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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.
Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans
An eventful week for Bills wide receivers: The Bills’ wide receiver room had multiple absences in both practice and the game, ranging from injuries to fatherhood to a benching.
Buffalo entered last Sunday’s game with eight wide receivers on the 53-man roster, which is rare considering only two teams currently roster seven wide receivers. The Bills’ typical lineup when everyone was healthy early in the season consisted of Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer, Curtis Samuel and Tyrell Shavers.
Shakir missed practice all week to be with his wife, who gave birth to their first child, but he was able to play in this game. Coleman was a surprise inactive for last week’s game after being late to a team meeting, and Buffalo opted to make him inactive for this game as well. Palmer was limited in practice on Monday and Tuesday due to knee and ankle injuries, but he was ready to play in this game. Samuel was inactive due to elbow and neck injuries, which left him unable to practice all week. Shavers was the only normal wide receiver who had a full week of practice, although the Bills only ran walkthroughs this week.
Elijah Moore has typically been active anytime Palmer or Samuel has been out due to injury, so he was active for this game. Gabe Davis was called up from the practice squad for a second straight game to take Coleman’s spot. Mecole Hardman was recently added to the team to be a kick returner, but he suffered a calf injury in the game and landed on injured reserve.
The Bills have typically used Shakir consistently in 11 personnel but not 12, while using Coleman more than the other receivers, as everyone else was in a near-even rotation. While Davis has taken Coleman’s spot as the clear X receiver on the roster, he hasn’t been playing as much as Coleman. Instead, the four wide receivers, outside of Shakir, were in a near-constant rotation. Shaver was the typical receiver in single-receiver sets, while Davis and Palmer were the typical receivers in 12 personnel.
It seemed like Shavers would have a big role in this game. He gained 90 yards and a touchdown a week ago and was named a captain for the game. However, his playing time didn’t increase, and he wasn’t targeted in the game. Coleman hasn’t had a great game from a fantasy perspective since Week 1, so he can be dropped after back-to-back inactive games. This leaves Shakir as the only Bills wide receiver worth having on fantasy rosters.
Texans embrace one-receiver sets: Houston used single-receiver sets more in this game (17) than in all of their other games combined (13).
Last week, Houston had both fullback Jakob Johnson and tight end Cade Stover return from injured reserve. Johnson had not played since Week 4, and Stover hadn’t played since Week 1. A combination of those two players, along with the Bills’ weakness in run defense, led Houston to use more single-receiver sets than two-receiver sets. These plays had some combination of Dalton Schultz, Stover, Johnson and offensive linemen Blake Fisher, along with a running back and wide receiver. More often than not, Jayden Higgins was the single receiver. Houston hadn’t used these personnel groupings since Week 9, and the Week 5 game against the Baltimore Ravens was the only other time these were used on more than one play.
This meant every wide receiver, outside of Higgins, played notably fewer offensive snaps. Houston continued to use Nico Collins and Higgins in two-receiver sets. The Texans also used Collins, a rotation between Xavier Hutchinson and Higgins, and a rotation of Christian Kirk and Jaylin Noel in three-receiver sets. There was no notable change in the distribution of snaps in 11 or 12 personnel compared to the last two weeks.
Higgins has been heavily targeted the last three weeks, but he was held to four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown. He remains a high upside rookie to target for your fantasy team’s bench, but he will need to play more snaps in 11 personnel before you should trust him in fantasy starting lineups.
Miscellaneous notes
- Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid was ruled out Wednesday due to a hamstring injury, his second straight absence. He didn’t practice all week. Dawson Knox continued to be the Bills’ primary tight end with Kincaid out.
- The Bills activated tight end Keleki Latu from the practice squad for this game to be their third tight end.
- The Bills’ third-string running back, Ray Davis, has been a primary kick returner since Week 9. He scored a touchdown on a kick. Thursday was his 26th birthday.
- Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was ruled out due to a concussion, his third straight absence. He was able to practice in a limited capacity on Tuesday. Davis Mills continued to start in Stroud’s absence.
- Running back Joe Mixon is not expected to play this season due to a foot injury, as reported by Ian Rapoport. He had not taken a snap for Houston this season.
- The Texans waived running back Dameon Pierce on Thursday to make room on the roster for a defensive player. Pierce had been active for four games this season and hadn’t played a snap on offense since Week 5. He will likely sign with the team’s practice squad unless another team claims him.
- Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (ankle) and Dalton Schultz (shoulder) were limited in practice on Monday.
- Wide receiver Braxton Berrios was inactive for a second straight game. He’s been appearing on the injury report due to a quadriceps injury, but he’s been participating fully in practice. Houston has likely decided it only need five wide receivers active on gameday.
- Texans’ kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn returned after missing the last two games due tp a right quadricep injury. The Texans subsequently waived kicker Matthew Wright on Wednesday.
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.
