Just the Stats: Usage Trends from Week 6 (Fantasy Football)
Every Monday during the NFL season, I want to give you a blitz of usage stats, scheme changes, and oddities from the previous week of the NFL. The goal is to give you a rapid fire, unfiltered look at how we digest a Sunday’s-worth of action and try to start deciphering what is valuable and what is not.
I wrote a 10 Usage Trends primer article before the season if you want more detail about some of the statistics and examples from the past. This data supplied in the article is noted under each statistic.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This data includes games played from Thursday-Sunday and does not include MNF games.
Team Scoring Expectation
I took the preseason scoring expectation for each team (implied point totals from all 17 games from DraftKings Sportsbook) and compared them with their current points per game averages.
- The Chargers fall from grace is hard to keep on watching. Based on pre-season expectations, they are -8.8 points per game through 6 weeks.
- Among the teams exceeding expectations, the Panthers and Raiders stand out. The Panthers rank 3rd in points per drive and have tied Las Vegas for fewest turnovers committed. The Raiders run game remains a mystery (32nd in explosive rush rate) but they rank 5th in EPA per drop back and 3rd best in pressure rate allowed
- The Vikings will be coming off a bye but despite being 5-0, they have pretty much scored what they were expected to score but the defense has been otherworldly. They’ve allowed 64 points in five games. They are only the 8th team over the last decade to accomplish that feat.
Play-Calling Metrics through 6 Weeks*
*Reminder that this data was gathered before SF & WAS played on MNF.
- It’s wild that 3 of the top-4 play-callers in terms of motion rate (MIA, TB, and LAC) are bottom-dwellers in points per drive and EPA per play.
- This highlights a bigger trend that the NFL has caught up to motion being a saving “flex tape” for all offensive woes. Here are the rates for NFL explosive Play % when using ANY motion:
- 2022- 11.1%
- 2023- 10.7%
- 2024- 10.8%
- 2025- 10.8%
- 2026- 10.0% (through 6 weeks)
- The teams that have been the least successful (in terms of EPA per play) have run a ton of 11-personnel. Every team (outside of Dallas) running 3+ WRs out on the field on 64+ percent of their snaps ranks in the bottom third of the NFL so far.
- Despite the Raiders running just 19.7% of their plays utilizing 11-personnel, Kirk Cousins is tied for the league lead in passing TDs through six weeks. That is not a sentence I thought I would be writing.
Receiving Usage in Week 6
This week, I wanted to focus on the % of team’s receiving yards. In other words, based on what happened in Week 6, who established dominance as the team’s alpha?
*Data per Fantasy Points Data Suite
- Carnell Tate had 69% of the Titans receiving yards! That is wild considering Cam Ward threw for 102 TOTAL yards?!
Highest % of Team's Receiving Yardage in a Game by a Rookie WR Since 2021
78%- Ladd McConkey (Wk 13 of 2024)
72%- Drake London (Wk 15 of 2022)
72%- DeVonta Smith (Wk 9 of 2021)
71%- Malik Nabers (Wk 2 of 2024)
69%- Carnell Tate (Wk 6 of 2026) 👀
67%- Puka Nacua (Wk 7 of 2023)— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) October 19, 2026
- DeVonta Smith was only 3rd on the team in routes BUT was targeted on 35% of his routes.
- Here is a hawt stat: Rookie WRs with a game of 11+ catches and a TD over the last decade: Ja’Marr Chase. Germie Bernard. End of list.
- Isaiah Likely now has 3 games of 20+ fantasy points as a Giant. In four years with Baltimore, he had just one!
- The Bears WRs were all over the map. Rome Odunze led the team in routes but was targeted on just 9% of them. Luther Burden trailed Kalif Raymond in routes run but he was targeted on a whopping 47% of his routes!
RB Metrics Through 6 Weeks
*Data per Fantasy Points Data Suite
I organized this week’s top RBs by % of team carries inside the 5-yard line.
- There have been only 3 RBs to score 13+ fantasy points (half-point leagues) in every single week so far: Kenneth Walker III, Jahmyr Gibbs, Chuba Hubbard.
- Javonte Williams is tied with Derrick Henry for the league lead in carries inside the 5-yard line. He set a career high with 20 last season and through six weeks, he has 15 according to our site.
- Jonathan Taylor is on pace for 462 receiving yards; he’s averaged 245 per season in his career.
- D’Andre Swift is on pace for 51 receptions. However, the rushing metrics are a bit puzzling. In Week 1, he was explosive averaging 6.9 yards per carry. Since then? It has been 3.6 yards per carry.