Fantasy Football Usage Report Week 11: Woody Marks, Khalil Shakir, Tyrone Tracy 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 11's fantasy football action.

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Positive Usage Players

RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans

Marks actually featured in this column as a positive usage player last week. However, I wasn't ready to fully celebrate the rookie taking over as a workhorse. There was a chance his larger-than-usual role was just a result of the Texans playing from well behind for the vast majority of Week 10.

Well, we can now say for certain that Marks has taken over this backfield, regardless of game script. In a matchup with the Titans that was close throughout, the rookie was a legit workhorse. He saw 19 opportunities (18 carries and one target) on a 66% snap share. Veteran Nick Chubb, who just three weeks ago was arguably the team's RB1, saw only three carries on 17 snaps (a 25% snap share).  

Going forward, the only thing holding Marks back will be the Texans' offensive incompetence, which is admittedly a formidable opponent. But volume can usually trump situation.

At worst, Marks should be a borderline RB2 with this workload on a struggling offense (think 2024 Tony Pollard). If Houston can be just mediocre instead of terrible, he could be a solid weekly fantasy starter. 

RB Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars

Marks wasn't the only rookie back in the AFC South to see his role grow on Sunday. Tuten, who has spent the season as the clear backup behind Travis Etienne, broke out in the Jaguars' win over the Chargers.

Unfortunately, his breakout game ended early due to an ankle injury, but prior to that injury, he had seen 14 carries to Etienne's 12 on easily a new career-high 43% snap share.

Tuten, who was a popular sleeper during draft season thanks to his standout athletic traits, looked the part, too. He broke off multiple chunk plays, scored a touchdown, and averaged over a yard more per carry than his veteran teammate. 

Now, the question is whether Tuten is healthy enough to build on his momentum. He reportedly said after the game that he was “good” and appeared at practice on Wednesday, so there is a chance he doesn't even miss any time. I wouldn't start him just yet until we see him have a real role in this backfield again, but he's an absolute must-stash with the potential to win leagues.

WR Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears

Honestly, I'm less excited about Burden than I am about the previous two players. But he's another rookie who had tons of stream during fantasy draft season, and his usage did improve on Sunday, so he deserves mentioning.

Burden posted a 61% route participation rate against the Vikings, easily the highest of his young career. Meanwhile, Olamide Zaccheaus posted just a 14% participation rate, by far his lowest of the season. The second-round rookie appears to have, finally, moved his way to third on the Bears' WR depth chart.

However, the issue is that being a team's WR3 usually isn't enough for fantasy relevance. In his elevated role on Sunday, Burden did see an okay 16% target share, but he finished with just three catches for 27 scoreless yards — 4.2 half-PPR points.

The explosive 21-year-old is worth stashing in deeper leagues, but don't fall for the Twitter hype: he's not a playable fantasy option yet, and I would still bet against him getting there this season.

Negative Usage Players

TE Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns

Last week, Fannin was in the “Positive Usage” section, as he had run more routes than a fully healthy (or at least seemingly fully healthy) David Njoku for the first time all season. But maybe Njoku wasn't fully healthy after all, as the veteran reasserted himself in Week 11. Njoku's 55% route participation rate was nothing to write home about, but it still beat Fannin, who fell from 74% all the way to 49%.

Unsurprisingly, this lack of routes turned into a lack of production for the rookie TE. He did see five targets for 19% shares in both targets and air yards, but he caught just two of them for 26 yards and 3.6 half-PPR points.

My declaration last week that Fannin could be a fantasy TE1 was clearly premature — he's essentially off the fantasy radar with this level of usage. 

WR Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills

Honestly, Shakir's usage all season has been uninspiring. Despite being the Bills' de facto WR1, he has averaged just a 72% route participation rate, a 20% target share, and an 11% air yards share.

Among receivers with at least five games played, those numbers rank 52nd, 31st, and 96th, respectively. His 9.8 expected half-PPR points per game (per Fantasy Points Data) land him as the WR51.

However, things went from bad to worse for the shifty slot receiver on Sunday. Even with Keon Coleman a healthy scratch, Shakir posted just a 63% route participation rate, his lowest mark since Week 2. While Josh Allen threw 30 passes and the Bills' offense scored 44 points, he caught one pass for negative three yards. He posted a 10% target share and a 6.1% air yards share. 

Shakir has always been more of a boom/bust flex than the WR3 or even WR2 he is perceived as. But this week's usage reveals that his floor is even lower than it previously appeared. Outside of deep leagues where you have enough lineup spots to accept the risk (and no better options), I recommend avoiding him wherever possible. 

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants

In general, Tracy's usage in Week 11 wasn't bad. In fact, it was pretty darn good. He saw 19 carries and four targets, finishing with a very healthy 15.6 half-PPR points. Those large total numbers do slightly hide the fact that Devin Singletary was also heavily involved.

This was really a 1A/1B situation, with Tracy barely leading in each of snap share (52%-48%), rush share (54%-46%) and route share (45%-42%). 

However, this isn't the negative usage I'm worried about. In Week 10, with less total usage to go around, Tracy saw a larger share of the pie (although Singletary was actually the 1A in Week 9). Instead, what I'm worried about is a larger trend, that has been present ever since Cam Skattebo went down a month ago (and to a certain extent, even longer).

In the post-Skattebo era, the Giants' offense has had nine snaps inside their opponents' five-yard lines. They have handed the ball off to a running back on six of those nine snaps. Tracy hasn't touched the field, let alone the ball, once. Singletary has been the clear goal-line back, with 100% snap and rush shares.

This trend actually extends even further: The Giants have had 13 snaps inside the 10 over the last three weeks, and Singletary has been out there for all 13. Alternatively, if we zoom out temporally to include the whole regular season, before Skattebo's injury, Tracy has just four snaps inside the five … and zero touches. Singletary has 14 snaps and seven opportunities. 

Goal-line work isn't everything, but it's an important piece of the fantasy usage puzzle. The average top-36 fantasy back this season has scored 18% of their points within the five-yard line, and 23% within the 10. Until he starts seeing goal-line work, Tracy should project for around 20% fewer points than you might expect based on his overall workload.