Fantasy Football Usage Report Week 10: Harold Fannin Jr., A.J. Brown 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 10's fantasy football action.

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Positive Usage Players

RB Aaron Jones Sr., Minnesota Vikings

In last week's article, I featured Jones' backfield counterpart, Jordan Mason, as a negative usage player. But now it's time to give the veteran RB his flowers.

Since returning from a hamstring injury that caused him to miss five weeks, Jones has been a borderline workhorse in Minnesota's offense.

Excluding the second half of Week 9 (which he missed with a shoulder issue), here are Jones' usage metrics over the last three weeks: 67% snap share, 64% RB rush share, 56% route participation rate, 14% target share.

Those numbers would probably be higher if it weren't for some garbage-time Zavier Scott touches in the Vikings' Week 8 loss. As long as this keeps up, Jones is a solid weekly RB2, with upside for more if J.J. McCarthy can take a step forward.

RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans

Speaking of borderline workhorses, that's what Marks was in the Texans' insane comeback win over the Jaguars on Sunday. The rookie played 78% of snaps, handled 14 carries to Nick Chubb's four, and saw three targets on a 43% route participation rate. 

There's a chance this usage was inflated due to the negative game script, as Marks is the pass catcher to Chubb's early-down thumper. But the Texans have been in similar situations before, and Marks has never dominated the backfield to this extent.

Houston has a soft matchup this week against the Titans — Marks is a solid play and, if he maintains this usage, will remain a solid play going forward. 

TE Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns

Having returned from injury in Week 8, prior to the Browns' Week 9 bye, David Njoku was presumably fully healthy in Week 10. And yet, Fannin easily led the veteran in route participation rate, 74%-49%. This was both Fannin's new high in route rate with Njoku healthy and his first time running more routes than a 100% healthy Njoku.

This is significant because, between their two talented receiving TEs, Cleveland's offense ranks third in TE target share and second in total targets to the position. 

If Fannin, who is also a playmaker after the catch, can see the lion's share of this looks, the rookie will be a fantasy TE1 sooner rather than later. This week, he saw a 22% target share and a 20% air yards share, catching four of seven targets for 44 scoreless yards and 6.4 half-PPR points. That looks more like his floor than his ceiling now that he has officially overtaken Njoku. 

Negative Usage Players

TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

However, not all rookie TEs were able to overtake healthy veterans in Week 10. After a massive breakout performance in Week 9 with Cole Kmet sidelined, Loveland returned to a part-time role with Kmet back on the field. He posted just a 51% route participation rate, running only three more routes than Kmet.

To be fair, Loveland actually scored more points than Fannin this week. He caught all four of his targets (an 11% share) for 55 yards. But it's clear which rookie TE is a priority in their team's offense, and it's not the one that was picked in the first round. 

WR A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles

As is his right as an alpha NFL WR, Brown seems to stir up drama every couple of weeks. However, aside from Week 1, he didn't actually have any reason to do so, at least as far as his usage numbers went … until this week. 

In Weeks 2-7, Brown averaged an elite 29% target share to go with a 37% air yards share. His usage was consistent, too, as he was below a 25% target rate only once and never dipped below 21%. This week, his target share was 12%. Meanwhile, his route participation rate was just 72% — down from a previous average of 92% and previous low of 84%. 

Now, we've seen this story before. In the past, the squeaky wheel has gotten the grease. But I'm not convinced that Philadelphia OC Kevin Patullo actually knows how to best feed his superstar playmakers, even if he wanted to. Maybe we should listen to AJB when he says to get rid of him if you have him in fantasy. 

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions

It was a lot more subtle, but another elite WR with the last name Brown and an initialized nickname saw weirdly low usage on Sunday.

St. Brown also set by far a new season low in route participation rate, a 69% mark, down from a previous average of 89% and a previous low of 84%. This is slightly skewed by some garbage time, but even if we remove the whole fourth quarter, he was still at just 75%. St. Brown also posted his lowest target share since Week 1 with 23%, down from a previous average of 30%. 

Normally, I wouldn't worry about any of this. After all, this was a blowout, and the Sun God still got his, with a solid 14.3-point outing. A 23% target share representing a clear down week is further illustration of just how elite his usage normally is. But it is worth noting that this dip in St. Brown's usage corresponded with Dan Campbell's first game calling plays. 

Maybe it's nothing. But maybe Campbell is slightly more focused on getting secondary weapons like Jameson Williams (who had one of his highest target shares of the season) involved. Or maybe he's just more capable than John Morton of moving the ball without relying on St. Brown.

If things return to normal next week, this was likely just a one-off. If not, St. Brown may fall out of the truly elite tier of fantasy WRs, even as Detroit's offense as a whole improves.