Welcome to the Weekly Fantasy Football Usage Report. Volume is paramount in fantasy football, and a player’s usage determines the type of volume they receive. Each week, I’ll take a look at different usage trends throughout the NFL to help us prepare for the rest of the season. The theme of this week’s edition is injuries. Whether it’s players having larger roles due to someone else being hurt, or players seeing their role get back on track after returning from being hurt, injuries are everywhere. Let’s dive in.
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Week 9 Fantasy Football Usage Report
Greg Dulcich Shows Up in Miami
Once upon a time, Greg Dulcich was a prospect and player we were excited about. Unfortunately, after a rookie season that showed some promise, Dulcich was unable to follow it up. Since then, Dulcich has bounced around the league before finding his way to Miami. With Darren Waller getting hurt, Dulcich saw his first action on Week 8, playing only 27.5% of the snaps and receiving zero targets.
In Week 9, Dulcich took on a larger role. He ran 46.5% of the Dolphins’ routes on 35.9% of the snaps, earning a 12.5% target share. For the day, he caught all five of his targets for 49 yards, giving him 9.9 PPR points.
There isn’t much to see here. Greg Dulcich‘s role still wasn’t worthwhile, and while 9.9 PPR points is a solid score for a tight end, it required Tua Tagovailoa attempting 40 passes. Dulcich would need to see his role grow significantly before we can have any confidence in playing him.
TreVeyon Henderson Without Rhamondre Stevenson
I’ve talked about TreVeyon Henderson a couple of times, but with Rhamondre Stevenson a surprise inactive for Week 9, I had to include him again. It was hard to believe that Henderson would actually get a good workload going into this game based on how his season has gone. Finally, Henderson got a workload to be happy with. The rookie finished the game with 63.3% of the backfield opportunities, including a 17.2% target share, while playing 75% of the snaps.
However, Henderson still wasn’t at the level of efficiency we want. On his 19 opportunities, he gained 87 total yards, had zero touchdowns, and ended with 12.7 PPR points. It’s a solid showing, but nothing to write home about. The workload was nice, but outside of the preseason, TreVeyon Henderson hasn’t shown us that he can be an efficient player. That limits his ceiling. However, if Rhamondre Stevenson misses more time, I feel comfortable with Henderson as a low-end RB2 based on role.
Kyle Monangai’s Big Chance
Like TreVeyon Henderson, Kyle Monangai was thrust into a larger role with his backfield teammate (D’Andre Swift) missing Week 9. Monangai was the Bears’ workhorse in their game against the Bengals. Monangai handled 83.3% of the backfield share while playing 73.8% of the snaps. He was productive, too. Monangai gained 198 total yards against the weak Bengals defense, running hard through open holes and picking up extra yards. For the day, Monangai scored 22.8 PPR points.
Kyle Monangai‘s efficiency can be taken with a grain of salt, considering it was against the Bengals. His role can’t. It was legit. It shouldn’t be a surprise either; Monangai has had a clear role in Chicago’s offense since Week 2, playing between 28% and 46% of the snaps each week before Week 9. If Swift misses time again, Monangai can be counted on as a mid to high-end RB2.
Colston Loveland Breakout
Moving on to another Bear, we have Colston Loveland. For being a first-round pick at tight end, it had been a disappointing season for him before Week 9. He’s dealt with injury and has yet to earn a large role in the Bears’ offense. All of that changed this week. Loveland had a true breakout game, catching six of his seven targets for 118 yards and scoring two touchdowns for 29.8 PPR points. Along with that, he ran 75% of the routes while playing 81.3% of the snaps, both season highs. Loveland’s role had been growing since returning from his injury, so it was nice to see it pay off this week.
We should have some confidence in Colston Loveland for the rest of the season. He was a highly drafted prospect for a reason, and he’s on a team where there are opportunities to be had. Rome Odunze and D.J. Moore are good players, but Loveland can still find success next to them. Loveland is a streaming tight end with room to grow to a locked-in TE1.
J.J. McCarthy Returns
J.J. McCarthy last played in Week 2 and has been recovering from an ankle injury ever since. The Vikings took it slow with McCarthy’s recovery, leading many to question their confidence in him. With Carson Wentz being placed on IR, the Vikings had no choice but to have McCarthy start again. In his return, McCarthy played ok against the Lions. He completed only 56% of his passes, but he threw for two touchdowns against just one interception. He also added a touchdown on the ground to give him 19.9 fantasy points on the day.
The key point to note here is that whenever McCarthy has started, the Vikings have been a more run-heavy team than they typically are. In his starts, McCarthy has pass attempt totals of 20, 21, and 25. In Carson Wentz‘s starts, he attempted 20, 27, 34, 42, and 46 passes.
We’re not yet at the point where I’d feel comfortable playing J.J. McCarthy in 1-QB formats, even when it’s a good matchup. The Vikings are a different offense than we’re used to with him. This also matters for his weapons. I still have full confidence in Justin Jefferson, but every other pass-catcher’s projection gets knocked with McCarthy under center.
Jauan Jennings Back on Track
Injuries have marred Jauan Jennings‘ season, and he’s struggled to be productive. But over the last few weeks, Jennings has started to regain form. In Week 7, he led the 49ers’ pass catchers with a 26.9% target share while running 92.9% of the routes and playing 84.8% of the snaps. He again led them in target share in Week 8 with 21.9%, this time on 82.1% of routes and 85.4% of snaps. Jennings continued his play in Week 9, running 79.3% of the routes on 78.8% of the snaps and earning a 20.8% target share. He caught four of his five targets for 41 yards and a touchdown, giving him 14.1 PPR points on the day.
When healthy, or relatively enough, Jauan Jennings has had a good receiving role for the 49ers dating back to 2024. At some point, Ricky Pearsall will be back, and Brandon Aiyuk is expected to at least start practicing next week. We’ve yet to see all three of these receivers healthy together since Week 7 of 2024. Anything is possible when that time comes again. But while at least one of them is out, Jennings can be counted on as WR3.
Rico Dowdle RB1
The Panthers’ running back rotation has been one we’ve been watching all season. Chuba Hubbard naturally began the season as their workhorse, but an injury gave a chance for Rico Dowdle to show out. Since Hubbard returned, they’ve split the backfield, but Dowdle was easily performing better. This week, we got coach-speak suggesting that Dowdle would be given more of the split than before.
In Week 9, it was indeed the Dowdle show. He played 72.4% of snaps, handled 82.4% of the backfield opportunities, had a 15% target share, and scored 28.1 PPR points while gaining 141 total yards. Rico Dowdle has been consistently productive when given the opportunity. He did it for Dallas in 2024, and he’s doing it for the Panthers in 2025, except even better. The Panthers are a good running team, and Dowdle fits them perfectly. As long as this backfield split continues, which it should, Dowdle is a borderline RB1 rest of season.
Aaron Jones Ramps Up
In Week 8, Aaron Jones returned to play after missing the previous four games due to injury. In that game, he played 53.1% of the Vikings’ snaps, but his opportunities were limited to nine in total. He was, however, still involved as a receiver, earning a 12.9% target share. In Week 9, his workload ramped up a bit. Jones played only 41.9% of the snaps, but received 50% of the backfield opportunities, and that’s with having to leave in the third quarter.
In the first half, Jones played 24 snaps to Jordan Mason‘s eight. On his opportunities, Jones gained 98 total yards, scoring 11.8 PPR points. Aaron Jones is still the Vikings’ preferred back when healthy, that much is clear. Also, despite his advanced age, he still looks explosive. We have to monitor his health, but as long as he’s healthy, Jones is a low-end RB2.
Luke Musgrave Steps In
Building on his 2024 season, Tucker Kraft has been one of the best tight ends in the NFL this year. Unfortunately, Kraft went down to a knee injury in Week 9, and it was eventually confirmed that he tore his ACL. This injury gave his draft classmate, Luke Musgrave, an opportunity to step up with nearly all of the second half to himself.
Musgrave played 23 of the Packers’ final 29 snaps and caught all three of his targets during that time for 34 yards. Musgrave was a good prospect in his own right and originally played ahead of Kraft when they were rookies, so it should be no surprise that Musgrave would play a large role with Kraft out. Going forward, Musgrave is now a waiver wire target and borderline TE1 in Tucker Kraft‘s absence. He isn’t as good as Kraft, but this is still a good role on a great offense. Jayden Reed could be back soon, but that doesn’t bother me. The wide receivers rotate in the offense, but the tight end hasn’t.
Brock Bowers is Back
Brock Bowers returned in Week 9 from his knee injury after missing three games. Bowers was too tough when he first suffered the injury, trying to play through it when rest was needed and hurting his production while playing. In his first game back, Bowers immediately returned to the level of play we’re used to. Bowers led the Raiders with a 34.2% target share while running 83.7% of the routes. He finished the day with 12 catches on 13 targets for 127 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 43.2 PPR points for the day.
What a day. I wasn’t alone in having concerns about what Brock Bowers would look like when he came back. It was clear that Bowers shouldn’t have tried to play through his knee injury, so even though the Raiders did have him rest for three games, I was worried it was too little too late. There are no worries now. Bowers is the best tight end in football and the best tight end in fantasy.
Tyler Shough’s First Start
In Week 8, Spencer Rattler was benched for second-round pick Tyler Shough, opening the door for him to start in Week 9. Considering it was against a tough Rams defense, Shough’s first start was a decent outing. Shough only attempted 24 passes on the day, but he completed 62.5% of them and had 7.3 yards per attempt. He threw one touchdown and one interception and was sacked once.
The biggest note is the Saints’ overall lack of plays and pass attempts. The Saints had only 40 offensive plays on the day, when they had been one of the fastest-paced offenses in the league prior. I’m chalking that up mostly to the Rams being unstoppable on offense, not allowing the Saints to have the ball much. We know that Kellen Moore wants his offense to run as many plays as possible.
With that in mind, Tyler Shough is rosterable in Superflex leagues as depth since he’s a starting quarterback, but that’s about it. His projection will be similar to what Spencer Rattler‘s was. Don’t expect much. It will be messy, but sometimes he’ll get there for fantasy due to pure play volume.
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