Strength in Numbers: Actionable Week 2 Stats

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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. There’s nowhere to go but up, I tell myself, for Colston Loveland. Through two weeks, the former No. 10 overall pick has one catch for three yards. He still played plenty in Week 2, leading Bears skill players with an 86% snap rate, but he only ran 29 routes on 42 dropbacks as Ben Johnson opted to use his tight ends more for blocking against Brian Flores‘ pressure-happy defense. Loveland gave up a sack to Dallas Turner while staying in to block on the final play of the game. The Vikings are a unique matchup, but still, it’s difficult to imagine Brock Bowers or Trey McBride hanging in to block in such a pivotal moment, and the fact that’s within the range of outcomes (oh, and also the fact that he has one catch for three yards in two games) clearly separates Loveland from the fantasy elites at his position. Caleb Williams‘ injury clouds the Bears’ overall offensive outlook as well. Better days are ahead for Loveland, but this has been a discouraging two-week start.

2. Luther Burden III had seven targets, four of which came on the final drive from Tyson Bagent. But Burden played just 57% of snaps and ran a route on just 71.4% of Chicago’s dropbacks in Week 2, continuing a worrisome trend from Week 1. This was also a bad matchup for Burden because Johnson evidently doesn’t like him as a blocker and decided to use multiple TEs more (Cole Kmet played 69% of snaps; Sam Roush, unfortunately for Bears fans, played 27%). Like Loveland, though, the fact that decreased snaps/routes due to playing time is even within the realm of possibility bodes poorly, and now Williams’ injury will temporarily hurt the Bears’ offense on the whole. Kalif Raymond out-routed Burden 32-30. Rome Odunze only went for 3/43/0 on four targets but was back to his usual snaps/routes role (90.5% routes) after he was limited in Week 1 with a calf strain.

3. Aaron Jones played 81% of snaps, ran 11 routes on 24 dropbacks (but got zero targets), and got 23 of 25 running back carries for the Vikings in Jordan Mason‘s absence. DeeJay Dallas got the two other carries. Jones also missed time in-game but quickly returned, and it was just a monster role in the Vikings’ first game without Mason. Jones, who turns 32 years old in December, only has two career games with more than 23 carries. The game environment — on the road in wet, windy conditions — could have contributed, and it’s difficult to imagine Jones maintaining this level of workhorse status, at least if Minnesota has any intention of keeping him healthy. But the usage was encouraging for his short-term outlook. He’s a must-start against the Bucs next week.

4. With Jauan Jennings out due to a personal matter, return specialist Myles Price, not 2025 fourth-round pick Tai Felton, was the WR3. Felton didn’t play; Price ran 19 routes on 24 dropbacks.

5. With Houston in negative game script — though it was only 7-3 at halftime — Woody Marks out-carried David Montgomery 8-6 (Marks: 8 yards; Montgomery 10), was out-routed by him 28-24, and out-targeted him 6-2. Montgomery did play four more snaps. Once again, both backs played in all situations, with PFF’s Nathan Jahnke pointing out that Marks and Montgomery each had six snaps on third down. The Texans clearly like Marks, especially what he provides on pass downs.

6. With Nico Collins out, Dalton Schultz stepped up as the clear top pass catcher for the Texans, reeling in 12 of 14 targets for 140 yards. The Bengals were a sieve to opposing tight ends last year (they allowed 258 more yards to opposing tight ends than any other team), but Schultz commanding a 25% target share without Collins is notable regardless of the matchup. Schultz remains a clear-cut fantasy starter if Collins misses Week 3.

7. Xavier Hutchinson led the Texans’ WR room with 53 routes and nine targets but managed just three catches for 37 yards. He’s now averaging 6.0 yards per target for his career. Kayshon Boutte matched Hutch with 3/37/0 but finished a clear second in routes with 50. Jaylin Noel was predictably third in routes with 40 but caught just one of five targets for 31 yards, while Jared Wayne played plenty as the WR4 (28 routes) but caught only two of seven targets for 33 yards. Boutte is the most interesting guy here, but he’s new to the team and might not be fully acclimated to the scheme yet. Collins will dominate volume again whenever he gets healthy, and Hutchinson is a valued run blocker, so the ceiling with Boutte isn’t that exciting unless Collins misses more time and Boutte ascends into a more substantial role.

8. Chase Brown out-carried Samaje Perine 20-2. Perine ran 15 routes on 24 snaps. The Bengals have seemingly moved away from the run split they used over the back half of last season (Brown out-carried Perine 87-52 after Perine returned from injury last year).

9. Tucker Kraft caught two of three targets for 15 yards. But the ramp-up period is over. He played a ridiculous 98% of snaps and ran 30 routes on 32 dropbacks. Fresh off an extension and a breakout 2025 campaign, Kraft projects as an upper-half TE1 rest-of-season, and he’s one of only a few guys with a real shot to finish as the TE3 behind McBride and Bowers.

10. Jayden Reed suffered a scary-looking injury early and played only two snaps. Skyy Moore stepped in as the primary slot here but ran only 16 routes on 32 dropbacks, and he managed just six yards on three targets. Assuming Reed misses time, this offense will condense further on Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and the aforementioned Kraft. Watson (11 targets) and Golden (six) remained in high-snap roles and combined for 17 of Jordan Love‘s 29 pass attempts on Sunday. Jonnu Smith played just 22% of snaps, with blocking TE Mark Redman filling in as the TE2.