In this weekly article, Ryan Ramsarran uses the Advanced Stat Explorer and other RotoViz tools to dive deep into wide receiver usage trends. Usage is key for making waiver wire adds, start/sit decisions, and finding the next blowup WR in DFS. We’ll use the advanced WR metrics to highlight a few buy-low options at the position each week.
Week 7 is in the books, and it ended in surprising fashion, with the Justin Jefferson-less Minnesota Vikings beating the red-hot 49ers. One thing that wasn’t surprising was A.J. Brown extending his streak of games with 125-plus receiving yards to five, tying the NFL record! Brown could be on the verge of making history next week.
As always, we’re going to start with one of the best plays from a wide receiver last week:
TAKEN AWAY BY ADDISON FOR THE 60-YARD SCORE 🔥
📺: #SFvsMIN on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/riDUhbzXkK pic.twitter.com/E3TaKaYMA9— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2023
Routes Run and Routes per Target
Routes run is the first key statistic I’ll focus on because WRs need to be on the field to produce. The second statistic is routes per target. Unlike RB usage, targets are earned as a WR and routes per target is a helpful measure in figuring out which players are good (or which players coaches want to get the ball to).
*Routes for Monday’s games are not included