NFL Snap Counts Breakdown: Week 6

We’ve discussed from week to week the fantasy value of what Ron Rivera and the Panthers are doing in terms of consolidated snap counts and it seems that a few teams have also joined that mix (to the applause of fantasy owners everywhere).  Injuries have also given us some insight into the inner working of some depth charts so that you can be way out in front of your league mates when a guy goes down.  So let’s get into it!

49ers

• The runningback situation further clarified itself in a good way for most owners.  Coleman is the primary back and should be your short yardage/goal line back.  Matt Breida will be used to spell him, especially in passing situations.  Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson (if you somehow still own him) are droppable.
• The wide receiver situation became a little more clear in terms of Pettis, Samuel, and Goodwin being the three go to guys but all of them also played all three of them also took at least three snaps from the slot, which doesn’t give us clear roles within the offense (which makes it difficult to determine who might face difficult assignment from week to week.  Best to just stick with Kittle for the time being.

Bears

• BYE

Bengals

• For the second time this season, Damion Willis was relegated to strictly special teams duty, this time in favor of Alex Erickson .  With the pending return of AJ Green, both should remain on waivers.
• Auden Tate however continued to play a huge snap share and make some impressive catches.  If AJ Green is out again, he remains and upside play and should be the 3^rd option as long as Ross is out.
• Eifert and Uzomah continue to be useless for fantasy football.  Drew Sample is a glorified tackle, blocking on 11 of his 15 snaps and catching one pass for negative one yard. 

Bills

• BYE

Broncos

• Emmanuel Sanders left this game with a knee injury and is questionable for this week.  Rather than send another wideout out there, the Broncos seemed to defer to two tight end sets with blocking tight ends Jeff Heuerman and Andrew Beck as well as additional deployment of fullback Andy Janovich .  We don’t expect anyone new to emerge as being fantasy relevant beyond Sutton and Hamilton but Diontae Spencer is the next man up.  
• Royce Freeman once again outsnapped Lindsay – this time more drastically than ever on pass snaps with 23 to Lindsay’s 11.  Lindsay continued to outperform on the ground but Freeman clearly benefited from the pass snaps catching five for 42.  For the second week in a row, they didn’t even give Lindsay a chance to prove himself in the pass blocking game so this split seems locked in for now. 
• If Noah Fant is on your waivers he might be worth a scoop – especially if you had an injury or bye week.  He plays a good snap share, runs routes on most of those snaps, and now we have Manny Sanders with a banged up knee and possible trade rumors.  Fant is a rookie so the upside is always there as he gets more and more experience. 

Browns

• Another unfortunate outcome for the Brownies but, from a snap count perspective, we did get some consolidation and clarity.
• Chub is clearly your runningback and, the way he’s running, that might not change with Kareem Hunt in the fold.
• Your wide receivers are Odell at split end, Antonio Callaway at flanker, and Jarvis Landry at slot.  Damion Ratley was a healthy scratch so that’s over. 
• Ricky Seals-Jones has emerged as the pass catching tight end for this team running 36 routes.  Demetrius Harris blocked on 11 of his 18 routes.  RSJ becomes a TD dependent tight end if needed – his ceiling is third option for targets in the passing game behind OBJ and Landry and his floor if 5^th option behind those two, Chubb, and Callaway.

Buccaneers

• The quarterback quickly created a negative game script in this one throwing five interceptions which led to more from your pass catching back Dare Ogunbawale than you would normally see.  They went completely away from the run. 
• Chris Godwin and Mike Evans remain starts with the better week being matchup dependent. After two touch corners in Marshon Lattimore and James Bradberry back to back weeks, we may be in for an Evans week following the bye. 
• OJ Howard ran 44 routes and only pass blocked four times for a respectable 9.1% but it one again didn’t translate to much as he wasn’t targeted often and Cameron Brate was the tight end to score. 

Cardinals

• It was the typical split between Johnson and Edmonds with DJ playing ¾ of the snaps and Edmonds adding some ancillary work but one again Edmonds flashed some of his skill set.  At this point Edmonds is venturing into handcuff+ territory where he has some standalone value to go along with being a top tier handcuff making him a great stash as well as a deep league bye week play.
• Rather than having Isabella or KeeSean step up as some had hoped, it seems we will simply be waiting for Christian Kirk to return, at which point he and Larry Fitz will continue as the two fantasy relevant Cardinals wide receivers.
• If you saw the touchdown scored by Maxx Williams , you would know that he’s not a dynamic threat in the passing game.  He seemed as surprised as we were.

Chargers

• Hunter Henry kicked the door down in his emphatic return, taking not only all the snaps from Lance Kendricks but a good chunk of Virgil Green s too.  It’s Wednesday so he’s likely been added in every league he was dropped by now. 
• Despite a lack of much success and to the dismay of Austin Ekeler fans across the Twittersphere, the Chargers rode Melvin Gordon as their bell cow back.  Ekeler didn’t look particularly dynamic himself so it seems the line is the bigger issue than anything.  Expect Melvin to continue to outsnapEkeler.

Chiefs

• Tyreek Hill returned to remind us why he’s worth the controversy and the money.  Once Sammy Watkins returns it will be difficult to start any of Robinson, Hardman, or Pringle though it will be interesting to see who stays on the field.  Given that Robinson has consistently getting snaps all year through the injuries to both Hill and Watkins, I would expect Sammy to play split end with Hill and Robinson swapping at slot and flanker for the most part. 
• You wouldn’t know it based on the box score but McCoy didn’t drastically outsnap McCoy and both players played a similar number of pass snaps (though Damien Williams did let Mahomes get hurried on one of his pass block snaps.  We lean McCoy given his usage as the more dynamic player but we’ll keep an eye on this one.

Colts

• BYE

Cowboys

• Injuries to Randall Cobb and Amari Cooper provided us with some clarity in terms of how the Cowboys depth chart works.  It seems pretty clear they us the “direct backup” philosophy that we saw with the Ravens.  Each player has a role with an understudy that comes in and plays that role if need be.  The breakdown appears to work like this.
  • Amari Cooper >>>Cedric Wilson
  • Michael Gallup >>> Devin Smith
  • Randall Cobb >>> Tavon Austin
• We’ve only seen one week of this so it’s not set in stone but it seems to be a dead giveaway that Devin Smith played a huge snap share in Gallup’s absence yet was not the first guy in for either Amari or Cobb.  This week will likely confirm that info for us but, until then, our best bet is to assume this is the modus operandi.  This type of set up is honestly better for fantasy than what a team like the Packers seems to be doing because it takes a lot of the guess work out of it for us fantasy players. 

Dolphins

• Fireworks this week in the Bizzaro Superbowl, culminating with the Dolphins failed Tua Point Conversion.  What a game.
• Mark Walton got the start and looked pretty decent but was still outsnapped by Drake.  At this point the team is just seeing what they have but he’s worth an add if you are dying for runningbacks. 
• Parker and Williams are week to week dice roles – they played all the snaps except the goal line ones even with Albert Wilson returning. Targets are there but they are not good ones. 

Eagles

• As we discussed last week, Howard is the starter and running down back and Sanders is a satellite back.  As long as Howard is there that’s likely just how it’s going to be. 
• As soon as DeSean Jackson returns it will go back to being Alshon, Agholor, and Jeffrey.  The other wide receivers are dynasty or deep keeper league stashes only (especially JJAWs considering Jeffrey’s humongous contract next season). 
• Goedert remains a blocking tight end behind Ertz and won’t be useful for fantasy with him there.  But we knew that.

Falcons

• Same story in the passing game – three wide receivers and one tight end, all on pace for 100+ targets as of now. An injury to one would be a boon for the others.
• This is what Freeman owners were hoping to see.  Dominating snap share by Freeman over Ito.  That being said, they were largely playing from behind with little goal line work so we don’t know how heavily the script would flip if they were playing with the lead.  We, and Falcons fans I’m sure, are interested to see what that looks like. 

Giants

• Golden Tate gave us a bit of what we had expected from him week one.  In an offense that only ran 50 snaps this week and likely can’t sustain a lot of stars, him being in the mix along with the return of Saquon Barkley could mean watered down results for him, Shephard, and Engram.
• Jon Hillman filled the void at runningback as we suspected and was nearly immediately and unceremiously kicked off the team in favor of Javorious “Buck” Allen.  With Barkley and Gallman returning, there probably isn’t much use adding him.
• If for some reason Engram can’t go again, Ellison could be a sneaky start against the worst defense against tight end in the league.

Jaguars

• This team is proving once again to be one of the more reliable ones in terms of snap count with Fournette and the three wide receivers all consistently taking the bulk of the work.  If only their production was equally reliable. 
• Swaim looked like he was going to be an interesting replacement for O’Shaughnessy before being completely de-cleated by an unnecessary and brutal helmet to helmet hit.  Seth DeValve picked up the work but we are still intrigued by the rookie Josh Oliver who has yet to make an appearance. 

Jets

• Much to the delight of Howard Bender, his Sam Darnold returned from his bout with The Kissing Flu and toppled co-host Jim Bowden’s Cowboys in an impressive debut.
• As we alluded to in the intro, the Jets are one of the teams who seem to have consolidated their snap share to a handful of starter.  LeVeon is your runningback, Robby Anderson and Demaryius Thomas will play the outside, and Jamison Crowder will play the slot.  The only question remaining is whether Chris Herndon will take the full snap share at tight end upon his return or will he split it with Ryan Griffin .  Historically in Adam Gase’s offense tight ends have been used predominantly to block, even on pass plays, so it may not be as an exciting a question as we make it out to be. 

Lions

• Marvin Jones and Golladay led the way in this one – it seems the Lions are use far too many two tight end sets for Danny Amendola to be relevant. 
• Despite even snaps, Jesse James pass blocked on six pass plays while Hockenson only pass blocked on one so he’s clearly their receiving threat.  We would prefer Hockenson play all the snaps and pass block on none but he’s a rookie so what can you do?
• It doesn’t seem apparent that Ty Johnson was injured this week or on Sunday but J.D. McKissic outsnapped him 13 to two and essentially took over the passing down spells that Johnson had become accustomed to.  It is the Kerryon Johnson show anyway, until further notice.  

Packers

• As expected, Kumerow continued to fill in for Davante Adams yet, by Aaron Rodger’s request, it was Allen Lazard who came in at the end of the game to play the hero for the Packers.  It’s hard to say whether he will have a role when Davante Adams returns but, if he does, it would likely come at the expense of snaps of the guys who play opposite fo Adams out wide like Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jimmy Graham .
• We had speculate that Jamaal Williams would resume his role in the passing game and not only did that prove to be true, but Aaron Jones fumbling and dropping a wide open touchdown pass led him to ride the pine for a good chunk of the game while Williams feasted.  The noncommittal to Jones is still alarming. 

Panthers

• Our favorite team for snap counts because they make it easy.  Though we do have one slight change – the Panthers ran more two tight end sets this week at the expense of Jarius Wright (not that you owned Wright anyway).  Wright did commit a brutal drop so that could be part of the move.   
• Here is the snap breakdown for Chris Manhertz "
  • Run block: 21
  • Pass block: 13
  • Pass route: 2
• Do you think teams know what kind of play it is when Manhertz comes in the game?  Might as well let the other team into the huddle as there is absolutely zero need to account for him in the passing game.  Especially because it’s a run play.   

Patriots

• Based on the unpredictability of backup use or even just use in general the only wide receivers to own and start are Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon when healthy.  Phillip Dorsett it worth owning and may be a spot start when healthy.  If Dorsett and Gordon both do not play this week, Jakobi Meyers may be a desperation play on Monday versus the Jets but only if he is the second receiver in the pecking order.
• We laid out our full feelings on the Patriots runningback situation last week and that holds true.  Tom Brady he decided he wanted both goal line touchdowns this week in a game that was out of hand but on Monday against the Jets we will likely see much Sony Michel in a game they will take more seriously. 
• Ryan Izzo played an enormous snap share but Ben Watson was added back to the roster.  We will have to monitor the usage here once he’s up to speed to see if either is worth owning in fantasy. 

Raiders

• Bye

Rams

• After taking a back seat in favor of some additional snaps for Gerald Everett , Cooper Kupp regained some of his footing (though not back to the full snap share that Woods and Cooks had).  Even then, Kupp remains a good fantasy start as he reaps the benefits of being covered by slot corners and linebackers on a number of his snaps.
• Malcom Brown filled in for Gurley and Darrell Henderson didn’t do himself any favors fumbling a pitch.  Brown could be another spot start in fantasy if Gurley can’t go again with the thigh bruise (which can be a lot more painful and difficult of a recovery than you’d think – ask Rob Gronkowski ).
• Not what we wanted to see for Everett after his promising uptick – split stats with Higbee though he did run more routes meaning he is still at least regarded as their pass catching tight end.

Ravens

• We have expressed concern about what might happen to production if the Ravens offensive snap count were to dip to league average at some points this year but this is the sixth time they have been at 69 snaps or higher and the fifth time they have logged 77 or more.  Averaging 77 snaps a game, that might just be what this team is which is great for fantasy production.  That being said…
• The way they spread the snaps out amongst the players is awful for fantasy football.  They are our anti-Panthers.  The top snap getters this week – Nick Boyle and Willie Snead , get those snaps for their run blocking, blocking on 73% and 44% of their snaps respectively.  We had high hope for rookie Miles Boykin getting a larger snap share though, unfortunately, he too blocked on 58% of this snaps.  Mark Andrews remains a beacon of hope blocking on only 27% of his snaps though, when they do run, they simply take him out of the game.
• It is a very strange team and, as of now, the only fantasy relevant pieces remain Lamar Jackson , Mark Ingram , Mark Andrews , and Marquise Brown .

Redskins

• The winner (or as some might say, the loser) of this weeks Tank Battle, the Redskins once again showed us they can play down to any teams level.
• Terry McLaurin is your one true fantasy asset on this team playing a near 100% snap share and logging 100 yards and two touchdowns.  If Vernon Davis comes back 100%, he might be a startable tight end if his targets from pre-injury resume. 
• In a rare positive game script Adrian Peterson showed what that might look like if it ever happens again. Chris Thompson will be the better start for at least the next four matchups and possibly until the Giants game week 16, depending on how the Lions look.

Saints

• Not much to say here that you didn’t already know.  Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara are every week, locked in fantasy starts and that’s about that.  You can roll the dice on Tedd Ginn or Jared Cook if you want but definitely not recommended. 

Seahawks

• The injury to Will Dissly is the big news and, unfortunately for anyone looking to scoop the next man up, we saw what Luke Wilson looked like for a good portion of the game – it looked like a whole lot of blocking with him being part of the protection on 36 of his snaps, including 10 pass snaps.
• Chris Carson managed to get beyond his fumbling woes and his low point week three of 45% of the snaps to jump back up to near 80%.  We still need to see what he looks like with a healthy Penny and Prosise but for now it’s full steam ahead. 
•  

Steelers

• Juju, Diontae Johnson, and Vance led the passing attack.  The new name on our list is Johnny Holton though, despite his snaps, he wasn’t targeted one time.
• With a quad injury to James Conner and Jaylen Samuels out after minor surgery, Benny Snell Jr. became an interesting name after playing roughly the same snap count as Conner and providing admirable services.  Could be a plug and play if no Conner. 

Texans

• Another team that spreads its snaps out too thin at some positions for us to truly love. 
• At wide receiver Hopkins and Fuller remain starts but KekeCoutee continues to play too low a snap share to be playable
• Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson play a similar “positive vs. negative game script” see-saw as a lot of other teams.  Duke finally scored in a good matchup but we likely won’t see to many negative scripts for this team.
• Either Darren Fells or Jordan Akins would be interesting if the other wasn’t there.  For now, Fells gets the red zone targets so he’s the better bet but both are low ceiling plays.

Titans

• Well this will be interesting.  Marcus Mariotta has been benched for Ryan Tannehill for week 7. 
• It will be very interesting to see how the offense operates with Tannehill and if that effects what personnel is on the field.  It couldn’t be much worse than it was so perhaps Corey Davis and AJ Brown are worth a stash. 

Vikings

• Holy Stefon Diggs .  This was a “squeaky wheel gets the grease” game that was a long time coming.  Perhaps we are back to the good times with Thielen and Diggs both being reliable starts from week to week?  The snaps have always been there so time will tell. 
• The rest of the offense is as we now it.  Dalvin is king, Rudolph is an offensive tackle, and everyone else is on waivers, where they should be.