Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Sunday's games

• Alvin Kamara hits the hat trick: The New Orleans Saints achieved a dominant road victory that included Kamara scoring three touchdowns in the first half.

• Newcomer running backs with big days: Both the Green Bay Packers‘ Josh Jacobs and the Los Angeles Chargers‘ J.K. Dobbins built on their strong Week 1’s with effective 130-plus-yard rushing performances.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.

Las Vegas Raiders @ Baltimore Ravens

Zamir White plays more snaps but doesn’t produce: White played a much higher percentage of the offensive snaps, but that only led to 6.8 PPR points.

Last week, White was in a near-even split with Alexander Mattison on early-down and short-yardage snaps. Mattison played 19-of-20 snaps on third downs and two-minute drills.

This week, the distribution was very different. White took a clear majority of early-down snaps. The other piece of good news for White is he took some of the two-minute drill snaps, splitting with Ameer Abdullah. Last season, he barely played in the two-minute drill. Mattison continued as the third-down back.

The bad news for White is Mattison continued to split short-yardage work. That included a goal-line snap that led to a Mattison touchdown.

If the Raiders are in a game script where they are winning, White can be a fantasy starter in this split because he should see 15-plus carries in those games. The Raiders were down by 10 points with 10 minutes to go and had a comeback victory, so even though they won this game, it wasn’t a situation where they could commit to the run. In close games or games where the Raiders are losing, White should be left on benches in fantasy leagues.

Brock Bowers hasn’t hit his ceiling yet: Bowers has been one of the best fantasy tight ends this season, and there is still room to improve.

Bowers caught nine passes for 98 yards and has been a clear top-five fantasy tight end so far this season. There is still room for him to improve his role with the offense.

The Raiders haven’t used as much 12 personnel as the preseason suggested, with 42 snaps out of 11 personnel compared to 15 out of 12 personnel. This means that on most plays, it’s either Bowers or Michael Mayer on the field. Bowers played 23 snaps out of 11 personnel compared to Mayer’s 18 and Harrison Bryant‘s one. The majority of those plays were pass plays regardless of which tight end was on the field.

Bowers continued to show up on the injury report this past week due to a foot injury, although he was a full participant each game. There is a chance that Bowers runs even more routes as the season goes on and he’s further removed from his foot injury. Even if he stays in his current role, his target share is high enough to sustain TE1 production.

Ravens decrease 12 personnel usage: The Ravens ran 40 plays in 12 personnel this week compared to 21 snaps in 11 personnel and 11 in 21 personnel last week.

Isaiah Likely was the waiver wire pickup after his dominant Week 1, but a lot changed from last week to this week. The Ravens’ distribution of formation changed significantly with 28 snaps in 11 personnel, 19 snaps in 12 personnel and 11 snaps in 21 personnel. This meant there were significantly fewer plays where both Mark Andrews and Likely were on the field at the same time.

Last week, Andrews played seven-of-eight snaps in 11 personnel in the first half, but Likely was the leader in the second half with eight-of-13. This week, we were back to Andrews being the primary tight end in 11 personnel throughout the game, playing 21-of-28 snaps while Likely played the other seven.

Likely continued to join Charlie Kolar in 22 personnel, while Kolar took most of the snaps in 21 personnel. Those are mostly rushing plays, but it meant a few pass plays with neither Likely nor Andrews.

This all added up to Likely running a route on less than half of the Ravens passing plays. Likely should stay on fantasy rosters, but it will be much harder to start him going forward.

Miscellaneous Notes

Rookie running back Dylan Laube was a healthy inactive for the Raiders for a second straight week. It was a similar story for Ravens rookie wide receiver Devontez Walker.

Los Angeles Chargers @ Carolina Panthers

J.K. Dobbins starts for the Chargers: He replaces Gus Edwards as the Chargers’ primary running back.

Dobbins put together an excellent Week 1 performance with 10 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown while Edwards ran 11 times for 26 yards. He was rewarded with the Week 2 start, although the backfield split was similar to Week 1. Dobbins and Edwards split early downs while Dobbins was the primary passing down back.

The biggest difference was that Dobbins played the goal-line snaps, although his one touchdown came on a 43-yard run. As long as the Chargers are in-game scripts that enable them to run a lot, Edwards and Dobbins should be expected to be heavily involved in the run game. It will be interesting to see the split when the Chargers play from behind. Theoretically, Dobbins would be playing more snaps in those games.

Dobbins is a must-start player going forward. The big question is if he can earn more playing time to maintain being a top-five running back. It’s also reasonable to consider cutting Edwards. These are the game scripts where he should have the most fantasy value, but he hasn’t achieved fantasy-starting production.

Quentin Johnston shines as the healthy wide receiver: Johnston was the Chargers’ main healthy outside wide receiver and doubled his career touchdown total.

D.J. Chark Jr. is on injured reserve while Josh Palmer was questionable for this game due to a knee injury. Palmer rotated out much more than usual, including barely playing in the fourth quarter. He also spent some time in the medical tent.

Johnston’s role wasn’t much different from last week or most of last season. The big difference this time around is that he caught his targets and they happened to go for touchdowns.

Johnston is worth a waiver add in deeper leagues. There is a chance this is the start of his career turning around. It’s more likely he won’t be as big of a focal point in the offense as the season goes on once Palmer and Chark are healthier and Ladd McConkey becomes a bigger part of the offense.

Chuba Hubbard pulls slightly ahead of running back rotation: The Panthers rotated their running backs by drive, which favored Hubbard.

The Panthers rotated by drive last week. Hubbard took two drives to Sanders’ one, but the drives Miles Sanders played were much longer. In this game, Hubbard was the primary running back for most of the game, playing 20-of-28 snaps over the first eight drives. However, Sanders played significantly in the last 16 minutes of the game, which brought the playing time much closer to even.

Hubarrd was the better player, averaging 6.4 yards per carry compared to Sanders’ 2.9. Hubbard also caught four passes for 14 yards. If the Panthers’ offense starts putting drives together, Hubbard would have a bit more fantasy value.

Miscellaneous Notes

While Jonathan Mingo played ahead of Xavier Legette last week, Legette ended up playing more snaps. This week, Mingo started the game and was clearly ahead in offensive snaps.
Panthers veteran Tommy Tremble made his 2024 debut after missing all of the preseason along with Week 1. He immediately entered a two-man rotation at tight end with Ja’Tavion Sanders. The fourth-round rookie seemed like a possible sleeper early in the season, but this rotation will make it very difficult for him to become a fantasy starter.
Rookie running back Kimani Vidal was a healthy inactive for the Chargers for a second straight week.
Tight end Hayden Hurst continues to be the clear receiving tight end for the Chargers. His snap count will be higher when the games are closer for Los Angeles, but he still isn’t receiving many targets. Eric Tomlinson played so much because they ran a lot of 22 personnel with defensive lineman Scott Matlock at fullback.

New Orleans Saints @ Dallas Cowboys

Alvin Kamara: 20 carries, 115 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 65 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Rashid Shaheed: 4 receptions, 96 yards, 1 touchdown

Monitor Taysom Hill‘s health: He went to the hospital with a chest injury.

Coach Dennis Allen suggested it was more precautionary than anything. He left at the end of the third quarter after playing in 28 of a possible 41 snaps during that time.

His playing time has been higher than in previous years when the game is close, but he’s not running the ball enough to trust him in fantasy leagues. He ran three times in the first three quarters, which was second-most on the team but not close to Alvin Kamara’s 15 during that time. As long as Kamara is playing this well, it will be harder to trust Hill in fantasy leagues.

Ideally, Hill is healthy, and if he is, it will be good to see him in a closer game to see if his usage increases. To this point, the Saints simply haven’t needed him.

Avoid the Saints’ other tight ends: Neither Foster Moreau nor Juwan Johnson received a target after both scored touchdowns last week.

Neither Saints’ tight end is being used in a way to produce consistent fantasy value. Moreau has dominated offensive snaps this season because he’s their run-blocking tight end, and the Saints have run the ball a lot. He was playing in everything except 11 personnel. Johnson played every snap out of 11 personnel but only ran a route on four of the 20 pass plays in the game.

Johnson should run a lot more routes in closer games or when the Saints are playing from behind, but it’s unlikely he will see a high target share in those situations. They can be dropped in any league where they are rostered.

Deuce Vaughn complicates running back rotation: Vaughn played 10 offensive snaps and ran the ball four times, making it just the third game of his career with significant work.

The Cowboys utilized a two-man rotation last week with a rotation by drive. Ezekiel Elliott took the first drive while Rico Dowdle had the second. This week, Dowdle was up first. Vaughn typically only played if a drive lasted five or more plays. Ideally, the Cowboys would trust Dowdle or Elliott to play significant snaps on one drive followed by a few snaps on the next.

This meant no Cowboys running back had more than 30 rushing yards or reached double-digit attempts. Dowdle is still worth a waiver-wire target, as he was the most effective back in this game and caught four passes for 29 yards. The fact that he started this week over Elliott is a step in the right direction. The Cowboys will need to abandon the strict rotation by drive for Dowdle to be worth starting.

Miscellaneous Notes

Cowboys starting tight end Jake Ferguson missed this game due to a knee injury.
Cowboys tight end John Stephens missed his second straight game due to a hamstring injury.
This left Luke Schoonmaker and Brevyn Spann-Ford splitting time at tight end, with no clear tendency of how one tight end was used over the other. Schoonmaker was trusted much more in the passing game with six receptions for 43 yards while Spann-Ford didn’t catch his only target.
Saints wide receiver A.T. Perry was inactive despite being a full participant in practice all week. He was a starter at the end of last season but seemed lower on the depth chart based on the preseason. He was inactive last week due to his hand injury.
Both Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed played over 80% of the Saints’ offensive snaps in the first half but didn’t play as much in the second half because they weren’t needed.
Cedrick Wilson no longer has a clear hold on the third wide receiver spot. Mason Tipton, who is an undrafted rookie out of Yale, rotated in for three-receiver sets. Wilson played most of the snaps in the first and third quarters while Tipton played the second quarter, and both played a lot in the fourth.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Detroit Lions

Coming soon!

Indianapolis Colts @ Green Bay Packers

Jonathan Taylor was limited in passing situations: Taylor was a feature back in Week 1 but not in this game.

Taylor played in 43 of a possible 45 snaps in Week 1, including all seven snaps during two-minute drills and all but one on third downs. This week, the story was different. Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson split 18 snaps in the two-minute drill and played the majority of the third-down snaps. It is worth noting those two-minute drill snaps occurred in the last few minutes of the game when the Colts were down, so things may have been different if the two-minute drill snaps happened in the first half, or if the Colts weren’t down by two scores for most of it.

This is good news for Taylor’s ability to stay healthy this season but bad news for Taylor’s fantasy ceiling and ability to catch passes. After running 12 times for 103 yards and catching two passes for 32 yards, it could be a time to sell high.

Alec Pierce scores again: Pierce has posted two of the best games of his career in the last two weeks.

Pierce’s role as an every-down starter hasn’t changed, but he’s caught eight of his 10 targets over the last two weeks for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He’s becoming an even more intriguing waiver-wire target after two strong performances, but things may change soon.

Josh Downs was inactive for a second straight game, but he could be back for next week. He would take over in the slot, which means second-round rookie Adonai Mitchell would be out of the starting lineup. Considering Mitchell spent this game rotating with Ashton Dulin, it seems unlikely that Mitchell will take significant snaps from Pierce, but it’s possible. It’s also possible that Downs takes targets away from Pierce. It’s fine to consider Pierce in deeper leagues if he’s still available, but I’m also still not sold on him being a long-term option.

MarShawn Lloyd eased into action: Lloyd made his regular season debut in a limited role.

Lloyd missed Week 1 and was limited all week due to a hamstring injury. He was officially questionable and ended up playing 10 offensive snaps. Those snaps were spread out throughout the game. He played one snap at a time, often to give Jacobs a break. He was already ahead of Emanuel Wilson as the early-down backup. Wilson played more offensive snaps due to his third-down work.

Considering how well Jacobs has played for the Packers, Lloyd is just a handcuff for now, but there is a chance he will carve out a larger role in the Packers offense.

The Packers’ wide receiver rotation continues: The Packers quarterback change had minimal impact on the wide receiver rotation.

The Packers continued to use Romeo Doubs as an every-down wide receiver while Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks rotated in the other spot and Jayden Reed only played in 11 personnel. Reed was questionable for this game, but that had no impact on his role, as he was almost always on the field in 11 personnel. The main difference is the Packers didn’t need as much 11 personnel snaps this week as last.

The Packers’ run-first offense makes it difficult to trust any of the wide receivers in the short term, but in the long run, Doubs seems to be the best option. He runs the most routes, led the team today with three receptions for 62 yards, and is one of Jordan Love’s favorite red-zone targets.

Miscellaneous Notes

Last week, Tucker Kraft was clearly the Packers’ every-down tight end. This week, Luke Musgrave cut into his playing time more, particularly in 11 personnel. This will make it harder to trust either tight end even when Love returns.

Cleveland Browns @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Coming soon!

San Francisco 49ers @ Minnesota Vikings

Coming soon!

Seattle Seahawks @ New England Patriots

Coming soon!

New York Jets @ Tennessee Titans

Calvin Ridley: 4 receptions, 77 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 carry, 10 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Breece Hall: 14 carries, 62 yards, 7 receptions, 52 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

Braelon Allen scores twice: The Jets’ fourth-round rookie ran seven times for 33 yards and a touchdown while catching two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.

Allen was competing with Isaiah Davis for the primary backup job throughout the preseason, and this game made it clear that Allen is clearly ahead of Davis. He is Breece Hall‘s handcuff.

This doesn’t mean Allen will have standalone value going forward. It wouldn’t be surprising for Allen to see five-to-10 touches per game going forward, but it just happened to be that this week, two of those touches resulted in touchdowns.

There is also no need to worry about Hall’s fantasy value. He touched the ball over 20 times, which should be the case going forward. If the Jets are running fewer plays like they did last week, then they simply don’t take Hall out of the game as much. If the Jets end up running a lot of plays in a game, it might mean a little more Allen.

Mike Williams overtakes Xavier Gipson: The former Los Angeles Chargers’ star wide receiver barely played in Week 1.

Williams missed most of 2023 due to an ACL tear and when he signed with the Jets in the offseason, it wasn’t clear if he would be ready for Week 1. He ended up playing nine offensive snaps with Xavier Gipson as the third wide receiver that week.

This week, Williams almost always joined Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard in 11 personnel. Wilson and Lazard took most of the work in 12 personnel, outside of four snaps where Williams replaced Lazard. Williams also joined Wilson in 21 personnel where Lazard didn’t take a single snap.

Williams caught his only target for 19 yards, while Lazard caught two passes for 11 yards. It wouldn’t be surprising if Williams ends up playing more snaps out of 12 personnel in the future while gaining more targets.

It’s worth noting Gipson led the Jets in snaps from the slot in Week 1, so Williams joining the lineup led Lazard to become the primary slot receiver. Wilson also ran 14 snaps from the slot, where he caught three of his passes for 49 yards.

Monitor Tyjae Spears‘ health: Spears suffered an ankle injury and didn’t return.

In Week 1, it was a little surprising how much more Pollard played than Spears, as Pollard took 39 snaps to Spears’ 29. Pollard had 19 touches to Spears’ eight in that game.

In the first half, Spears ended up outsnapping Pollard 20-15. Pollard ran seven times to Spears’ six, so everything was closer than Week 1. Pollard played the first few snaps in the second half, while pears only played two snaps in the half before suffering his ankle injury. Julius Chestnut took one snap in the quarter. Pollard took the rest of the work in the second half, including all 19 snaps in the fourth quarter.

Pollard is a borderline fantasy starter if Spears is healthy and the Titans continue their first-half usage, but Pollard is a must-start for however long Spears is out for.

DeAndre Hopkins increases his playing time: Hopkins is heading in the right direction but still can’t be trusted in fantasy starting lineups.

Hopkins suffered an MCL tear near the start of training camp, so the team has eased Hopkins back into action. In Week 1, he played 17 offensive snaps and that increased to 29 this week. In Week 1 he was a primary receiver in 12 personnel, with just a small fraction of 11 personnel snaps. This week, he barely played in 12 personnel and played in just over half of the snaps in 11 personnel. He took 27 snaps to Treylon Burks‘s 25.

We can expect him to see even more snaps next week, but we don’t know how long it will be until he’s a full time starter again. He caught his only target for eight yards. He could be considered a buy-low candidate.

Miscellaneous Notes

New York Giants @ Washington Commanders

Devin Singletary is a sell-high candidate: The Giants’ lead running back helped his fantasy managers, but a concerning trend has emerged.

The Giants running back played a slightly higher percentage of snaps this week than last. He and Malik Nabers were the Giants’ only source of offense. The only concern is Tyrone Tracy has taken five of the Giants’ six snaps when they’ve been within six yards of scoring. Those five snaps by Tracy have spanned three different drives over the two games. Tracy is four inches taller and a bigger back, so, understandably, Tracy is the player New York wants on the field when it is close to scoring.

Singletary’s touchdown this week was from the seven-yard line. He hasn’t been much of a factor in the passing game, and Singletary’s touchdowns will be hard to come by. This means his fantasy value will come almost entirely off of rushing yards. While he can be a fantasy starter in the right matchup, it could be good to trade him now because he’s coming off a good game.

Noah Brown makes his Commanders’ debut: Brown was active after being inactive last week, replacing Jamison Crowder in the lineup. Brown was signed after the Houston Texans released him on cutdown day.

Last week, the Commanders’ wide receiver rotation was simple, Terry McLaurin had one of the two outside wide receivers. Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus rotated as the other outside receivers, while Luke McCaffrey played in 32-of-33 snaps in 11 personnel, primarily from the slot. No one else was playing in the slot with any kind of consistency.

This week, Dyami Brown was clearly ahead of Zaccheaus in both 11 and 12 personnel. This led the Commanders to use Zaccheaus more in the slot compared to Week 1 or the preseason. Zaccheaus has a history of primarily playing in the slot both last year with the Philadelphia Eagles,and earlier with the Atlanta Falcons. This meant McCaffrey only played 39-of-57 snaps out of 11 personnel.

Noah Brown was the primary backup to Dyami Brown on the outside. Noah Brown was the Commanders’ most productive receiver with three receptions for 56 yards. Dyami Brown has only one game of 56 or more yards in his NFL career. It wouldn’t be surprising for Noah Brown to gain more playing time as early as next week. He’s worth a waiver wire target if he becomes Jayden Daniels’ favorite wide receiver.

Miscellaneous Notes

Giants tight end Theo Johnson is the team’s clear primary receiving tight end, but he is asked to pass block more than most tight ends. In Week 1, he was tied for the league lead in pass-blocking snaps by a tight end at eight. Teammate Chris Manhertz was not far behind at six. This week, they both stayed in to block even more often. This will make it hard for Johnson to see fantasy value this season.
Giants wide receiver and returner Gunner Olszewski was active last week but reaggravated a groin injury in pregame warmups, forcing him to miss the game. He landed on injured reserve on Saturday. The team signed Ihmir Smith-Marsette to replace him.
Commanders rookie tight end Ben Sinnott remains a clear third on the depth chart. When Sinnott is playing significantly in 12 personnel with John Bates, Bates takes some snaps from Zach Ertz on 11 personnel. If Ertz suffered an injury, Bates would likely see more of an increase in snaps than Sinnott. In most redraft leagues, Sinnott isn’t worth keeping on the roster.

Los Angeles Rams @ Arizona Cardinals

Coming soon!

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos

Coming soon!

Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs

Coming soon!

Chicago Bears @ Houston Texans

Coming soon!

Table Notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.