Snap Counts, Targets, Usage Analysis - Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers for Week 8

Joey analyzes fantasy football snap counts risers and fallers. Are these fantasy football players emerging, or a risk for starting them in Week 8 lineups?

It's the beginning of Week 8 and that means it's time for another snap count and usage analysis article here at RotoBaller. Every Wednesday morning, this piece will be released to help fantasy managers see some of the craziest and most surprising usages from the prior week. 

Week 7 was a wild one, and many unexpected players helped fantasy managers pick up wins. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins scored 22 fantasy points against the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears running back D'Onta Foreman (33) finished as the RB1 in PPR formats, and Vikings rookie wideout Jordan Addison (31.3) finished as the WR1 in PPR formats.

Those performances carried some fantasy managers but there were also a ton of other surprising snap counts and usage across the league last week. 

Surprisingly High Snap Count/Usage From Last Week

RB Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos – 53% snap share 

Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams suffered a brutal injury at the beginning of last year. He tore his ACL and LCL in Week 4 of the 2022 season, and many thought he was going to miss a portion of 2023 as well.

However, Williams seems to be past his gruesome injury. Week 7 was the most explosive the young running back has looked all season, and that correlated to him playing a season-high 53% of the team snaps. He also played the most snaps of the year (31), which turned out to be 16 more than Samaje Perine and 21 more than Jaleel McLaughlin. 

Williams' added playing time helped him rush 15 times for 82 yards while catching three passes for 14 yards. His 18 touches were a season-high, while his 82 rush yards and 96 yards from scrimmage were also a season-high. 

The Broncos have been careful with their young running back all season, especially after he dealt with a hip issue in Week 5. Since then, Williams has rushed 25 times for 134 yards (5.36 yards per carry). This surprise snap count surge could continue to increase in the coming weeks too. 

RB Darrell Henderson Jr., Los Angeles Rams – 57% snap share

When Rams running backs Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee), it was expected that rookie Zach Evans and veteran Royce Freeman would step up as the lead back. However, that wasn't the case.

Los Angeles eventually signed Darrell Henderson Jr. to the practice squad, and he became the team's RB1 in Week 7. Henderson played for the Rams from 2019-2022 before they released him toward the end of last year. He immediately stepped in and played 57% of the team snaps against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Henderson started the game and finished with 18 carries for 61 yards and one touchdown. He also caught one-of-two targets for five yards through the air. The veteran back wound up playing 39 snaps in the contest, while Freeman saw 29 snaps, and Evans didn't get any chances. 

Fantasy managers should have seen this coming with Henderson. The Rams leaned on him throughout the contest, and he was also the team's red-zone back in Week 7. As long as Williams is out, the 26-year-old will have flex appeal. 

RB Emari Demercado, Arizona Cardinals – 80% snap share

Who could have seen this coming? Last week, Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado played just 43% of the team snaps. He was actually on this very list heading into Week 7 in the low snap count/usage category. Seven days later, Demercado dominated the backfield.

The undrafted rookie played 80% of the Cardinals snaps in Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks. He played 53-of-66 snaps, and the starter from Week 6 (Keaontay Ingram) saw a whopping zero snaps. 

Demercado turned that opportunity into a productive day, rushing 13 times for 58 yards and catching four passes for 17 yards through the air. That helped him finish with 11.5 PPR fantasy points and as the RB21 on the week. He was a low-end RB2 in Week 7 with six teams on bye.

After Demercado had just three touches for 17 yards in Week 6, many fantasy managers likely dropped the undrafted rookie. Following his solid output this past weekend, he's likely worth a roster spot. He appears to be the Cardinals RB1 until James Conner (knee) returns. 

Other Players To Note: 

• Jahmyr Gibbs (87% snap share without David Montgomery)
• Alvin Kamara (12 catches on 14 targets) 

Surprisingly Low Snap Count/Usage From Last Week

RB Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings – 53% snap share

At this point, it's hard to trust Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison in fantasy. After playing 79% of the team snaps in Week 6, Mattison followed it up by playing just 53% of the Vikings' snaps in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Things actually looked great for Mattison on the first two drives of the game. His first carry was a 19-yard gain, and the 25-year-old totaled five rushes over those two drives. Despite being the main back early on, he was extremely quiet the rest of the contest.

Mattison had just eight carries for 39 yards while catching two passes for three yards. The Vikings back played only 37-of-70 snaps in the contest, and backup running back Cam Akers saw 39% of Minnesota's offensive snaps. This now marks two of the last three games that Mattison has seen less than 55% of the team snaps. 

It's been hard to trust Mattison since Akers' arrival. It was encouraging to see his big usage in Week 6, but he continues to struggle on the ground this year. He has totaled less than 45 rush yards in five of seven games this season, and the 50/50 backfield split might be the new norm moving forward. 

WR Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars – 1 catch on four targets 

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley jumped up fantasy draft boards after a video of him in training camp went viral. After seven weeks, the hype around Ridley has surely died down. 

In Week 7 against the New Orleans Saints, Ridley caught a season-low one pass for five yards in the Jaguars 31-24 win. Despite Trevor Lawrence throwing 29 pass attempts in the contest, the 28-year-old wideout saw just four targets. He also hasn't seen more than 10 targets in a game since Week 1 (11). 

Ridley has been extremely disappointing this season and has looked like a bust if you selected him in the third/fourth round of fantasy drafts. He has failed to top 50 receiving yards in five of the past six games and has only had one game over five catches during that span. 

Ridley's one-catch performance has reached a new low for him. Maybe he'll be more incorporated into the offensive game plan after the team's bye in Week 9. However, right now, the usage is just not there for the Jaguars playmaker. 

Other Players To Note: 

• Aaron Jones (limited workload following hamstring injury)
• Brian Robinson Jr. (eight rush attempts)

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