For Week 12 we had ZERO teams on bye. So going into the last few weeks for fantasy playoffs, we got ourselves one last good look at every team in the league and where they stand. It’s crunch time now so we are really just going to focus on who you can trust and who you can’t. If there are injuries, we’ll give the best estimation for the next man up. The time for speculatively stashing guys is over - for the most part. We may have a couple of exceptions up our sleeves with the teams changing coaches and quarterbacks.

This article goes best with our snap count tool where you can see all of the raw snap numbers. But I take it a step further letting you know who got the pass snaps, two-minute drill, who pass blocked, who played slot, who played two WR sets. I do my best to let you know who is getting the work and who isn’t. So, without further ado, here is Week Three.

 

NFL Week 13 Snap Count Report

San Francisco 49ers - 66 snaps

WR: Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. That’s it unless one of them gets hurt (or Kyle Juszczyk gets hurt). The fullback usage is what limits the snaps for a WR3.

RB: CMC is locked in. With deep benches, you might want to stash Elijah Mitchell just to be sure come playoff time. But don’t drop anyone who is close to cracking the lineup.

TE: George Kittle always plays a big workload - this week he played every snap. The question is about target distribution.

Chicago Bears - 68 Snaps

WR: DJ Moore (64) and Darnell Mooney (56) both play a ton but Mooney just can’t get on the same page with Fields. So it’s pretty much just Moore that is useful.

RB: The Bears started Khalil Herbert but turned to Roschon Johnson in a pass-heavy game. Roschon played 74% of the snaps to only 21% for Herbert. After the game, Eberflus said they make divisions based on practice production and that Herbert is healthy. Which is bad for us - we don’t want that guessing game.

TE: Cole Kmet was featured early on but on the day he blocked on seven pass plays again which is scary. That can come back to bite us, like it did when he blocked on eight plays in the Raiders game and they didn’t throw as much.

Cincinnati Bengals - 43

WR: Yeesh. With  Trenton Irwin taking the Tee Higgins role alongside Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd. With Browning at QB, we can barely trust Chase.

RB: Mixon still has his full workload but it could be rough sledding if the QB can’t move the ball.

TE: There were 33 possible routes to run. Tanner Hudson ran 13, Irv Smith Jr ran 13, Drew Sample ran 11, and Mitchell Wilcox ran 4. Tanner Hudson is your best bet if you are desperate. Though Drew Sample did play with Jake Browning at Washington.  

Buffalo Bills - 95 Snaps

WR: Same deal here - Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis played the whole game, and Khalil Shakir played an elevated snap share with Dawson Knox out. Will be interesting to see how things shake out coming out of the bye if Knox is back.

RB: James Cook started and got his typical carries in space though Latavius Murray still contributed on pass downs and short yardage work. Murray getting a chunk of the high-leverage plays hurts the upside for Cook.

TE:  Dalton Kincaid continues to see a good number of routes and target with Dawson Knox out. When he returns, Know will take the snaps from Quintin Morris (25 this week) but also likely some from Kincaid and Khalil Shakir. We just have to hope the damage isn’t too bad.

Cleveland Browns - 73 Snaps

WR: No change here - Amari Cooper, Cedric Tillman, and Elijah Moore all played most of the game though Amari did leave briefly with a rib issue.

RB:  This one switches up all the time but Jerome Ford got the bulk of the work this time in all phases, especially pass downs. Hunt does steal some short yardage work which includes goal line at times. They will also sometimes lean on Hunt late in games since he is “fresh” which they have done in the past as well.

TE: David Njoku ran 43 of 50 routes with no pass-blocking plays. He actually gets more targets with the backups than he did with Deshaun Watson so he should be alright here.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 60 Snaps

WR: Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are the guys in two WR sets, Trey Palmer plays in three wide (41 snaps). That’s the way it’s been for weeks.

RB:  Rachaad White continues to get the bulk of the work as always, 52 fo 60 snaps.

TE:  Cade Otton over the last six weeks has quietly led all tight ends in route participation at over 88%. He might not be flashy but he’s a fairly reliable option. If one of Evans or Godwin gets hurt, he could have big-time upside.

Denver Broncos - 67 Snaps

WR: Cortland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy play the big snap shares though Jeudy has been disappointing to say the least. Marvin Mims lost snaps to tight ends and fullbacks so he only played 32 of 67 snaps, not an asset right now.

RB:  Last week we mentioned that both Samaje Perine and Jaleel McLaughlin ran more routes than Javonte Williams but Williams bounced back nicely this week. He got the bulk of the carries and ran 14 routes (Perine ran 8, Jaleel only played 2 total snaps).

TE:  Adam Trautman played 61 of 67 snaps but only ran 21 of 28 routes. Unless Greg Dulcich comes back, there is no fantasy TE here.

Arizona Cardinals - 72 Snaps

WR: Zach Pascal returned but Greg Dortch kept his snap share with 54 snaps (Rondale Moore played 53, Marquise Brown played 62). The next test for Dortch is the return of Michael Wilson but, until then, he could be usable.

RB: James Conner started and led in carries but he ceded some pass work to Michael Carter who was acquired after the Jets released him. Carter did get some of that work from garbage time but we don’t like seeing Conner split the work - he wasn’t doing that before.

TE: Trey McBride is the man and it doesn’t seem like Zach Ertz will be back until after the Week 14 bye week at least. That sets up a scary proposition that the first game back for Ertz will be a fantasy playoff week so we may need to go into that week blind not knowing what a potential split might be like.

Dallas Cowboys - 54 Snaps

WR: Ceedee Lamb and Brandin Cooks play full snaps, and Jalen Tolbert splits with Michael Gallup. That has been the “new normal” for a few weeks now.

RB:  The Cowboys don’t play normal games as many have been lopsided. Tony Pollard in most conditions plays the majority of snaps with Rico Dowdle serving primarily as a backup. Could be another blow out this week.

TE: Jake Ferguson is a strange player. Early on in the year he was playing around 50% of the snaps but was targetted a lot. Now he actually plays more (30 of 35 routes run) but he’s not being targeted as much. It's hard to trust him and Peyton Hendershot should be back soon just to throw another wrench in there.

Los Angeles Chargers - 66 Snaps

WR: Keenan Allen is the man. That is obvious. After that it’s dicey. We don’t know if/when Joshua Palmer will be back. Quentin Johnston was reportedly benched to some degree by the coaches this week. And I’m not starting Jalen Guyton or Alex Erickson. So I guess Justin Herbert really just have one WR we can use.

RB:  Austin Ekeler is the man and Joshua Kelley spells him. That’s the deal still.  

TE: You would think with all the games Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, Joshua Palmer, etc. have missed that Gerald Everett would be better. But the truth is that he’s played 26 games with the Chargers and he’s only played more than 70% of the snaps three times. And he’s never played more than 80% of the snaps. Not easy to trust him for that reason.

Kansas City Chiefs - 60 Snaps

WR: No one ever gets to play a full snap share apparently, even with a bunch of guys out. Rashee Rice led with 40 snaps followed by Skyy Moore and Justin Watosn each with 34 and MVS with 32. Gross.

RB:  Isiah Pacheco played 47 snaps so more than any of the wide receivers. We like that.

TE: Travis Kelce is the man, Noah Gray is a DFS dart throw on showdown slates.

Indianapolis Colts - 73 snaps

WR: It’s still Michael Pittman (70) and Alex Pierce (69) full snaps, Josh Downs (50) third man in the slot. Pierce is the better blocker so that is unlikely to change this deep in the season.

RB:  We’ve all heard by now that Jonathan Taylor needs thumb surgery so it’s the Zack Moss show once again.

TE: Over the last seven weeks, Will Mallory has led the Colts tight ends in targets. With seven. Forget about the Colts tight ends.

Washington Commanders - 78 Snaps

WR: Business as usual - Jahan Dotson and Terry McLaurin on the outside, Curtis Samuel in the slot.

RB: When it’s a pass-heavy game, Antonio Gibson (36 snaps) gets more work than Brian Robinson (35) sometimes. Robinson is still the better start.

TE: Logan Thomas took a little step back here running 34 routes which ties Curtis Samuel but are well behind Dotson and McLaurin who each ran 47.

Miami Dolphins - 70 Snaps

WR: Tyreek and Waddle. That’s it unless someone gets hurt. Like the 49ers (where the scheme originated) there is too much fullback usage.

RB: De’Von Achane should return this week to split the snaps with Raheem Mostert. If he doesn’t Jeff Wilson will pitch in.

TE: Durham Smythe plays a ton but he’s valued more for his blocking than his pass-catching.

Philadelphia Eagles - 66 Snaps

WR: DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown are studs, especially when Dallas Goedert is out. Julio Jones (47 snaps) finally overtook Olamide Zaccheaus but he will still rotate with him and Quez Watkins to some degree.

RB: D’Andre Swift is the man here and Kenneth Gainwell is just a backup. Swift led in all phases again.

TE: There is no fantasy-relevant option until Dallas Goedert is back but he’s pushing to be back either this week or next.

Atlanta Falcons - 62 Snaps

WR: Drake London is the only one that matters. The second-highest WR snap count was KhaDarel Hodge with 27.

RB: Bijan Robinson is finally getting the usage we had hoped in the red area though Tyler Allgeier will seemingly always get his 10 carries a week.

TE: Kyle Pitts ran 16 of 24 routes, and Jonnu Smith ran 9 of 24. It’s bad.

New York Giants - 52 Snaps

WR:  Darius Slayton played but he has a bit of an issue with his arm so Wan’Dale Robinson (40) and Jalin Hyatt (31) led the way. They are the most exciting so that’s what we want to see.

RB: Saquon Barkley plays a ton which is great - it’s all up to Tommy DeVito keeping things moving.

TE: Eight pass block snaps for Daniel Bellinger. Not going to cut it.

Jacksonville Jaguars - 76 Snaps

WR: Zay Jones is back so we are back to Christian Kirk (58), Calvin Ridley (71), and Zay Jones (54).

RB: Travis Etienne is a locked-in top-five RB rest of the way and his usage is a big part of that.

TE: Evan Engram ran 38 of 45 routes. Just needs to find the end zone.

New York Jets - 58 Snaps

WR: Garrett Wilson is the only guy you can use in real leagues. In DFS or very deep leagues, Jason Brownlee (57) and Xavier Gopson (42) played the most while Allen Lazard was a healthy inactive.

RB: Breece Hall is the man, Dalvin Cook (14) and Israel Abanikanda (10) mixed in a little bit. They cut Michael Carter to see what they have in Izzy.

TE: We warned you guys on Tyler Conklin - he’s just not a full time player. He ran 24 of a possible 43 routes this week. Tim Boyle better really love him for him to be a guy.

Detroit Lions - 85 Snaps

WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown played 77 of 85 snaps so he’s dialed in. Josh Reynolds (54) and Jameson Williams (53) were next. Kind of interesting for Jamo.

RB: The Lions have not had many negative game script games like this so we learned something. Jahmyr Gibbs played 60 snaps to 23 for David Montgomery. I don’t have to tell you that that is a departure from the norm.

TE: Sam LaPorta ran 44 of 55 routes, blocking on four pass plays. Not ideal but he got it done.

Green Bay Packers  - 56 Snaps

WR:  Christian Watson (49) and Romeo Doubs (48) operate on the outside with Jayden Reed (41) in the slot. No Luke Musgrave means more than three WR sets.

RB: AJ Dillon got the run work but he only ran 9 routes because Patrick Taylor ran 15. How disappointing for Dillon.

TE: Tucker Kraft played 54 snaps and ran 31 of 34 routes. Not bad at all. But they do have a lot of mouths to feed.

Carolina Panthers - 74 Snaps

WR: No Terrace Marshall again so it was Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo, and DJ Chark. All the coaches were fired so it will be interesting to see what happens here. Thielen managers do not want too much change.

RB: Same situation at RB with RB coach Duce Staley being fired. We don’t know if Miles Sanders was on his side or in his dog house. Very interesting week and worth stashing both.

TE: No Hayden Hurst meant Tommy Tremble started but he only ran 25 of 37 routes. Ian Thomas and Stephen Sullivan still mixed in.

New England Patriots - 68 Snaps

WR: Coming out of the bye with everyone healthy, the Pats went back to what was likely the original plan (minus Kendrick Bourne). DeVante Parker played 51 snaps on the outside with JuJu Smith-Schuster played 44 on the other side. Demario Douglas played 33 snaps in the slot. We want more Pop Douglas.

RB: Rhamondre Stevenson played a whopping 53 snaps - he had three games in a row with over 100 yards from scrimmage. Zeke played 15 snaps.

TE: Hunter Henry ran 21 of 37 routes, Mike Gesicki ran 12 of 37. Not cutting it.

Las Vegas Raiders - 58 Snaps

WR: Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers full workload then they use too many tight ends and the fullback for anyone else.

RB:  Josh Jacobs at least gets a good workload with 44 snaps. Hard to leave him out of lineups.

TE:  Michael Mayer played over Austin Hooper again but only ran 21 of 35 routes. Not quite enough.

Los Angeles Rams - 67 Snaps

WR: Tutu Atwell was relevant at one point but Demarcus Robinson played 40 snaps to 24 for him. So now it’s just Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.

RB:  Kyren Williams is back and it’s his backfield - 41 snaps first game back with 200 yards. Awesome.

TE:  Tyler Higbee was incorrectly reported as inactive so of course he scored two touchdowns. He only ran 24 of 34 routes so we are writing this off as a fluke.

Baltimore Ravens - 71 Snaps

WR: Zay Flowers ran all 38 routes. Next, you have Rashod Bateman (31), Nelson Agholor (21), and Odell Beckham (12). Odell has been doing a lot with his limited share.

RB:  Keaton Mitchell started and got the carries in space while Gus got the short yardage and Justice Hill contributed on some pass downs. That seems to be the way they want it.

TE: Isaiah Likely stepped into the Mark Andrews role and ran more routes than any WR besides Zay Flowers. He also played 28 routes at WR. You could do worse.

New Orleans Saints - 72 Snaps

WR: Nightmare here. They were already missing Michael Thomas. Rashid Shaheed hurt his thigh and he will miss time. Chris Olave also left with a concussion and could miss this game. What we should see if that happens is AT Perry at split end, Lynn Bowden at flanker, and Keith Kirkwood rotating in the slot with Juwan Johnson. Yowza.

RB:  Alvin Kamara will likely need to step up with the injuries. Good spot for him.

TE: Juwan Johnson quietly led all pass catchers in routes run and got seven targets last week in the chaos. He’s not a bad spot start. Taysom Hill will be utilized in his strange role as well but it’s hard to bank on him in full PPR.

Seattle Seahawks - 56 Snaps

WR: DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett play full with JSN as the third fiddle but Pete Carroll did mention they want to get him the ball more. Hard to trust anything Pete says though.

RB: With Kenneth Walker out, Zach Charbonnett played 49 of 56 snaps. So there ya go.

TE: Noah Fant is the closest thing but only ran 23 of 38 routes. Gross.

Pittsburgh Steelers - 71 Snaps

WR: With the OC fired, they still used George Pickens and Diontae Johnson for most snaps with Allen Robinson as the third man out of the slot. So not much change here.

RB: A lot was made about the coaching change meaning wheels up for Jaylen Warren so of course Najee Harris played 34 snaps to his 38 and outscored him in fantasy.

TE: Pat Freiermuth only ran 13 routes last week. This week he only ran 24 of 40 but the new OC featured him HEAVILY. So Muth is back on the menu.

Houston Texans - 60 Snaps

WR: No Noah Brown so it was once again Tank Dell, Robert Woods, and Nico Collins. The return of Brown should have the biggest impact on Woods.

RB: Devin Singletary did not give the job back to Dameon Pierce upon his return. In fact, Singletary played 49 snaps to 11 for Pierce. The schedule is terrible for the Texans RBs either way.

TE: This is scary. Dalton Schultz played 29 snaps, and Brevin Jordan played 26. Out of 47 possible routes, Dalton Schultz ran 23 and Brevin Jordan ran 19. And the Texans have the worst playoff schedule I’ve ever seen for a tight end.

Tennessee Titans - 53 Snaps

WR: DeAndre Hopkins quietly only played 30 of 53 snaps but he still led running 23 of 29 routes. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine Ikhine played 40 snaps and Chris Moore played 35. Strange.

RB: Derrick Henry bulldozed his way to a couple of touchdowns here and also ran 13 routes to 12 for Tyjae Spears. Can’t afford to not start him in this landscape.

TE: Chigoziem Okonkwo clawed his Job back from Josh Whyle, running 16 routes to 6 for While. But that was out of 29.

Minnesota Vikings - 75 Snaps

WR: Justin Jefferson could be back after the bye. It will be interesting to see who plays more snaps at that point, KJ Osborn or Jordan Addison. If JJ remains out, Brandon Powell is the third man.

RB: Alexander Mattison played 31 snaps running 16 routes. Ty Chandler played 18 snaps running 11 routes. Mattison is still ahead of Chandler in all phases despite our fantasy wishes.

TE: T.J. Hockenson has been a star. Just have to hope they don’t make a QB change from Dobbs. And that JJ doesn’t take away too many targets.