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. Jacory Croskey-Merritt filled in as the RB1 for Washington with Chris Rodriguez Jr. catching an illness late. “Bill” got 11 of 12 running back carries — and he started the game, which wasn’t true when C-Rod missed in Week 15 — and ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns. JCM ran nine routes on 27 dropbacks; Jeremy McNichols remained the pass-down back with 13 routes.
2. Treylon Burks out-routed Chris Moore 26-3 with Noah Brown back on injured reserve. Ben Sinnott has also established himself as the clear pass-down TE, out-routing John Bates 20-5 (Colson Yankoff ran two routes).
3. With Ryan Flournoy out in Week 17, Dallas turned back to Jalen Tolbert as their WR3. Tolbert had been a healthy scratch in favor of Jonathan Mingo in recent weeks, but he out-routed Mingo 30-1 on Christmas. The result: four catches for 31 yards on eight targets.
4. Javonte Williams has clearly been banged up in recent games and left in the second quarter of Week 17 with a shoulder injury. With Jaydon Blue still a healthy scratch, that paved the way for Malik Davis to play 50% of snaps and get 20 (!) carries, which he turned into 103 yards. Fantasy managers will have to monitor Williams’ health ahead of Week 18 if their leagues are still going. Davis would be in line for a big workload if he misses, with Hunter Luepke likely handling a larger role on clear pass downs.
5. Josh Oliver ran 25 routes on 28 Max Brosmer dropbacks with T.J. Hockenson out on Thursday. He caught one of two targets (12.5% target share) for eight yards. Jordan Addison‘s snap rate rebounded to 77.8% with Hockenson out (Minnesota had been running a lot of 2-TE sets with Hock/Oliver before the Hock injury).
We create the highest-quality NFL content
Our team includes renowned fantasy analysts Evan Silva and Adam Levitan, high-stakes professional DFS players, and specialists who cover niche areas that we believe are important to understand.
We don’t sell lineups or claim to have all of the answers. We do analyze what’s happening in a way that’s digestible and actionable, with a goal of preparing you to make the best decisions possible during the 2025 NFL season.
Read on to learn what’s inside our In-Season NFL subscription.
Full Details! » Already a subscriber? Log In
