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 look at different usage trends across the NFL to help us prepare for the rest of the season and beyond. Let’s talk about Week 3.
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Week 3 Usage Report
Michael Penix Jr. is Back
Returning from his third ACL tear between college and the NFL, Michael Penix Jr. came in and immediately raised the floor of the Falcons’ offense. Penix still has lots of work to do, but unlike the other quarterbacks on the roster, he has the physical skills to lead a competent offense. With him leading the offense, the Falcons surprised the Packers and won their first game of the season.
Michael Penix himself had an average day, completing 18 of his 25 passes for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Most importantly, though, with Penix, Drake London returned to fantasy superstardom. On Thursday night, London played 93% of the snaps, ran 100% of the routes, and earned a fantastic 36% target share. London turned that into nine catches for 194 yards on the day. With Penix at the helm, London is back to being a locked-in top-12 wide receiver.
Dolphins RBs Without De’Von Achane
Early in the Dolphins’ game, De’Von Achane went down awkwardly on his fourth snap, left, and didn’t come back. This gave us the first opportunity this year to see what would happen without him under the current coaching staff. There is no doubt about the Dolphins’ plans without Achane, because Ollie Gordon was the only other running back to take a snap. Jaylen Wright owns the athletic edge but is coming off a Week 3 inactive.
Ollie Gordon’s Advanced Metrics
The good news for Gordon is that he played 83.6% of the snaps and ended the day with 17 rushing attempts to go with 3 targets. The bad news is that on those 20 opportunities, he managed only 14.5 PPR points. It’s an okay point total, and we’ll take it, but you’d expect a little more production on that many opportunities. If De’Von Achane misses time, Gordon is a low-end RB2 based on his projected volume, but don’t expect much of a ceiling here.
Harold Fannin Jr. Gets Back on Track
Coming off a great rookie season, Harold Fannin Jr. was looking to build on it in his second year. However, in the first two games, Fannin’s usage wasn’t where we wanted it to be. In the first two weeks, Fannin ran 83.9% and 82.9% of the routes, and earned a 17.3% target share. Those numbers are good for most tight ends, but weren’t up to par for Fannin based on what he did as a rookie.
In Week 3, Fannin’s involvement in the passing game increased to where we want it to be. Fannin played 85.7% of the snaps, ran 68.8% of the routes, and earned a 30% target share. On that improved usage, he earned nine targets, catching seven of them for 51 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 24.1 PPR points on the day. Fannin won’t get 30% of the targets every game, but this is also a ceiling that most tight ends don’t have. The rookie wide receivers are still a thorn in his side, so he’s a low-end TE1.
Kenyon Sadiq’s Coming Out Party
After Week 1, I wrote about how Kenyon Sadiq‘s usage was inspiring for the future. With Mason Taylor and Adonai Mitchell out, his potential came to fruition against the Lions. Sadiq was a featured part of the passing offense, serving as Robin to Garrett Wilson‘s Batman. His playing time still wasn’t up to that of a full-time player, playing only 57.6% of the snaps and running 58.1% of the routes, but he was featured when he was on the field.
Kenyon Sadiq’s Advanced Metrics
Sadiq earned a 22.2% target share with a total of eight targets. On only 25 routes, that gave him a great 32% target rate. Even better, he caught seven of his targets for 105 yards and an impressive touchdown catch, giving him 23.5 PPR points. As long as there are injuries around Sadiq, he should be started as a top-12 tight end. With him adjusting to the NFL so quickly, we could see Sadiq enter must-start territory regardless of other players’ health.
Terry McLaurin Revival
Terry McLaurin had a rough first two weeks. He’s run the most routes among the Commanders’ pass catchers, but hasn’t been able to turn them into a solid performance. In his last game, though, he was this close to having a good day after barely missing on two touchdowns. McLaurin is a good player, so it was easy to believe variance would swing back on his side eventually, and it did in Week 3.
McLaurin played 75.4% of the snaps, ran 88.6% of the routes, and earned a 29% target share. On his nine targets, he caught six of them for 77 yards and a score, resulting in 19.7 PPR points. McLaurin was a favorite of mine at cost this offseason, as despite his down performance in 2025, his underlying metrics were still good. McLaurin’s playing style and archetype, as primarily a downfield player, mean his production will always have a bit of variance to it, but you should start him as a fringe WR2 moving forward.
Drake Maye’s Awful Start
Drake Maye‘s sophomore season in 2025 was incredible, as he finished first among quarterbacks in adjusted yards per attempt and Expected Points Added (EPA). So far in 2026, though, Maye has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. Entering Week 3, he was 31st among quarterbacks in adjusted yards per attempt and 29th in EPA.
Drake Maye is currently playing career-worst football pic.twitter.com/Wtcr4dIgZc
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 28, 2026
Then, this week, Maye threw two interceptions without a touchdown. He also fumbled as well. With his poor play, the Patriots’ offense as a whole has struggled. Some may want to blame it on Maye not having AJ Brown, but he had an equally bad pass-catching corps in 2025 when he took the league by storm. Right now, Maye is simply making too many bad decisions. Unfortunately, you need to find a different quarterback to start for the time being.
Colts Pass Catchers
Alec Pierce reinjured his heel in Week 2, and with him out for an extended time, we got our first look at the Colts’ offense without him. Luckily for us, the Colts did what we want during times like these and condensed the offense. Josh Downs played 67.6% of the snaps, ran 80.5% of the routes, and had a 27.8% target share. Keenan Allen played 73.2% of the snaps, ran 75.6% of the routes, and had a 25% target share. Tyler Warren played 94.4% of the snaps, ran 92.7% of the routes, and had a 27.8% target share. Laquon Treadwell filled in for Pierce, running clear-out routes.
Downs, Allen, and Warren all had good days, scoring 12.7, 18.3, and 14.7 PPR points, respectively. Allen had the best fantasy performance because he scored a touchdown. With the passing offense condensed, they all look like fantasy starters. Downs is a fringe WR2, Allen is a flex option, and Warren is a top-five tight end.
Brock Bowers Returns
Right before the season, we learned that Brock Bowers had a procedure to clean up his meniscus. As a result, he missed the first two weeks of the season. Returning in Week 3, he showed why so many were excited for Bowers to reach new heights under head coach Klint Kubiak. Bowers’ snaps were kept down a little, as a played 78.6% of them, but he was heavily utilized when on the field.
Brock Bowers’ Week 3 stats
During his snaps, Bowers ran 93.2% of the routes and earned a ridiculous 39.4% target share. In true Bowers fashion, he was super productive on his opportunities as well. On the day, Bowers caught 11 of his 13 targets for 116 yards and a touchdown, giving him 27.6 PPR points. Similar to how Trey McBride lapped the position in 2025, Bowers could do the same in 2026. McBride was helped by running many more routes than every other tight end. Bowers can do it with an absurd usage rate.
Kyler Murray’s First Full Start
Kyler Murray quickly exited Week 1 with a concussion, so Week 3 was his first real start for the Vikings. How Kevin O’Connell would craft the offense around him was interesting to see. In his first game against a blitz-heavy Buccaneers defense, Murray left a lot to be desired. He scored only 10.42 fantasy points after completing just 15 of his 29 passes for 168 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He ran for 17 yards, but we expect more from him, and he was sacked three times. The Vikings did still maintain a more pass-heavy offense, though, with a 58% pass rate.
This entire offensive performance has to be taken with a grain of salt, though, as Justin Jefferson left this game early due to injury. Losing a player like Jefferson can be devastating for an offense — and a quarterback — when no other pass-catcher approaches his level of ability. Still, it wasn’t a great showing. Murray is a streaming-level quarterback as of now.
Jeremiyah Love Takes Over
Before Week 3, Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier were splitting backfield touches more than most would like. In the first two weeks, Love played 41.6% of the snaps and had 49.1% of the backfield opportunities, including a 10.8% target share. It’s worth noting, though, that Love entered the season recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the preseason, which could have hindered his usage. That all changed in Week 3, however.
Jeremiyah Love’s Advanced Metrics
Against the 49ers, Love was the workhorse back for the Cardinals. He played 64% of the snaps and earned 81.3% of the backfield opportunities. That’s about as good of a role as you can ask for with a running back. Love produced too, finishing with 109 total yards and a touchdown on his way to 21.9 PPR points. With how high of a pedigree prospect Love was, I expect him to continue to have a great role from this point forward. Love is now an RB1 for the rest of the season.
