offense shifted backfield usage away from Hampton in Week 3. RB Keaton Mitchell set season highs in snap rate (38%), route rate (37%), carry share (29%), and target share (9%). RB Kimani Vidal also set season highs in all 4 departments, primarily taking over on obvious passing downs.
The result for Hampton was season lows in all 4 categories. His 13.2 expected PPR points in Week 3 ranked 25th among RBs. He finished 38th in actual points.
And that came in a game where the Chargers actually led on a season-high 48% of their snaps. That’s the type of script that should favor Hampton’s current role.
Fantasy impact
We recommended selling Hampton last week. That’ll be tougher to do now, but he’s still worth shopping around based on name and draft value. If you can return top-20 RB value, send him packing. Hampton could score as a RB2 if the Chargers offense gets rolling, but he looks like a RB3 for now.
3. Hop On The D.J. Moore Bandwagon
| Target Share | 24.1% | 38.5% |
| Air-Yards Share | 45.4% | 52.4% |
We have just 2 full games of Moore with the Bills so far, but he’s dominated targets in both.
If we omit Week 2, when he left after just 23 snaps, here’s where Moore would rank among WRs in key usage metrics:
- 3rd in target share (30.9%)
- 4th in targets per route (0.36)
- 4th in air-yards share (48.4%)
Moore is shaping up as one of my biggest misses of the season. I was skeptical that he was still good enough to be the focal point of the offense. But that’s exactly what he is … and he looks good.
Luckily for me (and you!), there might still be time to right this wrong. Moore posted a big, fat goose egg in Week 2 and followed it with a mediocre 12.7 PPR points in Week 3.
That could give us one last chance to acquire Moore at a WR2-level price tag.
Fantasy impact
A healthy Moore has dominated targets in a high-scoring offense that’s throwing more under HC Joe Brady. He looks like a top-20 fantasy WR the rest of the way, with upside into the top-12.
4. Buy Low: Chase Brown
| Snap Rate | 8th |
| Route Rate | 7th |
| Carry Share | 3rd |
| Target Share | 11th |
| Expected PPR PPG | 11th |
| Actual PPR PPG | 20th |
Brown is one of fantasy football’s biggest positive regression candidates. He ranks top 11 among RBs in all major usage categories, but his fantasy production is lagging at RB20.
Brown has averaged just 4.0 yards per carry and 3.2 yards per catch so far, well behind his 4.3 and 7.0 marks heading into this season. He’s also scored just 1 of Cincinnati’s 7 offensive TDs (14.3%) after accounting for 23.4% of the TDs last year.
There’s some small-sample variance at play with the TDs. The poor efficiency can be explained by a tough opening slate. The Buccaneers, Texans, and Steelers all rank top-12 in run defense DVOA.
Brown gets one more tough draw against the Jaguars (5th in DVOA) in Week 4, but then gets 3 straight subpar run defenses:
- Dolphins (17th)
- Ravens (26th)
- Titans (20th)
Fantasy impact
Brown is getting RB1 usage in a strong Bengals offense but has produced like a mid- to low-end RB2 so far. That makes him a prime trade target this week.
5. Cam Skattebo Back In A Workhorse Role
| Snap Rate | 60.9% | 58.6% | 76.6% |
| Route Rate | 38.2% | 51.4% | 66.7% |
| Carry Share | 48.6% | 57.1% | 60.6% |
| Target Share | 0.0% | 12.5% | 19.0% |
Skattebo led the Giants backfield but lost significant work to other RBs over the first 2 weeks of the season. But he was a workhorse in Week 3, finishing with 20 carries and 4 targets.
It was even better usage than he got as New York’s starter from Week 4 through 7 last year:
- 68.7% snap rate
- 50.0% route rate
- 52.8% carry share
- 14.2% target share
Skattebo ranked fourth among RBs in expected PPR points per game and 10th in actual points per game over those 4 games. He ranked fifth and 17th this past week.
Skattebo has mustered just 3.5 yards per carry so far, and the Giants’ offense figures to struggle without QB Jaxson Dart. But volume alone should carry him to nice fantasy production.
Fantasy impact
Skattebo appears to be in line for RB1-level volume going forward. His environment might prevent him from scoring at that level, but I’d value him as a mid- to high-end RB2.
6. Brian Thomas Jr. Is A Part-Time Player
| Route Rate | 56.0% | 66.7% | 48.5% |
| Target Share | 14.3% | 28.6% | 3.7% |
Thomas has a playing-time problem. He ranks 89th among WRs in route rate and 90th in total routes through 3 weeks.
His efficiency has bounced back from a rough 2025 campaign. His yards per route is up from 1.62 to 1.83; his targets per route from 0.20 to 0.23.
But that simply doesn’t matter in fantasy football when he’s running a route on just a little over half of Jacksonville’s pass plays.
Thomas’ problem? He’s barely playing outside of 3-WR sets. His 74% route rate in 3-WR sets falls to 8% on all other plays, trailing not only WRs Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers but also rookie Josh Cameron (28%).
27% of Jacksonville’s passes have come with 2 or fewer WRs on the field, so it’s a significant hit to Thomas’ route volume.
Fantasy impact
The Jaguars’ offense is humming, so don’t expect their WR deployment to change. Thomas could still pop for some big games in this role, but his weekly floor is very low. His best chance at reliable fantasy value this season might come with a trade out of Jacksonville.
7. Christian McCaffrey Back In A Familiar Role
| Snap Rate | 83.3% | 14.8% |
| Route Rate | 81.3% | 6.3% |
| Carry Share | 65.2% | 17.4% |
| Target Share | 19.2% | 3.8% |
In the 49ers’ first competitive game in the United States this season, McCaffrey was back in a workhorse role. He ranked fifth among RBs in snap rate and first in route rate on the week, racking up 15 carries and 5 targets in a game in which San Francisco ran only 50 plays.
The usage was nearly identical to last year, when McCaffrey:
- Played 83% of the snaps
- Ran a route on 82% of pass plays
- Handled 64.7% of Niners carries
- Drew a 22.5% target share
That role made McCaffrey the RB1 in both expected and actual PPR points per game last year.
I expect the 49ers to take some load off McCaffrey when possible. But he’ll be a high-volume workhorse for as long as games are in the balance.
Fantasy impact
Outside of Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, and maybe Ken Walker, there isn’t another RB I’d rather have than McCaffrey going forward.
8. Rhamondre Stevenson Regains Backfield Lead
| Snap Rate | 52.4% | 36.5% |
| Route Rate | 46.2% | 35.9% |
| Carry Share | 26.9% | 30.8% |
| Target Share | 10.0% | 3.3% |
As we predicted in this space last week, Stevenson regained lead-back duties vs. the Jaguars after his Week 2 fumble. But the split was close.
Per Pro Football Focus, Stevenson and Henderson both played 19 early-down snaps in Week 3. Henderson led in carries, 8 to 7. But Stevenson had the edge in 2 key areas:
- He out-snapped Henderson 8 to 2 on third downs.
- He played all 3 snaps inside Jacksonville’s 5-yard line.
That gave Stevenson a 9.7 to 5.5 edge in expected PPR points.
Fantasy impact
Neither Patriots RB will be more than a RB3 until the offense shows signs of life. But Stevenson remains ahead of Henderson for now, getting most of the passing-down snaps and, most importantly, the goal-line work.
9. George Kittle Got Some Good Peptides
| Route Rate | 45.9% | 51.9% | 87.5% |
| Target Share | 14.7% | 19.0% | 26.9% |
Kittle isn’t even 9 months removed from his Achilles tear, and he’s already back to full-go.
Cheers to modern medicine!
Kittle’s 87.5% route rate in Week 3 was higher than last year’s 76.3%. His 26.9% target share beat his mark in 9 of 11 games last year. And he’s been efficient as always, ranking third among TEs with 3.16 yards per route.
Kittle looks like the same guy who ranked third among TEs in both expected and actual PPR points per game last year.
Fantasy impact
We’re not even out of September and Kittle already looks like an elite fantasy TE again. Brock Bowers and Trey McBride are the only other TEs I’d rather have going forward.
10. K.C. Concepcion Halfway To Fantasy-Starter Status
| Route Rate | 63.6% | 75.0% | 93.2% |
| Target Share | 22.7% | 20.0% | 30.0% |
It took 3 weeks for Concepcion to dispose of WR Jerry Jeudy. The rookie ran a route on 93% of pass plays in Sunday’s win over the Panthers, matching WR Denzel Boston for the team lead and easily beating Jeudy (68.0%).
Concepcion opened the season playing little in 2-WR sets, but he was on the field for 83% of those snaps in Week 3, per Pro Football Focus.
Concepcion tied for the team lead with 9 targets against the Panthers and leads the team with 20 targets through 3 games. He’s tied for 26th among all WRs in targets and tied for 20th in target share.
So Concepcion must be scoring nicely in fantasy, right? Nope. He ranks 69th in PPR points per game. He’s only slightly higher — 58th — in expected points per game.
Concepcion is getting a bunch of low-calorie targets: 4.1 yards downfield on average, 0 targets inside the 10, and 0 end-zone targets.
He’s also caught just 60% of his looks, despite the low aDOT. Concepcion ranks 107th in yards per target and 90th in yards per route among 125 qualifying WRs.
Maybe he’ll remain a low-aDOT, inefficient player all year. But Concepcion was a good-looking prospect who went in the first round of this spring’s draft. The fact that he’s already earned such a big role is more bullish than the inefficiency is bearish.
Fantasy impact
Concepcion needs more fantasy-friendly targets, improved efficiency, or both to be a reliable starter. But he’s already carved out a big role in a Browns offense that hasn’t been a disaster so far. That makes the rookie a nice bench stash and a potential trade target this week.