Strength in Numbers: Actionable Week 12 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. DeAndre Hopkins‘ snap share went from 65% in Week 10 to 47% in Week 11. This week, it went even lower, with Hopkins playing just 45% of snaps and JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR3) out-routing him 25-21. Noah Gray‘s 55.3% route rate was lower than last week’s 66% figure, but Kansas City is clearly trying to feature him in this offense, and the amount of 2-TE sets also depresses WR routes. Hopkins is not a startable fantasy option right now, as his usage seems to be trending in the wrong direction.

2. Jonathon Brooks had just two carries in his pro debut, as Chuba Hubbard played a season-high 89% of snaps for the Panthers. Carolina coach Dave Canales said pregame that they had some packages for Brooks, specifically on third downs, but we evidently did not see them in his pro debut. This is Hubbard’s backfield at the moment, and there’s no real reason for the Panthers to crank up Brooks’ workload in a lost season. I’d expect Brooks’ role to grow somewhat in the coming games so he can fill a Miles Sanders-type role, but it was discouraging usage in his first game.

3. Adam Thielen returned and immediately fulfilled slot duties with Jalen Coker out, while Xavier Legette and David Moore predictably were every-down outside WRs. In total, Thielen ran 27 routes on 40 dropbacks. It will be interesting to see Carolina’s WR usage once Coker returns since the UDFA rookie has mostly played in the slot, so they will either have to kick him or Thielen outside (at Moore’s expense) or to the bench.