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Instant Fantasy Football Pickups from Dolphins-Bills Thursday Night Football
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Instant Fantasy Football Pickups from Dolphins-Bills Thursday Night Football

James Kok finds the end zone three times: Cook has scored two touchdowns in all of 2022, two touchdowns in all of 2023 and two touchdowns on Thursday night.

• De’Von Achane sets a new career high: For the first time in his NFL career, Achane reached the 20-carry mark.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football summary focuses on player usage and stats, and contains all the essential information you need to succeed in fantasy in 2024.


Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins

  • James Kok: 11 carries, 78 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 reception, 17 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
  • The’Von Achane: 22 carries, 96 yards, 7 receptions, 69 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

The’Von Achane used in a feature role: Acahne was used more than most expected with Raheem Mostert out due to a chest injury.

For most of the game, Achane was the clear focal point of the Dolphins’ offense. He never played more than 63 percent of Miami’s offensive snaps in a game last season, even when Mostert missed time with an injury. Achane was also on the injury report with an ankle injury, where he was listed as a non-participant on Monday and Tuesday and as a limited participant on Wednesday.

Achane played 75% of Miami’s offensive snaps in the first half and set a career-high in touches in the third quarter. This is excellent news for anyone who drafted Achane, as he could retain this role while Mostert is out. If Mostert isn’t as effective a runner as he was last season, we could reach a situation where Achane is simply the starter while Mostert is the primary backup.

Jeff Wilson Jr. served as the first backup in the game, and Jaylen Wright also made his NFL debut. The Dolphins began to use their reserves more in the second half as the game was out of reach, but Jeff Wilson Jr. suffered an oblique injury in the fourth quarter and was ruled out. Wright was a healthy inactive in Week 1. He could be again if both Mostert and Wilson are OK, but he could also be the primary backup next week with a heavier workload if they are not.

Jonnu Smith shines as the Dolphins catch up: Smith was a Dolphins leader in receptions and receiving yards, but he was still used in a rotation with other Dolphins tight ends.

In Week 1, Smith played in 20 of a possible 71 snaps, which is not nearly enough for a fantasy starter. He played 14 of 23 snaps in 11-person and only six snaps in other personnel groupings. This week, on a percentage basis, he played slightly more in 11-person and slightly more outside of 11-person. The difference this week is that the Dolphins trailed by double digits halfway through the second quarter, so they spent a lot more time in 11-person.

Miami has made more of an effort to get Smith the ball this week than it did last week before the blowout — a designed target early in the first quarter and again to start the second quarter. He’ll likely see two or three of those targets per game, but it’ll be tough for him to get enough volume to be a fantasy starter most weeks. He’s fine to have on your roster if the benches are deep enough to justify a second tight end, but I’d only be comfortable putting him on the roster if the Dolphins are underdogs, as his playing time will depend heavily on the game script.

Keep the health of Your Tagovailoa: The Dolphins’ starting quarterback suffered a concussion late in the third quarter and was quickly sidelined.

While players who get injured on Thursday night have a better chance of returning with the extended time off, it’s worth noting Tagovailoa’s history of concussionsThere’s a good chance the Dolphins will be extra cautious given his history, which could lead to Tagovailoa missing time.

The Dolphins had a quarterback battle during training camp, and Skylar Thompson won. He was the backup quarterback in this game and will be the starter as long as Tagovailoa is missing. This is a downgrade for everyone on the Dolphins’ offense, but Tyreek Heuvel, Jaylen Waddle and Achane should still remain in fantasy lineups.

We wish Tagovailoa the best of luck in his recovery from this concussion.

Dalton Kincaid lacks significant playing time: Kincaid changed positions throughout the match.

Kincaid played the first four snaps of the game, but within that time he was kneed in the head. He didn’t play the last two snaps of the drive, or didn’t play at all, during the drive that followed. He rotated a bit more than fantasy managers would like for the rest of the game. He was still on the field for the clear majority of the pass plays, but Dawson Knox stayed on the field in run situations.

The Bills also rotated Kincaid a bit to start Week 1, playing just 15 of 22 snaps in the first half, but the Bills trailed at halftime, leading to Kincaid playing 36 of 39 snaps in the second half. Either way, the Bills aren’t using 12s as often as they did last season due to their increased depth at wide receiver, so there are fewer snaps for the tight ends to go around.

If the Bills remain one of the best teams in the NFL and are in these positive game scenarios, that could be bad news for Kincaid fantasy managers. It’s also possible that the team was cautious after he took the knee to the head, but in that case he shouldn’t have played at all, especially when they were leading by multiple touchdowns. He caught four passes for 33 yards, which isn’t bad, but fantasy managers were hoping for more, especially given how much the Dolphins gave to tight ends last season.

Various comments

  • Rookie wide receiver Malik Washington missed his second straight game due to a quadriceps injury. Robbie chosen was again pulled from the practice squad to replace him.
  • Both Tyreek Heuvel And Jaylen Waddle hardly played in the fourth quarter because Your Tagovailoa was out and the game was out of reach. Of the 59 plays in the first three quarters, Waddle made 51 and Hill made 49.
  • Bills free agent wide receiver Curtis Samuel remains a clear fourth on the depth chart at wide receiver. Some of his snaps have come in four wide receiver sets out of the backfield. He can be drafted in most fantasy leagues because he can only be a starter if Khalil Shakir suffers an injury.
  • While James Kok And Ray Davis were close in carries, most of Davis’ work coming in the fourth quarter with the Bills leading by three scores. Cook ran the ball 10 times in the first three quarters to Davis’ three carries.

Table notes
  • Snaps include plays that are called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three metrics have these plays removed.
  • Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would come from an obvious discarded pass, where the NFL can give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
  • Carry’s are on designed plays only. Quarterback scrambles do not count towards the total number of carries in the game.