Fantasy Football Week 7 Usage Report: Oronde Gadsden, Rashee Rice and More

The number one way to get an edge over your less-locked-in fantasy leaguemates is to pay attention not just to production, but also to usage.

Obviously, scoring fantasy points is important. But things like targets, routes, and snap share are often just as (if not more) helpful for predicting a player's future production than their past production. Without further ado, here are the most important usage trends to note from Week 7's fantasy action.

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Positive Usage Players

TE Oronde Gadsden, Los Angeles Chargers

After being a healthy scratch for the first two weeks of the season, the fifth-round rookie got a chance in Week 3 thanks to an injury to Will Dissly. He only played 22 snaps and had a 28% route participation rate, but he immediately made an impact with five catches on seven targets for 46 yards.

Since then, Gadsden's usage has only trended upward: he went from that 28% participation rate to 46%, to 58%, to 69%, to 79% in Week 7.

And, just in case you are living under a rock, the rookie didn't just run routes in Week 7. He caught seven of eight targets for 164 yards and a touchdown, an absolutely massive breakout performance. We should note that those eight targets were good for just a 15% target share, the third-most on the team.

Given that LA has three talented receivers in Keenan Allen, Ladd McConkey, and Quentin Johnston, it's unlikely that Gadsden will reach the usual threshold for fantasy relevance of being a top-three target on his team (and most elite TEs are among their team's top two targets).

However, if any offense can support multiple pass-catchers, it's this one. LA ranks second in the league in terms of pass rate vs. expected at +5.9%, and their actual pass rate of 69% is tied for the league lead. Meanwhile, Gadsden himself absolutely looks the part, ranking third among all TEs in PFF Receiving Grade and fourth in yards per route run.

While there's some reason to be concerned about his long-term volume ceiling, getting the rookie on your roster and figuring things out later is absolutely the right move at this point.

WR Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons

Thanks to hamstring and shoulder injuries, Mooney has played just three full games this season. The fantasy results have been mediocre, as he has scored 3, 6.4, and 8.3 half-PPR points. However, his usage has quietly been very solid.

In those three games, Mooney has averaged a 19% target share, good for 6.3 targets per game. That's fine, but nothing to write home about. However, thanks to a healthy 14.9-yard ADOT, his air yards share in those contests is a borderline-elite 39%. For context, Drake London saw the exact same number of targets as Mooney in this sample, and his air yards share was easily lower at 27%. 

Along with valuable deep targets, Mooney also saw looks in the end zone. It's obviously a small sample, but he was the target for two of Michael Penix Jr.'s three throws into the end zone during his three healthy games.

As long as Mooney continues to see this usage, his fantasy production should improve going forward — he should be a flex option, if not a WR3 (he finished 2024 as the WR36 in points per game).

WR Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs

In his first game back, Rice was the clear top priority in the Chiefs' passing attack. He only ran 17 routes for a 43% participation rate, but his per-route efficiency was truly absurd. He was targeted on 53% of his routes, seeing nine looks in total. He caught seven for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

I should note that Rice's usage was, for lack of a better word, weird. All nine of his targets were first-read looks, including three designed targets (per Fantasy Points Data). He was also used almost exclusively near the line of scrimmage, with a minuscule 1.7-yard ADOT. 

If you wanted, you could use these numbers to argue against Rice going forward. The Chiefs made an effort to get him involved, especially near the goal line, because it was his season debut. But he didn't actually earn targets down the field, so he will be reliant on those designed looks, which may not be as prevalent in future weeks.

However, my take is more positive. Rice easily led Kansas City in targets despite playing a clearly limited number of snaps. Even as his targets per route inevitably regress, he can compensate by simply running more routes. And we saw in 2024 that he can rack up fantasy points without much downfield usage (17.6 points per game on a 4.8-yard ADOT).

With the Chiefs' offense humming on all cylinders, Rice is a must-start option going forward; the only question is where he lands between a weekly WR2 or a truly elite WR1.

Negative Usage Players

WR Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers

After back-to-back 142-yard games, Bourne caught just two passes for 14 yards in the 49ers' win over the Falcons. Even more concerning, those two receptions came on just two targets.

Jauan Jennings was the 49ers' clear WR1, with a 27% target share on an 86% route participation rate, compared to 8% and 75% for Bourne.

Unfortunately, this was probably always how things were going to end for the veteran receiver, whose role was only elevated thanks to the multiple injuries to San Francisco's original starting pass-catchers. Jennings' return to full health is just the first domino to fall; George Kittle is also back (although he failed to catch either of his two targets on Sunday), and Ricky Pearsall should return eventually (in theory, anyway).

It's probably too late at this point, but Bourne is worth trading away for just about anything. 

RBs Rico Dowdle/Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers

Despite pregame reports that the team had internally decided on an RB1, the Panthers' backfield was a virtual 50/50 split on Sunday. Hubbard led in snaps (54% to 46%), routes (36% to 17%), and targets (two to one), but Dowdle led in carries (17 to 14).

This is the most frustrating possible result for fantasy managers — against non-Jets NFL teams, it's unlikely that Carolina's backfield will have enough volume to support two fantasy-viable backs in an even split.

If I had to pick one of these players to back going forward, it would be Dowdle. Hubbard got the start and was more involved on early drives, but Dowdle was much more efficient (4.6 YPA vs 2.2), and he saw a significant amount more work in the second half.

There's a chance that Carolina's coaching staff wanted to give their Week 1 starter a chance to reassert himself, but they will be willing to play the hot hand in Dowdle going forward. For now, though, both of these backs are just flex options in a likely fairly even split.

RB Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans

After missing the first four weeks of the season, Spears initially appeared to be trending in the right direction. He posted just a 25% snap share in his Week 5 debut, but jumped to a backfield-leading 59% in Week 6.

Also in Week 6, he easily led Tony Pollard in route participation rate (52% to 25%) and targets (four to two), although the veteran still saw 10 carries to Spears' five. If Spears maintained that split or even continued to cut into Pollard's rushing work, he was on his way toward flex viability.

However, things swung back toward Pollard in Week 7. Even in a negative game script, which theoretically would favor Spears, Pollard played 59% of the snaps. He also ran more routes than Spears (14 to 10) and saw more targets (six to four).

Interestingly, things trended toward Spears on the ground, as he saw five carries to Pollard's six. But he was still the clear RB2 despite the theoretically ideal game script. At this point, Spears is unlikely to be a viable fantasy option unless Pollard is unavailable.