I feel like we say this every year, but injuries are really taking a toll on things early in the NFL season. It sucks to see it happen, but we know it is part of the game. Hopefully, the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 2 Usage Report sheds some light on the next man up. Much like it did with Jerome Ford in last week's article.
The start of football season brings a few exciting things. Obviously being able to watch the NFL, but also the start of school. Not having to figure out what to do with my kids every day of the week during the summer is great.
You've got summer camps, boring rainy days, trips to the park, etc. It's exhausting. Now I get to just put them on the bus and be done.
This allows me to spend my days writing and analyzing football so I can help you win your leagues.
2023 Fantasy Football Week 2 Usage Report
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Running Backs
Atlanta Falcons
Bijan Robinson is taking this backfield over and quickly. He saw his snap percentage rise from 65 to 73 and his rushing attempts rise as well.
You might want to be concerned with the lower target share, but I wouldn't be. He still saw five targets, and 17% of the share. It is a good thing that Desmond Ridder was able to get the ball to his receivers this week.
Baltimore Ravens
We were looking to see who would take over this backfield with no J.K. Dobbins. Well, turns out we still don't really know.
Justice Hill led the team in snaps and carries, but was not the most productive. That title belongs to Gus Edwards who took his 10 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown.
For Fantasy purposes, it is going to be hard to start either one of these players, due to a very split workload. If I had to pick one it would be the Gus Bus.
Indianapolis Colts
Zack Moss returned and dominated the usage for the Colts. He played in 98% of the snaps and saw 86% of the rushing attempts. By the way, Anthony Richardson is the only other person who saw attempts.
The biggest question with Moss is just how much future value does he have. Will Deon Jackson get more involved? When/If Jonathan Taylor returns what role will he have?
I wouldn't go after him too hard since he is likely the starting running back for just a couple more weeks. However, if have been hit by these injuries then you might not have a choice.
Other Running Backs
- Broncos - Javonte Williams seems to be taking over the backfield faster than we expected. Snap percentage or rushing attempts didn't jump, but Samaje Perine's rushing attempts dropped significantly.
- Dolphins - De'Von Achane is an afterthought right now. Only seeing 8% of the snaps and 4% of rushing attempts. This is Raheem Mostert's backfield... until he gets hurt.
- Eagles - No Kenneth Gainwell, I was expecting a lot more Rachaad Penny. That did not happen. Instead, we got the D'Andre Swift show.
- Seahawks - Zach Charbonnet is just not involved enough right now to matter. He has only been on the field for a quarter of the snaps and seen just 18% of the rushing attempts. It is going to be hard to hold him at this point.
- Commanders - Brian Robinson is dominating the rushing attempts. It will be interesting to see what happens when the Commanders are trailing, but for now BRob has been quite the draft steal.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Atlanta Falcons
Drake London is alive. I mentioned him last week after he put up a bagel, saying he would not be that bad again. Well... he ended up seeing 28% of the targets and catching six for 67 and a touchdown.
A negative though is Kyle Pitts. I really don't get it. He runs a ton of routes, but just does not get the targets he deserves.
Baltimore Ravens
Zay Flowers saw his production drop quite a bit this game with the return of Mark Andrews.
Last week Flowers saw 50% of the targets, this week it dropped to 15%.
Andrews seeing 24% of the targets made a massive difference, but Nelson Agholor and Devin Duvernay taking targets helped too.
I still want Flowers out of any of these Ravens receivers. Just don't say I didn't warn you this offseason when they are unpredictable.
Los Angeles Rams
Puka Nacua did it again! He matched his 14 targets and raised it to 19. He wound up catching 15 for 147 this week.
The biggest issue for him is the return of Cooper Kupp. They play the same position and run the same type of routes.
As much as I hate to say it, but I think Taylor was right when he discussed trading Puka last week.
Other Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
- Bengals - I know some of you are panicking over the poor start for Ja'Marr Chase. I would not sell low at this point. The big games are coming.
- Broncos - Jerry Jeudy's debut went pretty well. Ran the second most routes only to Courtland Sutton. Marvin Mims started off hot, but they stopped using him, hopefully the coaching staff recognizes that.
- Texans - Tank Dell played very well with Noah Brown on the IR. More encouraging is he led the team in targets and was second in routes run.
- Raiders - I really thought Adams would go nuclear with no Jacobi Meyers, but instead Josh Jacobs ended up seeing a lot more targets.
- Patriots - DeVonte Parker was healthy and ended up running the most routes of the entire receiver corps. A deeper league waiver pick ups, Kayson Boutte, wound up not getting any work at all due to Parker being active.
Hope the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 2 Usage Report was helpful. Don't miss out on the rest of the great Fantasy Football content here at Fantasy Six Pack!
