Week 8 Fantasy Football Market Share Report: What Is Going on With the Colts' Backfield?

Amazingly we're already at Week 9, which means there are just five weeks left until the fantasy playoffs begin in most leagues. Now is no time to take a breather, so let's take a look at some noteworthy usage trends we saw this past week.

Rushing Market Shares

Jordan Wilkins, Colts

Jordan Wilkins jumped head first into the running back conversation in Week 8 with 20 rushes for 89 yards and one touchdown, adding one reception for 24 yards.

His 20 carries were good enough for 55.5 percent share of the Indianapolis Colts' running back carries.

An underwhelming and now banged up Jonathan Taylor gave Wilkins and Nyheim Hines an opening, and this will likely be a difficult situation to navigate moving forward. But if Taylor misses any time with his banged up ankle, Wilkins looks like a good bet to get early-down work, making him a guy to prioritize on waivers this week.

Deejay Dallas, Seahawks

Counting on a midseason fill-in rookie when starter Chris Carson is sure to be back sooner rather than later isn’t likely to yield immediate results. But DeeJay Dallas was thrust into a headlining performance on Sunday, and he delivered.

If you took a chance on Dallas, you were rewarded. He totaled 18 carries for 41 yards and a score, which isn't super fun, but he added 5 catches (on 5 targets) for 17 yards. Obviously Dallas lacked elite efficiency, but he scored twice and played 79 percent of the snaps. He accounted for all but one of the Seattle Seahawks' running back carries.

Keep an eye on what Carson and Carlos Hyde do at practice this week, but Dallas showed he can handle a big workload this past week.

Receiving Market Shares

Jerry Jeudy, Broncos

Jerry Jeudy has underwhelmed thus far, but he’s not been alone for the Denver Broncos.

Figuring out the target share in this offense moving forward is far from predictable. But with Tim Patrick out in Week 8, Jeudy led Denver with 10 targets, which he turned into 4 receptions for 73 yards. The rookie logged a 26.3 percent target share, and no other Denver wideout saw more than 5 looks.

While Drew Lock isn't going to chuck it 41 times each week, Jeudy may have some WR3 appeal the rest of the way if he can lock down a role as the Broncos' clear lead receiver.

Willie Snead, Ravens

Willie Snead finished Week 8 with 5 receptions for 100 yards on 7 targets. Snead's totals were good enough for a 30.4 percent target share, and it came in what was a pivotal game for the Baltimore Ravens.

Now Snead certainly won't lead the Ravens' passing attack every week, but with Marquise Brown not getting many targets, there's room for Snead to be useful in games that Baltimore won't be able to just run it down the throat of their opposition. One such game might be this week as the Ravens hit the road to face the Indianapolis Colts, a team boasting the seventh-best D in 2020, per our metrics.

Red Zone Market Shares

James Conner, Steelers

James Conner has just been quietly getting the job done this season, and his red zone rushing work is starting to stand out.

According to Pro-Football Reference, Conner has 23 red zone rushing attempts -- the sixth-most among backs -- and 5 touchdowns on those carries. He also has seven carries inside the five, the seventh-most. He's seen 54.8% of the Steelers' red zone rushing share.

While it won't be easy to trade for any running back who is healthy and producing well, Conner is worth targeting in trades, and he shouldn't be as hard to acquire as some of the position's elite.

Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers

Brandon Aiyuk is having himself a pretty nice rookie campaign, and those who were able to stash him early in the year are now reaping the benefits. He finds himself as one of the few healthy offensive options for the San Francisco 49ers, and his red zone receiving work ranks among the elite at the receiver position.

Aiyuk has nine red zone targets on the year, which he's turned into two scores. Only three wideouts -- Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd and Davante Adams -- have more red zone targets. The rookie has a 22.5% red zone target share, including a 30.0% share inside the five. And those numbers could rise with George Kittle now sidelined.

Aiyuk looks primed for a solid rest-of-season output in a Niners attack that is desperate for weapons.