Is scoring back for good? After weeks of relatively low fantasy football scoring due to lackluster offenses and defensive domination, is scoring actually back? We had shootouts between the Ravens and Bengals, the Colts and Jaguars, and the Giants and Seahawks. The Bills and Texans, Cardinals and 49ers, and Cowboys and Steelers all played tight, even matches. Does this mean offenses are finally adjusting to defenses and our fantasy scoring will begin to go up? Perhaps, but each and every week is only one piece of a season-long puzzle.
This weekly piece will look at an interesting usage note for each team during every NFL week. If you have interesting usage notes, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter/X (@CableBoxScore) and let me know. Let’s dive into the NFL Week 5 usage!
NFL Week 5 Usage Trends
ARIZONA CARDINALS
Dortch Drop Off
ATLANTA FALCONS
Bijan Still Does Work in the Red Zone
A lot has been made about the low usage of Bijan Robinson, but he was still #1 in the red zone. Robinson saw three red zone touches in the shootout with Tampa Bay. None of his other teammates had more than one.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Likely Laps Andrews
Just when we thought Mark Andrews’ playing time was ascending, Isaiah Likely plays 71% of snaps and Mark Andrews plays just 55%. At least Andrews caught four passes for 55 yards. However, Likely is the one who left the game with two touchdowns.
BUFFALO BILLS
Allen’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Josh Allen was 9-for-30 passing on Sunday, and NFL Next Gen Stats gave him a record for 2024. With his 30% completion rate, Josh Allen was 22.1% under his expected completion rate of 52.1%. According to Next Gen Stats, that 22% gap was the largest for any quarterback this season.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Chuba Regression Coming?
In Week 5, only Tank Bigsby had more rushing yards over expectation per attempt than Chuba Hubbard’s 3.69. On the season, among backs with at least 60 rush attempts, Hubbard is fourth with 115 rushing yards over expectation. That could just mean he is incredibly efficient, or it could mean some regression is coming soon.
CHICAGO BEARS
Swift Fully Back
After taking a back seat to Roshon Johnson a couple of weeks ago, D’Andre Swift is fully back. Swift played 67% of the snaps, and 120 yards and one touchdown on 23 touches.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
Brown Rising
Chase Brown’s snaps share keeps rising and threatening Zack Moss. On Sunday, Brown played 33% of snaps and still out-touched Moss 15 to 13. They both had three red zone opportunities, but Brown is the one who came away with a touchdown.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Foreman Doing the Work
Perhaps looking for some kind of spark for this miserable offense, D’Onta Foreman has been getting a lot more work lately. After 16% and 22% of snaps in the past two weeks, he was over 34% in Week 5 and had 10 touches for 60 yards. It’s something to watch as this team tries to distance itself from the Deshaun Watson passing game.
DALLAS COWBOYS
Dowdle Crosses 50%
For the first time all year, Rico Dowdle crossed the 50% mark for snaps. He compiled 22 touches for 114 yards and a touchdown and is very close to being cemented as a bellcow running back with this team.
DENVER BRONCOS
Courtland Sutton Droppable?
That’s now four of five weeks where Courtland Sutton has four or fewer catches. He also has fewer than 40 yards in three of five games as he and Bo Nix have not established chemistry yet. The Denver running backs and Bo Nix are all getting it done on the ground, which is leaving Sutton behind.
DETROIT LIONS
The Detroit Lions Did Not Play in Week 5
Life lately 📸
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 6, 2024
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Heath Off the Bench
With both Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs out on Sunday, it was Malik Heath who played 76% of snaps and saw three targets. Many predicted it would be Bo Melton in that role, but he played just 49%.
HOUSTON TEXANS
X-Man Hutchinson
With Nico Collins only playing 13% of snaps before leaving with a hamstring injury, the Texans primarily rolled Xavier Hutchinson out there with Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs. Hutchinson played 71% of snaps. While that is a strong number, most of the targets are going to Dell and Diggs while Collins is out.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Sermon/Goodson Split
With Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson missing this game the backfield split ended up like this: Trey Sermon played on 59% of the snaps and touched the ball 16 times for 63 yards and a score. Tyler Goodson played on 41% and touched the ball eight times for an efficient 57 yards.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Tank Takes Over
Did Travis Etienne just get Wally Pipp’ed by Tank Bigsby? Bigsby ran all over the Colts for 129 total yards and two touchdowns on 14 touches. Travis Etienne had 12 touches of his own, amassing 60 total yards. It was actually a good performance from Etienne, but Bigsby looked electric in this game.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
JuJu Smith-Schuster Lives!
Nine catches for 130 yards while on the Chiefs was not something I had on my bingo card this fantasy football season, but Patrick Mahomes may have found a new favorite wide receiver weapon. Only Justin Watson (no targets) and Travis Kelce ran more routes than Smith-Schuster.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
Bowers Without Adams Could be the TE1
Despite catching balls from two miserable quarterbacks putting on awful performances, Brock Bowers proved he can be QB-proof and still compete for the overall TE1 role. Bowers finished the game with eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
The Los Angeles Chargers Did Not Play in Week 5
recharge 🔋
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 2, 2024
LOS ANGELES RAMS
Blake Corum Emerges
Out of nowhere, rookie Blake Corum got 14% of snaps after zero snaps in the last two weeks. The former Michigan running back had 33 yards on just six touches and may have worked himself into a slightly larger role backing up Kyren Williams moving forward.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Running Back Usage With Achane Out
With De’Von Achane leaving the game against New England early with a concussion, the snap share looked like this: Raheem Mostert played on 56% of snaps and had 21 touches. Jaylen Wright played on 32% of snaps and had 13 of his own.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Jefferson Fed But Still Hungry
Despite receiving 14 targets (a season-high), Justin Jefferson caught just six of them for 92 yards. Much of that was due to the blanket coverage of Sauce Gardner, but it shows that Justin Jefferson could have much bigger games ahead with Sam Darnold.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Running Back Equal Split
Despite the news that Antonio Gibson would start because of Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumbling issues, it was a split backfield. Both played 47% of snaps and Stevenson out-touched Gibson 16 to seven with Stevenson also scoring a touchdown. So much for the more valuable Gibson starting role.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Juwan Johnson Full-Time Role
Juwan Johnson climbed above 75% of snaps for the first time this season. It was Foster Moreay who stole the touchdown from him once again, but Johnson had five catches for 31 yards as he continues to look better and better from his foot injury suffered this summer.
NEW YORK GIANTS
Darius Slayton’s Malik Nabers Impression
Darius Slayton took some notes from Malik Nabers or something because he looked an awful lot like him on Sunday. Slayton finished with 11 targets, eight receptions, 122 yards, and a touchdown as the Giants traveled across the country and beat the Seahawks.
NEW YORK JETS
Is This a Split Backfield?
The snap share for the Jets’ backfield tells a story that this role belongs to Breece Hall, but the touches and the efficiency are telling a different story. In Week 5, Allen had six touches for 28 yards while Hall had 12 touches for 37 yards. It may not sound like much for Allen, but Hall now has 27 combined rushing yards over the last two weeks while Allen has 47.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
The Philadelphia Eagles Did Not Play in Week 5
Week 6. Back to work. pic.twitter.com/t2gzhBRigF
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 7, 2024
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Calvin Austin III PLaying Over Pickens?
George Pickens had one of his “I don’t look like I care” games against the Cowboys on Sunday night. That might explain why Calvin Austin III played 76% of snaps to just 59% for Pickens. A week after catching seven balls for 113 yards, Pickens caught just three for 26.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Jennings Comes Down to Earth
With all pass-catchers healthy, Jauan Jennings came back to earth after two amazing weeks. He played just 56% of snaps and caught one ball for 13 yards. He is a nice stash to have in case there is another injury, but he’s not startable in the meantime.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Kenneth Walker Crash and Burn
A week after scoring three touchdowns, Kenneth Walker was given just five rush attempts against the Giants because…why? They couldn’t get him established with a sporadic workload, which led to a poor game and a stunning home loss for the Seahawks.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Will White Ever Score?
With how pass-heavy the Tampa Bay offense is this year, and how well Bucky Irving is doing in the receiving game, will Rachaad White ever score? He has no touchdowns this season, even after his most efficient game of the year. White rushed 10 times for 72 yards and also caught three passes. But he had one red zone touch compared to four for Irving.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans Did Not Play in Week 5
Coach Cally’s first victory speech 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/OWC6nM3A9O
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 1, 2024
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
One McCaffrey is Still Productive
While one McCaffrey brother is still nursing some kind of leg injury that requires him to take a trip to Germany to diagnose it, the other one just set his season-high for snap share in Washington. Rookie Luke McCaffrey is proving to be a valuable slot player in this high-octane offense and was rewarded with 66% of snaps this week.
Data Sources: Pro Football Focus, NFL Next Gen Stats, Football Guys Snap Summary, FTN Air Yards, Pro Football Reference, Team Rankings, Fantasy Points Data Suite
Make sure to check out all of our Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!