Welcome to the weekly fantasy football usage report. Volume is of the utmost importance in fantasy football, and a player’s usage determines the type of volume he receives. Each week I’ll take a look at different usage trends across the NFL to help us prepare for the rest of the season. Week 7 brought us new names to watch and brought back some old ones. Let’s dive in.
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Week 7 Fantasy Football Use
The role of Jaylen Warren
Returning from injury in Week 6, the use of Jaylen Warren was in question after Kenneth Gainwell performed well in his absence. Before missing time with injury, Warren led the backfield on 60.5% of snaps and 66.3% of opportunities. Gainwell lagged behind with 40.1% and 31.3%.
In Week 6, the two had similar usage, but in Week 7, Warren dominated the backfield. He easily led the backfield, playing 64.9% of the snaps and handling 80.8% of the opportunities. Warren also played well, scoring 19.8 PPR points in a good matchup. Gainwell, on the other hand, only had five total chances, a 19.2% share, while playing 38.6% of the snaps.
Jaylen Warren plays a good role, but is not in a great offense. The key for him each week will be how well the Steelers offense can perform. Warren is a low-end RB2 whose weekly ceiling depends on how well the offense performs overall.
Rashee Rice returns
Rashee Rice executives around the world have week 7 circled on their calendars. The hope was that Rice would pick up where he left off in 2024 before being lost for the year and then suspended for the first six games of this season. In his three full games in 2024, Rice played an elite role, posting a 31.5% target share while running 91.7% of routes as Patrick Mahomes’ top target.
In Rice’s first game back, his routes were limited, but his usage was not. Rice only managed 54.3% of routes, but earned a 25.7% target share to lead the team. That led to nine targets, seven of which Rice caught for 42 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 23.2 PPR points on the day.
This was a good first match for Rashee Rice. We can expect his usage to increase in the future and him to drive more routes. He is WR1 for the rest of the season.
Chuba Hubbard vs. Rico Dowdle
All eyes were on the Panthers backfield for Week 7. Chuba Hubbard had a good start to the season, with Rico Dowdle backing him up. Then an injury forced Hubbard to miss two weeks of action. We all know how dominant Dowdle was in his absence. What the backfield would look like when Hubbard returned was anyone’s guess, and the outcome was reasonable.
Before the game, we got word that the Panthers could get their RB duo alternate drives, and that’s mostly what they did, giving them an almost 50/50 split. Hubbard played 53.5% of the snaps and had 47.1% of the opportunities. Dowdle handled 52.9% of opportunities on 46.5% of snaps.
In a sense, the fact that Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle are in a 50/50 split means that we lost them both to fantasy. Neither can reliably be anything more than a flex player in fantasy football in this split. If either gets hurt, we know the other will produce. The hope is that, if healthy, the Panthers will continue to run much of their offense through the running backs.
Place Brian Callahan Titans
With a terrible start to the year, Brian Callahan became the first head coach to be fired of the 2025 season. How the Titans would respond was high on the list of situations to monitor in Week 7. To start the game, it seemed like they would continue the anecdotal trend of “motivation after firing the head coach.” They slowed down in the second half, but Cameron Ward still had the best game of his rookie season so far.
Ward completed 25 of his 34 passes for a season-high 255 yards while throwing one touchdown and one interception. This was without Calvin Ridley, mind you. This led to some decent days from the skill players. Tony Pollard had 12.1 PPR points on his 12 chances. Chimere Dike had the best day with a result of 17 PPR points.
It’s hard to feel confident about this continuing or improving based on the Titans’ season before Week 7. But sometimes a good performance, regardless of why it happened, can help build confidence among players. I’m not changing my stance on any Tennesee player based on Week 7, but I am more open to the possibility of improvement.
The Vikings quarterbacks
The Vikings started the season with full confidence in JJ McCarthy. That confidence was almost certainly shaken by McCarthy’s poor start to the season before he missed time with an ankle injury. In his absence, Carson Wentz has started with mixed results.
We expected McCarthy to return after the Vikings’ bye week, but he remained sidelined. Wentz started again in Week 7, which led to more mixed results. Wentz threw 42 passes, completing 26 of them, for 313 yards and two interceptions. He also ran 28 yards and fumbled, although it was not lost. He finished his day with just 11.32 fantasy points.
Carson Wentz hasn’t been good enough to stop McCarthy, which could be a problem for us. While Wentz hasn’t played well enough to keep the starting job, he has played well enough that the Vikings’ weapons are still largely produced. Based on his previous starts, we can’t be confident this will be the case when McCarthy starts.
Chris Olave, Goal Dominator
Quietly, Chris Olave has had one of the most enviable wide receiver roles in football. Entering week 7, Olave had a target share of 31.1% while managing 95.2% of routes. Olave was also 10th among all wide receivers in air yards, despite his career low average target depth of 8.6. Finally, he had eight red zone targets, fifth-most among all wide receivers. In week 7 we got more of the same, and it really paid off in the end. Olave turned his seven targets into five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns for 26.8 PPR points.
You couldn’t ask for a much better role for a wide receiver. While Spencer Rattler hasn’t played well enough from an NFL perspective, he has played well enough to support fantasy arms. As long as Rattler can keep this level of play going, Olave is a volume-based WR2 moving forward.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt expanded role
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, or Bill, as he prefers, moving from a seventh-round draft pick to a starting running back has been one of the biggest storylines of the offseason. But to start the season, Bill was stuck in a tough backfield rotation. Through his first four games, Bill handled 40% of opportunities in the backfield, played just 31.9% of snaps, and had just a 4.2% target share. Over the past three weeks, Bill has faced 69% of the backfield opportunities while playing 54.5% of the snaps. Also during that time, he averaged 12.3 PPR PPG.
While his role has certainly grown, Jacory Croskey-Merritt is not yet a three-down back and is not expected to be due to his lack of pass-catching. He showed very little of it in college, and that has followed him to the NFL. Bill can make some big plays if he finds the end zone, but without passing he’s a low-end to mid RB2 moving forward.
CeeDee Lamb returns
You wouldn’t know it from his performance in Week 7, but there was a question of how much and how well CeeDee Lamb would play upon his return from his hamstring injury. Hamstring injuries are particularly damaging to wide receivers and can hinder them even if they return. It appears the Cowboys did the right thing by making sure Lamb rested long enough to return without any issues. He played 77.6% of snaps, ran 100% of routes and earned a 23.3% target share, which was tied for the team lead. With that workload, Lamb caught five of his seven targets for 110 yards and 1 touchdown.
CeeDee Lamb is back among the top three wide receivers. The Cowboys played it smart. They made sure he got long enough rest to make sure he would be okay when he got back. They then made sure not to overload him upon his return by only having him on the field when Dak Prescott attempted a pass. You don’t have to worry here.
Matthew Golden can’t get divorced
No, I’m not saying Matthew Golden can’t break away from defenders. I say he can’t separate himself from the other wide receivers on his team. When the Packers drafted Golden in the first round, many thought he could finally be the wide receiver that would become their legitimate number one pass catcher. Golden started off a little slow, but that’s not unusual.
What’s concerning is that since Jayden Reed’s injury, Golden hasn’t seen his usage increase as much as we’d like. For the season, Golden is playing 64.6% of snaps, running 74.9% of routes and has a target share of 13.1%. It’s worth noting that Golden has eight carries this season, which shows the Packers want to get him the ball. However, Golden’s overalls usage is not good enough to have confidence in him week after week. He’s still worth keeping because the potential remains high, but that’s all he is. A bank storage.
Oronde Gadsden Tree Week
Usage of Oronde Gadsden II has slowly increased in recent weeks. He made his debut in Week 3 and played 33.8% of the snaps. Since then, his snap share has increased to 47.6%, 59%, 75%, and finally 78.9% in Week 7. His use of those snaps has varied, but over the past two weeks, Gadsden has played a serious role. In those two weeks, he has target shares of 20.5% and 16.4%. In Week 6, he produced 13.8 PPR points. In Week 7, Gadsden exploded with 29.4 PPR points. He was routinely a threat on the field and in the red zone.
The Chargers have been one of the most pass-heavy teams in the NFL all season. Oronde Gadsden is essentially a big wide receiver who plays tight end. With a quarterback like Justin Herbert, Gadsden could be consistently very productive. Right now, he’s a streaming-level tight end with the potential to be a starter every week.
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