Opportunity is king in fantasy football, and chasing target volume has always been a winning strategy — especially in PPR leagues. PFF premium stats offers proprietary data that goes well beyond the box score, including routes run for every player on the depth chart.
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Targeting players who are running a high percentage of routes is a good strategy for identifying breakout candidates, DFS targets and the best waiver wire pickups. This weekly report will look at the previous week's rate of routes run per dropback compared to larger samples to find sleeper running backs, wide receivers and tight ends who are garnering more or less opportunities in the passing game heading into Week 12.
Last week's article highlighted the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, D.J. Moore, Elijah Moore, Josh Jacobs and Adam Trautman as players whose receiving usage was likely to transform into fantasy production sooner than later.
This data does not include the Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Rate of routes run per dropback | Week 11
| Player | Routes run | % of routes run per dropback |
| D.J. Moore | 29 | 100% |
| Diontae Johnson | 50 | 98% |
| Tre'Quan Smith | 43 | 98% |
| Adam Thielen | 38 | 97% |
| Ja'Marr Chase | 38 | 97% |
| Russell Gage | 33 | 97% |
| DeVonta Smith | 30 | 97% |
| Robby Anderson | 28 | 97% |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 27 | 96% |
| Josh Reynolds | 24 | 96% |
| Corey Davis | 41 | 95% |
| Darnell Mooney | 38 | 95% |
| Jaylen Waddle | 37 | 95% |
| Keenan Allen | 51 | 94% |
| Michael Gallup | 47 | 94% |
| Jakobi Meyers | 30 | 94% |
| Marvin Jones Jr. | 29 | 94% |
| Brandin Cooks | 28 | 93% |
| Tyler Lockett | 28 | 93% |
| D.K. Metcalf | 28 | 93% |
| Davante Adams | 38 | 93% |
| Stefon Diggs | 36 | 92% |
| Tee Higgins | 36 | 92% |
| Justin Jefferson | 36 | 92% |
| Chase Claypool | 47 | 92% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 23 | 92% |
| Michael Pittman Jr. | 22 | 92% |
Tre’Quan Smith is getting the WR1 treatment in New Orleans. He leads the team in routes and target share (23%) over the last two weeks, running 55% of his snaps from the slot. His matchup is brutal versus the Buffalo Bills Thursday night, but he should see enough volume to work as a back-end fantasy WR3.
Wild, but true: Josh Reynolds’ led all Detroit Lions receivers in snaps in his first game with the team. He was unproductive — as was every Lions receiver with Tim Boyle at the helm — but he’s worth a dart throw in DFS if Jared Goff returns Thursday. He’s the stone minimum at $3,000 and has chemistry with Goff from their days spent with the Los Angeles Rams.
If the esteemed Boyle is under center, Amon-Ra St. Brown is the favorite to lead the wide receiver group in targets.
Rate of routes run per dropback | Last four weeks
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