​Week 7 Fantasy Football Market Share Report: D’Andre Swift Is Hogging Pass-Game Work

Opportunity is the lifeblood of fantasy football production, and usage can change on a week-to-week basis. It's imperative you're up to date with how players are being used.

Let's take a look at a few players who have noteworthy roles right now.

Running Back Market Shares

Josh Jacobs, Raiders

Let's start with this -- Josh Jacobs exited early last week, but it's not believed to be serious.

It's another in a long line of ailments that has resulted in Jacobs being questionable seemingly every week. But don't like that distract you from the good role he's enjoyed. Previously someone who could get game scripted out of contests in past years, Jacobs' outlook for pass-game work in 2021 looked bleak with Kenyan Drake joining the Las Vegas Raiders. However, Jacobs has been pretty involved as a pass-catcher.

He had five targets apiece in Weeks 4 and 5 before a one-look game in a positive game script at the Denver Broncos in Week 6. He then amassed 3 targets -- in addition to 10 carries -- prior to exiting early in Week 7.

Over the last four weeks, Jacobs has an 11% target share, which isn't too shabby, and he also saw 13, 15 and 16 carries from Week 4 through Week 6.

Jacobs' role is a pretty good one, and his fantasy manager in your league might be fed up with the headache of Jacobs' weekly questionable tags as well as the Week 7 early exit. Now is a good time to try to trade for the Raiders' lead back.

D’Andre Swift, Lions

D'Andre Swift is thriving for the Detroit Lions, and he's become a weekly no-doubt RB1 thanks to his stellar usage in the passing game.

In Week 7, Swift rushed 13 times for 48 yards and added 8 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. It was a good summation of what Swift's role has become -- he splits rushing work with Jamaal Williams but has a stranglehold on the pass-game volume for a team that sees a lot of negative game scripts.

Swift has at least five targets in every game this season, and his 18% target share is second on the Detroit Lions, narrowly behind T.J. Hockenson's 20% clip. Swift has also logged a snap rate of at least 70% in four straight games.

Williams showed pass-catching ability in his time with the Green Bay Packers, but he's not being used the same way with Detroit, tallying a mere 6% target share on the year, with only three total targets across the last four games.

While Swift may lack the ground-game volume of some other elite backs, he's more than making up for it with his receiving work. The half-PPR RB3, Swift is a top-tier commodity this year in fantasy football, especially in half-PPR and full-PPR formats.

Receiving Market Shares

Rashod Bateman, Ravens

Rashod Bateman has now played two games for the Baltimore Ravens, and he's piled up 12 targets -- 6 in each game. He had his best game as a pro last week, totaling 3 grabs for 80 yards.

Over his two games, Bateman owns a 17% target share, which is third on the Ravens in that span behind Mark Andrews (20%) and Marquise Brown (27%).

In past years, being the third fiddle in the Ravens' passing attack was a dead zone for fantasy, but the Ravens are passing more this campaign, sporting a 54.6% pass rate in 2021, compared to a 45.0% mark a year ago.

While the return of Sammy Watkins could spoil the fun, Bateman is intriguing, and with Baltimore on a bye this week, this is a good time to send out an offer for him.

Coming out of the bye, the Ravens get the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 10 -- two teams that can be thrown on.

Jakobi Meyers, Patriots

Jakobi Meyers may never score a touchdown, but his usage is pretty appealing.

Meyers leads the New England Patriots in target share (23%) and is tied for the lead in air yards share (27%). He's had at least five targets in every game.

In Week 7, he had 5 receptions for 44 yards and tied with Brandon Bolden at a team-leading 7 targets -- and that was in a game the Pats won by 41. That's a positive sign for Meyers to get that many targets in a positive game script, and the Patriots boast the 13th-highest pass rate (61.5%) overall.

With Mac Jones starting to look comfortable in New England's offense, maybe the Pats won't be as run-heavy as we all assumed they'd be. Meyers is a solid WR3 who can help during bye weeks. We project him as the WR35 over the rest of the season.

Red Zone Market Shares

Damien Harris, Patriots

Speaking of the Patriots' offense, Damien Harris has back-to-back games with four red-zone rushes, and he's got four red-zone scores on the year.

Harris is tied for ninth in the league with 18 red-zone carries, and his 7 attempts inside the five are tied for the third-most.

The red-zone work is vital for Harris, because he's got just a 4% target share and is usually relegated to the sideline in passing situations. If he's going to return RB2 value, he needs to make trips to the painted area.

Our rest-of-season projections slot Harris as the RB22.

A.J. Green, Cardinals

A.J. Green is having a surprisingly serviceable fantasy season for the Arizona Cardinals, and he's been targeted often in the red zone with eight such targets. That ties him with Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill and Mike Williams in red-zone looks. Not terrible company.

Despite seeing more than a red-zone target a game and getting 21.6% of the Cardinals' red-zone targets, Green has only two red-zone touchdowns thus far. That number is sure to rise if the usage sticks.

Green can be a good fill-in during bye weeks, and his fantasy outlook is aided by most of Arizona's games being fantasy-friendly environments. This week is no exception as the total for the Cards' clash with the Green Bay Packers is at 50.5 points.