Volume is the lifeblood of fantasy football success. The Fantasy Football Workload Report was created to help visualize the crucial snaps, targets, touches, air yards, and other advanced usage metrics in an easily digestible PDF.
The Workload Report is broken into three distinct sections: opportunity, production, and results. The ultimate 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 continue to fine-tune this.
Make sure you read the Week 1 Workload Report for an introduction to some of the categories included.
This week I decided to shorten up the PDF version of the report, as I only sorted per position in some of the main categories. Don’t worry, for all of you data nerds I am still including an excel version of this so that you can dig into everything yourself.
In addition to the Weekly Rankings (scroll down to the bottom of the article), I have included a lot more analysis and screenshots from the report on different categories of players that stuck out to me. Hopefully, this will help you find actionable ways to read the report.
Any feedback you have, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and we can talk shop!
The Workload Report: Week 6
Excel Version of the Report – Available Here
Week 6 Fantasy All-Stars
Clearing the 40 point mark is quite the feat, and that’s exactly what Derrick Henry did with his 264 all-purpose yard performance. His day was highlighted by his 94-yard touchdown run to start the fourth quarter, but he dominated the Texans on the ground all game. The Big Dog ate this week, and if you didn’t have him in DFS you were probably on the outside looking in.
When Julio Jones plays, the Falcons offense clicks. And the exact opposite can be said when he sits. Jones was an integral part of the Falcons offense that dismantled the Vikings defense on Sunday. He accounted for 137 yards through the air and 2 scores and completely bailed Matt Ryan with his 40-yard catch and run touchdown at the end of the third quarter.
We have to talk about Justin Jefferson, who up until Week 6 was quietly having one of the best rookie receiving seasons. There is nothing quiet about it now after he scored 39.7 fantasy points on a day when seemingly everyone else on his team was DFS chalk. Jefferson accounted for a 42% air yard share and a 31% target share on Sunday. This guy is looking like the future for the Vikings.
Saved by the Endzone
Oftentimes, tight ends are going to show up in this category and this week there are quite a few of them.
Trey Burton has performed really well for the Colts after coming back from injury. However, I am sure he infuriated Jonathan Taylor owners with his rushing touchdown on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins saw Durham Smythe and Adam Shaheen, their TE2 and TE3, both score on Sunday while their young stud Mike Gesicki put up a goose egg. So goes it for all of us trying to figure out the Tight end position every week. So far, not many guys have proven themselves to be touchdown-independent.
A Touchdown away from Breaking the Slate
The Kansas City Chiefs came in with a gameplan to pound the ball on the ground against the Bills and that’s exactly what Clyde Edwards-Helaire did on Monday night. Averaging over 6 yards per carry, and potentially carrying an extra little chip on his shoulder after the Chiefs went out and signed Le’veon Bell, CEH reminded us all of his elite explosiveness. He topped 20 PPR points without finding paydirt.
Keelan Cole continued the Jacksonville Jaguars frustrating game of wide receiver roulette. It seems that every week a different guy from the Jaguars goes off and it’s often tough to pinpoint who. This week it was Cole, who saw 184 air yards on a 20% target share.
Biggest Week 6 Breakouts
With the Patriots in a negative game script, it’s no surprise that James White had a breakout week (relative). White accounted for 37% of the Patriots PPR points on Sunday, but the challenging part of this offense is going to be predicting when the Patriots will be in a negative game script. They entered this game as a 10 point favorite, and couldn’t overcome the Broncos six field goals to come away with a win.
It’s a positive to see Davante Adams on this list after the Packers’ complete stinker of a game. Obviously, his delta is going to be large after missing the last couple of weeks, however, the fact that he saw 10 targets and accounted for 26% of the Packers PPR points against the Bucs is a positive sign that he is back healthy.
Biggest Week 6 Busts
It appears that Rex Burkhead has officially taken a back seat in the Patriots backfield. James White out-snapped him while Damien Harris and even Jakob Johnson were close behind him. I think Burkhead is worth dropping in all leagues.
Mike Evans has been a confusing player all season. I think he leads the league in games where 1-yard touchdown passes are the only reception (unofficial stat), and on Sunday when the Bucs put up 38 points against the Packers he only caught 1 pass for 10 yards.
Dominating the Dominator Rating
Amari Cooper was just about the only bright spot for the Cowboys on Monday against Cardinals. Cooper caught the Cowboys only touchdown, which helped his dominator rating this week, but he also saw double-digit targets. It appears that our worries from last week have gone away and we can load up Cooper as an every-week WR1.
Travis Kelce continues to be a touchdown machine for the Chiefs and he lit up the Bills decimated linebacker corps on Monday night. Kelce saw a 40% air yard share for the Chiefs which is a big positive with Sammy Watkins out.
Air Yards = Future Production
So far this season, we have talked in depth about Air Yards, so I think that most people now have a good grasp on how to utilize this stat. In Week 4, I introduced a new stat to the worksheet for receiver air conversion ratio (RACR).
Everyone who has been disappointed in DJ Moore this season can take a deep breath after Moore accounted for 43% of the Panthers receiving yards and 46% of their air yards. Moore’s RACR was above 0.9 in Weeks 2 through 5, and he still put up a respectable 0.78 rate on Sunday. Turning opportunity into production through the air is what we want to see.
Receiving Alpha Dogs
Rushing Yard Alpha Dogs
Budding Bell-Cows
Devonta Freeman has officially taken over lead running back duties for the New York Giants. In Week 6, he saw 73% of snaps and 69% of the rushing attempts. He also got a couple of targets which is something positive to look out for.
Losing their Grip on RB1 status
Falling out of Favor in the Receiving Corps
Honorable Work Ethic
It’s tough to criticize these iron men who are stepping out on the field pretty much anytime their offense runs a play. A couple of these guys turned in disappointing weeks, but the opportunity is clearly there.
The Workload Report: Week 6
Excel Version of the Report – Available Here
Running Back Rankings
Runaway Bell-Cows
- Alvin Kamara
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Derrick Henry
- Mike Davis
- Aaron Jones
- Miles Sanders
- Kareem Hunt
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire
- Josh Jacobs
- Chris Carson
- Joe Mixon
- David Montgomery
- James Robinson
- David Johnson
- Myles Gaskin
- Devin Singletary
- Devonta Freeman
- Ronald Jones
Bell-cows Dealing with a 3rd Down/Goal-Line Vulture
- James Conner
- Antonio Gibson
- Jonathan Taylor
- Kenyan Drake
- Alexander Mattison
- Todd Gurley
- Melvin Gordon (assuming he is back this week)
Running Back by Committee (RBBC) w/ Fantasy Potential
- Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, JK Dobbins
- Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley
- Darrell Henderson, Cam Akers, Malcolm Brown
- Jerick McKinnon, Jeff Wilson, JaMycal Hasty
Untouchable backfield until further notice
- Adrian Peterson, Kerryon Johnson, D’Andre Swift
- Damien Harris, James White, Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel
- Frank Gore, Lamical Perine, Trevon Wesco
Wide Receiver Rankings
Alpha Target Hogs
- DeAndre Hopkins
- Davante Adams
- Michael Thomas
- Keenan Allen
- Adam Thielen
- Allen Robinson
- Stefon Diggs
- Kenny Golladay
- Jamison Crowder
- Marquise Brown
- Tyreek Hill
- AJ Brown
- Terry McLaurin
Receiving Room Busting with Talent
- Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones
- DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett
- Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup
- Mike Evans, Chris Godwin
- Robby Anderson, DJ Moore
- Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp
- JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, James Washington
- Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry
- Will Fuller, Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb
Fantasy Breakout Waiting to Happen
- Devante Parker, Preston Williams, Isaiah Ford
- Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, Mike Thomas
- Darius Slayton, Golden Tate
- Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, KJ Hamler
- Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Kendrick Bourne
- DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault, Keelan Cole
- Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow, Nelson Agholor
Tough to Count on as your WR3
- Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Damiere Byrd
- TY Hilton, Zach Pascal
- Greg Ward, Travis Fulgham, DeSean Jackson
Tight End Rankings
Every Week Baller
- Travis Kelce
- George Kittle
- Mark Andrews
- Darren Waller
- Hunter Henry
- TJ Hockenson
- Jonnu Smith
- Noah Fant
- Jared Cook
- Jimmy Graham
Fantasy Relevant
- Mike Gesicki
- Evan Engram
- Hayden Hurst
- Robert Tonyan
- Eric Ebron
- Austin Hooper
- Trey Burton
Fantasy Potential
- Dalton Schultz
- Tyler Eifert
- Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate
- Gerald Everett, Tyler Higbee
- Logan Thomas
- Irv Smith, Kyle Rudolph
- Greg Olsen
- Richard Rodgers
Out there to Block
- Chris Herndon
- Dawson Knox
- Drew Sample
- Darren Fells, Jordan Akins
- Darrell Daniels
- Ian Thomas
- Ryan Izzo
