Hidden Stat Line: Targets, Routes & Snaps from Week 11

The team-by-team recaps will be a little shorter than usual this week, with the trio of Thursday games putting me on a tight schedule. If you haven't already, check out the twin brother to this article, Hidden Stat Line: 11 Backfield Breakdown, complete with sortable stat leaderboards, team-by-team usage recaps and RB waiver-wire recommendations for the upcoming week. 

Now, let's look at wide receivers and tight ends...

Week 11 Sortable Stat Leaderboards

Tight Ends

(Bold indicates Top 5 for the week)

Wide Receivers

(Bold indicates Top 10 for the week)

Game-by-Game Usage Breakdowns

(Snap shares come from pro-football-reference.com. Data on dropbacks and routes run comes from Pro Football Focus. Targets, targets share and air yards come from airyards.com.

Cardinals (21) at Seahawks (28)

Cardinals

• Dan Arnold had a four-yard TD, but he and fellow tight end Maxx Williams got just two targets apiece. Williams played 57% of snaps to Arnold's 39%, while Arnold had a 17-16 advantage in routes run.
• Kirk's snap share was a season high, up from 79%, 64% and 74% in his previous three games. He caught only six passes for 77 yards the past two weeks, but he does have four straight games with six or more targets, after averaging only 4.8 per game through his first five appearances this season.
• Kirk's increased snap share was a product of getting more work in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs). He played 12 of 15 snaps (80%) in that grouping, up from 20 of 51 (39%) over the previous three games.
• Hopkins played 10 of 15 snaps (67%) in 12 personnel, with Fitzgerald getting eight (53%). Looking at the previous three games, Hopkins played 85% and Fitzgerald 59%. In other words, Kirk's added playing time mostly came at Hopkins' expense, though it didn't make much difference in terms of routes run, as the Cardinals ran the ball on four of the five plays from 12 personnel where Hopkins wasn't on the field.
• Fitzgerald posted the exact same receiving line (8-62-0) he had in the first game against Arizona. He came close to 15 PPR points, but he still hasn't reached that benchmark since Week 10 of 2019 (and only once since Week 2 of 2019).
• Fitzgerald didn't see any of his 10 targets inside the red zone. He has just four RZ targets all year, and only two inside the 10-yard line. He still hasn't scored a TD.
• Chase Edmonds, Kenyan Drake and Arnold accounted for the team's four RZ targets. Hopkins has elite usage everywhere else on the field, but his six red-zone targets are a shockingly small number relative to his overall volume, and actually two fewer than Edmonds' team high of eight. Kirk also has six RZ targets, with each of those coming inside the 10 (and four resulting in TDs). Hopkins is second on the team with five inside-the-10 targets, converting only one of those for a score.
• Kyler Murray has only 34 dropbacks on 99 red-zone snaps, and only 19 dropbacks on 50 snaps inside the 10-yard line.

Seahawks

• Greg Olsen left the game in the fourth quarter after rupturing the plantar fascia in his left foot. Olsen is expected to be out for at least six weeks, which likely covers the remainder of the regular season.
• No. 3 TE Jacob Hollister played only 20% of snaps, and No. 4 WR Freddie Swain played 23%, his smallest share since Week 2.
• Moore played at least half the snaps for a third straight game, following a five-week stretch where his snap share had lingered between 29-to-43 percent. It hasn't meant much in terms of target volume, as he saw only 11 passes over the past three games.
• Lockett's 73% snap share was a season low, likely due to the knee injury that had him listed as questionable for Thursday's game. He looked fine from a performance standpoint, though he didn't dominate to the same extent he did in the Week 7 overtime loss to Arizona (that was his 15-200-3 game).
• Metcalf scored his ninth TD of the year, but he's seen only nine targets the past two weeks. Despite the mini-slump, he's averaging 4.8 catches for 86.2 yards and 0.9 TDs on 7.7 targets per game for the season.
• Dissly got way more playing time than Hollister, but the route advantage was only 8-7, and Hollister actually had a 3-1 edge in targets. We'll likely see a timeshare moving forward, and while Dissly's blocking should give him the advantage in terms of playing time, it could be Hollister who takes the field for third downs, the two-minute drill and other passing situations.

Titans (30) at Ravens (24) — OT

Titans

• Anthony Firkser played 40% of snaps and caught four of five targets for 33 yards. His 18 routes were only five fewer than Smith ran. Firkser and the three guys listed above were the only Titans with more than two targets.
• We've now seen Davis and Brown both play in five straight games. Over that stretch, Brown has 3.8 catches for 72.2 yards and 0.8 TDs on 7.0 targets per game, while Davis has averaged 4.8 receptions for 68.6 yards and 0.4 TDs on 7.2 targets.
• Brown ran seven more routes than Davis over the past two games, after they'd both ran 83 between Weeks 7-19.
• Smith scored his seventh TD of the season and saw six targets for a second straight week. He also left the game with an ankle injury at one point in the second half, but he returned with a wrap over his foot and was able to play 16 of 25 snaps between the fourth quarter and overtime.

Ravens

• Luke Willson played 11 snaps, with he and Andrews being Baltimore's only tight ends Sunday. (Nick Boyle suffered a season-ending knee injury Week 10.) Andrews reached 80% snap share for the first time in his career.
• The .88 routes/db was also a nice increase for Andrews, who was at 0.76 for the season prior to Sunday's loss.
• Bryant's snaps largely came at the expense of Devin Duvernay, who dropped to 20% snap share after getting 45%, 41% and 55% in his previous three games.
• Brown has been a total non-factor over the past five games, averaging 2.0 catches for 22.4 yards and 0.2 TDs on 4.6 targets. He's still running more routes than any of the other Baltimore WRs, but Snead has been far more productive the past five games, averaging 3.6 catches for 52.4 yards and 0.4 TDs on 5.4 targets.

Patriots (20) at Texans (27)

Pats

• Ryan Izzo played 81% of snaps and caught two of three targets for 59 yards. He had 50 of those yards on the final play of the game, catching a hail mary about 13 yards shy of the goal line.
• Byrd has played 92% of New England's offensive snaps this season, but he didn't have a TD or more than 80 yards in a game before Sunday's loss. He didn't seven get a target the previous week, and he's averaging only 4.8 per game for the year.
• Meyers played nearly every snap, but he apparently transferred his magic to Byrd. Meyers had seen seven or more targets in four straight games before Week 11, averaging 6.8 catches for 86.5 yards.
• Harry led the team in targets, but with an aDOT of only 4.1. Byrd had one fewer target, but four times as many air yards.

Texans

• Randall Cobb scored a touchdown on the opening drive, but he left the game with a foot injury after playing only five snaps. No. 4 WR Kenny Stills was also done after the first quarter, exiting due to a leg injury. Coutee filled in as the third wide receiver.

Bengals (9) at Washington Football Team (20)

Bengals

• It was a rough day for Higgins, who caught just three of his 10 targets in Joe Burrow's final game of the season. If you're a fan of silver linings, note that Higgins had the second-most air yards of any player in Week 11. Of course, the downfield usage is far less promising with Ryan Finley replacing Burrow under center.
• Boyd is the only Cincinnati pass catcher who has signifiant experience playing with new QB Ryan Finley. The slot man caught 12 passes for 163 yards and a TD in Finley's three starts last year, accounting for 20 of the 84 targets (24%) from RF5.
• Higgins got four of the 10 targets from Finley on Sunday, but each of them was incomplete. Boyd, Sample and Green saw two apiece.
• Finley has completed 44 of 97 passes (45.4%) for 5.2 YPA, two TDs and three INTs in four NFL appearances, also taking 15 sacks. He's probably the worst starting QB in the league now, with all due respect to Jake Luton.

WFTs

• Steven Sims, Isaiah Wright and J.D. McKissic split WR snaps behind McLaurin and Cam Sims. Steven Sims put up 3-13-1 on three targets, but he played only 32% of snaps.
• McLaurin has five straight games with five or more catches for 74 or more yards. He's drawn at least seven targets every week this year, and is on pace for 99-1,394-5 on 149 targets.

Falcons (9) at Saints (24)

Falcons

• Jones was bothered by his hamstring throughout the game, so Blake filled in alongside Ridley and Gage in three-wide sets. Olamide Zaccheaus filled in for Jones earlier this year, but he played only 21% of snaps in Sunday's loss.
• This was Gage's first game since Week 2 with more than seven targets, but he had been trending slightly up even before Sunday, averaging 3.5 catches for 38.8 yards on 5.0 targets over the previous four games. He'd kind of disappeared between mid-September and mid-October.
• Prior to the Week 10 bye, Hurst had four consecutive games with four or more catches for 54 or more yards. Then, the goose egg.

Saints

• Adam Trautman played more snaps (48%) than Cook for a third straight game, and also ran the same number of routes this time. Cook had a 38-to-17 route advantage over Trautman across the previous two games, despite playing slightly fewer snaps. All in all, Cook ran 48 routes on 92 dropbacks (0.51 r/db) the past three weeks, catching three of six targets for 36 yards. He was trending down even before the Drew Brees injury, and can now be dropped in a lot of medium-sized or shallow fantasy leagues.
• Thomas accounted for 52% of the targets and 74% of the air yards, both league highs for Week 11.
• Alvin Kamara got only one target in Taysom Hill's first NFL start. Out of 32 snaps on first downs, Hill threw only nine passes. However, six of those nine came in the first half before the Saints were sitting on. alead.

Steelers (27) at Jaguars (3)

Steelers

• James Washington (28% of snaps) and Ray-Ray McCloud (27%) both mixed in behind the top trio. Per usual, Claypool was usually the guy rotated out, rather than Johnson or JuJu.
• Ebron's snap share was a season high, and he's now at five straight games with at least 84% of snaps and five targets. He may not be a priority in the passing game, but he's run 191 routes (0.86 per QB dropback) over the past five games, leading all tight ends.
• This was a fifth straight game with all the primary pass catchers healthy and handling significant roles. Courtesy of airyards.com, here's a screenshot of the usage breakdown (Weeks 7-11):

Jags

• Laviska Shenault (hamstring) missed another game, as did Gardner Minshew (thumb).
• Here's the WR/TE usage breakdown (from airyards.com) for Jake Luton's three starts so far:

Lions (0) at Panthers (20)

Lions

• RB D'Andre Swift (concussion), WR Kenny Gollady (hip) and WR Danny Amendola (hip) all were inactive.
• Quintez Cephus played only 30% of snaps, down from 41% and 51% the previous two weeks. He's seen exactly two targets each of the past three games with Golladay absent.
• Hockenson ran only 0.62 routes per dropback for a second straight week. He was at 0.69 r/db across Weeks 6-9, averaging 7.3 targets per game in that stretch. Hock is still a solid fantasy starter at tight end, but his workload had room to grow and instead seems to be going slightly in the other direction, despite all the injuries in this Detroit offense.
• Agnew played more than 25% of offensive snaps for the first time in his career. He was drafted in 2017 as a return specialist and depth cornerback.

Panthers

• TE Chris Manhertz got slightly more playing time (59% snap share) than Ian Thomas (56%). It tends to tilt in Manhertz's favor when the Panthers are playing with a lead and running more (which doesn't happen often).
• Samuel took 28 snaps in the slot, 15 out wide and four in the backfield, per PFF. That's pretty much been the norm for him this season.
• Anderson is averaging 8.8 targets over the past five games, but his 31 receptions have averaged only 8.1 yards. A high-volume possession role is the last thing anyone expected to see from him this season, but the Panthers clearly view D.J. Moore as the better deep threat. Moore is averaging only 6.6 targets the past five games, but his 14.6 aDOT is nearly double Anderson's 7.7. Moore has 389 yards to Anderson's 252 over the past five.
• P.J. Walker threw two brutal end-zone interceptions. If not for those, the Panthers likely could've won this game by 30-plus points. Both INTs were intended for Moore, but he had no chance to catch either of them, and the second wasn't even thrown close to him.

Eagles (17) at Browns (22)

Eagles

• Alshon Jeffery played five snaps, and John Hightower only one. The Eagles' pass-catcher substitutions mostly involved switching between No. 3 receiver Ward and No. 2 TE Richard Rodgers (32% snap share). Rodgers went 2-48-1 on two targets, after putting up 4-60-0 on only 31% of snaps the previous week. He's playing well, but he'll likely be pushed out of the offense when Zach Ertz (IR - ankle) returns, possibly as soon as Week 12.
• Over the past two weeks, Fulgham caught two of 12 targets for 16 yards. Jeffery could sneak back into the mix if Fulgham proves to be a small-sample fluke. Or maybe Fulgham bounces back against a dicey Seahawks secondary this weekend.

Browns

• Hodge, Higgins and Landry each played 58% of snaps Week 10, so it shouldn't be too shocking to see Landry last of the three for Week 11. But it does seem strange to have him coming off the field so often when the Browns are competing for a playoff spot and don't hae Odell Beckham (knee) in the lineup. Landry may just never be 100 percent this year, coming back from hip surgery that was delayed in the offseason.
• The Browns played in bad weather for a third straight game, all home contests. That's actually a lucky break for a team that's excellent at running the ball but not so good at passing.
• The 29% target share for Hodge was a huge surprise. Prior to Sunday, he'd been targeted six times on 82 routes this season, including just one target on 36 routes in his first two games sans Beckham.
• Hooper's snap share was a season low, and his r/db (0.62) was down from his pre-W11 mark of 0.71. He played only six of 19 snaps in the fourth quarter, but no injury was reported.

Dolphins (13) at Broncos (20)

Dolphins

• Perry lined up in the slot for 45 of his 51 snaps, per PFF.
• Parker caught his TD pass from Tua Tagovailoa, but the wideout got five of his nine targets and 43 of his 61 yards on passes from Ryan Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter.
• Gesicki also did much better with Fitzpatrick in the game, catching two of three targets for 31 yards.

Broncos

• No. 2 TE Nick Vannett , but he ran only 13 routes. The Broncos hugely increased their usage of multi-TE formations, running a season-high 31 snaps in 12 personnel. They'd run just 21 snaps in the grouping over the previous three games combined, becoming heavily reliant on 11 personnel while repeatedly playing from behind.
• Hamler's snap share took a big dip relative to 80%, 75% and 97% in his previous three games. He played each of the teams 27 snaps in 11 personnel, but then got only 11 of the 31 snaps in 12 personnel.
• Jeudy and Patrick both played 25 of 27 snaps in 11 personnel, but the rookie got only 16 of 31  (52%) in 12 personnel, while Patrick took 25 (81%). It's possible Jeudy's snap-share reduction was related to the ankle issue that had him listed on the injury report last week. Prior to Sunday's win, his snap share had been 84% or higher in three straight games, and 73% of higher for five in a row. The 63% figure was surprisingly low, though he still got eight targets and triple-digit air yards.

Jets (28) at Chargers (34)

Jets

• Crowder has just give targets over this past two games, after getting double digits in each of his first four appearances this season. He's still seen 23% of the targets from Flacco this year, but the number is way down with both Mims and Perriman healthy the past two weeks.
• The 183 air yards for Mims were a league high for Week 11. He's averaging 6.8 targets and 114.5 air yards per game, with a 17.0 aDOT. The usage is encouraging, while the results have been mediocre so far.

Bolts

• Allen's 4.0 aDOT was low even by the standards of a possession receiver, but fantasy managers will never complain when it coincides with 19 targets. Allen + Herbert = magic.
• Henry scored for a second straight week but still hasn't reached 50 yards since Week 3. He's caught either three of four passes in six consecutive games, landing between 23 and 48 yards each time.
• We're now at five straight games with Allen, Henry, Williams and Guyton all healthy and handling full-time roles. Here's the usage breakdown, per airyards.com:

Cowboys (31) at Vikings (28)

Cowboys

• Lamb added two carries for 12 yards, giving him seven for 45 on the season.
• Gallup and Cooper both played nine of nine snaps in 12 personnel.
• In 11 personnel, Gallup led the way with 45 of 50, followed by Cooper (42), Lamb (41), Noah Brown (12) and Cedrick Wilson (10). Schultz played 46 of the 50.
• Andy Dalton has now played two full games, Weeks 6 and 11. Here's the WR/TE usage breakdown from those two contests, per airyards.com:

Vikings

• Smith returned after missing the previous game with a groin injury.

Packers (31) at Colts (34)

Packers

• Lazard returned from core muscle surgery, playing for the first time since Week 3. You might remember that he had 13 catches for 254 yards and two TDs over the first three weeks of the season, but he was quiet in Sunday's OT loss.
• Meanwhile, Valdes-Scantling drew a 41-yard PI penalty to set up a second-quarter touchdown, and later he had a 47-yard gain to convert a 3rd-and-10 on the game-tying drive. However, he lost a fumble on the second snap of overtime, setting up Indianapolis for an easy win.
• 26 percent target share, 106 yards and only one touchdown is an off day for 2020 Davante Adams. His fantasy managers will have to look deep in their hearts for forgiveness, no doubt.

Colts

• Pittman led the team's WRs in snaps by a comfortable margin for a second straight week, and he turned a short crossing route into a 45-yard TD in the first quarter. He just didn't do much else the rest of the afternoon, with the Colts spreading out targets to 11 different players and also giving Jonathan Taylor more than 20 carries.
• Jack Doyle (54% of snaps) and Mo Alie-Cox (51%) got far more playing time than Burton, but it was the former Bear who saw the most targets and found the end zone.
• Burton has finished with 3-to-6 targets in each of his seven games this season, relying on touchdowns (four) to make up for a lack of yards (24.7 per game). None of the three is anywhere close to being a reliable fantasy option, and we even saw both Burton and Alie-Cox have quiet games when Doyle was out with a concussion Week 10.
• Burton and Alie-Cox ran 15 routes apiece, while Doyle ran only 10.

Chiefs (35) at Raiders (31)

Chiefs

• Mecole Hardman played only 22% of snaps, despite Sammy Watkins (calf/hamstring) missing yet another game. Pringle worked as the No. 3 receiver, but he injured his ankle during the second half Sunday night.

Raiders

• Negative air yards for esteemed deep threat Henry Ruggs! Meanwhile, Nelson Agholor is crushing it, with five TDs over the past seven games.
• Agholor started each of the past seven games, averaging 2.9 catches for 52.7 yards on 4.7 targets. He's been huge for the Raiders, but the volume still isn't where it needs to be for fantasy managers to start him with any confidence. Sunday's game was his first since Week 7 with more than four targets or two catches.

Los Angeles Rams (27) at Buccaneers (24)

Rams

• Van Jefferson scored his first NFL touchdown, despite playing only four snaps.
• Reynolds worked ahead of Kupp in two-wide formations for a second straight game, but it doesn't seem to be impact Kupp's production so far (5-50-0 vs. SEA, 11-145-0 at TAM).

Bucs

• Brown has 26 targets in three games, but he's averaging only 8.7 yards per catch, largely seeing shorter throws.
• Evans is tied for the team lead with 26 targets the past three games, with Godwin (22) not too far behind. Gronk has seen only 15 targets since Brown joined the offense.

WR/TE Waiver Targets 

This list is limited to players on less than 50 percent of Yahoo rosters as of Monday afternoon.

(List will be updated Tuesday)

1. Michael Pittman
2. Jalen Reagor
3. Curtis Samuel
4. Denzel Mims
5. Dalton Schultz
6. Josh Reynolds
7. Breshad Perriman
8. Tim Patrick
9. Russell Gage
10. Keke Coutee