NFL Snap Counts Breakdown: Week 5

Five weeks in and there are still surprises popping up within the snap count numbers each week, whether it be a young wide receiver quietly getting his first shot or perhaps a tight end switching from a primary blocking role to a more target friendly atmosphere.  It’s been almost a third of the season so we’ve seen what teams want to do, we’ve seen how they adjust to injury, and we can predict how they will react moving forward to best help you craft your fantasy roster.  So let’s dig in!  

 

· As expected, the return of Tevin Coleman send Jeff Wilson to the practice squad.  From the looks of it, Coleman and Breida will split most of the snaps moving forward likely with Breida getting extra pass work and Coleman being the go to in the goal line. 

 

· Kittle’s usage trended back toward ideal, blocking on only 13.3% of his pass snaps, possibly aided by additional usage of Ross Dwelley as a blocking tight end.

 

· Heavy usage of two tight end sets called for a lot of double flanker formations with no slot.  Deebo Samuel was the odd man out for many of those plays. 

 

 

· Allen Robinson and Javon Wims continued to play the outside roles – we expect Wims to retreat to a backup role upon the return of Taylor Gabriel

 

· After being inactive last week and playing four snaps this week, Mike Davis is no longer a concern to David Montgomery .  Tarik Cohen , however, continues to steal 15-20 backfield snaps.

 

· As expected, Damion Willis picked up the slack from John Ross ’s absence while Auden Tate and Tyler Boyd played full snap shares.  If Ross remains out long term, we expect it to be Boyd and Tate in the mix with AJ Green. 

 

· Eifert continues to move in reverse in terms of snap share despite CJ Uzomah producing next to nothing offensively.  With Zac Taylor leaning on the tight end primarily as an extra blocker, the only hope for Eifert is a trade.  

 

· The interesting story here is D’haquille “Duke” Williams stepping in to play a huge snap share and impressing enough that the Bills felt comfortable shipping Zay Jones off to Oakland.  On a 4-1 Bills team Duke could be a speculative add in deeper leagues if he continues to get big snaps

 

· The Bills continue to be pretty content with an even snap share at runningback between the padding and receiving role.  The return of Singletary should vaporize TJ Yeldon.  

 

 

· Same story at runningback as we discussed last week– this time the Broncos didn’t even give him a chance to prove himself, not allowing Phillip Lindsay to pass block one time.  Unless there are reports that he’s made great strides in practice in that department, expect the timeshare to continue to be split until further notice.  

 

· The Broncos seem committed to having Sutton, Sanders, and Fant as their core receivers running the most routes each week but there are simply not enough targets for Fant to be more than a desperation start. 

 

· Yikes

 

· Only 46 snaps for this offense and Odell and Juice played them all.  Callaway replaced Damon Ratley almost entirely but what can you really expect if this team is going to play like this?

 

· Neither Harris or RSJ are relevant at tight end until the offense changes course.  Harris blocked on 36.8% of his snaps and Ricky didn’t block on a single one so he has the best shot at relevance.  

 

· Nothing better than a nightmarish three-way snap share at runningback.  It seems the running duties will be split in two between Jones and Barber with Ogunbowale mixing in on passing downs.  No one can be trusted.  

 

· OJ Howard only blocked on 10.3 percent of his snaps which is promising yet at the same time he only had one catch.  Still unstartable.

 

· Godwin and Evans are the only two wide receivers to own and remain matchup dependent.  After what happened last time Evans faced James Bradberry , Godwin will likely be the better start this week. 

 

 

· Rather than allowing Andy Isabella to play in the absence of Christian Kirk as we had hoped, Trent Sherfield stepped in to play Kirk’s role though fairly ineffectively.  KeSean Johnson also saw a huge snap share but did little.  Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk remain the only two viable fantasy starters for now.

 

· David Johnson played an ideal snap share totaling over 150 yards from scrimmage though Chase Edmonds also flashed in the few snaps he saw.  Edmonds remains one of the leagues premiere handcuffs.  

 

· Melvin Gordon is back which is good for football fans but divisive for fantasy players of course.  Expect his snap share to climb as he gets back into football shape.  It seems he should take over most of the running duties while catching some passes while Ekeler will transition back to his pass heavy duties.  It is noted that Ekeler played eight snaps out of the slot which is seven more than last week with no Melvin.  

 

· A potential return of Hunter Henry in the near future would take Lance Kendricks out of the fold and could also effect targets for Ekeler, Inman, Benjamin or whoever is playing the slot.  Touches could be hard to come by in this offense for pass catchers not named Keenan Allen .

 

· The wheels seemed to fall off the moment Sammy Watkins left the game with a hamstring injury and the Colts locked down the inexperience Chiefs wideouts with man to man coverage.  If Sammy doesn’t play next week it will be a real dart throw as to which receiver will perform.

 

· LeSean McCoy got a bit of a break to rest his ankle as Damien Williams carried the load though Williams didn’t give us much with a paltry 2.6 yards per carry.  It feels as if McCoy will be the back to own on this team if everyone is healthy given his prowess in the passing game.

 

· With Parris Campbell inactive, Cain, Pascal, and Rogers got some extra snaps and squandered that opportunity with none of them totaling more than eight yards.  After Hilton, none of them really excite us but Campbell at least has exciting speed.  

 

· Marlon Mack was the lead dog once again and even caught some passes which is a welcome surprise from last year.  Hines is a desperation play in PPR leagues and nothing more.  

 

· Doyle and Ebron continued to step on each other’s toes.  An injury to one would be a boon to the other. 

 

 

 

 

· If you are a Michael Gallup owner, you have to be ecstatic about this week.  In his first game back he played an 85% snap share, Devin Smith didn’t play at all and, well, you saw the numbers.  

 

· Jason Witten played 59 snaps, 45 of which were pass snaps, and he blocked on zero pass snaps.  If you need him, he is there.  

 

 

· BYE

 

 

 

· The Eagles backfield is setting into the split we expected – Jordan Howard is the primary running down back handling the goal line work and Mile Sanders is the passing down back out of the backfield, similar to how the New England Patriots operate.  Lowered ceilings but at least you know what to expect.  

 

· Ertz and Alshon remain starts and Agholor can be played if you have no one better.  The return of DeSean Jackson at some point will send Mack Hollins to the showers. 

 

 

· Ito Smith seems to be destined to chip into Devonta Freeman ’s running workload and the coach suggested he “likes him down by the goal line”.  If the Falcons continue to play the way they have been however, Freeman will remain a valuable asset in PPR leagues.  

 

· The Falcons offense continues to offer a multi-faceted pass attack using all of Julio, Ridley, Hooper, and Sanu.  This week it was fine due to the large passing volume.  In slower weeks that might prove problematic.  

 

 

· Already ruled out for this week are Saquon, Engram, Shepard, and Gallman which is going to leave Daniel Jones with his work cut out for him. 

 

· Based on last week, Jon Hillman looks to fill in for the full workload as the Giants seem to like using one back.  Golden Tate will be a potential start as the only viable receiving option and that’s it as the team faces a tough Patriots defense.  

 

· The Jags continue to get their money’s worth with Leonard Fournette playing nearly even snap

 

· Chark is the guy to owned for recievers followed by Dede. 

 

· James O’Shaughnessy looked like a potential fantasy asset but he unfortunately tore his ACL this week.  Geoff Swaim is looking at increased duty and we continue to wonder when we might see the debut of pass catching rookie Josh Oliver who is recovering from a severe hamstring injury.  Could be a stash in very deep leagues.  

 

· Demaryius Thomas made a little splash for the Jets finally, leading the wide receivers in snaps and catches.  Who knows how he performs once Darnold gets back – will be interesting to see.

 

· We weren’t expecting much from Herndon but even then we’ll need to wait to see what he’s got as he hurt his hamstring immediately upon his return to practice. 

 

 

· BYE

 

 

· We speculated a little last week on what might happen with no Davante Adams or Jamaal Williams and we got some answers

 

· Jake Kumerow filled in at split end and MVS and Allison maintained their roles as flanker and slot (Allison 38 snaps from slot).  Jimmy Graham also supplemented some of Adams usage by playing 21 21 snaps out wide and 46 from the slot over the last two weeks.  In the first 3 games he only played 9 snaps outside and 33 in the slot so, if there’s no Adams again, he gets a bump.  

 

· With no Jamaal Williams Aaron Jones got the lions share of the snaps and gave us a dominating four touchdown performance.  Tra Carson filled in on a few passing downs.  Hopefully Packers brass liked what they saw from Jones and realize that maybe it makes more sense to get him rolling than keep him fresh

 

· Don’t ever change Panthers.  For the fifth straight week, the same 11 dudes played 75% or more of the snaps and the next closest guy played 17%.  Making out job easy.  Thanks again Ron!

 

 

· Unlike the Panthers, this team rarely takes it easy on us snap wise by using a number of different packages and looks each week.  Luckily, in games that they can easily win like this one, they don’t like to show much and keep it fairly vanilla.

 

· The injury to Dorsett means that Jakobi Meyers should play a decent amount as the next man up.  James White has not played out of the slot so Meyers could be a sneaky DFS play with Dorsett out and Edelman and Gordon nursing injuries.  

 

· The Pats game play at runningback seems to be coming into shape.  As long as the game is within striking distance, Michel will play (he scored on both opening drives of Jets and Dolphins and played in the next two before they phased him out). In a game that was 12-7 at halftime with no Rex Burkhead , he finally played deep into this one and put up a good game.  However, they have rolled with Burkhead and Bolden once up by three scores.  When making lineup decisions, I would treat him more like you do a WR2 since they seem to lean on him in close games rather than blowouts.  As crazy as that sounds, it seems they are saving their bullets with Sony Michel and using others for mop up.  

 

· With Tyrell Williams out, Trevor Davis saw a snap boost but the biggest jump was Keelan Doss across from him on the outside, going form 7 snaps outside last week to 34 outside this week.  Hunter Renfrow saw extra snaps as well as he continued to operate out of the slot.

 

· The real solution however was to lean on Josh Jacobs and it worked as they managed to beat the Bears tough defense by pounding the rock somehow.  Jacobs has proven to be a worthwhile asset in both fantasy and real football.  

 

· Darren Waller continued to lead the team in routes run, therefore, continues to be the best bet for production.  

 

 

· Not the usual three headed monster at wide receiver that we usually see for the Rams as Cooper Kupp took a few snaps off compared to the other two musketeers (possibly from being winded as the only WR really producing).  Josh Reynolds took some extra snaps this week in place.

 

· Gerald Everett took over a surprising snap share at tight end, even with Tyler Higbee back, and put together a dominant performance.  He only blocked on two of his 39 pass snaps and played 12 snaps outside which is ideal usage.  

 

· Gurley played the kind of snap share we had come to expect last year and, naturally, he ended up with a bruised thigh and is questionable for this week.  If ruled out, Malcolm Brown would be an immediate start. 

 

· The snaps were spread out and so was the ball as we have come to expect from the Ravens.  Snead at this point is more of a rare run blocking wide receiver having been asked to block on 26% of his snaps.

 

· Luckily this fast paced offense continued to roll on with 79 snaps once again  There is still concern that guys playing a low snap share, namely Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown , could suffer in a slower game with less offensive output.  Be weary.  

 

· With no Vernon Davis , Jeremy Sprinkle did not play the full snap share we had hoped as the Redskins opted to go four wide while playing from behind in the second half.  The Dolphins are a great matchup for tight ends so keep an eye on Davis’s status for DFS.  

 

· The good news is that Terry McLaurin returned and escape unscathed.  He continues to be a viable start along with Chris Thompson if you need him.  Difficult to trust anyone else without knowing who could be playing quarterback from most of the game.  

 

 

· Josh Hill played a ton of snaps this week but largely in a blocking capacity – he ran 17 routes to 26 for Cook despite playing more snaps

 

· Until Drew Brees returns, the only reliable fantasy starts are Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara .  Jared Cook remains a play only if you have no one else, until then. 

· In an effort to combat the Rams brutal pass rush, Will Dissly was asked to stay in on a season high 20% of his pass plays and Luke Wilson was deployed as an extra blocker often as well.  Dissly should be out and about catching balls again this week against the Browns.  

 

· Lockett and Metcalf lined up on the outside for the most part with a three way split for wide receiver three duties.  None of Brown, Turner, or Moore are typically interesting unless someone runs away with those snaps and even then there might not be targets to go around.

 

· At this point, as long as Chris Carson can hold onto the football, the backfield seems to be his.

 

· The script flipped at wide out a bit, this time with Diontae Johnson getting the full workload and James Washington getting plays off.  With five catches this week, if Johnson isn’t owned in your league yet, he needs to be.  

 

· Vance McDonald returned and split snaps to a certain degree with Vannett which can be expected returning from an injury.  Vance blocked on 16.5% of his pass snaps which is not ideal for a tight end – thankfully Vannett blocked on 33.3% of his so Vance seems to be considered the better pass catching option.  

 

· After a big showing last week, Jaylen Samuels took a way back seat to James Conner with only three carries and 15 snaps to Conner’s 46.  They deployed the wild cat once again but unfortunately Samuels threw in interception which might cause some hesitation to use it moving forward.  

 

· We may be seeing something similar in Houston to what we are seeing in Tampa Bay – Watson is not afraid to go with the easier path and throw to Will Fuller if Hopkins is being double teamed and bracketed.  As Watson grows and develops as a quarterback, the days of DeAndre Hopkins ’s matchup-proof forced targets may be over.  

 

· Last week we saw a negative game script and lot a of Duke Johnson .  This week they won by three scores and we saw more Carlos Hyde .  And so it will be.  

 

· Even without Stills, Keke Coutee didn’t show us much.  Unstartable as of now  

 

· The Titans continue to fool no one at tight end, having Jonnu Smith and MyCole Pruitt block on over 70% of the plays they are in on and having Delanie Walker pass block on zero snaps and come out for most run plays.  If we know that, then surely other teams do as well.

 

· Corey Davis , Derrick Henry , and AJ Brown remain your fantasy assets though at this point Henry is the only one you should be excited to start in a lackluster offense.  

 

· The Vikings decided to remind their players that, yes you can run the ball into the ground and win games.  And they rewarded Adam Thielen ’s loyalty with two touchdowns.  Stefon Diggs seems to remain on the outside looking in until he patches things up or gets moved.  

 

· Irv Smith continues to give us hope with his usage, blocking on only 5% of pass plays while Rudolph blocks on 20% of his.  However, there aren’t enough targets for him with his ~50% snap share and, even if Rudolph did get hurt, they’d probably just use him to block for Dalvin Cook .  Still, in a desolate TE landscape, someone to keep an eye on.