2020 Fantasy Football: The Workload Report – Week 2

Last updated: Wednesday, September 23rd at 8:45pm EST – WR & RB rankings and analysis included, FINAL Report posted (including snaps), EXCEL version available.

**DOWNLOAD HERE: The Workload Report – Week 2 2020**

**EXCEL VERSION OF THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE HERE**

The report is broken up into three distinct sections: Opportunity, Production, and Results and the goal is to dive in and find out where these coveted fantasy points are coming from every week for every team. I envision that these categories will stay the same throughout the season, but some of the specific stats may change as I work on fine-tuning this.

OPPORTUNITY

“Snaps” and “Snap %” – Measures how many times a player was on the field that game, and how often they were on the field relative to their team’s offense.

“Targets” and “Target %” – Tracks how many receiving targets that player saw and then compares to their team’s total targets from that week. These numbers remove any plays that ended in QB throwaways.

“Attempts” and “Rush %” – Same thing as above except for rushing attempts.

“Involvement: INV” – The percentage of that player’s snaps that they were targeted or had a rushing attempt.

“Usage: USG” – The percentage of the time that player had a rush attempt or target out of their team’s total rush attempts and targets.

PRODUCTION

Rushing Yards, Receiving Yards, and TDs are easy ones and the associated percentages listed are based on the team’s totals for the week. This accounts for Quarterback rushing yardage.

Air Yards – The total distance that a football is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage to the point of reception. This number also includes incomplete air yards from passes that were off the mark, batted down by a defender, or dropped by the receiver. Air Yards is a critical stat to look at because it helps enlighten us about which receivers had the most opportunity regardless of the outcome for every target. They show which receivers the coaching staff (and/or Quarterback) is trying to feed the ball.

Dominator Rating – Simply put, this a combined statistic to help show the amount of yards and touchdowns that each player is responsible for. Currently, for running backs it is skewed two-thirds towards total yardage and one-third towards touchdowns. For wide receivers and tight ends, it is one-half total yardage, one-sixth Air Yardage, and one-third touchdowns.

RESULTS

PPR and PPR % – This is the amount of fantasy points that each player earned that week and the percentage relative to their team. This does not include quarterback points, so it is only relative to all skill position players.

The Workload Report: Week 2

**EXCEL VERSION OF THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE HERE**

WIDE RECEIVERS

Alpha Target Hogs

1. DeAndre Hopkins – He cooled off a bit in Week 2, however his chemistry with Kyler Murray appears to be legit. The Cardinals are a really exciting team this season, and Hopkins should see insane volume. Important to not lose sight of Christian Kirk who accounted for 110 air yards in week 2 and has seen 30% of the team’s air yard share each of the first two weeks. The blowup game is coming.
2. Davante Adams – After going off for 14 catches in Week 1, the Packers pulled Davante Adams in the 3rd quarter against the hapless Lions. As evidenced by Aaron Jones’ monster day, the Packers have two true elite players and a bunch of fill-the-gap guys. Adams will be a target-hog every week he is healthy, and maybe even when he isn’t (see 2019 playoffs).
3. Tyreek Hill – Hill and Mahomes put on a deep-pass clinic during their 2nd half TD connection last Sunday. That’s the upside you get with Tyreek Hill. With the amount of weapons the Chiefs have, there is always the possibility of a meager 4 catch outing for the speedster, but you cannot risk a 2 TD explosion on your bench either. Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins have underwhelmed so far this year.
4. Keenan Allen – Justin Herbert found out he was starting five minutes before the game and ended up performing extremely well against the reigning Super Bowl champs. By his side for 98% of the 83 offensive snaps was Allen who saw 10 targets in Week 2. Allen accounted for 37% of the Chargers air yards on Sunday. Herbert looks like the future and I think that moves Allen into the WR1 conversation this season.
5. Terry McLaurin – It was pretty tough to not see this breakout season coming for McLaurin. Dwayne Haskins has looked a lot more serviceable to start the season, and McLaurin has been off the charts. His Week 2 stat line only reads 94% of snaps, 30% of targets, 56% of receiving yards, and 39% of Air Yards. Oh yea, and one touchdown. WR1 until proven otherwise.
6. Julian Edelman – Cam Newton is arguably a top five quarterback right now and Edelman is coming off a career week where he went bonkers and racked up 179 receiving yards. Keep your eye on N’Keal Harry as the season progresses (85% of snaps, 22% of Air Yards in Week 2), but I think he is making too many early season mistaked for Bill Belichick (and fantasy owners) to trust him. Edelman is looking like a double digit round sweetheart for right now.
7. Adam Thielen – It’s tough to write any good things about the Vikings offense right now, which looks like it is stuck in another century, however Adam Thielen is clearly their target-hof. Both games this year he has accounted for 30% of targets and close to 50% of the Air yards. It does look like touchdowns are going to be at a premium for this Minnesota team.
8. Jamison Crowder – A couple people might be looking at the Jets personnel groupings this week and see the increased 12 personnel and be optimistic about a future Chris Herndon blowup week. Well the truth is the Jets could not suit up enough healthy receivers to even roll out 11 personnel by the end of their Week 2 matchup. When healthy, Crowder is seemingly going to get every target from Sam Darnold. Unless you trust Braxton Berrios and Josh Malone, who I didn’t even know were NFL receivers until I put together this week’s report.

Receiver Room Busting with Talent

9. Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones, Russell Gage – Through two weeks, this is very clearly Calvin Ridley’s breakout year. He accounted for over 30% of his team’s PPR fantasy points in both of the games this season and is the 4th most targeted receiver in football. I refuse to listen to the Julio haters, this man is an absolute specimen and I think the two-catch outing on Sunday will be an outlier game. As we saw in week 1, this Falcons team has the potential for three receivers to hit 100 yards, when you account for the speedy Russell Gage.
10. Mike Evans & Chris Godwin – Goodbye Scotty Miller hype. In a week without Godwin, Evans completely dominated the Bucs receiving volume. He saw 10 targets and turned that into 104 yards and one touchdown. I would load up Godwin and Evans every week and let Miller and Justin Watson make their way to the waiver wires.
11. Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup – The Michael Gallup week is coming, I can feel it. Back-to-back weeks seeing 5 targets and almost 30% of the air yards has turned into a couple of duds from a fantasy perspective. Luckily the Cowboys face the pass-happy Seahawks team this week, and all three receivers may be viable to start in DFS. Get your over bets ready folks, we are in for a shootout.
12. Diontae Johnson, Juju Smith-Schuster, James Washington, Chase Claypool – Johnson has been an absolute treat to watch to start the season. His route running, catch radius, and after the catch agility are all popping off the screen when you watch the Steelers. I’m listing him before JuJu here because he truly is the most reliable Pitssburgh pass-catcher. Go scoop up Chase Claypool while you can, he won’t be on the waivers for long. It appears that Pittsburgh has hit yet another wide receiver lottery ticket.
13. Stefon Diggs & John Brown – Diggs has quickly quieted all the haters this year after hauling in 153 receiving yards in Week 2. Josh Allen is getting whatever he wants so far this season, and all three of these guys have benefitted. All three finished the week with double-digit PPR points and more than 70 yards receiving. Diggs and Brown are must-starts every week, while Beasley is a viable WR4/Flex play.
14. DK Metcalf & Tyler Lockett – Russell Wilson is the early leader in the clubhouse for 2020 league MVP and his two receivers are the biggest #LetRussCook fans out there. Neither Metcalf (100% of snaps) or Lockett (95%) are coming off the field when Seattle is on offense, and they both almost cleared 20 fantasy points last week. I haven’t figured out yet who is going to emerge as the top option, and for that reason they find themselves this low on the rankings list. If the fantasy points stay this evenly distributed, the Seahawks are going to continue to be a DFS must-stack.
15. Cooper Kupp & Robert Woods – Sean McVay is back to doing Sean McVay things and the Rams find themselves sitting at 2-0. It probably helps that Goff is going to be able to hear his coach at the line of scrimmage this year (even on the road), but they face their first big test this week against the Bills defense. I anticipate their RB situation will turn into less of a committee as the season progresses, and Tyler Higbee is coming off an absolute ceiling game (3 TDs), so the fantasy production should keep picking up steam for Kupp & Woods.
16. DJ Moore & Robby Anderson – Anderson is the most recent example of a player who blows up after leaving an Adam Gase ran team. While the speedy deep threat has raked in the fantasy points the first two weeks, DJ Moore is an absolute highlight reel. With McCaffrey out, I expect we will be seeing a ton of Moore (he only had 171 Air Yards against the Bucs). DJ Moore was one of my favorite wideouts last season, and he has picked up right where he left off in 2020.
17. AJ Green & Tyler Boyd – AJ Green was the ultimate disappointment on Thursday night against the Browns. Somehow, he turned 13 targets and 206 ai yards into 3 catches and 29 real yards. It doesn’t add up. Either Green is going to start producing much more efficiently or Burrow is going to start looking Boyd’s way. Remember this is an offense that passed the ball 59 times (61 attempts with 2 throwaways) this week, so it’s tough to argue that the opportunity isn’t going to be there.
18. Odell Beckham & Jarvis Landry – Landry only saw three targets in Week 2, but still was able to manufacture 46 receiving yards. OBJ found the end zone for the first time in seemingly forever. I am worried about the usage in the Browns backfield, but I think Cleveland will see themselves fall behind a lot more frequently this year which bodes well for their two stud receivers.

Fantasy Breakout Waiting to Happen

19. Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, Willie Snead – Although Brown was the most highly rated coming into the season, this grouping has been pretty even to start the 2020 season. They are all hovering around 60% snaps and a 20% target rate. Brown has seen the most Air Yards on the team, however has not had a big fantasy game yet. I think the breakout year is coming for Hollywood, I’m just having trouble pinpointing his first blowup game.
20. DJ Chark, Keelan Cole, Laviska Shenault – Keelan Cole is available on your waivers right now (most likely) and he shouldn’t be. Through two weeks, he has seen more targets and scored more fantasy points than Chark. Both of these guys should be able to fit in as WR3 in your lineups.
21. Allen Robinson & Anthony Miller – Trubisky is somehow playing well and has the Bears off to a 2-0 start. Neither of his top two receivers have been consistent early on this season. Miller had the big TD catch in week 1, but then only saw 3 targets in week 3. Robinson followed up a 74 yard performance in week 1 with a 33 yard disappointment on Sunday. I would imagine that Robinson starts to pick up some steam here, but you never know with the Bears.
22. Davante Parker & Preston Williams – Now that Herbert is starting for the Chargers, all Miami fans are wondering how much longer until Tua takes over? It’s worth noting that Mike Gesicki is basically a slot receiver at this point (more to come in next week’s TE writeup), but Parker and Williams both still have upside.
23. Darius Slayton, Golden Tate – As expected, Slayton’s overall fantasy output took a hit with Golden Tate back healthy this week. Shepard just hit IR and isn’t eligible to come back until Week 6, so we should be in line for another big week for Slayton.
24. Desean Jackson – Jalen Reagor just hit IR, so you have to imagine the 30 point week is upon us for Desean Jackson. So far he has been disappointing (Eagles offense as a whole really), but he accounted for 41% of the Air Yards in Week 1 and 24% in week 2. This has only resulted in 19 fantasy points (PPR) to date, but I think he clears that mark in this week alone.
25. Jerry Jeudy & KJ Hamler – Jeudy was the more decorated prospect coming out of the draft, but Hamler has matched him stride for stride to start the season. How much do we trust Jeff Driskel, that is the big question lingering over fantasy owners this week.
26. TY Hilton, Michael Pittman, Zach Pascal – Philly Rivs has slung the rock around so far this season, it just hasn’t necessarily equaled wide receiver production. I don’t imagine that Mo Alie-Cox will be an 100 yard per week guy, and Jonathan Taylor looks to be settling in nicely to the every down role. Hilton could be in for a big week as the clear WR1 option on the team.
27. Emmanuel Sanders, TreQuan Smith, Deonte Harris – Tre’Quan Smith is also a guy who should be scopped up off waiver wires until we see Michael Thomas hit the field again. He had more targets and yards than Sanders in their Monday night matchup against the Raiders.

Tough to Count on as your WR3

28. Marvin Jones, Quintez Cephus, Danny Amendola – If Kenny Golladay is back this week, this whole Lions offense changes. Stafford needs his deep threat weapon back. If Golladay plays he is in a smash spot against Arizona. If he is out for a third week, I’m not sure this receiving core will be able to pace with Kyler Murray and the explosive Cardinals.
29. Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb, Kenny Stills – Poor Will Fuller. The Texans signed two more WRs today, so you have to expect that Fuller is really hurt. Cooks had one of the quieter 95-yard receiving weeks in recent memory, so he could be a sneaky DFS play this week.
30. Corey Davis & Adam Humphries – We need AJ Brown. I don’t believe in Corey Davis, I’m sorry. Moving on.
31. Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow, Bryan Edwards – When Darren Waller accounts for 16 targets on Monday night football it’s tough to talk about any of the receivers. None of them are reliable in a weekly format at this point.
32. Kendrick Bourne, Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Taylor – Poor San Francisco. They have to battle the New York turf once again in Week 3. Praying for no more injuries to this decimated team.

RUNNING BACKS

Runaway Bell-Cows

1. Derrick Henry – He only followed up his 31 carry performance in week 1 with a 25 carry showing on Sunday against the Jaguars. Derrick Henry is the definition of a bell-cow early in the 202 season. Even though he underperformed as DFS chalk this week, King Henry is going to keep pounding the rock all year.
2. Ezekiel Elliott – Vultured three times at the goal line by Dak Prescott this weekend, Zeke was really close to having a huge day. He’s looking like a stud this year.
3. Alvin Kamara – As expected, Kamara stepped into a do-it-all role in the absence of Michael Thomas. He led the team in rushing and receiving yards and scored two touchdowns. With Barkley & CMC out, overall RB1 is well within his reach.
4. Josh Jacobs – While 12 different players saw a target from Derek Carr on Monday, Josh Jacobs saw 77% of the rushing attempts in Las Vegas’ surprise victory over the Saints. He’s locked in as an every week RB1.
5. Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Don’t expect Mahomes to lead the team in rushing yards very often, however this is the risk you take with the Chiefs and all of their weapons. There are a lot of spots to spread out the fantasy points and that’s what we saw week 2.
6. David Johnson – With Duke Johnson out, David Johnson was the only running back to get a carry for the Texans this week. He faces a tough battle against Pittsburgh this week, but he is definitely touting a bell-cow workload to start 2020.
7. Chris Carson – Another monster game in primetime, Carson has now accounted for over 20% of Seattle’s PPR points in each of their two first games. The 36 receiving yards are the most encouraging thing to see with him as they continue to #LetRussCook.
8. James Robinson – He eclipsed the 100 yard mark for the first time in his career on Sunday. Don’t let Chris Thompson’s touchdown scare you, Robinson got the same number of targets (4) on Sunday.
9. Aaron Jones – Yes, the Packers still gave opportunities to four running backs this weekend, however Aaron Jones led the team in targets (remember this is the same team who gave Davante Adams 17 targets last week). He’s their best running back and he showed it Sunday.
10. Jonathan Taylor – All aboard the JT hype train. Piling up 101 rushing yards and one touchdown on 26 carries on Sunday, he flashed his bell-cow potential. If he sees the same workload this week, he will move right on up the list.
11. Dalvin Cook – It looks like the Mattison vulture was merely a mirage, as Cook handled 78% of the carries on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Vikings offense looks disgusting.
12. James Conner – The reported time share between Conner and Benny Snell never stood a chance on Sunday as Conner only racked up 97% of the Steelers rushing yards. I hope this remains the norm for him.
13. Melvin Gordon – As expected, Royce Freeman didn’t make much of an impact. All things considered, Gordon put together a good fantasy day against a tough Pittsburgh defense.
14. Todd Gurley – Both Brian Hill & Ito Smith got 3+ carries this week. Gurley still looks to be the workhorse, but rushing volume doesn’t seem like it’s going to be there for Atlanta this season.

Bell-cows Dealing with a 3^rd Down/Goal-Line Vulture

15. Miles Sanders – Boston Scott did just enough this week to keep Miles Sanders from jumping into the group above. In his first game of the season Sanders impressed, but I think Scott continues to see valuable opportunities that make Sanders a little too reliant on TDs for my liking. I can’t seem to get a handle on this Philadelphia team yet this season.
16. Austin Ekeler – I’m holding out on Ekeler for one more week, but he’s close to hopping down into the next tier. Ekeler accounted for 148 yards on Sunday, the only problem is Joshua Kelley had 113 of his own.
17. Joe Mixon – Giovanni Bernard saw 5+ targets for the second straight week. His receiving role is cutting into Mixon’s bell-cow upside.
18. David Montgomery – Chicago paid Cohen this weekend and then proceeded to give him only one target and 5 rushing attempts. Montgomery looked good this weekend against the Giants.
19. Kenyan Drake – Saw his rushing attempt share increase to 62% (+9%) and rushing yardage share increase to 54% (+19%) in Week 2. Chase Edmonds is still in incredible talent, otherwise Drake would be higher on the list.
20. Wayne Gallman – I will be interested to see how much of a buzz there is around Gallman this week, and I think he could be a sneaky waiver wire pickup. He was a healthy scratch on Sunday, but with Saquon hurt I think they will lean on him as the every-down back and keep Dion Lewis as a change of pace. Predicting a large workload for Gallman, however he could easily drop down on this list after the week 3 games are played.

Running Back by Committee (RBBC) w/ Fantasy Potential

21. Nick Chubb & Kareem Hunt – Listing Chubb first here this week, seeing as he got more than twice as many carries as Hunt did, however Kareem was more efficient and each of them finished with two TDs. What we saw in the first three quarters makes it seem like Chubb should be confidently started as an RB1, however his upside is severely limited. You knew that coming into the season though.
22. Leonard Fournette & Ronald Jones – Things started out well for Ronald Jones owners with an early touchdown, but as soon as the first quarter ended it was all Fournette. It’s really hard to predict Bruce Arians, so I still don’t think I fully trust either of these guys.
23. Devin Singletary & Zack Moss – Nothing to write home about this week. This is Josh Allen’s team, looks to have the most rushing upside each week.
24. Antonio Gibson & JD McKissic – Gibson is starting to distance himself from the pack, accounting for 57% of Washington’s carries in week 2. The touchdown was nice and I expect that his volume will continue to grow.
25. Mark Ingram & Gus Edwards & JK Dobbins – Edwards was the leader in carries (10) and rushing yards (73) for the Ravens this week. Ingram got the only touchdown from the group. Bumping this committee down until someone takes control.
26. Darrell Henderson & Malcolm Brown – All that FAAB money you spent on Malcolm Brown only got 11 carries for 47 yards on Sunday. Henderson looked explosive, he will thrive without Cam Akers.
27. Jerick McKinnon & Jeff Wilson – This poor Niners team just cannot stay healthy to start the season. Mostert exited the game early, and it appears that Tevin Coleman is also on the shelf with a knee injury. I don’t have a great read on whether McKinnon will step into the every down role or if they will try and ride Wilson, so for now this backfield is staying in this tier.

Untouchable backfield until further notice

28. Adrian Peterson, D’Andre Swift, & Kerryon Johnson – The Lions passed three times as much as they ran this weekend, and you would expect a lot of the same negative game script this week against Arizona. Usage was split pretty evenly on the rushing side, but Swift showed some upside by turning five targets into 60 yards through the air. He’s got my attention.
29. Mike Davis & Alex Armah – I think this injury to McCaffrey is going to impact a lot of what the Panthers offense is built around. Davis saw 8 targets & 74 receiving yards, so he appears the most likely to step into the CMC’s dual threat role.
30. Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead, JJ Taylor – Prayers up for James White and his family, such a tragic story that we heard late Sunday. As it relates to football, Jakob Johnson aka Cam Newton’s lead blocker saw the most goal line work in the Sunday night primetime battle. Cam looks great, these Patriot RBs do not.
31. Myles Gaskin, Jordan Howard, Matt Breida – Feel free to drop Jordan Howard, sorry you wasted a 9^th round pick on him. Gaskin appears to be the guy, but until he takes over full control of the backfield, Miami is staying in the untouchable section.
32. Frank Gore, Josh Adams, Kalen Ballage, Lamical Perrine – Have to give credit to Frank Gore who at 37 years old saw 21 carries on Sunday. Not sure if the Jets will every see a positive game script this season, so it’s tough for me to get too excited.