This season, Zachary Krueger will use the RotoViz Screener Tool to evaluate player red-zone opportunity. Understanding how teams deploy their red-zone personnel, and who they give red-zone opportunities to, can offer a valuable edge over your opponents. This weekly Red Zone Report aims to give you that exact edge.
In a lot of ways, Week 1 was one of the trickiest starts to a season for fantasy managers. Due to the limitations placed on members of the media and no preseason, 2020 started with a lot of uncertainties.
Everything about predicting player usage or touch shares hinged solely on our thoughts and knowledge of how teams operated in the past. It’s hard to forget the shock that came with Myles Gaskin dominating the Miami backfield in Week 1, or Joshua Kelley seeing double-digit touches out of the gate and vulturing a touchdown from Austin Ekeler.
Fortunately, we now have two weeks of information to dissect. While what we know (or think we know) isn’t crystal clear, confidence builds as trends are realized.
With two weeks of red-zone data to sift through, here are some trends that arose from Week 2.
Running Back Red Zone Opportunity
| PLAYER | TEAM | OPP | EP | PPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | 9 | 16.6 | 9.3 |
| Nick Chubb | CLE | 7 | 14.3 | 14.1 |
| Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 6 | 9.8 | 13.9 |
| Derrick Henry | TEN | 6 | 4.5 | 1.4 |
| Jonathan Taylor | IND | 6 | 4.6 | 8.2 |
| Alvin Kamara | NO | 7 | 11.8 | 16.8 |
| James Conner | PIT | 6 | 9.8 | 8.4 |
| Josh Jacobs | LV | 5 | 5.7 | 0.7 |
| Todd Gurley | ATL | 5 | 3.1 | 1.3 |
| Joshua Kelley | LAC | 4 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Joe Mixon | CIN | 4 | 6.7 | 0.5 |
| Kenyan Drake | ARI | 4 | 3.3 | 1 |
| Miles Sanders | PHI | 4 | 6.1 | 7.4 |
| Aaron Jones | GB | 5 | 6.3 | 15.8 |
| Chris Carson | SEA | 4 | 4.1 | 9.6 |
| Frank Gore | NYJ | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Kareem Hunt | CLE | 4 | 7.0 | 14.8 |
| Kerryon Johnson | DET | 3 | 4.9 | 7.2 |
| Leonard Fournette | TB | 5 | 6.7 | 9.9 |
| Mark Ingram | BAL | 5 | 5.7 | 2.3 |
| Dalvin Cook | MIN | 2 | 5.1 | 8.4 |
| Darrell Henderson | LAR | 3 | 4.5 | 6.5 |
| Devin Singletary | BUF | 2 | 1.5 | 1.2 |
| Ito Smith | ATL | 2 | 4.4 | 0.4 |
| Jordan Howard | MIA | 2 | 5.7 | 6.2 |
| Malcolm Brown | LAR | 2 | 2.7 | 0.3 |
| Myles Gaskin | MIA | 2 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Austin Ekeler | LAC | 2 | 2.1 | 3.5 |
| Boston Scott | PHI | 1 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Cam Akers | LAR | 1 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Chase Edmonds | ARI | 1 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | KC | 1 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| C.J. Ham | MIN | 1 | 1 | 0.4 |
| Devontae Booker | LV | 1 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| Dion Lewis | NYG | 2 | 4.6 | 7.5 |
| D'Andre Swift | DET | 1 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Giovani Bernard | CIN | 2 | 2.2 | 1.7 |
| Gus Edwards | BAL | 1 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| Josh Adams | NYJ | 1 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Jerick McKinnon | SF | 1 | 0.6 | 7.6 |
| Jeremy McNichols | TEN | 1 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Jalen Richard | LV | 1 | 0.7 | 8 |
| James Robinson | JAC | 2 | 2.4 | 9.3 |
| Jordan Wilkins | IND | 1 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Matt Breida | MIA | 1 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Melvin Gordon | DEN | 3 | 3.4 | 8.9 |
| Rex Burkhead | NE | 2 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Ronald Jones | TB | 1 | 1 | 6.7 |
| Raheem Mostert | SF | 1 | 0.6 | -0.2 |
| Sony Michel | NE | 1 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Tarik Cohen | CHI | 1 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Tevin Coleman | SF | 2 | 3.0 | 2.2 |
| Alex Armah | CAR | 1 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Alec Ingold | LV | 1 | 4 | 7.3 |
| Chris Thompson | JAC | 2 | 4.2 | 8.4 |
| David Johnson | HOU | 1 | 2.1 | 0 |
| Jakob Johnson | NE | 1 | 4.4 | 7.1 |
| Jamaal Williams | GB | 0 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Kyle Juszczyk | SF | 1 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| LeSean McCoy | TB | 2 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Mike Davis | CAR | 1 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Patrick Ricard | BAL | 1 | 4.4 | 7.1 |
| Reggie Gilliam | BUF | 1 | 4.4 | 7.1 |
As previously mentioned, rookie running back Joshua Kelley played the role of vulture to Austin Ekeler in Week 1. Kelley punched in a touchdown from five yards out early in the fourth quarter, capping a rookie debut that featured a rushing line of 12/60/1 and 12 PPR points.
In that game, Kelley saw four red-zone opportunities to Ekeler’s three, which is a trend that continued in Week 2.
Last week against the Chiefs, Kelley saw 25 opportunities to Ekeler’s 20, while also outworking him in the red zone.
