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. One week after posting a 64% target share, Malik Nabers went out and earned 12 of 34 Giants targets for a still-ridiculous 35.3% share. He’s the WR1 in PPR leagues through three weeks despite the tumultuous play of Daniel Jones. The Giants’ offense wholly revolves around Nabers, and he’s a mid-tier WR1 at worst right now.

2. Tyrone Tracy‘s 36% route rate was his highest of the year, and PFF’s Nathan Jahnke pointed out that he played a little more on early downs as well as getting the snaps in the 2-minute drill. Tracy had played over Devin Singletary at the goal line in Weeks 1-2, but Singletary plunged in a short TD on Sunday. Singletary still has a massive edge in carries, but Tracy’s workload is trending up.

3. The Cleveland backfield is a huge pain. D’Onta Foreman played one snap in Week 1, then led the backfield in carries (14-7 over Jerome Ford) last week. On Sunday, Foreman played 11 snaps and got two carries, while Ford had 10. Ford has been the primary pass-catching back in all three games, but the carries distribution is extremely volatile. Since Ford has led in two of three weeks (and was more effective than Foreman in Week 3), he should be expected to lead the backfield in Week 4, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Foreman randomly plays more again.