• New York Jets’ stars shine: For the first time, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson went over 100 rushing and receiving yards, respectively, in the same game.
• Ray Davis leads the Buffalo Bills‘ backfield: The rookie running back was effective as both a runner and receiver with James Cook out of the lineup.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 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.
Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets
- Garrett Wilson: 8 receptions, 107 yards, 1 touchdown
- Allen Lazard: 6 receptions, 114 yards, 1 touchdown
Ray Davis shines without James Cook: Davis was a primary weapon for Buffalo in the run and pass games while Cook was out injured.
Cook didn’t practice Thursday or Friday and was limited Saturday due to a toe injury. He was listed as questionable but ultimately didn’t play. Veteran Ty Johnson started, but after the first two plays, it was clear Davis was taking on Cook’s usual role while Johnson remained the third-down back.
Davis ran the ball 20 times for 97 yards and caught three passes for 55 yards, with most of his receiving yards coming from a 42-yard reception. He almost scored twice on the same drive, running to the one-yard line followed by Josh Allen sneaks.
Davis is worth a waiver-wire add simply because Cook could miss another game. There is also a chance Davis will see a larger role once Cook is healthy. Cook will likely finish with a higher season-long PFF rushing grade because he’s been more consistent, whereas Davis has been a little more boom-or-bust, with a few booms this week. Davis likely won’t become the lead back just from this game, but he could get more playing time, cutting into Cook’s time.
Khalil Shakir quiet in his return: Shakir missed last week with an ankle injury and was only a rotational player this week.
Over the first four weeks, Shakir played 79% of snaps in 11 personnel while rarely playing in other personnel groupings. After missing last week, he played less than half of the 11-personnel snaps, with Curtis Samuel taking more snaps than usual in that grouping.
Shakir missed practice Thursday and Friday and was limited Saturday before being officially listed as questionable, just like running back James Cook. The Bills play again in six days, so it will be worth seeing how much Shakir practices this week before trusting him in fantasy starting lineups for Week 7.
Tyler Conklin limited for the Jets: Conklin was limited all week with a hip injury and was questionable for this game.
There was some concern he might not play after the Jets elevated veteran tight end Anthony Firkser off the practice squad. Conklin started but didn’t see quite as much playing time as usual.
Over the first five weeks of the season, there were only six plays out of 11 personnel where Conklin wasn’t on the field. Jeremy Ruckert took seven plays out of 11 personnel in the first half of this game alone. Over the first four weeks, he played 90% of 12-personnel snaps. That fell to 53% last week, which seemed to be by design rather than related to his injury. That rotation continued this week, although it was Firkser joining Ruckert in 12 personnel rather than Brenden Bates.
We can expect Conklin’s snaps in 11 personnel to return once he’s fully healthy, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he remains in a rotation in 12 personnel. Conklin has two games with 55 or more yards and four games with 17 or fewer yards, and he hasn’t found the end zone yet. He’s an OK tight end to consider in fantasy when your starter has a bye week, but he shouldn’t be considered a reliable option.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Buffalo continued its usual tight end rotation, with Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox seeing significant playing time. Kincaid played more in passing situations, and Knox featured more in rushing situations. Kincaid ran a route on more than 80% of the Bills’ pass plays for the first time this season.
- Bills undrafted rookie running back Frank Gore Jr. was elevated off the practice squad to be the team’s third running back for this game, but he didn’t play a snap on offense.
- The Jets didn’t rotate their running backs as much as the past two weeks. This was partially because New York wasn’t winning very often, a situation where the offense tends to rotate more. Even accounting for this, Hall played a little more than the past few weeks.
- For the second straight week, Jets third-round rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley was a healthy inactive.
- Mike Williams was substituted out for Xavier Gipson for most of the final two drives of the first half. It’s unclear if he was dealing with an injury or if it was related to something else, but outside of those two drives, he had his usual role of playing in 11 and 21 personnel.
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.
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