Week 3 Fantasy Football Market Share Report: Can We Count on Adrian Peterson?

We're three weeks in, and at this point, it's a little easier to decipher what's real and what's not.

Hopefully this piece helps in that process as we take a look at some notable usage trends from the past week. Here are some key takeaways from Week 3.

Rushing Market Share

Myles Gaskin, Dolphins

When you put Myles Gaskin on the trade block, your inbox isn’t going to be inundated with trade requests. At least mine hasn’t been. And that’s okay.

Gaskin is a great player to have. This season is about what you can count on, and Gaskin is someone we can count on right now.

In Week 3, Gaskin logged 22 rushes for 66 yards and made 5 receptions for 29 yards (on 5 targets) for the Miami Dolphins. Matt Breida and Jordan Howard got three carries apiece and neither made a catch.

Gaskin is clearly the back to roster in Miami.

The Dolphins are far from an elite offense, but volume is volume. Gaskin is a startable fantasy asset right now.

Adrian Peterson, Lions

Adrian Peterson is back.

Yes, this Detroit Lions backfield is frustrating, but let’s operate on what we know. In Week 3, Peterson recorded 22 rushes for 75 yards and had one reception. Kerryon Johnson finished with 3 carries for 16 yards and one catch for 14 yards. Rookie D'Andre Swift totaled no rushes and one reception for 19 yards.

Things are not what we had imagined when this season started.

Peterson handled 88 percent of the Lions’ rushing share. Amazing. It looks like Peterson has the clear edge on Johnson and Swift right now, and that makes him the back to have from the Motor City. Swift is still a high-upside stash while Johnson likely belongs on waiver wires.

Receiving Market Share

Michael Gallup, Cowboys

Let’s get actionable here. The Dallas Cowboys' receiving scene is a hotbed of production, and Michael Gallup is the cheapest one of the three big dogs to acquire.

The Cowboys are feeding wideouts Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Gallup. Heck even Cedric Wilson came out of nowhere on Sunday with a big game. But that will likely prove to be an outlier game for Wilson.

Gallup also posted a stellar day with 6 receptions, 138 yards and one touchdown on 9 targets, trailing only Cooper (12) in looks.

Cooper is the clear alpha of Dallas' big three, seeing a 26% target share, compared to 14% clips for Lamb and Gallup. But Gallup is getting some valuable down-the-field targets, logging a 29% air yards share, which is just 3 percentage points under Cooper's mark.

In this offense, Gallup is going to have plenty of blow-up weeks. You're just going to have to wade through the off weeks to get them.

Mecole Hardman, Chiefs

Despite the snap differential of 29 to 41 in favor of Demarcus Robinson on Monday night, it felt like a shift in the Mecole Hardman-Robinson battle for status as of the number-three receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs

Hardman totaled 4 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown on 6 targets, which was good enough for 16.2 percent target share despite the limited snaps. It seems like KC wants to get Hardman the ball.

Hardman isn't going to be startable unless his snap count rises, which can happen via an injury to one of the Chiefs' other receivers or through a change in strategy for Kansas City. But he's a fun bench stash if you have the room to hang on to him, and he'd offer a big-time ceiling if he does find a way to get on the field more.

Red Zone Market Share

Kareem Hunt, Browns

Kareem Hunt's standing in the Cleveland Browns' backfield is certainly a timeshare at best. But when he's narrowly edged out starter Nick Chubb 11-10 in red zone rushing attempts through three games, we should take notice.

Hunt’s 11 red zone rushing touches are good enough for 50 percent of the Browns’ red zone rushes. Not bad for a guy we feared might be a change-of-pace back and pass-game weapon.

That usage helps solidify Hunt's status as a weekly flex play -- he's in the RB2 range in PPR -- and if Chubb ever went down, Hunt would be an instant RB1 (top-12) in a Browns offense that's been very successful running the ball.

Jimmy Graham, Bears

This is not a misprint: Jimmy Graham has been downright dominant in the red zone through three weeks.

We have no choice but to take notice of him. His seven red zone targets through three weeks is second to only Aaron Jones' eight. His five targets inside the 10 lead all players. Graham's four red zone receptions have netted 3 touchdowns thus far.

Seeing 31.8 percent of the Bears' red zone targets -- plus a change at quarterback from Mitchell Trubisky to Nick Foles -- Graham is a fine steaming option and could work himself into every-week status if he starts getting more looks outside of the red zone.