NFL Snap Counts Breakdown: Week 14

Last week we gave you the most comprehensive snap count break down to date in honor of week one of the fantasy playoffs.  We ranked each team in order of how consistent and dependable their snap counts have been from week to week to help you decide which players you can rely on for your respective tournament.  Now, as Week 15 approaches, we are cutting right to the chase.  There is no more time left for stashing guys, for upside guys, for handcuffs.  The focus needs to be on this week since it’s do or die time.  We are going to look at the snap counts from Week 14 like we always do and just give it to you straight – which guys you can count on from each team and which guys are at risk of riding the pine during your most important moment.

Please keep in mind that this article is about snap share and the likelihood any given player will play a high percentage of his team’s snaps.  Typically, the more snaps the merrier but a high snap share doesn’t always guarantee production and vice versa.  We’ll do our best to provide additional info where we see fit. 

For the purpose of this article, “locked in” players have routinely played a high snap share week after week and that trend is likely to continue.  “Risky” means that there are some trends or fluctuations in their snap share that means there is a chance that they may play a limited number of snaps which is generally bad for fantasy football.  Anyone not included in either category simply does not have enough snaps to be dependable for fantasy football in most formats.  The order the players appear should serve as bit of a ranking or pecking order in terms of how reliable their snaps are from week to week. 

49ers

• Locked In: George Kittle , Emmanuel Sanders , Deebo Samuel
• Risky: Raheem Mostert (has seen best usage lately and is trending up), Tevin Coleman (started but was outsnapped drastically), Kendrick Bourne .

Bears

• Locked In: Allen Robinson , David Montgomery , Anthony Miller (Miller mostly plays the slot so his position is relatively safe but keep an eye on Taylor Gabriel as his return might jeopardize some of Miller’s snaps).
• Risky: Tarik Cohen (the return of Gabriel would also have a trickle down effect of hurting Cohen as he generally lines up as a WR less with three healthy wide outs in Chicago), JP Holtz, Javon Wims .

Bengals

• Locked In: Joe Mixon , Tyler Boyd
• Risky: John Ross (prior to the injury, he actually was leading the team in snap share and even played 100% of the snaps in week 2 though they are clearly easing him back in), C.J. Uzomah , Alex Erickson , Auden Tate , Tyler Eifert . 

Bills

• Locked In: John Brown , Cole Beasley , Devin Singletary , Dawson Knox
• Risky:Isaiah McKenzie , Frank Gore

Broncos

• Locked In: Courtland Sutton , Noah Fant (Fant is the only pass catching tight end who plays a big snap share.  He broke out a bit this week but exited with a foot injury – if he’s good to go, expect him to resume his snap share)
• Risky: Phillip Lindsay (still a time share but Lindsay clearly favored for touches), Royce Freeman , DaeSean Hamilton , Tim Patrick

Browns

• Locked In: Odell Beckham Jr, Jarvis Landry
• Risky: Nick Chubb , Kareem Hunt (a lot of fantasy gamers might not want to admit it but, with Hunt around, there is a clearly more of a time share.  Chubb is still a recommended start and Hunt is a flex play but it’s no longer Chubb’s backfield alone and his usage in the passing game is clearly down).  David Njoku (working his way back from injury, too risky on a snap limit.)

Buccaneers

• Locked In: Chris Godwin , OJ Howard (with Evans out perhaps he will get some more targets but he still blocks on a lot of snaps, plus Cameron Brate still comes in for pass plays)
• Risky: Justin Watson (saw the biggest jump in snaps and production with Evans injury and is the most intriguing of the options), Ronald Jones , Peyton Barber , Breshad Perriman , Cameron Brate .

Cardinals

• Locked In: Christian Kirk , Larry Fitzgerald
• Risky: Kenyan Drake (even with David Johnson and Chase Edmonds back, Drake got the bulk of the work.  We are still concerned it could become more of a three headed monster to wrap the year), David Johnson , Chase Edmonds , Damiere Byrd , Andy Isabella

Chargers

• Locked In: Keenan Allen , Hunter Henry , Mike Williams
• Risky: Melvin Gordon , Austin Ekeler (same situation we see with other time share teams.  Both are pretty consistently playing but their share and usage fluctuates.  This week, Ekeler played more snaps but Gordon is more trustworthy).

Chiefs

• Locked In: Travis Kelce , Tyreek Hill , Sammy Watkins
• Risky: Demarcus Robinson , LeSean McCoy , Spencer Ware , Mecole Hardman, Darwin Thompson (based on Spencer Ware rejoining the team and the crowded receiving corps, few of these guys are trustworthy enough to roll out in the playoffs unless you have no one else.  Really only Kelce and Tyreek are dependable week to week.)

Colts

• Locked In: Zach Pascal , Marlon Mack , Jack Doyle
• Risky: Marcus Johnson (with TY Hilton out, Johnson has clearly emerged as the guy to start opposite Pascal and could be considered startable in a pinch), Parris Campbell , Nyheim Hines

Cowboys

• Locked In: Ezekiel Elliott , Amari Cooper , Michael Gallup , Jason Witten
• Risky: Randall Cobb

Dolphins

• Locked In: DeVante Parker (depending on how serious his concussion is), Mike Gesicki , Allen Hurns , Patrick Laird (with Walton and Ballage gone, he received a full workload but there is always the chance they see what they have in Gaskins one of these games)
• Risky: Myles Gaskin, Albert Wilson

Eagles

• Locked In: Zach Ertz , Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert (with the injuries at WR, two tight end sets have and will be heavily deployed by this team)
• Risky: JJ Arcega-Whiteside (with Alshon Jeffery suffering what is being called a “significant” injury” and DeSean Jackson on IR, JJAWs is one of the only remaining outside guys left), Greg Ward , Boston Scott .

Falcons

• Locked In: Julio Jones , Calvin Ridley (left with abdominal pain so keep an eye on this), Devonta Freeman , Austin Hooper
• Risky: Russell Gage , Brian Hill (really only played garbage time while they were running out the clock)

Giants

• Locked In: Saquon Barkley , Sterling Shephard, Kaden Smith (as long as Engram is out, he plays the full workload though still tough to trust for fantasy), Golden Tate , Darius Slay ton
• Risky: Evan Engram (if he ever comes back, he will likely be on a snap count to start)

Jaguars

• Locked In: Leonard Fournette , Chris Conley , Dede Westbrook
• Risky: D.J. Chark (he left the game in a walking boot and was immediately considered “week to week”.  Conley gets the biggest boost in his absence followed by Keelan Cole ), Cole, Nick O’Leary.

Jets

• Locked In: LeVeon Bell (should be back after dealing with flu, if not then it’s Bilal Powell again), Robby Anderson , Jamison Crowder , Demaryius Thomas
• Risky: Ryan Griffin (left with an ankle injury and didn’t return.  Daniel Brown filled in but he was used largely to block, pass blocking on 13 plays). 

Lions

• Locked In: Kenny Golladay , Bo Scarbrough (even though they went to passing down backs later he got nearly the full workload on the ground with 19 of 22 handoffs)
• Risky: Danny Amendola , Logan Thomas , Jesse James , Ty Johnson

Packers

• Locked In: Davante Adams , Aaron Jones (by rushing volume, though he still cedes snaps to Jamaal Williams )
• Risky: Jamaal Williams , Allen Lazard , Geronimo Allison , Jimmy Graham , Marques-Valdez Scantling

Panthers

• Locked In:Christian McCaffrey , D.J. Moore , Curtis Samuel , Ian Thomas (if Olsen continues to be out, otherwise Olsen is the guy and Thomas is likely irrelevant)
• Risky:Jarius Wright (he sometimes loses snaps to blocking tight end Chris Manhertz but he’s not much of a fantasy option either way)

Patriots

• Locked In: Julian Edelman
• Risky: Mohamed Sanu (especially towards the higher end when Phillip Dorset it out), Phillip Dorsett , James White , Sony Michel (gamescript dependent but the remainder of the schedule is favorable), Jakobi Meyers, Rex Burkhead

Raiders

• Locked In:Darren Waller , Tyrell Williams , Zay Jones
• Risky: DeAndre Washington (with Jacobs out, he’s clearly the preferred guy for carries), Jalen Richard , Keelan Doss

Rams

• Locked In:Robert Woods , Todd Gurley , Tyler Higbee (as long as Gerald Everett is out, he actually becomes the pass catching option with Johnny Mundt being the blocking tight end), Cooper Kupp
• Risky: Brandin Cooks (at this point his snap share has dwindled significantly and there may still be concerns of lingering effects from the concussion), Josh Reynolds , Malcolm Brown

Ravens

• Locked In:Nick Boyle , Mark Ingram
• Risky:Marquise Brown , Mark Andrews (Brown and Andrews do not play a consistent snap share but are involved on a lot of the passing downs making them more reliable for fantasy purposes than Boyle but they do not get the full snap shares that other players get), Willie Snead , Seth Roberts

Redskins

• Locked In: Terry McLaurin , Kelvin Harmon, Adrian Peterson (with the injury to Derrius Guice looking like something that could keep him out the last couple games, they have nowhere else to look for ground work), Jeremy Sprinkle
• Risky: Chris Thompson (could be interesting in deeper full PPR leagues with no Guice), Steven Sims

Saints

• Locked In: Michael Thomas , Alvin Kamara , Jared Cook (Cook left the game with a concussion but, if cleared, he is reliable to log a lot of snaps.  He also scored touchdowns on both of his touchdowns on only eight snaps).
• Risky: Tre’Quan Smith, Tedd Ginn Jr., Latavius Murray

Seahawks

• Locked In: Chris Carson (with the sprained ACL to Rashaad Penny , there isn’t much holding Carson back from a full workload), Tyler Lockett , D.K. Metcalf, Jacob Hollister
• Risky: Josh Gordon (not as reliable as the third fiddle on this team)

Steelers

• Locked In:James Washington , Diontae Johnson (as long as Juju is out, these guys are locked in to playing a full timeshare), Vance McDonald
• Risky:Jaylen Samuels , Benny Snell Jr., Nick Vannett

Texans

• Locked In:DeAndre Hopkins
• Risky:Will Fuller (when healthy, he plays a full snap share and is clearly the number two but he’s rarely heathy), Kenny Stills , Carlos Hyde , Duke Johnson , Keke Coutee (when Hopkins, Fuller, and Stills are healthy he rarely plays, even being a heathy scratch one week)

Titans

• Locked In: A.J. Brown, Jonnu Smith , Corey Davis , Derrick Henry
• Risky: Dion Lewis , Tajae Sharpe (only when Adam Humphries is out and still not a viable option)

Vikings

• Locked In: Stefon Diggs , Dalvin Cook , Adam Thielen (upon his return)
• Risky:Kyle Rudolph , Irv Smith, Bisi Johnson (all of these guys have been playing a large snap share but, with Thielen supposedly returning this week, it’s hard to say what their usage will look like)