Each week, SportsLine's Fantasy expert Jacob Gibbs will provide a data-driven deep-dive into Sunday's games to help provide a better understanding of what we learned and how it will impact the Fantasy outlook of specific teams and players.
Below, you can find full team-by-team data on snap counts, target share, routes run, red-zone usage and more for every Fantasy relevant wide receiver and tight end. Check back later in the week for What We Learned, where Gibbs will break down all the takeaways you should have from Week 3, pulling largely from the information in this usage report.
If you have questions about any stats, players, or situations covered or not covered in this article, feel free to reach out to Gibbs on Twitter.
Even though the production hasn't been there for Kyle Pitts yet, his underlying numbers suggest that he should be one of the most valuable Fantasy tight ends. He exemplifies why digging deeper into each player's usage is so important -- with a sample size as small as three weeks, several players will have Fantasy results that simply don't match up with their volume-based expected value.
The names that stand out here are Robby Anderson and Julio Jones. Both were expected to produce viable Fantasy output while working as the clear-cut No. 2 receiver for their respective teams, but it has been a massively disappointing start for both receivers. In Week 3, both played fewer than two-thirds of the offensive snaps. Jones and Anderson will be difficult to trust until we see better usage.
Understanding route depths is an important part of contextualizing pass-catcher production. Extremely high average route depths often lead to fewer targets and a lower catch rate, but they also bring an expected increase in per-target efficiency. We've seen guys like Tyler Lockett and Brandon Aiyuk produce elite efficiency on downfield targets, so their increase in average route depth is exciting.
Lower average route depths typically result in a higher catch rate and sometimes coincide with an increase in targets per route run. JuJu Smith-Schuster exemplifies the worst of both worlds -- his average route depth has been continually shortened by the Steelers over the years, but it hasn't corresponded with any increase to his targets per route run rate. As a result, he's left as a touchdown-dependent and minimally Fantasy viable player.
Targets per route run is one of the most important stats available for evaluating pass-catchers in Fantasy. I wrote about it in more detail here, if you are unfamiliar with the stat.
Let's dig into the full data on Week 3 usage rates.
So which receivers have seen notable route tree changes in 2021? And what do you need to know about how every receiver was used this past week? ... Join SportsLine here to see Jacob Gibbs' Wide Receiver and Tight End Usage Report, all from one of the nation's most accurate experts as graded by FantasyPros!
GET VEGAS EXPERT PICKS FOR NFL, MLB, NBA, CBB, GOLF, NHL, HORSE RACING AND MORE - PLUS ADVANCED COMPUTER SIMULATIONS, WINNING TOOLS, AND MORE!
