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John Laghezza's fantasy football RB/WR breakouts watch for Week 10 based on snap count risers/fallers in 2025. Whose usage and fantasy value is trending up or down?
We're back in black for another round of NFL playing time tracking. Remember, at the end of the day, when you remove the noise from the signal, touches, targets, and opportunities matter more than anything else in fantasy. And now that we have access to all these cool behind-the-curtain stats, there's no excuse — gotta pop open that hood every week. Due diligence, baby.
Talent's overrated at this point (especially at RB) — opportunities drive the fantasy game. Players can't score points if they don't see the field. Then you deal with the matter of quality. Roster talented players, while also staying aware of per-snap rates, so as not to fall into the trap of starting someone based on name only. I hate admitting how many times I'm guilty of it.
Playing time analysis is always so much fun because we actually get answers. The very same dishonest coordinators, coaches, and owners who spent all week lying suddenly have no choice but to show their cards via player deployment once the whistle blows -- and that's where we come in. Every week, I'll be here manning the torpedoes at RotoBaller, breaking down the weekend's most impactful changes in utilization and what it means to fantasy gamers going forward. I've got plenty of bubble teams in need of a final push — it's still anyone's game through nine weeks.
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Usage Bumps I'm Buying
Emari Demercado, RB - Arizona Cardinals
Nothing hits harder heading into the holidays than a nice redemption arc. Arizona's Emari Demercado dominated back pages nationwide for all the wrong reasons after infamously fumbling away a certain touchdown due to a lack of focus. And the over-the-top backlash is exactly what you might have expected — honestly, a true hurdle for anyone to immediately recover from.
At least HC Jonathan Gannon got over his feelings quickly, deciding to roll out his best players as their last-place season slowly slips away. And for my money, Demercado's just that — he's already the active backfield leader in yards/rush, yards after contact/carry, success rate, yards/touch, and explosive rush rate on the season. Plus he catches the ball with breakaway speed and home run potential that's been there going back to last season.
The cherry on top for me came on a 19-yard outside run late in the 4th quarter as the Cardinals attempted to ice the game. About to get tackled approaching the sideline, Demercado displayed the wherewithal to slide before getting shoved out of bounds to keep the clock moving and force a timeout. And the result? Not just a victory, but legitimately palpable elation through the television from the entire Arizona coaching staff.
Point being, if you're worried about organizational trust, I think we're past that now — and without any sort of encouraging news regarding Trey Benson, better to be on board a week early than one day late.
EMARI DEMERCADO 53-YARD TD!
📺: #CHIvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/B7dXbOt3Fu— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Christian Watson, WR - Green Bay Packers
Even with fantasy football obsession at an all-time high, players slip through the cracks. It's part of life. With that, somehow Green Bay's Christian Watson is rostered in fewer than one-third of all leagues, despite good quarterback play and all the career metrics to represent a difference-maker: 20.8% target/route, 2.08 yards/route, 0.45 fantasy points/route, 0.35 TD/game.
Back in the fold faster than expected from injury, Watson reached a 78.9% route participation in just his second game. With Jayden Reed and now Tucker Kraft removed from target competition, Watson's essentially assured a full-time role stretching the field — he's already amassed five deep targets for +92 air yards/game in 2025.
The Packers desperately need a reliable vertical threat to win downfield (sorry Matthew Golden drafters), and we'll likely all be hard-pressed to find another WR in this good of a surrounding contextual environment again this season.
Jordan Love launches it DEEP to Christian Watson for 51 yards!
CARvsGB on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/0GkY6f7dct
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
Next Man Up...
Quick temperature check on the less-exciting backfield tussles happening right now. Round and round the injury bug goes, where she stops... no one knows. Since NO ONE can predict injuries with any verifiable degree of certainty, our best-case scenario is to identify, assess, and adjust. Basically, put yourself in the best potential spot if you wind up being right.
Outside of a small handful of handcuffs that immediately become auto-smash RB1s with a single injury (Tyler Allgeier and Tank Bigsby come to mind) — most success comes from churning your roster based off utilization data.
Every player on the list below is worthy of attention and bordering on fantasy viability in deeper leagues, if not there already. If I had to stab at the next ancillary player to make an immediate leap, it's the Giants' Devin Singletary. Tyrone Tracy Jr. has failed to separate himself on the field for Big Blue, and I'm pretty sure I even saw him limping on the sidelines Sunday, despite finishing the game.
It may not be pretty, but work is work, and New York's averaging nearly 28 points a game over the last four. Not to mention the Giants' defense ranks in the bottom five in both points and yards allowed, so game script hasn't been a problem whatsoever.
What a catch from Singletary 🔥
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/chRFIXBZc3
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 26, 2025
Honorable Mentions - Flex Usage On The Rise
- AJ Barner, TE, SEA
- Allen Lazard, WR, NYJ
- Andrei Iosivas, WR, CIN
- Blake Corum, RB, LAR
- Calvin Austin III, WR, PIT
- Chris Moore, WR, WAS
- DeMario Douglas, WR, NE
- Devin Neal, RB, NO
- Devin Singletary, RB, NYG
- Jaret Patterson, RB, LAC
- Kareem Hunt, RB, KC
- Kyle Williams, WR, NE
- Luke Musgrave, TE, GB
- Malik Davis, RB, DAL
- Ryan Flournoy, WR, DAL
- Tahj Brooks, RB, CIN
- Tank Bigsby, RB, PHI
- Terrell Jennings, RB, NE
- Tory Horton, WR, SEA
- Zavier Scott, RB, MIN
Noteworthy Usage Downturns
Arguing for pulling the plug on a fantasy asset is a lot simpler. Every team's experiencing injuries — if you're failing to earn opportunities at this point, it's likely not happening for fantasy purposes. Once the red flag's waving on usage, it's hard to turn things around. That's why I'm using such a fine-toothed comb to curate this list; there's nothing worse than not noticing a downgrade.
Most of the names losing playing time may not shock you, though. Who among us can say they haven't started Greg Dortch once in their lives? If forced to catch the falling knife, I'll do the broken record thing by suggesting the best combination of youth plus environment
Saints' veteran RB Alvin Kamara's down bad again. Initially ceding work to backup Kendre Miller triggered drop warnings everywhere, until a torn ACL seemingly cleared the runway once more for Kamara to dominate touch share. Not so fast, my fine feathered friend.
Perhaps New Orleans just doesn't see their 30-year-old vet in the same light anymore, given how poor the underpinning metrics look (-0.20 EPA/attempt, 3.9 yards/carry, 41% success, 6.3% explosive rush rate). Frankly, rookie Devin Neal's +41% snap share through his two debut games with the lone red zone RB touch spells the final nail in Kamara's fantasy coffin for 2025.
Flex Usage Trending Down
- Alvin Kamara, RB, NO
- Bam Knight, RB, ARI
- Brashard Smith, RB, KC
- Chuba Hubbard, RB, CAR
- Elijah Moore, WR, BUF
- Hunter Long, TE, JAX
- Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, WAS
- Jayden Higgins, WR, HOU
- Kenneth Gainwell, RB, PIT
- Matthew Golden, WR, GB
- Ollie Gordon II, RB, MIA
- RJ Harvey, RB, DEN
- Sterling Shepard, WR, TB
- Xavier Legette, WR, CAR
- Woody Marks, RB, HOU
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