Strength in Numbers: Actionable Week 3 Stats

We’re going to get a lot of stuff wrong, but sifting through usage metrics can help us work through what matters and what doesn’t. That’s the goal of this article: to break down the most actionable takeaways from each week in a concise, numbers-filled format and work through what’s important. Let’s get right to it:

1. Drake London caught nine of 10 targets (40% target share) for 194 yards in Michael Penix Jr.‘s first start of 2026. London earned 0.31 targets per route run from Penix last season and returned to alpha WR1 status in Penix’s return, muting memories of his 80-yard combined output during the first two weeks of the season. London is back to being a no-doubt WR1 with Penix under center.

2. Kyle Pitts, on the other hand, remained quiet despite Penix’s return. He caught one of two targets for five yards and played just 59% of snaps. The Falcons have been playing Charlie Woerner and sometimes Austin Hooper over Pitts in 12 personnel this season, evidently not trusting Pitts’ blocking ability. With Atlanta in positive game script, they leaned even harder on the blocking specialist Woerner, who out-snapped Pitts in this game. Pitts is still the clear pass-catching TE1, and he ran 19 routes on 26 dropbacks, but that route participation is still below that of a legit fantasy TE1, and the targets haven’t been strong here, either.

3. Matthew Golden caught five of 12 targets for 100 yards and his first regular-season touchdown, while Christian Watson caught seven of 10 looks for 96 yards and a score of his own. With Jayden Reed out, Golden/Watson’s combined 41.5% target share was actually their lowest combined share of the season (59% last week!), but the point remains that both were highly productive and earned double-digit targets each. These two are going to put up huge volume with Reed sidelined, as Green Bay deployed a WR3-by-committee approach with Skyy Moore (27 routes, seven targets) out-snapping Bo Melton (19 routes, one target) 34-21.

4. Tucker Kraft‘s snap rate fell from the 98% mark he posted in Week 2, but he still played 76% of snaps in Week 3, still a good sign considering it was a short week and he’s coming off a torn ACL. Kraft was uncharacteristically quiet (4/26/0) and struggled with drops, but he still got eight targets for an alright 15.1% share. With extra rest heading into Week 4, I’d expect Kraft to be full-go, and he should earn big shares moving forward with Reed sidelined.

5. Chris Brooks remained the clear pass-down back and led the Packers’ backfield with 20 routes on 55 dropbacks. Kaleb Johnson and MarShawn Lloyd split early-down duties, with Lloyd drawing the start and Johnson getting the next drive. Lloyd seemingly got benched late after a play where it looked like he slipped after a juke — the second straight week Lloyd has been benched late. Neither Johnson nor Lloyd was good on Thursday: Lloyd managed 11 yards on four carries; Johnson managed six. It’s a brutal setup with Brooks handling passing downs and Lloyd/Johnson handling early downs behind an atrocious offensive line. Both RBs have been quite bad, too, with Lloyd at -8 Rush Yards Over Expectation in Week 3 and Johnson at -6. This is all good news for Josh Jacobs whenever he returns, as the backup options have all been terrible, paving the way for Jacobs to regain a workhorse role. In the meantime, you can’t feel confident starting any of these guys.