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Doug Orth | Archive | Email |
Staff Writer

The More, The Better: WRs
All Out Blitz: Volume 136
9/13/18		 RBs | WRs | TEs

Imagine if, in one year in the near future, candy wasn't handed out on Halloween, turkey wasn't served on Thanksgiving or gifts weren't placed under the tree for Christmas. Pick one. Now imagine thinking "this is the new normal" because of that one singular incident in one year. In a nutshell, this is how owners tend to react after Week 1.

Thankfully, my loyal readers either know better than to overreact after Week 1 or simply don't bother to reach out to me to panic. That's good. (Thank you.) As hard as it is for most people in a compressed season, each week is little more than a series of data points that we hope tell a more complete story by season's end. Sometimes we know 30 minutes into a movie or a couple of episodes into a TV series that it is time to bail. How many times have you not bailed and glad you stuck it out? This is the fine line owners walk sometimes in this hobby.

It is my intention to spend the first four weeks trying to lay the foundation for this season. Snap counts and targets are a nice starting point, but I want to go a bit deeper. In particular, I think it will be helpful for owners to know how much of the backfield pie their backs are getting, their receivers' target shares and how often their tight end is getting the ball when he is on the field, etc.

Key:

Snap % - The percentage of plays the player was on the field

Target Share - The percentage of team targets

Activity - How often the receiver was targeted when he was on the field

Note: Receivers who failed to play at least 40 percent of their team' snaps and/or did not receive more than one target were not included. (Robby Anderson and Michael Gallup were left on because they were notable exceptions.

 Wide Receiver Participation, Week 1
Player Tm Snaps Snap % Tgts Tm Tgts Tgt Share Activity
Larry Fitzgerald ARI 52 98% 10 34 29.4% 19.2%
Chad Williams ARI 50 94% 3 34 8.8% 6.0%
Christian Kirk ARI 45 85% 2 34 5.9% 4.4%
Julio Jones ATL 57 81% 19 43 44.2% 33.3%
Mohamed Sanu ATL 56 80% 6 43 14.0% 10.7%
Calvin Ridley ATL 45 64% 2 43 4.7% 4.4%
Michael Crabtree BAL 53 66% 6 38 15.8% 11.3%
John Brown BAL 48 60% 4 38 10.5% 8.3%
Willie Snead BAL 42 52% 6 38 15.8% 14.3%
Zay Jones BUF 60 94% 6 33 18.2% 10.0%
Kelvin Benjamin BUF 47 73% 7 33 21.2% 14.9%
Jeremy Kerley BUF 44 69% 4 33 12.1% 9.1%
Devin Funchess CAR 57 85% 5 26 19.2% 8.8%
Torrey Smith CAR 51 76% 2 26 7.7% 3.9%
Jarius Wright CAR 31 46% 5 26 19.2% 16.1%
Allen Robinson CHI 67 96% 7 35 20.0% 10.4%
Taylor Gabriel CHI 60 86% 5 35 14.3% 8.3%
Anthony Miller CHI 39 56% 3 35 8.6% 7.7%
A.J. Green CIN 53 95% 8 28 28.6% 15.1%
Tyler Boyd CIN 49 88% 5 28 17.9% 10.2%
John Ross CIN 37 66% 2 28 7.1% 5.4%
Jarvis Landry CLE 81 91% 15 40 37.5% 18.5%
Josh Gordon CLE 69 78% 3 40 7.5% 4.3%
Rashard Higgins CLE 53 60% 4 40 10.0% 7.5%
Cole Beasley DAL 43 67% 8 29 27.6% 18.6%
Allen Hurns DAL 38 59% 3 29 10.3% 7.9%
Deonte Thompson DAL 30 47% 5 29 17.2% 16.7%
Michael Gallup DAL 29 45% 1 29 3.4% 3.4%
Emmanuel Sanders DEN 64 86% 11 39 28.2% 17.2%
Demaryius Thomas DEN 53 72% 10 39 25.6% 18.9%
Courtland Sutton DEN 44 59% 5 39 12.8% 11.4%
Kenny Golladay DET 65 93% 12 52 23.1% 18.5%
Marvin Jones DET 62 89% 8 52 15.4% 12.9%
Golden Tate DET 57 81% 15 52 28.8% 26.3%
Davante Adams GB 59 98% 8 37 21.6% 13.6%
Randall Cobb GB 52 87% 10 37 27.0% 19.2%
Geronimo Allison GB 42 70% 8 37 21.6% 19.0%
DeAndre Hopkins HOU 73 99% 11 34 32.4% 15.1%
Bruce Ellington HOU 65 88% 8 34 23.5% 12.3%
Vyncint Smith HOU 37 50% 2 34 5.9% 5.4%
T.Y. Hilton IND 80 98% 11 53 20.8% 13.8%
Ryan Grant IND 65 79% 9 53 17.0% 13.8%
Chester Rogers IND 47 57% 3 53 5.7% 6.4%
Keelan Cole JAX 47 75% 4 33 12.1% 8.5%
Donte Moncrief JAX 43 68% 5 33 15.2% 11.6%
Dede Westbrook JAX 31 49% 6 33 18.2% 19.4%
Sammy Watkins KC 51 91% 5 27 18.5% 9.8%
Tyreek Hill KC 40 71% 8 27 29.6% 20.0%
Chris Conley KC 35 62% 2 27 7.4% 5.7%
Keenan Allen LAC 72 88% 11 51 21.6% 15.3%
Tyrell Williams LAC 62 76% 5 51 9.8% 8.1%
Travis Benjamin LAC 47 57% 5 51 9.8% 10.6%
Mike Williams LAC 44 54% 6 51 11.8% 13.6%
Cooper Kupp LAR 61 97% 9 33 27.3% 14.8%
Robert Woods LAR 61 97% 9 33 27.3% 14.8%
Brandin Cooks LAR 61 97% 8 33 24.2% 13.1%
Kenny Stills MIA 59 95% 5 28 17.9% 8.5%
Danny Amendola MIA 45 73% 6 28 21.4% 13.3%
Albert Wilson MIA 34 55% 4 28 14.3% 11.8%
Jakeem Grant MIA 25 40% 7 28 25.0% 28.0%
Adam Thielen MIN 68 96% 12 36 33.3% 17.6%
Stefon Diggs MIN 61 86% 6 36 16.7% 9.8%
Laquon Treadwell MIN 38 54% 4 36 11.1% 10.5%
Chris Hogan NE 68 91% 5 39 12.8% 7.4%
Phillip Dorsett NE 57 76% 7 39 17.9% 12.3%
Michael Thomas NO 61 95% 17 45 37.8% 27.9%
Ted Ginn Jr. NO 50 78% 6 45 13.3% 12.0%
Austin Carr NO 44 69% 2 45 4.4% 4.5%
Odell Beckham Jr. NYG 68 96% 15 37 40.5% 22.1%
Sterling Shepard NYG 61 86% 7 37 18.9% 11.5%
Quincy Enunwa NYJ 40 67% 10 21 47.6% 25.0%
Neal Sterling NYJ 40 67% 7 21 33.3% 17.5%
Robby Anderson NYJ 35 58% 1 21 4.8% 2.9%
Jordy Nelson OAK 72 97% 4 40 10.0% 5.6%
Amari Cooper OAK 69 93% 3 40 7.5% 4.3%
Seth Roberts OAK 47 64% 2 40 5.0% 4.3%
Nelson Agholor PHI 68 94% 10 34 29.4% 14.7%
Mike Wallace PHI 66 92% 3 34 8.8% 4.5%
Antonio Brown PIT 83 99% 16 41 39.0% 19.3%
JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT 63 75% 8 41 19.5% 12.7%
Justin Hunter PIT 51 61% 5 41 12.2% 9.8%
Tyler Lockett SEA 56 98% 4 33 12.1% 7.1%
Brandon Marshall SEA 37 65% 6 33 18.2% 16.2%
Jaron Brown SEA 33 58% 3 33 9.1% 9.1%
Pierre Garcon SF 53 80% 6 33 18.2% 11.3%
Dante Pettis SF 48 73% 5 33 15.2% 10.4%
Trent Taylor SF 37 56% 6 33 18.2% 16.2%
Mike Evans TB 50 76% 7 28 25.0% 14.0%
Chris Godwin TB 46 70% 4 28 14.3% 8.7%
Adam Humphries TB 44 67% 5 28 17.9% 11.4%
Corey Davis TEN 63 91% 13 38 34.2% 20.6%
Tajae Sharpe TEN 58 84% 3 38 7.9% 5.2%
Josh Doctson WAS 70 89% 3 30 10.0% 4.3%
Paul Richardson WAS 61 77% 6 30 20.0% 9.8%
Jamison Crowder WAS 49 62% 4 30 13.3% 8.2%

** Sorted by team and then by Snap %

The receivers that played 90 percent of their team's snaps: DeAndre Hopkins, Antonio Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Davante Adams, T.Y. Hilton, Tyler Lockett, Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Jordy Nelson, Allen Robinson, Adam Thielen, Odell Beckham Jr., A.J. Green, Kenny Stills, Michael Thomas, Chad Williams, Zay Jones, Nelson Agholor, Kenny Golladay, Amari Cooper, Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Chris Hogan, Corey Davis

Notable receivers that did not play more than 75 percent of their team's snaps: Keelan Cole, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kelvin Benjamin, Danny Amendola, Demaryius Thomas, Tyreek Hill, Geronimo Allison, Chris Godwin, Quincy Enunwa, Michael Crabtree, John Ross, Jamison Crowder, John Brown, Allen Hurns, Robby Anderson

Takeaway #1: The Rams led the league in three-wide sets last season at 93 percent. So it should come as no surprise that Woods, Kupp and Cooks all saw exactly 61 snaps (and were on the field 97 percent of the time) in Week 1. Much like last season, owners should expect a different set of two receivers producing each week, making each one a low-end WR2 (and more like a high-upside WR3) most weeks.

Takeaway #2: Golladay led the Lions' wideouts with 65 snaps and a 93 percent snap share while recording a 23.1 percent target share. Tate actually saw the fewest snaps (57, 81 percent) but had the highest target share (28.8). Obviously, the Lions can't be expected to play as poorly as they did in the opener, but it appears Golladay could very well absorb the targets left behind by Eric Ebron and eat into Marvin Jones' target share as well.

Takeaway #3: Don't panic too quickly on Watkins, although the fact his draft stock nosedived as the summer progressed should mean he isn't being counted on too heavily at the moment. It's impossible to know whether or not the Chiefs are willing to force Watkins to become a thing since it seems Patrick Mahomes hasn't embraced him yet. Still, playing 91 percent of his team's snaps - 20 percent more than Hill - in the opener suggests Kansas City is going to give him plenty of opportunities - as it should - to find better chemistry with his young quarterback.

Takeaway #4: Along the same lines of Watkins, owners of Tyler Lockett have to be thrilled. Not only did he play 98 percent of the snaps, he ran 26 of his 39 routes from the slot. He was already a candidate to see more work this season as a result of the mass exodus that Seattle has experienced lately, but the expected multi-week absence of Doug Baldwin may give Lockett's owners a taste of high-end WR2 production.

Takeaway #5: Slightly more than half of the sub-75 percent receivers were involved on one end or the other of blowouts or subject to unusual circumstances, so we need more time to evaluate their role properly. The most surprising names on this list include Smith-Schuster, Thomas, Hill and Godwin. Each player was plenty productive with their "limited" action, but the lack of playing time relative to some of their teammates needs to be noted.

Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends

Doug Orth has written for FF Today since 2006 and been featured in USA Today’s Fantasy Football Preview magazine since 2010. He hosted USA Today’s hour-long, pre-kickoff fantasy football internet chat every Sunday in 2012-13 and appears as a guest analyst on a number of national sports radio shows, including Sirius XM’s “Fantasy Drive”. Doug is also a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.




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