Week 4 hit a lot of people hard in the minimal snap count area (guys like KJ Osborn and Rondale Moore for instance). Others saw a spike for one reason or another and may have earned a bigger role (like Kadarius Toney). That’s why the trends are so important to keep an eye on. Let’s dive in.
As a reminder, this year we have a brand new tool that lets you not only look at this week's snaps but the total snaps on the year and percentage played by each player. On top of that you can sort by team or position to see how your guy stacks up!
The best way to consume this article is to have that tool open in another window and then sort by “team” which will automatically sort the players from most to least snaps. Then in this article I'll give an explanation as to what happened as well as some additional underlying stats (slot snaps, pass blocking snaps etc.) and what sort of actionable data we can extract to help us win our leagues.
49ers
WR: We thought Aiyuk was up to speed but this week Deebo Samuel ran 46 routes and Aiyuk only ran 34. Not great considering Mo Sanu ran 32.
RB: Kyle Juszczyk actually played 62 of 76 snaps though he didn’t get a single carry. Strange. Trey Sermon played close to a full workload but Elijah Mitchell returns soon and then later Jeff Wilson. Always a mess here.
TE: George Kittle ran 41 routes which was more than Aiyuk and second only to Deebo Samuel. And that’s while being banged up. He’ll be just fine.
Bears
WR: Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney play every snap and are hardly relevant - not other WR on this team is even close.
RB: With David Montgomery out long term - potentially until the week 10 bye - it will be Damien Williams and rookie Khalil Herbert vying for touches. Given his experience with coach Matt Nagy, Williams is the favorite.
TE: Cole Kmet played 57 of 58 snaps. But they only threw 20 times and he was asked to block on 5 of them. The upside is there if this team ever throws the damn ball.
Bengals
WR: Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd led the snaps. With Tee Higgins back this week it will be Chase and Higgins on the outside, Boyd in the slot.
RB: Joe Mixon is day to day but might miss this week. Samaje Perine filled in but Chris Evan is a capable pass catcher. If Mixon is out, Perine is the one to start.
TE: CJ Uzomah had a nice day with Tee Higgins out but Higgins will be back. Not an asset.
Bills
WR: They took Emmanuel Sanders and put him right in the John Brown role which is a good thing - he’s playing pretty much every snap opposite Stefon Diggs. Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis rotate in the slot though Beasley gets far more pass plays.
RB: Zack Moss all of a sudden seems to be the favorite here in this backfield for both run and pass downs. Interesting development though the split is still fairly close.
TE: Dawson Knox with good deployment again though in a run heavy game against what could be the worst defense vs. tight ends. Start him while he’s hot but just be aware of the downside of a team with this many targets.
Browns
WR: Odell Beckham Jr. paced all WRs - he’s playing pretty much every relevant pass play. Until Jarvis Landry comes back it might be hard for anyone else to be relevant given how many two TE sets they like to run.
RB: Kareem Hunt continues to vulture the touchdowns here. Hunt played 26 pass plays but blocked on 14 of them so it’s clear that is where they trust him. Both Chubb and Hunt are must start where you have them..
TE: Heavy multi-TE sets, as always. And, per usual, Hooper played the most snaps and ran the most routes. Would likely take an injury for one of these guys to get a role boost.
Buccaneers
WR: Same as usual - Godwin and Evans full snaps shares, Antonio Brown comes in for some select plays.
RB: Leonard Fournette has clearly taken control of this job. Too many mistakes by Ronald Jones.
TE: With Gronk out, OJ Howard played the primary in-line role and Brate played a pass catching role from the slot. Brate is interesting in DFS but a tough sell in managed leagues given his snap share even with Gronk out.
Broncos
WR: Holy injuries, Batman. With Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler out, Diontae Spencer was the new slot guy but he got hurt early. It’s just Sutton, Patrick, and Kendall Hinton now.
RB: Snaps were split right down the middle again. Pass and run. Sigh.
TE: Noah Fant played only one fewer snap than Courtland Sutton. He’s in a good spot. Albert Okwuegbunam played surprisingly few but with all the TE injuries, he could be in line for more.
Cardinals
WR: Hopkins and Green are the two outside guys with Kirk in the slot. Kirk faced a rough day with Jalen Ramsey playing a ton of slot. Rondale Moore is simply not playing enough.
RB: This split has been pretty clear - Chase Edmonds plays more pass plays but James Conner gets more run plays. We still want Edmonds as targets > carries.
TE: Apparently you CAN put Maxx Williams back in the bottle. Not an asset.
Cowboys
WR: Amari Cooper got a little banged up but we know the deal here - when he’s healthy it’s him and CeeDee Lamb most snaps, Cedrick Wilson playing sporadically. At least we got to see who the next man up is if Amari is hurt: Noah Brown.
RB: Zeke gets the high leverage snaps. He gets the goal line and the important pass downs. For now, Tony Pollard is just a guy that comes in sporadically for designed plays.
TE: Last week both tight ends ran 21 routes - this week Dalton Schultz played more snaps and ran more routes (23 to 10). Schultz might be running away with it.
Chargers
WR: Same as it’s been multiple weeks - Keenan Allen and Mike Williams play every snap, Jalen Guyton comes in for three wide sets.
RB: Ekeler is the man. If he were to get hurt we’d likely see Larry Rountree for running down work with Justin Jackson on the pass downs.
TE: Here is how you know Donald Parham is the blocking tight end. Both Jared Cook and Donald Parham played exactly 39 snaps. Cook ran 31 routes, Parham ran 13. If we know that, defensive coordinators do too.
Chiefs
WR: All that matters for fantasy football right now is Tyreek Hill. The most interesting WR besides him didn’t even play this week but just got activated to the 53 man. Josh Gordon.
RB: Clyde Edwards-Helaire finally had himself a nice game in the box score. He also graded out well in pass blocking which has been an issue. Perhaps it was Darrell Williams mixing in that scared him into stepping up.
TE: Travis Kelce. That is all.
Colts
WR: It was fun while it lasted. After Parris Campbell had a big snap share last week, he played less than half the snaps this week. It’s Michael Pittman Jr. and Zach Pascal playing the bulk of the snaps.
RB: Funny how things change in a positive game script. Last week in a losing effort Nyheim Hines played more than Jonathan Taylor. This week Taylor not only played more run snaps but also pass snaps. Marlon Mack even matches the snap count for Hines.
TE: Mo Alie-Cox scored the touchdowns but he quietly was not the tight end who rna the most routes. And it wasn’t Jack Doyle either. Kylen Granso ran 18 routes to 17 for MAC and 6 for Doyle.
Dolphins
WR: Will Fuller got hurt and place on the IR - a tale as old as time. It will be DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle with Albert Wilson splitting snaps with the tight ends.
RB: Apparently last week was not just an experiment as Malcolm Brown drastically outsnapped Myles Gaskin this week. Could be related to the negative game script as he’s trusted in pass blocking but something to think about.
TE: The Will Fuller injury probably benefits Mike Gesicki more than anyone. And that’s because he honestly doesn’t even play tight end. He played 33 snaps at WR and only 3 in-line. Durham Smythe and Adam Shaheen play in-line TE.
Eagles
WR: DeVonta Smith let the way with 39 routes run - no one else ran more than 30. It’s kind of been like that. The next closest WRs were Jalen Reagor with 29 and Quez Watkins with 19.
RB: The Eagles could not get much done on the ground. Even though Miles Sanders played more pass snaps (26 to 16), Kenneth Gainwell made the bigger impact. Interesting.
TE: A little bit of a break from the norm - Dallas Goedert got to play 24 snaps at WR this week. Usually he’s stuck in-line. Ertz played 19 snaps at WR. Maybe they just want to get Goedert into more of a pass catching role finally.
Falcons
WR: For the first time in awhile, another wide receiver other than Calvin Ridley played more snaps than Kyle Pitts. Olamide Zaccheaus played 61 snaps to 55 for Pitts.
RB: Mike Davis played 51 snaps to only 23 for Cordarrelle Patterson but it sure didn’t feel like that given the plays Patterson was making. Will be interesting to see if the Falcons can actually have some traditional success running with Davis vs. the Jets this week.
TE: Kyle Pitts ran 38 routes, Hayden Hurst 27. People are worried about Pitts but his deployment is good - he’s playing 35+ snaps at wide receiver and running every route he’s out there for - no pass blocking snaps. He could be due to big games or maybe he’s just not as good as we thought.
Giants
WR: Down Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton, rookie Kadarius Toney showed up in a big way playing 50 snaps which was second only to Golladay’s 59. Will be interesting to see if he’s earned himself a bigger role moving forward.
RB: Saquon Barkley is playing pretty much the whole game. Which is a good thing for fantasy football fans.
TE: Evan Engram once again played a primarily pass catching role running 33 routes and getting six targets. He also had a spectacularly failed goal line carry.
Jaguars
WR: DJ Chark suffered a brutal ankle injury and is likely to miss the season. The third wideout who picked up that slack alongside Marvin Jones and Laviska Shenault was Tavon Auston which was surprising.
RB: It’s all about James Robinson.
TE: Dan Arnold played a surprising amount for a guy acquired Monday. He becomes a sneaky stash and the guy you want from this team in fantasy. He played 18 snaps - 12 were pass plays and he lined up at WR for 10 of them.
Jets
WR: Corey Davis played his full split end role. That should remain consistent. With Elijah Moore out, Jamison Crowder played 25 snaps in the slot, 13 out wide while Keelan Cole played 28 snaps out wide and 7 in the slot. Will be interesting to see how the mix looks with Moore back.
RB: Interesting split this week - Michael Carter got most of the run work and split the pass work evenly with Ty Johnson. This is good news for Carter considering Ty Johnson had previously dominated the pass work.
TE: Tyler Kroft blocked on 8 of his 32 pass plays - that’s not going to do it for a guy who already wasn’t much of a pass catcher.
Lions
WR: Quintez Cephus is the split end playing the bulk of the snaps with Kalif Raymond playing flanker opposite him. Amon-Ra St. Brown plays a 85% of his snaps from the slot and comes out for two WR sets - he’s just not playing enough.
RB: Dan Campbell said that D’Andre Swift deserved more snaps - and he got them. Yet Jamal Williams got more carries. But Swift played 41 pass plays to 7 for Williams and that is the most important thing - targets > carries.
TE: TJ Hockenson is the man here.
Packers
WR: Davante Adams is Davante Adams. This week, with MVS out, Allen Lazard played a huge chunk of snaps. Randall Cobb also stepped it up and even scored but he’s just not playing enough snaps to trust outside of DFS.
RB: Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon each getting 15 carries? Annoying. At least Jones got the bulk of the receiving work.
TE: Robert Tonyan played a ton of snaps and he ran 33 routes. The Steelers are a good defense vs. tight ends but still - his start to the season has been brutal.
Panthers
WR: Same as usual. DJ Moore, Robby Andeson, and Terrace Marshall. DJ Moore is clearly the guy right now out of those three but they are all playing a ton which is promising.
RB: With CMC out it’s Chuba. With CMC in, it’s CMC. Gotta love it.
TE: Neither Ian Thoms or Tommy Tremble ran more than half the routes but Ian Thomas was used in more of a blocking capacity than Tremble. Tremble the better asset but neither particularly relevant.
Patriots
WR: Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor played the most but Meyers actually ran 49 route to 39 for Agholor. Meyers is the best option, especially in PPR.
RB: We got our answer to a certain degree - Brandon Bolden will replace at least some of the pass work left by James White. Though it was promising to see Damien Harris actually play some pass plays.
TE: The hip must still be an issue for Jonnu as his snaps are limited. Henry once again ran more routes - 31 to 17.
Raiders
WR: Bryan Edwards and Henry Ruggs played the most snaps but Renfrow came in for a lot of pass plays. Despite the snap totals it was close: Edwards (36), Ruggs (34), Renfrow (33).
RB: Josh Jacobs returned to claim the running down work. Kenyan Drake played his primary pass down role.
TE: Darren Waller continues to have excellent deployment and is a guy you start every week.
Rams
WR: Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods both played 65 snaps - top dogs. Van Jefferson and DeSean Jackson split the rest but Van played the third most. Tough to trust outside DFS.
RB: Darrell Henderson is back and it’s his job.
TE: Tyler Higbee played a decent snap share and ran 34 routes which was 2 less than Van Jefferson and 10-12 less than the top two WRs. He’s a low upside option most weeks.
Ravens
WR: Here’s a classic Ravens game. No one plays a full snap share. The most dependable asset, Marquise Brown, plays 44 of 72 snaps. No wide receiver played more than 30 of 43 pass snaps (Mark Andrews played 37).
RB: In another classic Ravens move, Patrick Ricard plays 51 snaps. Latavius Murray played 45. Le’Veon Bell played 20 snaps in his first action.
TE: Mark Andrews is still the man here. Be happy to have him in this tight end landscape.
Saints
WR: Same as it’s been - only Marquez Callaway is playing anything close to a full snap share and even he struggles to be relevant.
RB: Alvin Kamara is obviously the guy but just very strange that he got no targets on 20 routes. You start him every week no matter what.
TE: Adam Trautman played more snaps (39) but Juwan Johnson on only 14 snaps ran more routes (7 to 10). Juwan is the guy you WOULD want but he’s just not playing enough.
Seahawks
WR: Lockett and Metcalf are the only ones playing full time snaps. Freddie Swain just platoons in the slot with tight ends.
RB: Alex Collins oddly encroached on the usage for Chris Carson. Reports are a neck issue for Carson. Keep an eye out.
TE: They didn’t quite give Will Dissly the reigns. Colby Parkinson played too. And when Gerald Everett is back, I suspect they will still split. Sigh.
Steelers
WR: With Chase Claypool out James Washington slid right in - routes run were Diontae (41), Juju (41), and James Washington (38).
RB: Najee Harris gets all the snaps basically which is nice for fantasy purposes.
TE: Both Freiermuth and Ebron ran 22 routes out of 43 pass plays. Stepping on each other's toes in an offense that already has a bunch of good pass catchers.
Texans
WR: Brandin Cooks and Chris Conley on the outside with Anthony Miller in the slot. In a blow out they all played a lot of snaps - not much time to run really.
RB: As they’ve done, David Johnson played the most snaps in a negative game script. He’s the back to own if you had to own one.
TE: Jordan Akins was getting the better role then this week Pharaoh Brown played more. Perplexing. And not helpful for fantasy.
Titans
WR: Wow 100 snaps run for the Titans. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Josh Reynolds led on the outside with Chester Rogers coming in for three WR sets.
RB: Derrick Henry catching passes is a problem for anyone who doesn’t have Derrick Henry.
TE: Anthony Firkser ran 45 routes on 50 snaps in his first game back. He is a sneaky play anytime AJ Brown or Julio Jones are out.
Vikings
WR: Ahh yes the trustworthy Vikings. Thielen and Jefferson full snap shares, KJ Osborn in the slot for three wide. Highly consolidated snaps for the top two guys, just like we like.
RB: Dalvin Cook was eased back in a little after his injury but you start him every week he’s playing.
TE: Tyler Conklin is t
he best bet if you must but he’s competing with KJ Osborn for a low upside role behind the top two WRs.
Washington Football Team
WR: McLaurin and Adam Humprhies actually led in snaps - Curtis Samuel was eased back in. Expect Samuel to ramp things up week to week.
RB: Gibson actually got more carries AND played more pass plays. A welcome sign for Gibson owners but he once again graded out poorly in pass blocking. That’s the last hurdle it seems.
TE: Logan Thomas got hurt early and Ricky Seals-Jones stepped right into that role playing a monster snap share. Could be a sneaky add for TE needy folks.