Fantasy Football Outlook: Alvin Kamara, Miles Sanders, Christian Kirk, Zach Ertz

Every week we’ll bring you The Primer, a deep dive into every fantasy-relevant player from every NFL game of the week. You can find the full weekly Primer here. Below we dive into a few notable players ahead of this weekend’s games.

Fantasy Football Outlook

Christian Kirk: With Ridley fading over the last three games, Kirk has stepped up in a big way. Over that span, he has a 28.1% target share, a 30.9% air yard share, and a 31.4% first-read share. To put some of those numbers in context, in the last three games, Kirk ranks sixth in target share and 17th in first-read share among 115 qualifying wide receivers. Kirk should spearhead the Jaguars passing attack again this week with the easiest corner matchup on the board with Buffalo. Kirk will run about 66% of his routes against Taron Johnson (100% catch rate and 107.5 passer rating). Week 5 Positional Value: WR2

Miles Sanders: In Weeks 1-3, Sanders played 57-65% of snaps, averaging 17.7 touches and 79 total yards. In Week 4, likely due to health, he played 43% of the snaps with 16 touches and 32 total yards. I’ll update Sanders’ status on Friday, but he was limited on Wednesday and Thursday last week before missing Friday’s practice. He saw a dramatic decrease in work in Week 4. I need to see his practice reports before diagnosing this backfield for Week 5. Week 5 Positional Value: TBD

Alvin Kamara: New Orleans wasted no time thrusting Kamara back into a workhorse role in Week 4. He played 75% of the snaps with 24 touches and 84 total yards, finishing as the RB9 for the week. With Carr looking to get rid of the ball quickly, Kamara had an unfathomable 37.8% target share as he caught 13 balls. While his 1.1 YPRR is nothing to write home about, his 2.91 yards after contact per attempt is a solid showing. Kamara’s looking at a long day at the office in Week 5 against New England. The Patriots have the third-best stuff rate and allowed the fifth-lowest yards after contact per attempt. They have also held rushers to the 14th-lowest yards per carry on zone runs (Kamara 100% zone). Even through the air, they have bottled-up backs with the eighth-lowest yards per reception permitted. Week 5 Positional Value: low-end RB1/high-end RB2

Zach Ertz: Ertz is the TE11 in fantasy with a 24.4% target share and a 23.3% air-yard share. He ranks second in targets, seventh in route participation, and fourth in red zone targets among tight ends. He has the fourth-most reception among tight ends. Ertz should put up solid numbers this week. Cincy has allowed the ninth-most receiving yards, the sixth-most fantasy points, and the 11th-highest yards per reception to tight ends. Week 5 Positional Value: TE1