Fantasy Football Snap & Target Report Week 15: Deebo Samuel, Sam LaPorta, Chuba Hubbard

Cam takes a look at some of the most important usage numbers for fantasy football coming out of Week 15.

With only three weeks left in the season and only one or two in your fantasy seasons, we are really getting down to the wire. Any move could be the difference between moving on and being knocked out. In one league, David Njoku on my bench cost me my first-round matchup.

Aside from knowing who has played well, it’s even more important to project who will play well in the upcoming week. Recent history can only be used as a guideline. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the most interesting snap and target numbers from Week 15.

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Fantasy Football Snap & Target Report Week 15

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Target Leaders

Interestingly, this was the first full slate of games for many weeks, yet there weren’t that many receivers who had double-digit targets. Only 10 receivers were targeted 10 or more times. And only four of them scored a TD. And of the 10, only five of them have had back-to-back weeks with double-digit targets. This is important at this time of year because it shows a pattern of who the team’s QB likes to get the ball to.

Here they are:

• Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: in 50 snaps, Godwin was targeted 12 times with a very solid 10 receptions, an 83.3% catch percentage. He gained an awesome 155 receiving yards but did not find the end zone. For the season, he leads the Buccaneers with 68 receptions but has only found the end zone once this year.

• Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars: This is now more than just a minor concern for the Jaguars. Ridley was targeted 12 times on 57 snaps but only caught five passes, which is a miserable 41.6% catch percentage. And those catches only produced 39 receiving yards. Since Trevor Lawrence’s ankle injury, he just hasn’t been accurate in getting the ball to his WRs.

• Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders: Adams had a very efficient game. He saw 12 of his 52 snaps and had eight catches, 101 yards, and a TD. He’s doing his best to make something out of this lost season. He has 84 catches, 968 yards, and five TDs. For just about every other WR in the league, these would be amazing numbers, but for Adams, it is merely a pedestrian season. He has an outside chance at 100 receptions and will reach 1,000 yards, but this is anything but a dominant year for this top-five WR.

• CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys: Lamb has actually been targeted 10 or more times for three straight weeks and is one of the most targeted receivers in the league. He’s tied for third with 141 targets this season. He caught seven passes for 53 yards but did not score in Week 15.

• AJ Brown, Philadelphia Eagles: Like Lamb, Brown has been targeted 10 or more times each of the last three weeks. And he is the receiver tied with Lamb with 141 targets this season. He only caught five of his 10 targets this week for 56 yards. In many ways, as Brown and Lamb go, so go the Cowboys and the Eagles.

Interestingly, of the 10 receivers with 10 or more targets, only four receiving TDs were scored. There were four receivers this week who scored more than one TD, with Lions’ TE Sam LaPorta scoring three TDs, which proves a receiver can do damage without being constantly fed the ball with a ton of targets.

Here are the four receivers who scored over one TD this week:

• Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions: Even though LaPorta didn’t get double-digit targets, with only six; he managed to get five receptions with an efficient and effective 56 yards. And, most importantly, he found the end zone three times. LaPorta is now tied for third among all receivers with nine TDs on the season.

• Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders: Samuel scored two TDs with his five catches. If it weren’t for the multiple TDs, it would have been a ho-hum game. He only caught five of nine targets for 41 yards. He only had two TDs heading into this week and has now doubled that production.

• Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals: Higgins only caught 50% of his eight targets, but 50% of those catches did find the end zone. And he did have an impressive 15 yards per catch. Similar to Samuel, Higgins entered this week with only two TDs.

• Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers: In 48 snaps, Samuel was targeted seven times, only catching four passes for 48 yards. He improved his TDs by 50%, going from four to six.

Running Back Touch Leaders Week 15

For running backs, I’ve used 20 touches as the baseline every week. From week to week, that seems to be the number where the top 12-15 RBs consistently land. This week there were 12 RBs who had 20 or touches. The top two had over 30 touches: Kyren Williams had 32 and Devin Singletary had 30.

Of the 12 RBs, only three of them have had 20 or more touches multiple weeks in a row.

• Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams: Since returning from his injury, he has been an absolute beast. He has over 20 touches in each of his last four weeks, getting more each week, going from 22 to 24, to 28, to 32 this past week. He had 27 rushes for 152 yards and a TD. On the year, he has 953 rushing yards with a 5.1 average and eight rushing TDs. He has also added three receiving TDs and is sitting with 1132 total yards. He’s only one of seven players who have over 1,000 total yards and 10 or more total TDs for the season.

• Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers: Week after week, Hubbard keeps going up 2024 draft boards. He had back-to-back 25-touch weeks in Week 13 and Week 14, and this week he touched the ball 24 times. He had 22 rushes for 87 yards. Although his numbers aren’t gaudy, they are steady. He has over 900 total yards and has an outside shot at gaining 1000 rushing yards. He needs to average 90 yards over the last three games of the season.

• Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: White is another RB whose stock is rising. Like Hubbard, he’s had over 20 touches each of the last three weeks. This week he had 21 rushes for 89 yards and added two receptions for 50 yards, with both catches resulting in a TD.

It is a tradition each week that I cannot get through this column without at least mentioning Christian McCaffrey’s numbers. After not getting 20 or more touches last week, he got back on the horse this week with 23 touches. He had 18 rushes for 115 yards and a TD. He also added five receptions for another 72 yards and two receiving TDs. For my money, he’s the MVP of the league this year. His numbers are outrageous. He has 1,292 rushing yards to go along with 509 receiving yards. With three weeks to go on the season, he has 1,801 total yards and will most assuredly get over 2000 total yards for the year. And he has scored 20 total TDs.

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