NFL Snap Counts Breakdown: Week 13

Fantasy football playoffs are here and if you are reading this, you’ve likely made the playoffs so congratulations on that.  Or maybe all your teams are eliminated and you are filling that empty void of sadness with daily fantasy lineups in which case, uh, congratulations on that I guess.  

Either way, to celebrate the start of playoffs or the end of your season we have decided to do a special edition of the snap count article.  We are still going to provide the Week 13 snap count number but, rather than going in alphabetical order, we are going to list the teams in order of how consolidated their snap shares are and how much we trust that trend to continue.  It’s playoffs, after all, so you really can’t afford to be starting a dude who gets benched by Bruce Arians for the entire game for missing a block or dropping a pass. 

1. Panthers

• This team has been our snap count shining star and this week they did something that solidified them as our number one most reliable snap count team.  

• Nearly every week this team has started Christian McCaffrey , DJ Moore, and Greg Olsen for 80% plus of the snaps – sometimes as high as 90%.  The rest of the snaps are filled by some combination of Jarius Wright and Chris Manhertz as a blocking tight end. 

• This week Greg Olsen suffered a nasty helmet to helmet concussion so what does Ron Rivera do?  He goes full “next man up” and has Ian Thomas (not Chris Manhertz ) take over for Olsen. Olsen typically plays the whole game and he went out after 38 snaps. Ian Thomas didn’t skip a beat playing 32 snaps (Manhertz still came in for two tight end heavy running sets).  Olsen and Thomas combined for a 96% snap share so, if Olsen plays, expect him to play heavily and if he doesn’t, you can expect Thomas to play heavily. Along with week after week of the same 11 guys playing, THAT is why you can trust this team with the snap share distribution.  

EDIT: The firing of Ron Rivera and Norv Turner could potentially bring an end to this glorious run.  In my eyes, they were running the most consolidated snap share in the league in an attempt to win games and save their jobs.  Now that the team is virtually eliminated and both of them are out, I can’t foresee the team overusing players to this degree for the remaining games.  That being said, there really isn’t all that much depth at any position besides tight end so you really can’t bench CMC or DJ Moore at this point. We’ll leave this team at the top as on ode to what they’ve done (and what they may continue to do) but it’s no longer the guarantee that it’s been.  

2. Jets

• They may not have done it the entire year, but this team emerged as an oddly trustworthy star in the snap count world.  

• Starting with the integration of Demaryius Thomas into the offense, the Jets have run a pretty consolidated group of Bell, Anderson, Crowder, DT, and Ryan Griffin .  There was the fleeting appearance of Chris Herndon to threaten that but he never amounted to much meaning this group can likely be counted on to get their snaps for the remainder of the year.  Whether you can trust them to produce is a different story but they’ll be out there. 

3. Cowboys

• The Cowboys are certainly up there for snap count consolidation but some minor deviations put them just below the tier of the Panthers and Jets.  

• You can count on Zeke, Gallup, and barring injury concerns, Amari Cooper to get their snaps.  Jason Witten is also fairly reliable to play 75% to 80%.  

• The questions come with whether Randall Cobb will be featured heavily or whether Blake Jarwin will factor in making Cobb sometimes relevant, sometimes not.  Also Tony Pollard with steal the occasional carry or catch which isn’t an issue for someone like Christian McCaffrey . All in all though, this is one of the more reliable teams in terms of the top fantasy producers playing a monster workload.  

4. Jaguars

• One of the biggest problems for snap share is predicting running back usage, but this team doesn’t have that issue, which is part of what puts them near the top.  Fournette plays the whole game nearly every week and you can bank on it.

• You can also count on some combination of DJ Chark, Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley to play a good chunk of snaps with Chark being the most reliable followed by Westbrook.  It gets dicey after that though without a reliable pass catching tight end and time being split between 11 personnel and four wide sets with Keelan Cole . Throw in the question of whether the QB could be swapped at any moment and you can see why the Jaguars would be reliable to a certain degree but still have some questions for fantasy purposes in terms of what you can count on.  

5. Bills

• This one might come as a surprise to some people given what we just said about running back but this really isn’t as much of a timeshare as it once was.  Of course it’s not completely consolidated at RB which is why you have to have the Bills a little lower but Devin Singletary is clearly both the starter and preferred in the passing game.  In Week 5 Singletary played 38% of the snaps and since then he’s played 68%, 66%, 68%, 73%, 70%, and 78%. That’s about as high of a split as most teams go so the gig is clearly his at this point.

• But beyond running back is where this team really shines.  Brown plays nearly every snap each week and Cole Beasley has played 90%, 81%, and 88% for the last three weeks.  With Dawson Knox also playing 70-80% of the tight end snaps, you really know what you are going to get in terms of personnel week in and week out with this team.  

6. Falcons

• The Falcons are going to slot in pretty high on our list simply because of how this offense works.  They use mainly eleven personnel, meaning three wide receivers, one running back, and one tight end.

• Typically, your wide receivers would be Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley on the outside and Russell Gage in the slot.  With Jones out, they actually had Christian Blake playing a full snap share on the outside in his absence which, up until this week, was difficult to predict.  But, if Jones is out again, it at least gives us an answer there. 

• The reason the team falls below the others is the tight end and running back positions.  If Austin Hooper is out, Jaden Graham should have a fairly full workload but, if he plays, we don’t know what that split will look like.  He is back at practice. At running back you would expect Freeman to be the guy but Brian Hill played 24 snaps and if they do find themselves winning, we’ve seen them go away from Freeman for a bigger back in the past.  

7. Titans

• This team has quietly become one of the more consistent snap share teams and that’s in large part to Derrick Henry finally seizing the full role from Dion Lewis .  Henry still isn’t getting a full passing workload but they aren’t really throwing to Lewis either so that’s full enough for us. 

• AJ Brown and Corey Davis are your two main wide receivers though the production isn’t reliable.  This however is a snap share article and they clearly are the favored pass catchers – Adam Humphries and Kalif Raymond split the remaining snaps. 

• What keeps this team from the top is tight end.  At first glance it looks like Jonnu Smith is getting a full workload which should be great for fantasy but in reality he blocks on the majority of his snaps, once again blocking on 34 snaps and only running 17 routes.  Given that Anthony Firkser played 19 snaps but managed to run 12 routes, Smith doesn’t really have a dependable snap share for fantasy which, along with the lack of a clear third wide receiver, lowers this team in the rankings compared to others.  

8. Saints

• As we’ve harped on, top heavy is good in terms of snap shares which is why the Saints are up pretty high on this list.  However, they are actually a bit too top heavy in the sense that only a couple guys can truly be depended on. 

• Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara are obviously both slam dunks for fantasy football – there’s no question there.  After that though there are some questions. Jared Cook has looked like a good option but that’s two weeks in a row now that he’s played only 57% of the snaps.  

• Ted Ginn Jr. and Tre'Quan Smith are also out there just enough to be the known commodities on the depth chart but also don’t do enough to be fantasy relevant.  Throw in a backup QB that seems to play every position with more touchdown catches than Davante Adams and Odell Beckham combined and the rest of the team after the very top guys is not nearly as predictable a some of our top dogs. 

9. Raiders

• It made sense to put this team with the Saints because it has a bit of the same issue going in terms of top heaviness.  Except this team does suffer from one additional malady that we don’t like which puts them behind the Saints and that’s the usage of Jalen Richard at times as a passing catching back in desperation time.  Which makes it even more strange that the Raiders opted not to use him this week in a blowout loss to the Chiefs after giving him the same number of snaps the week prior.

• The top heaviness comes from Darren Waller and Tyrell Williams typically playing the whole game and being the main target.  After that it becomes fairly unreliable with Zay Jones playing a pretty large snap share and doing very little while guys like Hunter Renfrow and Keelan Doss are injured.  None of them can really be trusted and at times, Waller and Williams don’t produce either but we are strictly looking at snap share here. 

10. Rams

• There was a time when this team was easily the most consistent snap share team and that time was 2018.  They ran 11 personnel more than any other team with the starting three wide receivers and Todd Gurley all playing over 95% of the snaps for some games.  This year however, via injuries or general shift in philosophy, that hasn’t necessarily been the case.  

• That being said, in the current iteration of this team, you finally have the three wide receivers back all playing the top shares with Josh Reynolds relegated back to “next man up”.  Brandin Cooks seems to be background noise right now but he’s out there for a good chunk of snaps at least. With Gerald Everett out, Tyler Higbee made a surprising contribution this week but he still blocked on 39 plays including 10 pass plays which makes him a tough start.  If Higbee were out and Everett healthy, that would be a different story as he’s the better pass catcher. 

• The Rams are in must win mode and it seems clear what they plan to do at running back – Todd Gurley will be leaned on until victory is secured but will be backed off of if they end up with a good lead.  The concern is that they significantly reduce his workload if they get mathematically eliminated from a wildcard spot so it would be wise to monitor their playoff scenarios. Risk of the Rams shutting down Gurley or the concussion burdened Cooks is why this team has to rank so low at this point of the season.  

11. Chargers

• This team might have been higher on the list but there is one glaring and obvious issue that keeps them from the top: running back.  Melvin Gordon is clearly preferred in the running game and Ekeler in the passing game but they can also be used interchangeably leading to a bit of an annoying timeshare.  Both are startable and capable of scoring in any week or underperforming any week. We trust Gordon more at this point.

• That being said, the consolidation of Keenan Allen , Mike Williams , and Hunter Henry is pretty trustworthy which is why they are still towards the higher end.  Per the broadcast this week, Andre Patton catching a ball this week was the first wide receiver not named Allen or Williams to catch a ball since WEEK SIX. That’s the insane lack of distribution that we love for fantasy purposes.  

12. Seahawks

• The Seahawks are similar to the Chargers in a lot of ways though come in below because it’s not necessarily as drastic in their splits.

• For instance, the two primary reliable wide receivers are clearly at the top in Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.  But, unlike Patton or anyone on the Chargers, Josh Gordon is a threat to show up in the box score. Like Hunter however, Hollister is at least proving to be a steady tight end. 

• And much like the Chargers, there is now a bit of a division in the backfield for the Seahawks.  But, unlike the Chargers where it’s essentially split between running down work and passing down work, there is no real rhyme or reason to the new split between Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny .  In fact, it was reported that Chris Carson subbed himself out so Penny could score this past week because they consider themselves friends, not competitors.  A really touching story that is terrible for fantasy owners. That being said, there may just be enough work for both of them which is why we have them ranked here. 

13. Texans

• The Texans current setup features one of the few teams with three reliable wide receivers.  Unfortunately a little muddiness at tight end and running back lowers their ranking for fantasy purposes.    

• With Keke Coutee a healthy scratch as of late, we know it’s going to be Hopkins, Fuller, and Stills.  As far as fantasy relevance, we count on the in that order with Hopkins a must start, Fuller a decent start, and Stills a desperation play.  At tight end, Fells has separated himself from Akins some but is still splitting some time which hurts.  

• Running back is what truly lowers this team in the standings and it’s really this past game that really threw a wrench in there.  For a while it seemed you could safely predict Hyde to get the running work and Duke Johnson to get the minimal passing work with a rushing QB.  But this week Johnson got both a good share of the running work and caught a ton of passes which is a pretty big departure from the norm and really makes it tough to start either one of them.  

14. Browns

• Here is a team that was once very reliable but has become less so in recent weeks.  At this point you can always count on Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry to be out there nearly even snap though Mayfield delivering them a catchable football is another story. 

• You used to be able to count on Nick Chubb but with the return of Kareem Hunt , this backfield now has a bit of a committee flair to it with Hunt being favored in the passing game and Chubb being used heavily for run downs.  In a week like this past one where the Browns are playing from behind, Hunt sometimes out snaps Chubb.

• Unlike a team like the Chargers or even Seahawks above them, the Browns are not really reliable at tight end.  I guess Demetrius Harris can technically be relied on to not contribute anything offensively but the unusual rumors that David Njoku says he can play but hasn’t been activated throw some cloudiness on the tight end situation.  We wouldn’t trust Njoku in his first game back, especially after how heavily he was used in pass protection when healthy. All this makes the Browns more of a middle of the pack team in terms of snap reliability outside of the top two wide outs.  

15. Lions

• This team might have been higher on our list here given that Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones have similar large snap shares to the top two guys on the Chargers and Browns.  

• The difference for this team is that, unlike the Browns and Chargers were both running backs are viable for fantasy, this backfield is split but only one running back is even close to feeling trustworthy.  Despite only playing 45% and 50% of the snaps, Bo Scarbrough has a pretty good claim to the running work though he is not used in the passing game. Ty Johnson and JD McKissic split the passing work which doesn’t help you much. 

• Further confusing things, T.J. Hockenson was just put on IR and we are unsure at this point how those snaps will be replaced.  It may mean more Danny Amendola , it may more Logan Thompson/Jesse James – we don’t know just yet. So none of them are really to be trusted.   

16. Buccaneers

• The theme for this section continues with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans at the top playing nearly every snap.  Two guys you can at least count on to be out there the whole game.  

• Then you have OJ Howard which, on paper, has played a good chunk of the snaps but the reality is he suffers from a bit of a similar fate to Jonnu Smith .  For instance, Howard played 62 snaps this week but blocked on 36 and ran 26 routes. Despite only playing 27 snaps, Cameron Brate ran 17 routes. Howard put up a serviceable day but he’s constantly a threat to disappoint because of his usage.  

• If there were two running backs in the backfield rather than three, we might have had them higher on the list.  But with Dare Ogunbowale taking some pass work and an unpredictable split between Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber makes them difficult to trust. 

• This team has an additional variable that moves them down and that’s Bruce Arians.  As we alluded to in the intro, Bruce Arians is known to bench guys based on a simple mistake.  He benched OJ Howard for his unusual drop that led to an interception and we just saw him bench Ronald Jones this week for missing one blitz pickup.  It’s that type of impulsive behavior that makes you concerned your player could make a simple mistake and ride the pine during fantasy playoffs.  

17. Broncos

• This is a good spot for the Broncos to slot in because they share some of the qualities with this group.  They have two reliable players snap-wise in Courtland Sutton and Noah Fant at the top for pass catchers then after that it gets a little dicey.  They also have a split backfield, as we all know. 

• It’s clear that DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick are the next two preferred wide outs but their proclivity towards two tight end sets with Jeff Heuerman limits both of their usage.

• Business as usual in this backfield.  Lindsay looked better rushing. Freeman was more involved in the pass game.  An injury to one would be a massive boost for the other.  

18. Bengals

• The Bengals technically should go in this group because they fit the bill of having two pass catchers with large snap shares and then it’s muddled after.  This team is a bit deceiving though which is why they have to be lower on our list.

•  The wide receiver position is not as clear cut as it looks as really only Tyler Boyd is dependable and even though he has had his rough games.  Not only that, but looming over Auden Tate is the potential return of AJ Green and/or John Ross . Throw in the mix of tight ends, none of which are producing, and this team really doesn’t belong in the top half in terms of reliability. 

• Besides Boyd, Joe Mixon pretty consistently gets the bulk of the running back work but he also has not been factored in the passing game.  Overall you kind of know what you are getting but the future is too cloudy to rank this team high. 

19. Giants

• This was actually one of our more reliable snap share teams and, depending on who they suit up each week, it actually still can be.  The confusion comes via injury when there aren’t clear replacements of the full workload. Based on what we’ve seen though, there are some situations where we could consider this team reliable. 

• If Golden Tate plays and Evan Engram is out then we can fairly safely say that Barkley, Kaden Smith, Slayton, Shepard, and Tate should be in line for a full workload.  When those three WRs are active with Engram out they’ve all played over 80% of the snaps.

• The confusion would come with the return of Engram because we haven’t seen him since week 9 and we also haven’t seen him with Shepard and Kaden Smith active.  And with that, we don’t know whether Engram would simply replace Smith, whether one or more of the wide outs might lose snaps, or some combination of both. That’s what moves the Giants down our list at this point.  

20. Vikings

• This is an interesting one because they have technically been running a fairly consolidated snap share.  Since the Thielen injury, Dalvin Cook , Kyle Rudolph , Stefon Diggs , and OlaBisi Johnson have all been fairly consistently playing over 70 percent of the snaps.  Irv Smith Jr’s snap share has slowly grown starting in Week 7 at 56% when Thielen missed his first game to 64%, 61%, 72%, 82%, and finally 85% this week. Essentially it’s been heavily twelve personnel with one RB, two wide receivers, and two tight ends.  

• The questions are now two fold.  The obvious one is the one that’s been looming for weeks which is the return of Adam Thielen and what that does for pass catching options.  Stefon Diggs is fairly safe. OlaBisi Johnson is almost certainly due for serious snap regression. But do they split the snaps between Irv Smith and Olabisi and reduce his share as well?  Do they take some of Rudolph's snaps and split those with Irv Smith? Uncertainty is our enemy in fantasy and it’s tough to gauge what they will do. 

• The other is Dalvin Cook .  He injured his shoulder and had to leave the game but luckily avoided serious injury.  It’s being reported as a clavicle injury and, anyone who has suffered a contact injury to the front chest or rib area can tell you that there is a lot of cartilage and tissue between those little bones and it can hurt just as bad as a break when that gets all torn up.  Given the success Mattison has displayed, you have to be at least a little concerned about workload management. For fantasy purposes, sometimes a guy being ruled out is preferable than expecting him to play then getting nothing – especially if you had his handcuff stashed.  Would be a tough way to end a lot of seasons but you can’t sit Cook if he plays.  

21. Cardinals

• This team slots here by virtue of the fact that they seemingly have three fantasy players who’s snaps you can count on at this point:  Christian Kirk , Larry Fitzgerald , and Kenyan Drake .

• Kirk and Fitzgerald are seemingly locked in but after that it’s a mish mash of guys playing both inside and outside.  Some of us would like to see more Andy Isabella given his explosiveness but he’s simply not getting the snaps. None of the other receivers or tight ends are startable.  

• With Drake there is some concern that David Johnson ’s health improves or that Chase Edmonds returns to take back some carries.  In reality, we have a suspicion that the team knew they weren’t going to be competing and they knew that David Johnson and Chase Edmonds are locked into being with the team for two more years so they traded for whatever viable running back with an expiring contract they could use before letting him leave to free agency so they could save the wear and tear on their guys.  That guy is Kenyan Drake .  

22. Colts

• It’s crazy how the tables do turn in this league.  At one point the Colts had a reliable running back in Marlon Mack and a reliable wide receiver in TY Hilton with a tight end position that was clouded by guys stealing snaps from one another.  As of Week 13, that’s completely flipped. 

• Jack Doyle is now the seemingly only reliable fantasy player with the injury to Eric Ebron .  Doyle played 90% of the snaps and ran 40 routes, pass blocking on only two plays. With TY Hilton and Chester Rogers out, Zach Pascal is a reliable fantasy asset but beyond that its difficult to trust Marcus Johnson , Ashton Duhlin, or pass catching tight end Ross Travis (who played 12 snaps running 12 routes and catching two passes in a mini-Ebron role).  

• We thought we could count on Jonathan Williams at running back but that all came crashing down as Frank Reich opted for the “hot hand” approach at running back, per his own comments.  Until Marlon Mack returns, we have no interest in attempting to guess who the hot hand will be, especially during fantasy playoffs.  

23. Chiefs

• As the theme here is reliable and consistent snap shares, the Chiefs technically have to fall in the lower half of the rankings.    

• On one hand you have Travis Kelce who is easily one of the most reliable tight ends snap wise.  Not only can you count on a large snap share but you can also count on him to run a lot of routes (32 this week) and pass block fairly little (4).  Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins also typically play a good chunk of snaps though Sammy hasn’t really done anything since week one.  

• And that’s where it ends.  Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman split the third wide receiver snaps and it’s a guessing game as to who might do anything.  The running back group currently consists of a healthy LeSean McCoy , Darwin Thompson, and newly signed Spencer Ware and injured Damien and Darrell Williams .  We have no clue what the roles might look like from week to week or when either Williams might return which makes it one of the more frustrating backfields.  

24. 49ers

• This team fits here for us as they are essentially the Chiefs Lite with their configuration.  

• They have George Kittle who is your Travis Kelce although he’s really not at the level of Kelce for snap dependability because he has pass blocked on 17% of his pass snaps this year.  Same at wide out – Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel are Hill and Watkins but neither of them are as reliable as Tyreek Hill in production due to low pass volume and target inconsistency.  

• Up until this week we had a different opinion of the running back situation and this team may have ranked higher.  But Kyle Shanahan introduced the dreaded “hot hand” this week, obliterating our confidence in Tevin Coleman .  Shame.  

25. Dolphins

• On a couple technicalities, this team falls out of the “one man show” category because technically guys like Allen Hurns and Mike Gesicki play pretty decent and consistent snap shares.  But the reality is DeVante Parker is the one guy you can rely on each week. Gesicki is a boom or bust touchdown guy at this point in his career and we are simply not ready to put Patrick Laird into a lineup even with his snap share this week.  Not after 10 carries for five yards. 

26. Steelers

• This team for now falls into a similar category to the Chiefs and 49ers but there are some key differences.  

• First, like these teams, their tight end is a snap share leaders.  In fact, Vance has led the team in snaps five weeks in a row now. Oddly, he doesn’t block on a lot of pass plays (zero this week) yet he doesn’t seem to be producing in the passing game.   A bit of an oddity really but he goes up against the worst defense against the tight end in the Cardinals this week so he’s honestly worth running out there if you don’t have much else. 

• Like the other teams, there are two receivers at the top playing a big chunk of the snaps in James Washington and Diontae Johnson but we have to put this team below the others because that should change when JuJu Smith-Schuster gets back. Based on recent production, we’d hope it’s Juju and Washington at the top. 

• At running back there’s a clear split between running down work going to Snell and passing down work going to Jaylen Samuels . Even if Conner returns, expect Samuels to remain involved. 

27. Bears

• There’s one player you can truly depend on in this offense and that’s Allen Robinson .  He’s lead the position players in snaps every week except for week 4 when he was a close second.  

• Unlike Robinson who consistently has a large snap share and produces, Taylor Gabriel , Anthony Miller , and Javon Wims can have high snap shares depending on the situation but, even then, are pretty hit or miss  Currently Gabriel is banged up which bumps the stocks for Miller or Wims but we’ve seen Wims play a 90% snap share multiple times in the past and give you nothing and Anthony Miller disappears from time to time as well.  Tight end is out of the question.  

• David Montgomery is the lead back but splits passing work with Tarik Cohen (who also digs into Anthony Miller ’s slot snaps from time to time).  Quite the annoying set up for fantasy purposes for all involved.  

28. Redskins

• You’ll see a theme emerging at this section of the article and that’s that there are maybe one or two reliable snap count guys and then a bit of a mess.  

• For this team, Terry McLaurin is the one guy that has reliable given you a solid snap count and at least some semblance of consistency.  Kelvin Harmon and Jeremy Sprinkle give you decent snaps from week to week but inconsistent production. After that for pass catchers it usually Trey Quinn but he took a hit to the head so Steven Sims filled in but there’s no sense considering these guys at this point.  

• You might say “well what about Derrius Guice ? He blew up this week?”.  That may be, but he actually played the least snaps of any of the running backs.  Adrian Peterson took almost half the carries and Chris Thompson returned to eat into the pass game.  Running Back is thin so you may consider starting Guice against Green Bay this week but the Eagles run defense the following week is a brutal matchup – especially if they split again.   

29. Eagles 

• This team is an interesting one because, in theory, they were a fairly predictable team.  Ertz could be relied on, Alshon Jeffery , DeSean Jackson , and Nelson Agholor would be your three wide receivers, and, despite it not being great for fantasy, at least you knew they were going to split snaps between a running down back and passing down back and you could plan for it. 

• Now you’ve got Ertz and Goedert who are fairly dependable in comparison to a lot of the tight end landscape but at this point are stepping on each other’s toes in terms of production from week to week.  

• Injuries at running back and wide receiver have thrown the consistency of those positions for a look.  Beyond Jeffrey, no one has really proven they can provide value and his injury history makes him difficult to trust as well.  At running back Sanders has at least gotten a decent workload but these have mostly been negative game script games – in positive game script situations who knows if Ajayi or even a returning Jordan Howard could bite into that.  

30. Packers

• In terms of snap share, this team realistically has one reliable player in Davante Adams but the usage of Aaron Jones , despite the snap share makes him also a start each week in fantasy.  As long as he’s the primary running down/goal line back and at least a little involved in the passing game then we are confident in him.

• Beyond that this team is a mess in terms of snap predictability and you really just have to look at this weeks snap counts to get the idea.  None of the other position players can truly be trusted from week to week as 11 different players got at least a 20% snap share. Perhaps Allen Lazard could emerge as the guy but his last two games he’s gotten two targets and then three.  Can’t trust that.  

31. Patriots

• At this moment in time, this team is essentially a one man show in terms of snap reliability for fantasy football and that’s Julian Edelman . 

• This team is famous for its running back by committee approach that features a separate running down and passing down back.  The problem is, they haven’t stuck strictly to what you would expect with Sony being taken out in blowouts and used sparingly in other games while James White has also had unusually low usage in close games.  This week you’d expect James White to be the guy but you have to remember that Sony Michel rashed the Chiefs in two games last year with over 200 total yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

• After Edelman conventional wisdom would tell us that Mohamed Sanu is the next safest bet but he clearly was not at full health this week given his snap share.  N’Keal Harry was benched for most of the second half after allowing an interception on a contested throw and we have no way of knowing whether that carries over.  Throw undrafted free agent Jakobi Meyers and a potentially returning Phillip Dorsett in the mix and it’s tough to rest your fantasy playoffs on anyone.  

32. Ravens

• If you have been following this series at all this year then you already knew this team was last.  I’m honestly tired of talking about them so I’ll just make it simple – the snap shares don’t correlate with fantasy production in any given week.  You can depend on Lamar Jackson and that’s about it. After that you can start Mark Ingram , Mark Andrews , and Marquise Brown if you’d like but you are playing with fire.  In most weeks, the biggest factor in who plays the most snaps is “who can block well for the quarterback to run?”