• Oronde Gadsden’s success continues: Gadsden was one of the biggest waiver-wire targets of the season these last few days, and he caught five passes for 77 yards and a touchdown to reward those fantasy managers.
• Minnesota Vikings offense struggles through injuries: Carson Wentz was clearly not 100% healthy throughout the game, and Minnesota lost two key offensive players early in the game.
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.

Chargers dig down their running back depth chart: Los Angeles didn’t have its top three running backs from the start of the season.

The Chargers started the season with Omarion Hampton, Najee Harris and Hassan Haskins as their three running backs. Hampton (ankle) landed on injured reserve after Week 5, Harris (Achilles) has missed the last month and won’t return this season, while Haskins (hamstring) didn’t practice all week and was ruled out on Wednesday. This left Los Angeles with Kimani Vidal, who has been the Chargers’ starter in recent weeks, as well as practice squad elevations Nyheim Hines and Jaret Patterson. All three were on the Chargers during the preseason.

The Chargers made a game plan that focused on personnel groupings that favored the run game. Vidal was the clear lead running back, while Patterson played a few snaps when Vidal needed a break. Hines only saw the field on offense during two-minute situations and in garbage time. Vidal ran the ball a lot on the first drive to minimal success. Luckily, the game script allowed Los Angeles to stick with the run game for every other drive, and Vidal started finding more success. Vidal also received the goal-line work, unlike the last two weeks, which allowed him to score a touchdown.

Hampton is eligible to return to the Chargers in Week 10, but it initially sounded like he would miss more than four weeks, and there is no clear timeline for when Los Angeles expects him back. Even if Haskins can return next week, Vidal will remain a fantasy starter for at least one more week, if not longer. The Chargers have a favorable matchup against the Tennessee Titans next week. After that, it’s two rough matchups and then the Chargers’ bye week. It could make sense to try to trade Vidal after his strong game this week. It’s better to trade him a week early than try a week too late.

Keenan Allen dips below a 50% snap rate: Allen had played in at least 55% of the Chargers’ offensive snaps in every game this season before this game.

The Chargers have generally used Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston in two-receiver sets, while Allen joined them for three-receiver sets, and one of their rookie wide receivers played in single-receiver sets. Early in the season, that was KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but in recent weeks, it’s been Tre’ Harris.

Typically, when a player only plays in three-receiver sets, they are playing a lot when their team is losing and not as much when their team is winning. This was only the second time this season that the Chargers won by a touchdown or more. The first was in Week 2, when Allen played a season-low 55.2% of Los Angeles’ offensive snaps. The difference this week is that the Chargers had a game plan where they used more one- and two-receiver sets early in the game. Los Angeles found success with these personnel groupings, so it kept using them. Luckily, Allen was heavily targeted when he was on the field, so any fantasy manager who started him received at least a few points.

All of the Los Angeles wide receivers were used in the same way this week as in other weeks, and it was just the personnel groupings that were the problem. The Chargers had an average schedule to this point and will continue to have an average schedule for receivers. There will be a few more games where Allen will have a minimal factor, and other games where he should remain a big part of their game plan.

Oronde Gadsden’s role keeps increasing: Anyone who picked up Gadsden off the waiver wire this week had an immediate return on their investment.

Gadsden started the season as a healthy inactive for Los Angeles. An injury to Will Dissly led Gadsden to play more, and his role in the Chargers offense has increased each game. Last week, he played over 80% of the snaps in single-tight-end snaps on early downs, single-tight-end snaps on late downs and two-tight-end sets. This led him to catch seven passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, the most receiving yards by a tight end in a game this season. The main situation where he was not on the field was 10 personnel.

This week, he was more consistently on the field on third downs, as well as two two-tight-end sets. Los Angeles used 10 personnel on 31 plays over the first three weeks because it didn’t have a receiving threat at tight end. The Chargers only used 10 personnel on 14 plays over the previous four weeks. They didn’t find a need for it in this game and might not use it the rest of the season unless Gadsden needs a rest. He played 87% of the Chargers’ offensive snaps over the first three quarters, but he wasn’t kept on the field as frequently in the fourth quarter because they ran out the clock in their blowout victory.

The main time he was off the field in this game was 21 personnel, where the Chargers typically ran the ball with Scott Matlock and Tucker Fisk as blockers. This meant Gadsden was running a route on the vast majority of the Chargers’ pass plays, at a higher rate than we’ve seen by any Chargers tight end since Greg Roman became the offensive coordinator.

While there have been plenty of young waiver-wire targets at tight end who have put together a strong week or two, there are no concerns about Gadsden’s role or the offense he plays in. He can be in fantasy starting lineups going forward. Anyone who picked up Gadsden as a bye week replacement for Trey McBride, Brock Bowers or Sam LaPorta should look to trade one of the two tight ends.

Aaron Jones Sr. makes his return: The Vikings’ lead running back from last season was activated from injured reserve.

The Vikings started the season with a 50-50 split between Jordan Mason and Jones. Mason played more in run situations, and Jones played more in pass situations. Jones landed on injured reserve after Week 2 due to a hamstring injury, but he returned to practice this week on a limited basis and was activated off injured reserve Thursday. Zavier Scott took over as the primary backup, but Mason’s playing time increased over the past month. Scott was questionable for this game due to a wrist injury.

There were reports that Jones was ready to play last week but couldn’t because of the injured reserve rules. Jones started the game, but Mason took over on the third play and played the majority of the snaps on the first and second drives. Minnesota generally stuck with one running back for several plays at a time, regardless of the situation, then switched to the other. However, as the Vikings fell further behind, they started turning more toward Jones. Mason is the better early-down back, and Jones is the better passing-down back, even though they haven’t strictly used the running backs in those situations.

Neither running back found success in the run game early, and then the team had to abandon the run based on the game script. It didn’t help that center Ryan Kelly remains on injured reserve. Right tackle Brian O’Neill was inactive, and left tackle Christian Darrisaw only played nine snaps before exiting the game due to injury. There is a chance both running backs will be fantasy starters at points this season, but only if the quarterback play improves and the offensive line gets healthy.

Monitor Josh Oliver’s health: The Vikings’ second tight end left due to a foot injury and didn’t return.

Oliver played 39% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps over the first seven weeks compared to T.J. Hockenson‘s 81%. Most of Oliver’s snaps have been out of two-tight-end sets, but he took 48 snaps from Hockenson in single-tight-end sets during that time. He’s received that playing time in single-tight-end sets, despite Hockenson being a great receiving tight end, because Oliver is a great run-blocking tight end. Oliver has a 76.0 run-blocking grade over the last five seasons, second-best among all tight ends, behind George Kittle.

Oliver only played four snaps over the first seven plays of the game, and three came at Hockenson’s expense. After the injury, Ben Yurosek took over as the second tight end but only for two-tight-end sets. Hockenson was not rotated out the same way he was with Oliver.

If Oliver’s injury ends up being serious, we should expect Hockenson to play a few more snaps each week, resulting in a few more routes. This wouldn’t have a significant impact on his fantasy production, but it certainly won’t hurt.

Miscellaneous notes

• Los Angeles wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith was a healthy scratch, his second straight absence. He’s typically been inactive whenever Derius Davis has been healthy.
• Tight end Will Dissly was a healthy inactive after playing only three offensive snaps last week. Oronde Gadsden has taken over as the top tight end, while Tucker Fisk was the primary blocking tight end in two-tight-end sets. Tyler Conklin didn’t play any offensive snaps last week, but he’s been much more involved on special teams this year.
• Minnesota quarterback J.J. McCarthy missed his fifth straight game due to an ankle injury. He was limited in practice all week and ruled questionable on Wednesday.
• Carson Wentz was limited in practice on Monday and upgraded to a full participant in practice on Tuesday. He was dealing with a left shoulder injury.
• Vikings fullback C.J. Ham didn’t practice all week due to a hand injury. He was ruled out on Wednesday.
• The Vikings turned to backups for the final two minutes of the game. This is the only time Max Brosmer, Zavier Scott and Tai Felton played on offense. These were also the only plays without Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson (after Oliver’s injury).

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.