Fantasy Football Outlook: Travis Etienne, Kyren Williams, Isiah Pacheco, Drake London

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

Drake London: I can’t wait until London has at least league-average quarterback play, tossing him the rock. It will be beautiful. The talent is there, and we see flashes of it when he gets catchable targets and the Falcons are forced to pass. Since Week 2, London has had a 22.3% target share, a 30.1% air-yard share, 1.93 YPRR, and a 28.3% first-read share. Unfortunately for London, he has seen only three red zone targets over his last six games, all of which came in Week 7, which was also the last time that he faced Tampa Bay. Since Week 8, the Bucs have utilized single-high at the eighth-highest rate (61.1%). Since Week 2, against single-high, London leads the team with a 22.8% first-read share and a 26.4% air-yard share. London should have a strong outing this week against a secondary that, since Week 8, has allowed the 10th-most PPR points per target and the second-most receiving touchdowns to perimeter wide receivers. Week 14 Positional Value: WR3

Travis Etienne: Etienne is the RB6 in fantasy, ranking fifth in opportunity share, third in weighted opportunities, and 20th in red zone touches. He has settled into a 61-66% snap share since Week 10, averaging 16.8 touches and 67 total yards. Etienne has hit a wall recently and hasn’t rolled up 100 total yards since Week 8. He has only one 100-yard rushing day all season. Etienne’s efficiency has recently taken a hit. Since Week 10, among 44 qualifying backs, he ranks 24th in explosive run rate and 39th in yards after contact per attempt. I would love to say he enjoys a resurgent game against Cleveland this week, but it’s not a sure thing. Last week, he should have smashed the Bengals, but he only saw 11 carries and rolled up 45 rushing yards. Since Week 8, Cleveland has allowed the sixth-most rushing touchdowns, the 13th-highest missed tackles per attempt, and the fifth-highest yards after contact per attempt. Week 14 Positional Value: RB1/2

Kyren Williams: Since his return to the lineup, Williams has blown run defenses apart, averaging 23 touches and 158 total yards with weekly finishes as the RB1 and RB9. Williams ranks 16th in explosive run rate, 18th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 19th in yards after contact per attempt. Williams played 94% of the snaps last week. Williams is in a low-key SMASH SPOT this week. Baltimore, since Week 8, has been gashed by gap runs and has fielded an overrated run defense. Since Week 8, they have had the eighth-lowest stuff rate while allowing the fifth-highest missed tackles per attempt, the 12th-highest yards after contact per attempt, and the sixth-highest yards per carry to gap runs (5.02). 67.2% of Williams’ runs have been on gap plays. Week 14 Positional Value: RB1

Isiah Pacheco: Per reports, Pacheco has a shoulder contusion, which forced him to miss Wednesday’s practice. I expect Pacheco to play through his bruised shoulder. Since Week 9, Pacheco has played at least 61% of the snaps weekly while averaging 19.3 touches and 97.3 total yards. Pacheco ranks 17th in explosive run rate and 23rd in yards after contact per attempt. Kansas City will have to move the ball through the air this week because Buffalo’s run defense has dramatically improved. Since Week 9, Buffalo has allowed the 13th-lowest rushing touchdown rate, the fifth-lowest yards after contact per attempt, and the eighth-lowest missed tackles per attempt. Week 14 Positional Value: RB1/2