Fantasy Football Week 15 value watch: Zack Moss among risers, plus fallers to know based on key usage metrics
Get updated on everything you need to know about Week 15 from one of the nation's top Fantasy experts
We learn new information on a weekly basis as the ever-changing Fantasy landscape reshapes itself. There are many specific usage stats that affect a player's Fantasy projection, and outside of a few players, we see those underlying usage metrics fluctuate throughout the course of a season.
Each week, SportsLine's Fantasy expert Jacob Gibbs will examine all of this new information and provide a data-driven deep dive into Sunday's games to offer a better understanding of what we learned and how it will impact the Fantasy outlook of specific teams and players.
Here, we'll look at the leaderboards in several key metrics around player usage, then examine whose stock is rising or falling after the weekend's action. This week, that includes Colts running back Zack Moss.
"Prior to Week 15, almost everyone would have assumed that Deon Jackson would be the back to roster in Fantasy if Jonathan Taylor missed time," Gibbs said. "And Jackson is the Colts RB who found the end zone in Week 15, so he may feel like the right addition heading into Week 16. The underlying usage from Week 15 overwhelmingly favors Moss, though. He is the priority waiver wire pick-up, if last week's roles are any indication of what is to come in a positive Week 16 matchup against the Chargers."
If you have questions about any stats, players, or situations covered or not covered in this article, feel free to reach out to Gibbs on Twitter.
Week 15 Leaders -- Running Back
Snap rate
No stat correlates more closely with Fantasy scoring at the running back position than snap rate.
Route involvement rate
A player's route involvement rate simply represents the percentage of the team's total dropbacks on which that player ran a route. So, the running backs listed above ran a route on at least half of their team's dropbacks. Running routes is the first step towards drawing targets, which is key to unlocking Fantasy upside at the RB position.
Red zone usage
Another fun RB stat that I look at on a weekly basis is tackles avoided. Some backs are able to mitigate the damage while playing behind porous offensive lines by consistently making would-be tacklers miss and creating extra yards after contact. Here's who stands out:
And here's who stands out in terms of creating explosive plays:
Week 15 Leaders -- Wide Receiver
In addition to knowing which players drew massive air yardage totals, it is important to be familiar with air yardage shares. The rate version of this stat can help identify players who might break out if their offensive environment improves and produces more air yards in the future.
Speaking of rate stats, it's about time that we got to the oh-so-important target share leaderboard.
Those who produce well in both metrics get to be part of the highly exclusive 30-30 club.
Understanding which players are demanding the most volume is important, but it's also worth remembering that player volume starts at a team level. Diontae Johnson's massive volume rates with little-to-no actual production exemplifies this fact perfectly.
So, which teams were intentional about pushing the ball down the field? And which teams were the least aggressive?
This brings us to our next stat: air yardage leaders. Tracking air yards, average route depths, and average depth of target is vital to understanding how each NFL offense operates and will interact with opposing defensive schemes on a week-to-week basis.
The following teams stand out as having provided the most or fewest air yards.
'Off-target' rates
These quarterbacks stand out as the most or least accurate passers in 2022.
These quarterbacks have been the most or least accurate on short attempts.
And these quarterbacks stand out on downfield throws.
Week 15 Leaders -- Tight End
Route involvement rate -- the percentage of a team's routes on which a player runs a route.
To draw a target, a tight end must first be running a route. The players above ran a route on the highest percentage of their team's dropbacks.
Target per route run rate
Target share isn't the only stat that captures a player's ability to demand targets -- target per route run rate is another important metric. With more route-running opportunities, these players could be highly productive in Fantasy.
We cry for Travis Etienne.
Let's dig into the full data on Week 15 usage rates.
Which RB saw promising usage rates despite disappointing Fantasy production? And which wide receiver is going to have a difficult time replicating their big Week 15? ... Join SportsLine here to see Jacob Gibbs' Usage Report, all from one of the nation's most accurate experts as graded by FantasyPros!