Week 8 Fantasy Football Usage Report: Jayden Higgins vs. Jaylin Noel, RJ Harvey 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 8's fantasy action.

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Positive Usage Players

Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans

Dike, one of the Titans' two fourth-round rookie receivers, had a breakout game in Week 7. He scored 14.9 half-PPR points, more than he had scored in the first six weeks of his career combined.

However, this production was mostly thanks to a long TD, and the underlying metrics were uninspiring. He had just a 12% target share on a 67% route participation rate.

However, one of the many good things about rookies is that they tend to earn more usage when they play well. That was the case here. In Week 8, Dike posted a career-high 86% route participation rate, tied for the team lead with a 21% target share, and finished with another solid outing of 12.9 points.

It's unclear if this usage will last when Calvin Ridley returns from his hamstring injury, but Dike has shown enough of a positive trend over the last two weeks to be worth stashing. 

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

Speaking of AFC South rookie receivers, Higgins had his best game of the season on Sunday, finishing with 11.4 points. And — unlike his fellow Texans rookie WR Jaylin Noel — he had the usage to back it up.

Higgins led Houston in route rate at 79% (his first time above even 58% and target share at 18%. Nico Collins will be back this week, but it looks as though Higgins will have a shot to be the WR2 alongside him. He is also worth adding in most formats. 

Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns

I guess it's that time of year when rookies start to see more usage. This one should be taken with a grain of salt, as it was David Njoku's first game back from a knee injury. But Fannin saw more routes than the veteran, 63%-53%, for the first time all season. The rookie also led Cleveland with a 23% target share, as well as posting a solid 24% air yards share. 

Following this performance, Fannin should absolutely be added anywhere he is available. In the worst case, where Njoku ramps back up and reclaims the TE1 job, he can be dropped again.

But if he maintains this usage or even sees his role continue to grow as the Browns look toward the future, last year's NCAA leader in receiving yards could become a weekly fantasy TE1.

Negative Usage Players

RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos

Things weren't great for every rookie in Week 8. I've seen a lot of excitement over Harvey's breakout game against the Cowboys (to be fair, he did score 23.6 points on three total touchdowns). But his usage on Sunday was actually right in line with season-long norms.

He played 28% of Denver's snaps, handled 30% of their RB carries, and saw a 3.4% target share on a 24% route participation rate. Coming into last week, he had averaged 30%, 25%, 7.8%, and 25% in those four numbers. 

Could Harvey have earned better usage going forward with this performance? It's certainly possible. But J.K. Dobbins has also been playing well, and the Broncos are not a team in a position to be playing rookies over veterans to “see what they have.”

In fact, if you have Harvey and can sell last week's explosion as the beginning of a true breakout to a trade partner, I'd do it. 

Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

Heading into Week 8, I'd more or less accepted that Diggs was going to keep outproducing his route participation rate thanks to elite per-route numbers. But the veteran hit a new low against the Browns, as he posted a lower route participation rate than Mack Hollins, 65% to 71%.

Once we include Kayshon Boutte and Hunter Henry, Diggs was clearly fourth on New England's offense in terms of routes.

On the other hand, Diggs once again saw a solid 21% target share. He only caught three passes for 14 yards, but he bailed his fantasy day out with his first touchdown of the season. Since Week 4, he is averaging a perfectly cromulent 11.3 points per game … on a 67% (and trending down) average route participation rate.

I just can't see him continuing to produce while running fewer routes than Hollins. Something has to give, whether his usage trends up or his points trend down.

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

Speaking of former fantasy studs who aren't running enough routes, we have Andrews. Andrews has now run fewer routes than Isaiah Likely in each of the last two weeks.

In Week 7, this wasn't too concerning, as the Ravens played a massive amount of two-TE personnel, allowing him to still have a solid 70% participation rate. In Week 8, that number fell to just 52% (Likely was at 56%). 

Andrews did see more targets than Likely, but his three looks were good for just a 14% target share and a 14% air yards share. Not all hope is lost, as Andrews managed to produce down the stretch of the 2024 season despite lackluster usage in terms of routes, mainly thanks to racking up TDs. But unless he shows positive signs when Lamar Jackson returns this week, Andrews is closer to a waiver option than a weekly TE1.