Week 2 Fantasy Football Usage Report: Brian Thomas Jr., Juwan Johnson and More

All experienced fantasy football managers know that usage is king. Aside from a few outliers, most players produce fantasy points relative to the number and type of touches they see. This means targets, carries, routes, and, since you have to be on the field to touch the ball, snaps are all very important stats to consider when predicting a player's fantasy outlook. 

We should also consider where these opportunities come — a target in the end zone is worth a lot more than a target at midfield. FantasySP puts all this info in one place with the Target/Touch/Red Zone Leaders Page. Today, we're using these numbers to identify players seeing elite usage, and those whose usage isn't quite as impressive as you might expect. Let's get started

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Positive Usage Players

TE Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Through two weeks, no tight end has more targets than Johnson's 20. He also leads all pass-catchers, WRs included, with a whopping 142 snaps. 

Kellen Moore's offense isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but they are at least playing fast, meaning tons of chances for Johnson. Especially as other TEs are disappointing, Johnson is a TE1 with this usage and should be rostered in all formats. 

WR De'Von Achane, Miami Dolphins

After a 0-2 start, the vibes around the Dolphins are abysmal. But their offense has quietly been decent (aside from the turnovers), with the 10th-highest yards per play in the league. And, very importantly for fantasy purposes, it has been hugely condensed, especially in the backfield. 

Achane has 14 targets, second at the RB position to only fantasy demigod Christian McCaffrey. He has 18 carries, which doesn't sound impressive, but is actually all but three of the RB carries Miami has had so far this year. As long as Miami's offense can stay somewhat competent, Achane should continue putting up RB1 numbers in PPR formats with this workload.

WR Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

Speaking of Florida teams with bad vibes, things are not good in Jacksonville. Thomas is the WR51 in half-PPR points through two games. On Sunday, he caught just four of 12 targets, and the ball-watchers' narrative is that he looked scared of contact.

But here's the thing: He still had seven targets. In fact, BTJ ranks 15th among all WRs in targets so far this season. He is also tied for ninth in red zone targets. As long as you still believe in his talent (it would be fair to have questions at this point), this might be a rare buy-low opportunity on a second-year receiver still seeing elite volume.

RB Cam Skattebo, New York Giants

Around the league, rookie running backs are having smaller workloads than fantasy managers were hoping for. Skattebo had that problem too … for one week. After playing just seven snaps in his NFL debut, the fourth-round rookie was New York's RB1 on Sunday.

Skattebo led the Giants' backfield in snaps (33), carries (11), and routes (18). Tyrone Tracy did still see more targets, but Skattebo saw two of his own. Once a rookie's role starts to grow, it usually doesn't head in the opposite direction. With last week's usage, Skattebo is already a flex option, and he could quickly become more if this trend continues. 

Negative Usage Players

WR Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Don't get me wrong, Egbuka's usage hasn't been bad. Thirteen targets through two weeks is solid; for a rookie in his first two NFL games, it's excellent. But I do think the hype for the Buccaneers' first-round WR is getting a little out of control in comparison to those 13 targets.

Egbuka does rank as the overall WR10 with 32.5 half-PPR points. But over half of those points are on his three touchdowns. He ranks tied for 34th at the position in targets and 43rd in yards. It's not like he's some dominant red zone threat, either, with just two red zone targets. Unless his role expands (which it certainly might), Egbuka is going to underwhelm compared to his suddenly sky-high expectations. 

RB Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs

With just 18 touches (15 carries and three receptions on five targets) through two weeks, Pacheco ranks tied for 35th among running backs. Given that there are 32 teams in the league, that means multiple NFL teams have more than one back with more touches than the Chiefs' “RB1.”

In fact, Pacheco's status as KC's lead back is debatable. Kareem Hunt has handled just two fewer carries and seen one fewer target. Hunt has also played six of the Chiefs' eight snaps inside the 10, meaning he is likely the preferred goal-line back. With minimal overall usage and low TD equity, Pacheco's path to fantasy relevance is narrow at best. 

RB Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers

This can be a quick one. Two games into his NFL career, Johnson has just two carries on four offensive snaps.

He has more embarrassing special teams mental lapses (one) than he does rushing yards (negative one). If things don't change fast, the third-round rookie will be a droppable fantasy player … we might already be there in shallower formats.

TE Evan Engram, Denver Broncos

It's nearly impossible to overstate how bad Engram's usage has been to start the season. With just six targets, he doesn't even show up on our usage page, which defaults to just the top 100 players. 

Somehow, that target number isn't even the most concerning thing about Engram's usage: He has played only 38% of the Broncos' offensive snaps so far this season. His 35% route participation rate is lower than each of the following tight ends: Luke Farrell, Charlie Kolar, Tanner Conner, and Cade Stover. He's easily droppable in all formats at this point