RADIO
Kevin looks for fantasy football risers, sleepers, breakout candidates for Week 4 of 2025. He analyzes last week's targets, receptions, air yards, snaps, routes.
Welcome back to our fantasy football targets and snap counts analysis for Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. Targets are paramount when it comes to evaluating pass-catchers for fantasy football. There are no air yards, receiving yards, receptions, or touchdowns without first earning a target. There’s a reason the biggest and most consistent target-earners are among the top fantasy point scorers; they can be relied on by not just their team’s offense to earn targets and produce on those targets.
We’ll take a weekly team-by-team review of these target earners and separate the wheat from the chaff. To properly lead into what we’ll look at this season, we’ll have to establish a baseline of the most important things we’re looking at with targets and other receiving metrics that paint the full picture for who we should roster, who we should add, and who we can drop.
Everything we’ll discuss in this season’s WR/TE/RB targets, air yards, and snaps trends analysis article will be some of the best metrics correlating to fantasy production. Think of targets as a page in a coloring book, representing the outline yet to be colored. Coloring on that page adds context and flavor. That’s what we’ll do with targets — adding more context than just some target totals and box score stats.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Note: Statistics from our player pages at RotoBaller were included during the compilation of data, in addition to some of the following sites/databases: Pro Football Reference, PFF, Fantasy Points Data Suite, rbdsm.com/stats, NFELO, NFL NextGenStats, NFL Pro+, RotoViz, ESPN Stats and Info, and SumerSports.
Cardinals Notes From Week 3:
The Cardinals’ passing game continues to underachieve big time as Arizona was bested by a point, 16-15, at Levi’s Stadium against the 49ers. It’s hard to call Trey McBride (5-43, team-leading seven targets) anything BUT the top target on this team. I mean, he got into the end zone! Are you not entertained!?
Marvin Harrison Jr. has been a mystery wrapped in an enigma for Arizona, and Week 3 didn’t really help dispel any of that. He was just behind McBride with six targets, but just a 3-44 line, with a drop that was the talk of social media for a little bit in the late window. It’s just a cherry on top of a confusing Sunday (sundae?) for the passing game in Arizona.
To the elephant in the room: James Conner. He left on a cart with a foot injury and was placed on injured reserve to end his season. Trey Benson was already infringing on some of Conner’s workload anyway, so Benson assuming that full workload is pretty much a given.
What does the backfield look like behind Benson? Well, pre-injury, Emari Demercado had just one snap on offense leading up to Week 3 and was primarily a special-teams player. Demercado had an ancillary role last season, which Benson had absorbed through two games this season, leaving Demercado without an offensive role to start 2025.
Demercado likely takes some third-down work as a change-of-pace back, but it’s possible either running back Bam Knight is a third back on game day, or the Cardinals bring up Michael Carter from the practice squad. No matter what, this is Benson’s backfield, and he’s now a locked-in RB2 with room to move up now that the runway is open because of Conner’s unfortunate injury.
Falcons Notes From Week 3:
Doing some napkin math here, the Falcons scored (carry the one…) ZERO points. They weren’t thoroughly dominated by Carolina, but they didn’t do themselves any favors as the Panthers rolled them up 30-0. Michael Penix Jr. threw a pick-six that was telegraphed, and the defender had a gift-wrapped touchdown off it that just really encapsulated everything for the Falcons.
In games that the Falcons have a negative script, we typically don’t get much Tyler Allgeier, and he only played 9.1 percent of snaps here with two targets and one carry. The fact that Bijan Robinson was overall RB12 and still carried volume in both rushing (13-72) and receiving (5-39) just makes the outlook more bullish when the Falcons are in more competitive games.
The typically condensed Falcons were just that in the passing game with Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Kyle Pitts Sr. running the majority of routes and combining for almost 60 percent of the team’s targets. The Falcons led the league in 12 personnel heading into Week 3, but with the Falcons getting down quickly and having to readjust due to the negative script, the team used more 11 personnel, which got Ray-Ray McCloud III on the field for a season-high 67 percent routes and five targets.
Ravens Notes From Week 3:
The Ravens were more passing focused on Monday night against the Lions, and they did their best to keep pace, but the Lions always seemed to have a scoring answer for whenever the Ravens would put up points. Baltimore succumbed to the Lions 38-30, losing at home.
Ever the efficiency maven, Lamar Jackson is awesome with 288 yards passing and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to Mark Andrews, who had a loud resurgence after two games where he was on a milk carton. After combining for just four targets, two receptions, and just seven yards, Andrews exploded for a 6-91 line on seven targets.
If you still have Andrews on your fantasy roster, this game probably gave you carte blanche to go ahead and start him, as the Ravens desperately need reliable targets outside of Zay Flowers. Flowers (2-13) disappeared in this game as Rashod Bateman stepped up to score the other of Jackson’s touchdowns. Bateman and Andrews both led the way with seven targets.
After being stymied by the Cleveland Browns’ run defense in Week 2, Derrick Henry had a bounce-back game of sorts, scoring an early rushing touchdown in the first quarter and putting up 50 yards on the ground on the evening. Henry retains his strong role, taking 63 percent of the team's rushing attempts.
Bills Notes From Week 3:
The Bills are an awesome team, don’t get that twisted. It’s just very frustrating that we can’t get more fantasy goodness out of their weapons. They use so many and spread the ball out to numerous targets that you don’t know who to target. Unlike the Denver Broncos, there isn’t one solid, consistent option you can bank on for routes and targets. Last season, that was Khalil Shakir, but we don’t even have that from him so far through three games. He did have his best game of the season (4-45) with a touchdown in his typical low-aDOT, YAC role that operates as an extension of the run game.
In Week 3, it was Dalton Kincaid who led everything for the Bills with a 5-66 receiving line and a touchdown on top of that. He ran just 63 percent of routes on Josh Allen’s dropbacks, but next week, he could have nothing on the ledger. That’s the state of the Bills’ offense, and we just have to accept it. Leading routes was Keon Coleman at 84 percent, so there’s at least a routes-based floor with him. Still, he put up just 3-20 on four targets.
At least James Cook (19-108 rushing; 3-1 receiving) is a week-in, week-out stud. He peeled off chunk plays like it was going out of style with gains of 16, 11, 26, and 11, plus a third-quarter touchdown mixed in. He has a stranglehold on the rushing work here, which is a change from last season, as Ray Davis and Ty Johnson would take some carries here and there, but Davis is near-droppable in fantasy at this point with just four snaps on the evening.
Panthers Notes From Week 3:
Tetairoa McMillan is the locked-in top receiver for the Panthers, and he struggled with some inefficiency on the day against the Falcons. But the intent was there with a team-leading nine targets and 101 air yards. Carolina has struggled badly trying to get a consistent second option alongside him.
Former first-round pick Xavier Legette has been awful through two games and wasn’t active for Week 3. Certified public accountant Hunter Renfrow (2-6) is hit or miss, and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders hurt his ankle and was spotted in a walking boot after the game. His status is “week-to-week” with an ankle sprain. Maybe the answer was Jalen Coker all along?
Coker was solidly efficient last season and was ticketed to compete with the previously listed options for that role, but a late preseason quad injury put those dreams on the shelf. With a return near, Coker has a great opportunity to seize that role outright and could be the flanker in two-wide receiver sets in an offense that isn’t afraid to throw the ball, as we saw with 55 pass attempts in Week 2. This is your notice to go pick him up. Coker isn’t going to be an automatic start or anything for fantasy, but the opportunity in Carolina is Coker's for the taking.
Not much more to say about Chuba Hubbard, who keeps his solid role with almost 60 percent of the team's rush attempts. Rico Dowdle got much more involved in the blowout, so his getting 10 carries and a target isn’t too much of a worry for Hubbard and the future workload.
Bears Notes From Week 3:
The fun-having Chicago Bears under Ben Johnson were definitely that, as they pulled out some tricks out of the playbook to beat the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 for Johnson’s first win as an NFL head coach. Caleb Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears' offense looked better than it had in several seasons in Week 3.
Week 3 was the first game Caleb Williams was not sacked in his career
He threw 4 TDs and set a new career high in yards per attempt (10.6) and passer rating (142.6)
— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) September 22, 2025
After a three-and-out on the first Bears drive, Chicago hit Rome Odunze for a long 35-yard touchdown, and then the next drive was just one play where the Bears pulled out a flea flicker and hit Luther Burden III for a 65-yard score. The Cowboys have the worst pass defense in the NFL through three weeks, and it’s easy to see why.
Odunze (3-62) continued his strong start, leading the way for the Bears with seven targets and that first-quarter score. DJ Moore (4-21) also caught a touchdown and took a few carries as well. Is he now Deebo Samuel Sr.? Maybe!
Burden’s highlight was the flea flicker touchdown, but he still only ran 31 percent of routes – a season high for him. He’s still running well behind Olamide Zaccheaus, who continues to see quite a bit of work, but the gap is slowly closing between Burden and Zaccheaus. Cole Kmet caught a touchdown on his only target as well, as he has firm control of the routes for the tight ends in Chicago, but doesn’t earn enough targets with all the competition there.
D’Andre Swift is merely fine, as he had 78 total yards, and he keeps a solid role over Kyle Monangai, but it's nothing to write home about. He’s a quintessential RB2 and is a pure floor play without much upside to speak of, though the role for Swift remains steady and decent.
Bengals Notes From Week 3:
Well, the 2023 Jake Browning thesis may just be a thing of the past. Browning looked washed in his first start since 2023. He threw for just 140 yards and threw a pick-six in the first quarter to Isaiah Rodgers, then a Noah Fant (5-26) fumble was picked up by Rodgers and he returned it 66 yards for a touchdown. It was THAT kind of afternoon as the Bengals were outclassed by the Carson Wentz-led Vikings 48-10.
Ja'Marr Chase (5-50) led everything for the Bengals, but even was not immune to the fumbling. Tee Higgins (1-15) was present and accounted for, with 87 percent of routes and just two targets. It was a mess, folks.
How bad was it? Chase Brown: 10 carries for three yards. Enough said.
Obviously, we’re downgrading Chase to a low-end WR1, Higgins to a WR3, and Brown to volume-dependent RB2. Can we move on? Isn’t this torture enough?
Browns Notes From Week 3:
The Browns weren’t very impressive on offense, but they didn’t need to be over the course of the whole game. They capitalized on massive mistakes by the Packers to score their first points with under four minutes and then got the ball on one play from the Packers' four-yard line following an interception. They then blocked a Packers field goal and kicked their own game-winning field goal for the frenetic victory.
The story for the Browns was Quinshon Judkins, who has turned into an efficiency darling here over the past couple of weeks, with another awesome performance of 18-94 plus the Browns’ lone score one play after their fourth-quarter interception. Dylan Sampson ran just 7.9 percent of routes and didn’t earn a target, so Judkins seemingly phased him out a bit. Most of the other running back touches (mostly receiving) went to Jerome Ford, but make no mistake that this is Judkins’ backfield going forward.
The passing game was spread out and unproductive, with David Njoku leading the way with a team-leading seven targets and 5-40. Jerry Jeudy (1-17) and Cedric Tillman (3-26) ran over 76 percent of routes per dropback. Harold Fannin Jr. (3-25, 50 percent routes) chipped in as well.
Cowboys Notes From Week 3:
The story of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 is the unfortunate injury to star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who played all of seven snaps before leaving the game early on. The Cowboys got the score tied in the second quarter, but the Bears put the clamps on Dak Prescott and scored 17 unanswered points to send Dallas packing with a 31-14 defeat.
Jake Ferguson PPR scammed his way to 21.2 fantasy points on a 13-catch, 82-yard line on 14 targets, which led the Dallas pass-catchers to no surprise. George Pickens put up the same stat line as last week with five receptions, 68 yards, and a touchdown on nine targets.
Pickens will have a lot more target-earning on his plate with Ferguson as the main wide receiver piece with Lamb out, but we’ll probably see more schemed touches from KaVontae Turpin (2-64) and Jalen Tolbert (3-24). Tolbert ran 89 percent of routes with Lamb out, and Turpin ran a massive 70 percent of routes as well, which is the most routes in a single game in his career.
Javonte Williams was eased back a little in his time on the field, but this week was likely with the team in catch-up mode, so that got Miles Sanders on the field for a season-high in routes, snaps, and touches (12). His role remains strong and buoyed by his efficient touches on the ground with five catches. He at least feels like a lock for work compared to a lot of other running backs right now, so that must mean a little something, right?
Broncos Notes From Week 3:
Well, the rug WASN’T pulled for Troy Franklin in Week 3 by Sean Payton. The role for Franklin was pretty strong as he followed up last week’s 91 percent of routes with an even stronger 93 percent this week, which is very bullish for a consistent role going forward. He just couldn’t do anything more than two catches for eight yards as Courtland Sutton dominated everything for the Broncos in his huge return to form in Week 3 from a lackluster Week 2.
Sutton put up a robust 6-118 line with a second-quarter touchdown for Denver’s first points before the half. There just wasn’t anything left for anything else in the passing game besides a few deep shots to Marvin Mims Jr. that didn’t materialize into anything other than air yards (95).
I’m sorry to all of you, RJ Harvey drafters, but we may be waiting a little bit here for the Harvey stuff to work out, as Payton has definitely taken a liking to J.K. Dobbins, opting to work with the veteran in meaningful situations against a good team early on in the season. Perhaps some opportunities could swing to Harvey’s direction, but for now, it’s Dobbins as the clear lead back.
Dobbins ran a season-high of routes (55 percent) and snaps (67 percent) as he absorbed the Tyler Badie workload, making it a pretty firm two-man backfield in Week 3. With touchdowns in each game so far, it’s hard to imagine this being anything but a very slow build to Harvey stuff while Dobbins is running so hot.
Lions Notes From Week 3:
The Lions weren’t balanced, but they didn’t need to be. Detroit racked up 224 yards on the ground (just shy of 6.0 yards per carry as a team), and they answered every shot from Baltimore and stayed ahead of the Ravens for the 38-30 win on the road.
Both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery scored two rushing touchdowns each, with Montgomery racking up a ton of yards on a 72-yard rush at the end of the third quarter and then following that up with a 31-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. One of Gibbs’ touchdowns was a double pitch where Goff pitched to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who pitched it back outside to Gibbs for the score. Awesome stuff from offensive coordinator John Morton.
Gibbs was inefficient on the ground but was still utilized much more than Montgomery, as Gibbs ran 63 percent of routes and almost 70 percent of snaps while having much more market share in the receiving game (six targets) than Montgomery’s single target. Obviously, both backs are awesome, and you’re universally starting both.
Same with St. Brown and his team-leading eight targets with a 7-77 line and a third-quarter score. Quiet days from Sam LaPorta (4-33) and Jameson Williams (2-43), but in a game where the run game did a lot of the heavy lifting and only 28 pass attempts from Jared Goff, there wasn’t too much passing volume to go around on Monday night.
Packers Notes From Week 3:
The Packers were in a rock fight with the Cleveland Browns and ended up being too stubborn to change how they attacked offensively, and it kept the Browns in the game. Jordan Love’s interception gave Cleveland the momentum it needed to get points off Green Bay’s mistakes. The Browns then blocked a Packers field goal attempt and went down the field to get their own game-winning field goal to put the nail in the coffin for Green Bay.
It has been a slow burn for Matthew Golden (4-52), as his first three games in the NFL have been disappointing, but his role is growing a bit. Through three games, Golden has a combined eight targets, six receptions, and 68 receiving yards. Golden ran routes on 84 percent of quarterback Jordan Love’s dropbacks and earned 22 percent of the first-read targets as well. The Packers made it a point to get Golden involved early, but he got three of his four targets in the first three drives of the game.
Not much else in the passing game, where third tight end John FitzPatrick scored the lone touchdown for the Packers. Josh Jacobs led the team in targets, and that should tell you everything you need to know about how the game went. Jacobs was also woefully inefficient on the ground. That’s been a recurring theme for anybody playing the Browns this season, as they’ve held Chase Brown and Henry to almost nothing on the ground. It’s also been a theme for Jacobs with just 3.1 yards per carry on the ground so far.
Maybe Matt LaFleur will learn something from the stubborn playcalling from this game, but probably not. Trying to “square-peg, round-hole” the run game when it clearly wasn’t working is what got the Packers their first loss this season.
Texans Notes From Week 3:
The Texans look terrible. Deplorable. They've been one of the worst offenses in the NFL with the fifth-lowest EPA per play through three weeks. Even on defense, which people look to as one of the few redeeming qualities of the Texans, the team is just 18th in the NFL in EPA allowed per play. C.J. Stroud has backslid tremendously from his rookie season to… whatever he is now. He’s sun-running a Pitts career arc where he maxes out in his rookie season and then coasts from there? What is going on?
Nico Collins put up 104 yards receiving on eight catches; mostly thanks to a 50-yard touchdown that was their only non-field goal score of the game. He’s awesome. He can’t do it all, though, but if somebody else wants to give it the ol’ college try, that would be pretty cool.
How about the rookies, second-rounder Jayden Higgins and third-rounder Jaylin Noel? Nah, it can’t be them. They combined for two targets and two receptions for nine yards. They also can’t get on the field! We can’t possibly put two rookies on the field that we spent Day 2 picks on! We must make sure we get Xavier Hutchinson and his career 0.55 yards per route run on the field for 68, 70, and 72 percent of routes per dropback the last three weeks.
What about the guy who just came back, what’s his name… no, no, not Braxton Berrios, he was a healthy scratch in Week 3. Oh, Christian Kirk! He was pretty good at one point, yeah? Well, what if he used Kirk at nearly the same aDOT (12.9) as Collins, instead of the middle of the field where he’s been the most efficient in his career? That would be great, as it would give Stroud a viable intermediate option that isn’t boring, milquetoast, and unathletic like Dalton Schultz (5-39)? I guess we’ll just have to live with the 3-25 Kirk gave us on eight targets and wonder why Stroud couldn’t connect with him.
Woody Marks (6-27 rushing; 1-9 receiving; 44 percent routes – season high) consolidated everything from the other secondary backs to provide some actual athleticism at the running back position, which looks almost out of place after watching some of these secondary receivers and Nick Chubb (9-18 rushing; 3-2 receiving) out there running. It might be time to see a bit of a switch here with the Texans badly needing to add some juice to this offense.
Colts Notes From Week 3:
Most teams in the NFL wish they were in the AFC South because they get two of these free-square games against the Titans, Texans, and Jaguars. With all three of these teams looking different, but similar shades of awful, it looks awesome for the Colts, where if this were a video game, they’d clinch the division by Week 10.
I was thinking about an exercise (that I still may do on my Monday stream “Clock Management” in the future) where a guest and I would re-draft the first round based on what we’ve seen through four weeks. Jonathan Taylor would be my 1.01, because he’s been 2024 Saquon Barkley through three weeks, and he absolutely crushed yet again with 17 carries, 102 yards, and three touchdowns on top of three catches for 16 yards receiving. What more is there to say?
Just 27 dropbacks for Daniel Jones, but the Colts did some stuff in the passing game despite the massive Taylor eruption spot. Michael Pittman Jr. led everything with a 6-73 line and a touchdown, while Tyler Warren (3-38 on five targets) had a quieter game but had an incredibly strong 89 percent of routes.
Some decent stuff from the secondary pass-catchers as well, with Alec Pierce (4-67, give targets) finding some decent production and a team-high 98 air yards. Josh Downs hasn’t really been too involved this season, and his routes have stayed around 60 percent this season with Warren now a part of the offense. Downs is a drop for now unless a pass-catcher gets hurt.
Jaguars Notes From Week 3:
The Jaguars might be one of the biggest fantasy storylines through three weeks, and it’s for (mostly) the wrong reasons. They’ve been one of my biggest misses through the season’s first few weeks, and the worst part is we don’t really have any answers as to why.
Brian Thomas Jr. has been maddening, puzzling, confounding; insert any other adjective you’d like along those lines, because Thomas has been that and then some. Thomas has a 7-115 line on a whopping 24 targets across three games this season. For some reason, Trevor Lawrence hasn’t been able to develop a connection with Thomas this season. Thomas (2-55) caught a 46-yard pass, another for nine yards, dropped a few more, and that was it for Week 3. Is it Thomas’ wrist that’s the issue? Who’s to say?
If you drafted Thomas, you have to trot him out there in your lineups and hope things will iron out, because it’s truly (*ADJECTIVE ALERT*) annoying and infuriating to have Thomas on your fantasy roster right now. Buying low in the trade market doesn’t even feel good either, as that would be something I’d typically recommend fantasy managers to in a situation like Thomas's, where regression to the mean is usually inevitable with a talent like Thomas. It's not a fun situation at all.
I’m sure the true intention and thesis behind the Jacksonville Jaguars' offense during training camp install was to give a team-leading nine targets to Parker Washington (4-34) in Week 3, right? That must be the way to go. If the Jaguars are going to trade the No. 5 overall pick, a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and the 2026 first-round pick to move up three spots to acquire the No. 2 overall pick and draft Travis Hunter to give him two targets and 43-of-63 snaps on defense to come away with the 264th-best PFF coverage grade in Week 3, I mean, why wouldn’t that be by design?
Brenton Strange (6-61) is okay though; he’s in front of two blocking tight ends (Johnny Mundt and Hunter Long) with no receiving option to take some more work from him, and Strange will gobble up targets with some efficiency. He’s been perfectly fine as a route-based upside play through all of this turmoil surrounding the Jaguars’ offense through three weeks.
Travis Etienne (16-56) got into the end zone, as did Bhayshul Tuten (6-21) on a one-yard touchdown plunge after a defensive pass interference penalty got the Jaguars on the doorstep. LeQuint Allen Jr. (1-9 receiving) continues to siphon routes from Etienne and Tuten to where it’s draining a bit of both backs’ upside. You ultimately want consolidation with work, and that’s not really happening right now. It wasn’t a detriment to Etienne’s work, but it could be.
Chiefs Notes From Week 3:
The Chiefs, for the most part, have been quite offensive (not in a good way) through three games and certainly in this game against the Giants, where they didn’t have to do too much, but scored only 22 points for the win. Sure, we should give them some leeway as they haven’t had Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, but it’s still not great!
Marquise Brown (4-43) hasn’t been able to do too much outside of the massive first game, and the scoring was a five-yard touchdown pass to Tyquan Thornton (team-leading nine targets, 5-71-1) after a bunch of deep shots (19.7 aDOT) that missed. It’s like they found something that worked once, so the Chiefs just keep going back to the well. Nothing is imaginative; it feels like Kansas City is treading water on offense until Worthy and Rice return.
I don’t know how long the team is going to continue to trot out this version of Travis Kelce, but he looks very slow and more like a podcaster at this stage than a tight end I want to start in fantasy. The run game is even worse, with Kareem Hunt getting a late score. This backfield is fragmented, and I don’t want to start either Isiah Pacheco OR Hunt in my lineups. Miss me with this offense in totality until this offense gets much closer to right again with Worthy and/or Rice back making plays.
Raiders Notes From Week 3:
It’s important just to get this out of the way right now: the chances of Tre Tucker doing anything like his 8-145 with three(!) touchdowns in Week 3 are infinitesimal. Tucker runs a ton of routes in the Raiders’ offense, but it’s not something you can ever set your watch to.
Jakobi Meyers (3-63) had a quiet game, and perhaps that was a pendulum-type swing to move production to the Tucker side. Same with Brock Bowers (4-37), where you don’t typically get a quiet game from both Bowers and Meyers where somebody else blows up.
Ashton Jeanty has been very quiet through three weeks, and it’s got to be disappointing for fantasy managers who are waiting for Pete Carroll to unleash the much-ballyhooed rookie. Jeanty is sitting at just 3.1 yards per carry and 144 rushing yards through three weeks. I do think that better games are coming,
Chargers Notes From Week 3:
A second elephant in the room: Najee Harris getting hurt on a non-contact Achilles injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season. That puts Omarion Hampton (19-70-1 rushing, 6-59 receiving) in the driver’s seat for a TON of volume going forward with very little behind him to take much off his plate. It really should have been a clear sign after Hampton got an immediate 80 percent snap share and 61 percent routes, but this solidifies everything with Harris’ awful injury in Week 3.
Instead of asking “who is the top receiver for the Chargers?”, it’s probably a much better exercise to just assume that all three of Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Keenan Allen could all be WR1 options for the Chargers in a given week.
We haven’t gotten much out of McConkey (4-41, seven targets), but there will be spots as the best ball-in-hand wide receiver the Chargers have for him to blow up. For now, Allen is having a big-time resurgence as a trusted possession target for Justin Herbert. Allen led the Chargers with 10 targets and a 7-65 line plus a touchdown. Johnston also had another great game with a 6-89 line on nine targets. All three of these guys will have their moments this season on a team with the second-highest target distribution to wide receivers at 74 percent.
With Will Dissly out, rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II was active for the first time and earned a surprising six targets with a very respectable 5-46 line on just 24 percent of routes. That’s a 40 percent targets per route run for Gadsden, so there was clear intent there with getting Gadsden immediately involved in the offense. I’m not even sure with that small sample in one game that you can put the Gadsden genie back in the bottle after that game.
One thing to note, too: the Chargers’ tight end coach is Andy Bischoff, who was the Ravens’ quality control coach but then offensive assistant and assistant tight end coach from 2015 through 2018, at the same time a young fifth-round wide receiver was in the building: Darren Waller.
Bischoff had a hand in converting the young wide receiver Waller to tight end, and we possibly could see the same thing unfold with Gadsden, a former wide receiver at Syracuse, making the transition to tight end. He’s the exact profile we want out of a fantasy tight end, just like Juwan Johnson, a former wide receiver, and Waller as well.
Rams Notes From Week 3:
In a battle of condensed offenses, the Rams had this game dominated for two and a half quarters against the Eagles and then lost on a (what else) blocked kick returned for a touchdown to seal a 33-26 win.
Puka Nacua (11-112, 15 targets) is the best wide receiver on the planet right now. He’s awesome. Davante Adams (3-56) works perfectly alongside Nacua to rank up air yards, which he did with a 44-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Only Jordan Whittington (2-7, 35 percent routes) earned more than one target amongst the Rams’ pass-catchers.
Even with Blake Corum (8-53 rushing) taking a little off Kyren Williams’ plate, Williams (20-94 rushing; 2-18 receiving) is still excellent and in a very robust role for the Rams. Williams saw 23 opportunities and 65 percent of the team's rushing attempts, plus scored a receiving touchdown to put the Rams up 26-7 in the third quarter. No danger (yet) with Corum infringing ever so slightly on Williams’ role.
Dolphins Notes From Week 3:
The Dolphins on offense looked more like the Dolphins we’ve been used to over the past few seasons, with how condensed their targets were to the main players. Between Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De'Von Achane, they accounted for 79 percent of the team’s targets on Thursday night.
Hill (5-49) and Achane (7-29) both led the team with 10 targets apiece, with touchdowns going to both Hill and Waddle (5-39). All three ran routes on at least 84 percent of Tua Tagovailoa’s dropbacks. Hill also had 145 air yards on a 14.5-yard aDOT, but Tagovailoa missed him on some deep targets that could have inflated his production tremendously.
The role for Achane is just incredible for fantasy football as he mixed in some efficiency on the ground with the target-earning floor we love. Achane is one of the few running backs out there today with not just 100-target upside, but 100-CATCH upside. Achane is a stud.
Vikings Notes From Week 3:
In a game where the Vikings had to trot out Wentz, they at least didn’t have to expose him to the world too much. With two return touchdowns on defense and a handful of fumbles from the Bengals, Wentz only needed to throw 20 passes, and with a 34-3 halftime lead, it was smooth sailing after that.
Jordan Mason was awesome with 116 yards rushing and two touchdowns, but he ceded the way in the blowout to Zavier Scott (8-30 carries, 1-20 receiving) and Cam Akers (5-19 rushing, one target) to salt away the rest of the win.
Not too much needed in the way of passing, but Justin Jefferson (5-75) had a solid game despite the lack of pass volume. Same with T.J. Hockenson (5-49) as he got into the end zone and put together his best game of the season. With Jordan Addison set to return in Week 4, it’s likely going to lead to a drop in routes for Jalen Nailor (3-37, five targets) and falling opportunities for Adam Thielen (two targets, 87 percent routes) as well.
Patriots Notes From Week 3:
Drake Maye has taken a big leap in his second season, his first full season as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. He’s QB6 right now, averaging 20.8 fantasy points per game thanks to his prowess on the ground, buoyed by what he’s done through the air. That said, the offense couldn’t get out of its own way in Week 3, as the Patriots fumbled the ball FOUR times and Maye tossed an interception en route to a 21-14 loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the spirit of teams like the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, the Patriots are wholly uncondensed with personnel and production in the passing game. They spread the ball out among a ton of different pass-catchers, but Hunter Henry was the huge beneficiary in Week 3.
Henry put up a massive 8-90 game with two touchdowns on a team-leading 10 targets. I can’t say I have anywhere near the same confidence in anybody else on this team, with Stefon Diggs (3-23) with just 55 percent of routes. Kayshon Boutte (2-28) is who he’s always been as a route-runner and occasionally targeted “X” receiver. Heck, I don’t even think I can say with a straight face that I have confidence in Henry week to week.
Rhamondre Stevenson (7-28 rushing; 3-38 receiving) saw just four carries and three targets for 56 total yards, but had two fumbles by the third quarter. They even went to Antonio Gibson (4-28 rushing) to give him some run, but he also fumbled in the third quarter. Perhaps this is the opportunity to give TreVeyon Henderson (11-28 rushing; 3-19 receiving) some runway and let him see what he can do? He wasn’t great with the opportunity he got with a 50 percent opportunity share among the running backs, but he held onto the ball at least.
Saints Notes From Week 3:
The Saints got throttled by the Seahawks, and it was never close. The game got out of hand quickly, and before you could blink, it was 38-6 Seahawks at the half. The main players saw some target volume, with Chris Olave not being able to do too much with 13 targets and 10 catches for just 57 yards.
Juwan Johnson maintained his massive role with eight targets on 90 percent of snaps and 73 percent of routes. He’s the TE2 on the season in PPR and has been a major hit this season in the late rounds of best ball and in redraft, likely undrafted. He’s the clear second target for Spencer Rattler, with Rashid Shaheed a bit dormant through three games, with no standout game, just some middling target-earning despite a touchdown in Week 2.
For the running backs, Alvin Kamara is present and accounted for with much less of a receiving role through three games, with a combined 10 targets. He’s seen a healthy 63 percent of the team’s total rush attempts this season, but it hasn’t been efficient and hasn’t come with the receiving production that’s been the hallmark of Kamara’s fantasy profile since he was a rookie.
Giants Notes From Week 3:
The Giants’ passing offense was so broken that this week, the team changed quarterbacks and is now tossing out rookie Jaxson Dart to the wolves just one week after Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards and three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys. It shouldn’t affect how the offense operates, but Dart is much more mobile and will have some more plays being extended because of that. You’ll get some duds, and Dart will also have some warts as he gets used to starting in the NFL, but ultimately, it’ll be a net positive for the Giants’ offense.
Wilson was awful as it was laborious just getting the ball TO Malik Nabers (2-13 on five targets) and Wan'Dale Robinson (1-26 on four targets), much less completing a pass. Darius Slayton was also involved, running 76 percent of routes per dropback, but he’s a distant target here.
The story of the Giants in Week 3 was Cam Skattebo clearly asserting himself as the top running back, as Skattebo’s role was clearly ahead of Tyrone Tracy Jr. in terms of volume and productivity. It didn’t help Tracy that he dislocated his shoulder and will be out for several weeks. Skattebo also led the Giants in receiving with eight targets and a 6-61 line and had more yards after the catch (57) than Nabers and Robinson’s receiving yards combined (39).
For now, it looks like it’ll be Skattebo and Devin Singletary in the Giants’ backfield. Skattebo will likely cede some of the third-down and long-down and distance work to Singletary, who is one of the best pass-protection running backs in the NFL and currently seventh in PFF’s pass-blocking grade among backs. It should lock up a sizable role for Skattebo here, so don’t hesitate to roll him out as a high-end flex play or low-end RB2.
Jets Notes From Week 3:
The Jets had to claw back here to get a fourth-quarter lead, and they blocked a field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown to give the Jets the lead. However, they couldn’t hold off Baker Mayfield as the Buccaneers came back to beat the Jets with a field goal as time expired.
Just like most of the Jets games this season, it’s Garrett Wilson leading everything receiving for the Jets with 12 targets and a 10-84 line and a touchdown to start the Jets’ 21-point fourth quarter. Rookie Arian Smith (2-2) ran 83 percent of routes and didn’t do much with it. Neither did Tyler Johnson (2-32) and his three targets on 72 percent of routes per dropback. Mason Taylor (4-18) also had 70 percent of dropbacks, but it didn’t amount to much.
Tyrod Taylor got the start in this game for the concussed Justin Fields, and led the Jets in rushing, while dropping back 47 times, so that didn’t leave much for Breece Hall (9-21 rushing; 4-31 receiving) in the comeback mode. Typically, the role is strong for Hall, but it was likely just the game script getting in the way here.
Eagles Notes From Week 3:
All offseason, the reason multiple prominent fantasy analysts (including myself) were on pieces of the Eagles’ passing game as being a huge value, while simultaneously fading Barkley this season, was because of season-to-season variance. The 2024 Philadelphia Eagles aren’t and will not come out of the tunnel to represent the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles.
Here's what I wrote in a preseason article just before the season about some of the variance possible with the Eagles' offense for 2025:
Last season, the Eagles finished the 2024 regular season with just 448 pass attempts total as a team, the third-lowest amount by any team since 2021 when the NFL went to a 17-game schedule. Season-to-season variance as well as week-to-week variance would add some passing attempts to the Eagles’ ledger for the upcoming season and even adding 30-to-40 passing attempts — which doesn’t seem like much — still takes some fantasy scoring off the top for Barkley and adds it to the passing game.
The Rams are a team with a consistently good enough offense and a quality defense that can push the Eagles to have to score a little bit to keep up. We know Philadelphia loves to put the clamps down on teams and make them run at their tempo. Los Angeles was up 26-7 with about 14:00 left in the third quarter thanks to a sack-fumble by Jared Verse and a Kyren Williams touchdown on the next play.
The Eagles were forced to pass a bit more, and when they get to passing the ball, the offense is condensed to their main weapons: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert (1-33). All three players scored a touchdown, and Brown (6-109) and Smith (8-60) combined for a massive 66.7 percent of the targets in Week 3. You rarely have to deal with any of the secondary pass catchers, and that’s exactly what happened here, as only two other pass catchers earned a target or caught a pass.
With the Eagles getting pushed to the pass a little bit more than usual, we saw Barkley remain inefficient, and that’s been a common theme through three games. He definitely feels much less than in 2025 with his 3.3 yards per carry, -18 total RYOE, 36.2 percent success rate, and -6.4 rush EPA added than his awesome 2024.
Steelers Notes From Week 3:
“The Pittsburgh Steelers offense: Presented by Arthur Smith” has never been one to target for passing volume. Passing efficiency, MAYBE. That was a LONG time ago in Tennessee with A.J. Brown. But never volume. Aaron Rodgers threw for 139 yards, so yeah.
You’re not getting volume regularly in this offense; not even with the top target DK Metcalf (3-32, five targets), though his catch in the end zone, where he wrestled the ball away from Carlton Davis III? That was sweet. That was about it for notable things in the passing game, though Calvin Austin (3-34) also caught a touchdown on a classic back-shoulder throw from Aaron Rodgers.
Jaylen Warren led the team in targets and dominated opportunities in the rushing department with almost 70 percent of the team's rushing attempts. 23 touches for Warren; that’s excellent, even if he wasn’t outlandishly productive with 81 yards total.
Kaleb Johnson is firmly in the doghouse, and Kenneth Gainwell saw his opportunities plummet to just four rushes and one target, but he did get a touchdown on a fake Jonnu Smith pop pass. Gainwell (and Arthur Smith) took advantage of the fact that the Patriots likely scouted that play, as that’s a play Smith famously loves to run, and none of the defense anticipated the pitch out to Gainwell for the easy score.
I just want it on the record here, in this article, that I complimented Arthur Smith. Please clap.
49ers Notes From Week 3:
With so many injuries to the 49ers' offense, it’s no trade secret that the team with backup quarterback Mac Jones just simplified things and built the offense around Ricky Pearsall and Christian McCaffrey in Week 3 to edge the Arizona Cardinals 16-15 in an ugly, ugly game.
With no Jauan Jennings in Week 3 after he was ruled out, both Pearsall (8-117, 11 targets) and McCaffrey (10-88, 14 targets) dominated targets, with 69 percent of the team's targets going to those two players. After Kendrick Bourne and tight end Jake Tonges, nobody else earned more than a single target on the afternoon.
McCaffrey has been relatively inefficient on his actual carries, but on the strength of his work in the receiving game, he’s still averaging 23.3 fantasy points per game through three weeks. That’s with him averaging 3.4 yards per carry.
To give you a reference point about how strong the receiving end of McCaffrey’s production has been, if you removed his rushing yards and just took his receiving stats and put his production at wide receiver, he’s WR10 behind Nabers and ahead of Emeka Egbuka with 17.4 fantasy points per game. That’s unreal.
Seahawks Notes From Week 3:
The Seahawks pasted the Saints 44-13 and were up 38-6 at the half, so we were in cruise control for the most part in this one, with backups getting in early in the fourth quarter. It’s hard to take much stock in some of the overall routes stuff here because of that on the Seattle side.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues his total domination of the passing game with another strong 5-96-1 line. He’s been right behind Puka Nacua in terms of efficiency this season and has been the best player on the field nearly every time he’s stepped onto it.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (4.61) and Puka Nacua (4.11) are absolutely LAPPING the field of pass-catchers through three weeks in yards per route run.
The next highest (min. 60 routes) is Zay Flowers at 2.69.
JSN and Puka are both on pace to DOMINATE fantasy from an efficiency AND statistical standpoint.
— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
It was a three-way consolidation of routes as Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp (2-31), and Tory Horton all ran 76 percent of routes. Horton delivered a nearly identical stat line from Week 2 as he pulled down three receptions on four targets, another 32 yards, and scored another touchdown. He also brought home another touchdown on a punt return, so he’s clearly stating his case to get on the field.
Horton’s role grew to a season-high 76 percent routes, but he’s still not on the field in two-wide receiver sets; that’s still earmarked for Cooper Kupp. With Smith-Njigba dominating everything for the Seahawks, a second target in this offense is welcome. That role in the long term is not for Kupp.
If Horton can get on the field in two-wide receiver sets, that role could eventually become his, and that could be realized sometime this season. Horton isn’t a priority add onto managed-league rosters, but he’s somebody who has an intriguing profile that’s produced in the short-term, with more opportunity on the horizon if he keeps it up.
No Zach Charbonnet in this game as he was out, but Kenneth Walker scored twice on some ineffective carries for the most part. George Holani and Jacardia Wright got into the game late and salted away the clock.
Buccaneers Notes From Week 3:
A game with another frenetic comeback as the Jets scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, including a blocked field goal (a running theme in Week 3) to give the Jets the lead. Baker Mayfield rallied and got the Bucs into field goal position, where Chase McLaughlin banged the kick through and Tampa won its third-straight game in the final minute of the fourth quarter, becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to do that.
Mike Evans (4-33) was a bit inefficient but still scored a touchdown on eight targets. He suffered a hamstring injury and will be out for a few weeks, which bumps up Sterling Shepard (4-80) to more routes in this offense. Egbuka (6-85) obviously keeps his very strong role, but the offense is still in pretty good shape with Chris Godwin close to returning too. It’s an offense that’s heavily reliant on the top three wide receivers and not as much on tight end production, with Cade Otton running 79 percent of routes but failing to earn a target.
A bit inefficient for Bucky Irving (99 total yards) in Week 3 with less than 3.0 yards per carry, but Irving took volume in abundance with 29 total opportunities. That included four targets, rendering Rachaad White (5-12 rushing, 1-2 receiving) a bit superfluous within the offense as nothing more than a spell for Irving if White doesn’t have the receiving component to fall back on.
Titans Notes From Week 3:
The Titans continue to be terrible, and it’s leading me to believe that Brian Callahan may be the first head coach fired this season, even before Giants’ head coach Brian Daboll. Cam Ward is just trying at this point, but there isn’t much upward trajectory week to week. I know the Titans have to find their players for the rebuild, but even in Week 3 and into Week 4, guys like Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson are doing absolutely nothing for the team.
Calvin Ridley (1-27, six targets) has been abhorrent this season, and if it weren’t for Thomas, we’d be talking a LOT more about Ridley’s inefficiency and straight-up drops. Just 8-111 on 20 targets in three games this season, and it’s no wonder that Ward has found a target he’s gels with in Elic Ayomanor.
Ayomanor (4-38, five targets) earned routes from the jump and scored his second touchdown of the season in Week 3. As Ward navigates being a rookie quarterback in the NFL and gets more comfortable, Ayomanor is going to come along for the ride, to the point where Ayomanor could surpass Ridley as the top target on the team if he keeps stringing along these solid efforts. The good thing is that the team is letting Ward pass through it, with the last two games featuring 33 and 38 team pass attempts.
Tony Pollard maintained his solid role with 70 percent of the team’s rushing attempts and 19 opportunities despite the blowout. It’s his backfield, and starting him despite the not-so-great offensive environment feels better than most backs of his ilk just because of his locked-in opportunity share.
Commanders Notes From Week 3:
We’re a full-blown running back committee here, folks. Chris Rodriguez Jr. got the first four carries of the game on a five-play drive that ended with a Marcus Mariota rushing score. Rodriguez ended up with the first FIVE carries amongst the running backs before Jacory Croskey-Merritt got his first carry in the third series for the Commanders.
That’s been a running theme for Croskey-Merritt, as he didn’t play in the first two series against the Giants in Week 1, and then the same thing in the game against the Packers. It looks to be series management for this backfield, but Croskey-Merritt should be the leader when all is said and done. What that means for fantasy is probably some high volatility in terms of touches and the continuation of drives that the other backs are featured in.
You can pencil in Jeremy McNichols for a lot of Austin Ekeler’s previous work, as McNichols took most of the third-down work and two-minute offense. But Croskey-Merritt still got the touchdown from in close, and that means something from a “we want to get backs who convert more involved” perspective.
Talent-wise, Croskey-Merritt may just be the most talented back right now on the Commanders’ roster, and he still carries some of the “mystery box” element to him, as we don’t know everything that he is quite yet. If I’m going to place my chips on a Commanders running back, I’m not about to pin my hopes on the twice-cut Rodriguez or purely situational McNichols in the long term.
One more yard for Terry McLaurin on a 56-yard catch, and we’re singing a much brighter tune as he would have had a touchdown in his Week 3 line as well. McLaurin led everything for the pass-catchers with a 3-74 line on four targets, and while Luke McCaffrey got in the end zone with a late touchdown, it wasn’t a fruitful game for anybody else.
Zach Ertz (3-38) maintained 78 percent routes per dropback but had a pretty quiet outing overall. Deebo Samuel Sr.’s (2-11 receiving, 3-18 rushing) routes sharply dropped to just 48 percent from 84 and 89 percent the last two weeks and I didn’t see any injury that led to that, That could have been just game script related, but he did look awesome on the game’s opening kickoff that got the Commanders immediately into Raiders territory to set the tone of the game.
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