The below Fantasy Football Market Share Report presents team-specific usage splits in easy-to-analyze visual form. For more information, see the first piece in the series.
With Le'Veon Bell out, Pittsburgh Steelers backup James Conner led the week in rushes, finishing with 31 carries against the Cleveland Browns — good for a 96.9% market share. Christian McCaffrey looks to be the biggest part of the Carolina offense, leading the Panthers with 36.0% of team targets. Meanwhile, Dion Lewis was more involved than Derrick Henry in Tennessee.
These are just a few of the notable data points from Week 1. Check out the graphs for more. They’re interactive, so hover over any aspect for more data, and rotate through teams using the navigation at the top of every chart.
For weekly analysis using this data, check out the FantasyLabs NFL homepage. I’ll tweet out some findings as well, if that’s your thing. Either way, this data is best used in conjunction with FantasyLabs' suite of Tools, especially our Models.
Good luck in Week 2!
Snaps
A guy can’t touch the ball if he’s not on the field. Snap data is more important than a lot of people think. If 80% of success is just showing up, then we want guys who actually show up on the field.
- Five teams ran at least 80 offensive snaps in Week 1: the Ravens, Browns, Colts, Chargers and Steelers. The Browns' and Steelers' totals are a bit inflated due to overtime.
- Any concerns about Joe Mixon being the guy in Cincinnati are unfounded at this point. He played 42 of the Bengals' 55 offensive snaps compared to only 14 for change-of-pace back Giovani Bernard.
- Broncos rookie wideout Courtland Sutton was involved perhaps earlier than expected in Week 1, getting 44 snaps — just nine less than Demaryius Thomas. He did receive just 12.8% of the targets, but that could go up in time.
- Lions wideout Kenny Golladay led the team with 65 of the offense's 70 snaps. Theo Riddick significantly out-snapped both Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount, although the ratio might not be quite as skewed in closer games.
Targets
Players compete for one ball on a per-play basis, and there’s only so much of the pie to go around. Targets are important.
- Twelve players had at least 30% of their team's target market share in Week 1: Julio Jones (49%), Quincy Enunwa (48%), Odell Beckham (42%), Michael Thomas (39%), Antonio Brown (39%), Jarvis Landry (38%), Christian McCaffrey (36%), Adam Thielen (34%), Corey Davis (34%), DeAndre Hopkins (32%), Tyreek Hill (32%), and Jared Cook (31%).
- There's one running back on that list in McCaffrey, who seems to be the biggest part of the Panthers offense in his second year. With Greg Olsen now out with a fractured foot, McCaffrey will have sky-high usage.
- It will be interesting to monitor how the target share unfolds this season in Green Bay. Davante Adams was drafted in season-long leagues as Aaron Rodgers' clear go-to guy, but Randall Cobb led the unit with a 27.8% target share in Week 1 against the Bears.
Rushes
Again, there’s only so much of the rushing pie to go around.
- Twelve players had at least 70% of their team's rushing market share in Week 1: James Conner (97%), Joe Mixon (94%), Ezekiel Elliott (88%), Jamaal Williams (88%), Peyton Barber (86%), Saquon Barkley (82%), Todd Gurley (80%), Lamar Miller (77%), Adrian Peterson (76%), Jordan Howard (75%), Carlos Hyde (73%), and Kareem Hunt (73%).
- The biggest story of Week 1 was Conner, who exploded for a 31-135-2 rushing line and a 5-57-0 receiving line. He led all running backs in carries, and it's clear the Steelers have no problem using him as a bell cow until Le'Veon Bell suits up. The Steelers are at home versus the Chiefs in Week 2.
- An underrated storyline is in Atlanta: Tevin Coleman got 56% of the rushing market share compared to 38% for Devonta Freeman. The latter was more involved in the red zone, but that ratio is not encouraging for Freeman backers.
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Opportunities Inside the 10-Yard Line
Touchdowns are critical for success in guaranteed prize pools. Getting opportunities inside the 10-yard line is pretty much DFS gold.
- Nine players had at least three opportunities (targets plus rushes) within the 10-yard line: David Johnson (5), Alfred Morris (5), Devonta Freeman (4), Todd Gurley (4), Joe Mixon (3), Jordan Wilkins (3), Alvin Kamara (3), James Conner (3) and Adrian Peterson (3).
- The Rams kept a tight target distribution in Week 1, and that was the case inside the red zone as well. Gurley got three rushes and a target, but Jared Goff also peppered in two targets for Cooper Kupp, two for Robert Woods and one for Brandin Cooks. They're always a viable team stack in DFS.
