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NFL Week 13 Usage Trends: Fantasy Football Notes for All 32 Teams

By Ryan Kirksey
Kyle Pitts Week 13 Usage Trends

In fantasy football, usage and opportunity are king. Fantasy points can’t accrue on our teams unless our players accumulate the snaps, attempts, and targets that lead to yards and touchdowns. This weekly piece looks at usage trends from each NFL team from a fantasy angle. We will look at who is gaining and who is losing opportunities in order to make better future roster decisions.

If you have interesting usage notes, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter/X (@CableBoxScore) and let me know. Let’s dive into the NFL Week 13 usage!

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NFL Week 13 Usage Trends

ARIZONA CARDINALS

McBride Takes the Lead

Trey McBride now leads all tight ends in target share over the last three weeks (26%) and he has at least nine targets in three of his last four games. With Marquise Brown a free agent and James Conner with just a $3 million cap hit if he is released, a scenario may happen where McBride and someone like Marvin Harrison Jr. are the featured pieces of this offense in 2024.

ATLANTA FALCONS

Pitts Pick Me Up

With eight targets in Week 13, Kyle Pitts had five more than anyone else on his team and he had a 93% route participation rate. It resulted in just four catches for 51 yards, but that’s the most encouraging sign we have seen from him in weeks.

BALTIMORE RAVENS

The Baltimore Ravens Did Not Play In Week 13

BUFFALO BILLS

The Buffalo Bills Did Not Play In Week 13

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Mingo Manina

With 10 targets on Sunday, Jonathan Mingo now has twice as many targets (16) as any other player on his team over the last two games. Mingo also saw a red zone target and led all receivers in snap share at 96%.

CHICAGO BEARS

The Chicago Bears Did Not Play In Week 13

CINCINNATI BENGALS

Browning Bests Burrow

I’m not saying that Jake Browning is better than Joe Burrow. But what I am saying is that Joe Burrow has thrown for at least 350 yards and rushed for at least 20 yards four times in 52 starts. Jake Browning now has done it once in two career starts.

CLEVELAND BROWNS

Moore Targets Plz

With his old buddy Joe Flacco under center, Elijah Moore was the centerpiece of the passing offense, racking up 12 targets. The rest of the wide receiver corps accounted for just 13. Moore was able to turn those into four catches for 83 yards, but bigger weeks could be ahead with how frequently Amari Cooper is finding himself injured.

DALLAS COWBOYS

I Like My Lamb in the Red

It’s crazy to say that a player who had 17 targets, 12 catches, 116 yards, and a touchdown could have had a better day. But Lamb’s day on Thursday could have been better. He led all wide receivers with six red zone targets, but he only caught two of them for 29 yards.

DENVER BRONCOS

Sutton Lapping the Field

Over the last two weeks, Courtland Sutton has 13 targets from Russell Wilson. The rest of the Broncos’ wide receivers have combined for 14. Sutton is now up to almost a 24% target share on the season.

DETROIT LIONS

Running Back Red Zone Roles

In the last four games, only Christian McCaffrey and Isiah Pacheco have more rushing attempts inside the red zone than David Montgomery’s 15. But he has zero targets in that area because they are going to Jahmyr Gibbs.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Love That New Quarterback

Only Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy have more fantasy points and fantasy points per game than Jordan Love over the last four weeks. To make a relevant comparison to the game that just happened. Jordan Love is now just 0.5 fantasy points behind Patrick Mahomes for the entire season.

HOUSTON TEXANS

Tank Rolled Over

Tank Dell left early in this game with a broken fibula, and it was Noah Brown who filled in that role. Brown ended up playing 81% of the snaps (same as Nico Collins), but saw only two targets. That’s because Nico Collins had 12 targets and 191 receiving yards. It’s the most receiving yards by a Texans player since Will Fuller had 217 in 2019.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Pittman Party

Michael Pittman Jr. has 29 targets over the last two weeks, which is three more than any other player in the NFL. His 31.5% target share on the season now sits at third among all wide receivers.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Life Without Kirk and Lawrence

After Christian Kirk went down with an injury on Monday, the ball really got spread around as four receivers saw at least six targets (Ridley, Engram, Washington, and Jones). Travis Etienne also chipped in with four targets. It may all be for nothing, however, depending on the severity of Trevor Lawrence’s injury.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Rice Rice Baby

Just how much does Patrick Mahomes trust Rashee Rice over his other wide receivers right now? On Sunday, Rice had eight catches for 64 yards. All other wide receivers combined for five catches for 48 yards. This offense will be Rice, Kelce, and Pacheco down the stretch with the Chiefs in must-win mode.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

The Las Vegas Raiders Did Not Play In Week 13

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Austin Remains Weird

I don’t know what’s going on with Austin Ekeler right now, but he is struggling. It continues his very weird year where he has four weeks finishing in the top six of running backs and five weeks outside the top 26. His 3.5 true yards per carry ranks 53rd a the position this year.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Kyren Rollin’

Kyren Williams led all running backs with nine red zone rush attempts and 34 yards in that area on Sunday. He has the best role in the NFL outside of some guy named Christian McCaffrey.

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Tyreek Hill Could Be Better?

This is an amazing pull by Scott Barrett. Imagine if the Dolphins didn’t have a good defense and had to try in the fourth quarter of games.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

The Minnesota Vikings Did Not Play In Week 13

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

White Flag

With Rhamondre Stevenson going on the shelf for a couple of weeks, there are now zero fantasy-relevant players on this squad. Only Will Levis and Baker Mayfield had a lower completion percentage below expectation than Bailey Zappe on Sunday and their leading receiver was the corpse of Devante Parker.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Red Zone Restrictions

When the Saints get into the red zone this year, it’s pretty clear what they are going to do. The Saints had 10 opportunities in that area on Sunday and Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill got nine of them.

NEW YORK GIANTS

The New York Giants Did Not Play In Week 13

NEW YORK JETS

Professor Xavier?

Even though it seems like no one wants to play quarterback for this team, Xavier Gipson is still trying to make a name for himself and he had his best game as a pro on Sunday. He finished with six targets (one-third of his season total), five catches for 77 yards, and the only two red zone targets for tight ends. He is a sneaky deep-league PPR add for the playoffs considering how electric he is with the ball in his hands.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Gains for Gainwell

For the first time since Week 1, Kenneth Gainwell out-snapped D’Andre Swift on Sunday. After five straight games with at least two-thirds of the running backs snaps, Gainwell saw 54% and was the more efficient back. The lopsided score certainly factored in, but Gainwell might be gaining more trust as the postseason approaches.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Experimenting in the Rain

After we thought the new Pittsburgh offensive scheme would feature Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth after their Week 12 performances, this game against the Cardinals threw that out the window. In the passing game, six players saw at least three targets and no one had more than five. I can’t feel comfortable starting anyone from this team on Thursday night.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Brock Rocks

A lot is being made about Brock Purdy’s yards per attempt and how players like Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey are doing all the hard work for him. But according to David Lombardi, the 48.6% of Purdy’s yards that have come after the catch this year is lower than each of the three previous MVP winners.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Red Zone Restrictions 2.0

Much like the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawks have two primary options when they get into the red zone. Of their 1o opportunities this past week, D.K. Metcalf and Zach Charbonnet had eight of them.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Evans By Air

Mike Evans added another 212 air yards in Week 13, the third-most for the entire week. On the season, Evans is second overall in total air yards (1,511) and fifth in air yards share (44.3%).

TENNESSEE TITANS

Will & Hopkins

DeAndre Hopkins is developing a rapport with Will Levis (despite their sideline spat) and the results are there as well. Hopkins was one of just nine receivers with at least 30% target share and 40% air yards share in Week 13.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

Curtis Samuel PPR Dream

Despite playing only 58% of the snaps on Sunday, Curtis Samuel led all Washington wide receivers in targets for the second straight week. Despite playing 300 fewer snaps than Johan Dotson this season, Samuel only has six fewer targets.

Data Sources: Pro Football Focus, NFL Next Gen Stats, Football Guys Snap Summary, FTN Air Yards, Pro Football Reference, Team Rankings

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