Market Share Report: DeAndre Hopkins Shows Flickers of Life

Carry Market Shares

1. Dion Lewis Shakes Up the Patriots (Again)

Week 14 was the death of all hope for fantasy relevancy for Dion Lewis. He played just 24.6% of the New England Patriots' snaps, garnering three carries and one target in a victory over the Baltimore Ravens. What little aspirations remained were thoroughly squashed by the wrath of the Belichick.

Week 15 was his resurrection.

Lewis led the Patriots with 18 out of 38 running-back carries while adding three targets. He finished with 95 rushing yards, easily surpassing his previous career high of 69. It was just Lewis' third time with double-digit carries and his first since the season opener in 2015. This came out of nowhere.

The problem is that it's hard to tell how actionable this information truly is. Despite the usage, Lewis still played just 37% of the team's snaps, edging James White at 32% and LeGarrette Blount at 31%. This should likely prevent us from tossing Lewis into any season-long championships, but it does at least give him at least some viability as a dart-throw for DFS.

2. Bilal Powell Flashes Bellcow Potential

We thought with Matt Forte active that Bilal Powell's stellar Week 14 would be a thing of the past.

Wrong again, fam.

Powell had 16 of 20 running-back carries, relegating Forte to mop-up duty in the fourth quarter. This was in addition to 12 targets for Powell as he topped 160 all-purpose yards for the second consecutive game. Where was this the rest of the year?

Again, this was with Forte active, and Powell still played 84.2% of the snaps. It's possible the New York Jets have realized this is a lost season and are giving some assets who will be there in the future some run. It'll be hard to trust Powell in Week 16, but given the potential for grotesquely negative game script against the Patriots, Powell's passing-game usage should help keep him fantasy relevant.

3. The Packers Commit to Ty Montgomery

Ty Montgomery flashed some solid usage in Week 14, so you knew this dude was going to be good. But Week 15 was a whole new level of Gucciness.

Montgomery had 16 of 20 running-back carries on his way to a 162-yard game on the ground with a pair of touchdowns. He added three targets and played 84% of the snaps, so there's no doubt about his firm role in the offense.

Montgomery is now a locked-in running back tied to one of the game's most efficient passers in Aaron Rodgers. There's a ton of value in that, even in matchups against tough defenses like the Minnesota Vikings, whom the Green Bay Packers will face in Week 16. Until his pricing reflects this value, we should keep plugging Montgomery into our DFS lineups.