In this article we break down the snap counts of all the fantasy relevant players for each week. Each team has a snap count chart with the percentage of total snaps played and below that you will find notes for each position group on anything that author Andrew Cooper found interesting (which running backs played more pass downs, whether tight ends ran routes or blocked on pass plays, which wide receivers lined up in the slot, who might have been injured, etc.). For more analytics driven fantasy takes, follow Andrew Cooper on Twitter @CoopAFiasco.
Special Note - for this week I will be putting plus signs around any +++team+++ that has something to play this week and minuses for any ---team--- that is rumored to be a risk of resting their starters. If your championship is this week or you are playing DFS, this could factor in.
49ers
WR: The 49ers seem to be calling it a wrap as they’re not only not bringing back Jimmy G despite being eligible but Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk are both shut down now too. I expect to see Richie James Jr. and River Cracraft on the outside with Kendrick Bourne in the slot.
RB: Mostert is shut down as well - after last week, Jeff Wilson Jr. is clearly the guy.
TE: George Kittle is back - he started this week but only played 28 snaps running 16 routes. Don’t really trust him to play a full snap share in a meaningless game.
+++Bears+++
WR: Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney played most of the snaps on the outside per usual. Anthony Miller typically plays in the slot but they mixed in Javon Wims for the second week in a row. The Bears are playing for a shot at the playoffs here so full steam ahead.
RB: David Montgomery - full snap share. He’s been a rock solid fantasy start.
TE: Cole Kmet played a full snap share but he played primarily in-line tight end in a Dallas Goedert role. Jimmy Graham playing primarily pass plays with a lot of slot action managed to snap the touchdowns.
Bengals
WR: It was Higgins and AJ Green on the outside as usual and, with Boyd out, Alex Erickson filled in in the slot.
RB: Gio got the start and more pass work but Samaje Perine vulture the TDs. The Ravens are must win here and big favorites so Gio is the better bet.
TE: With no other pass catching options, Drew Sample is playing a massive snap share and managed to score this week. Still can’t be trusted.
---Bills---
WR: Given what we know, they will likely rest John Brown here and maybe they don’t go as hard on Stefon Diggs as they have recently. Gabriel Davis should get a full snap share with Isaiah McKenzie getting some extra work. Beasley will probably play his ~60% of snaps per usual.
RB: This split has been this way for a couple weeks. More run work for Moss, more pass work for Singletary.
TE: Dawson Knox may be the beneficiary of them letting the receivers relax a bit. He’s your best option for pass catching tight end running 24 routes this week. Of course Lee Smith was able to score a touchdown on only 4 routes run.
+++Browns+++
WR: The Browns need to win and the good news for them is that the Steelers already announced they will be resting players including QB Big Ben. Assuming everyone gets off COVID, it will go back to Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins in two tight end sets with Donovan Peoples-Jones the third man in.
RB: Since the Steelers are resting guys, the Browns are now 10 point favorites with some books. That should spell good usage for Nick Chubb. If it’s a blow out Hunt will get carries too but they prefer him for passing downs.
TE: With the lack of WRs, Harrison Bryant played a ton of slot actually running 55 routes to 47 for Austin Hooper. With guys returning however, Hooper is the one you want.
+++Buccaneers+++
WR: The Buccaneers have clinched a wild card but Bruce Arians already said they are playing to win. Given they are still working on chemistry with guys like Antonio Brown, that’s probably a good ideal. Expect Evans and Godwin on most snaps while potentially seeing a little more AB than usual to make sure he’s ready.
RB: Rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn got an extended look this week with Fournette getting the second amount of work. Honestly hard to precinct but I could see Vaughn getting another hard look.
TE: Gronk and Brate split the snaps evenly including pass work as Gronk ran 17 routes and Brate ran 18. Gronk is the guy though.
Broncos
WR: Pretty simple - Patrick and Jeudy on the outside, Hamler in the slot.
RB: Phillip Lindsay was shut down for the year and Melvin Gordon received the most carries he’s had all season. If you are a DFS player, this is a fairly safe play.
TE: Usage doesn’t get much better than this week for Noah Fant. 64 of 77 snaps, 43 routes run (same as Jeudy), and no pass blocking snaps.
Cardinals
WR: As always, it was Hopkins and Christian Kirk at split end and flanker with Larry Fitzgerald in the slot. They split time between 4 wide and using tight ends - KeeSean Johnson was the fourth WR when needed. The real question is at QB with Kyler Murray potentially missing the game and Chris Streveler looking like the replacement.
RB: Chase Edmonds was nicked up in this one so Kenyan Drake received the workload that we had all hoped he would get. He only had 45 yards on 18 carries so perhaps that’s why they’ve been hesitant.
TE: Dan Arnold got arguably his best usage of the season running 31 routes on his 36 snaps and playing 23 snaps at WR (20 at slot). It was too little and too late for fantasy gamers however.
+++Cowboys+++
WR: Gallup and Cooper in two WR sets, Lamb in the slot. That’s how it’s been. As of late however, the Cowboys have been opting for me two tight end sets at the expense of Lamb’s snaps. And it’s been working for them.
RB: If you stuck with Zeke for your championship he delivered for you with a decent day. Pollard mixed in, primarily on pass plays, but this offense isn’t really powerful enough to support two backs.
TE: There are three parts to tight end production. Scheme, opportunity, and talent. The scheme has been there for Schultz as they are using a lot of two tight end sets and he’s playing nearly all the snaps (though he has been asked to pass block a few times a week rather than run routes). The opportunity in terms of snap share and routes run isn’t bad but the real problem is target share with three good WRs and two good RBs. His talent seems decent but the lack of QB talent is hurting in terms of quality targets (and quantity of targets as Dak was on pace to shatter pass attempt record). That’s why Schultz can have 56 catches on 79 targets while a guy like Robert Tonyan with Aaron Rodgers has 50 catches on 57 targets, 10 of them for touchdowns.
Chargers
WR: Keenan Allen was out and I find it hard to believe they rush him back for a game that doesn’t matter for them. Jalen Guyton moved into his slot role with Mike Williams and Tyron Johnson manning the outsides.
RB: Austin Ekeler is the guy and the others just mix in here and there.
TE: Like Allen, I see no reason why Hunter Henry would come back for one last game so Donald Parham should get the start again. In four years now Henry has yet to complete a full season without injury. Perhaps that’s why the team has yet to extend him.
---Chiefs---
WR: The Chiefs have the top seed and bye week locked up so there’s no reason not to rest guys - especially guys like Sammy Watkins who suffered a calf injury. If you want to take a shot on DFS, Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman, and Byron Pringle should get some extra work.
RB: CEH should rest as well with things locked up so expect Darrel Williams and Le’Veon Bell to fill in. Williams was the beneficiary last week.
TE: Kelce should get some rest as he’s likely hit all his contract milestones but maybe they are pushing to add to his statistical season? A big indicator will be whether or not Ricky Seals-Jones is active as the other tight ends are not pass catchers. He could be a super deep, sneaky DFS play if Kelce isn’t playing.
+++Colts+++
WR: Colts are playing to win this week. Pittman at split end, Hilton at flanker, and Pascal at slot. That’s what they’ve been doing. Despite Hilton playing fewer snaps, he really just comes out for obvious run scenarios. In fact, he ran 33 routes to only 28 for Pittman despite playing 3 fewer snaps.
RB: It’s officially been the JT show for a couple weeks now. Hines just mixes is on pass plays.
TE: Jack Doyle is back to “starting” but he and Trey Burton were even in routes run with 20 for Doyle and 21 for Burton. Mo Alie-Cox only ran 7 routes.
+++++Dolphins+++++
WR: We put a couple extra plus marks up there for the Dolphins because their situation has become dire with recent revelations. If they win vs. the Bills, they are in. If they lose however, they need one of the Colts, Ravens, or Browns to lose. Now that the Steelers essentially announced they are resting guys, all those teams are essentially 10+ point favorites. With Jakeem Grant now hurt along with Devante Parker and Preston Williams, expect to see a lot of Lynn Bowden, Isaiah Ford, and Mack Hollins.
RB: Myles Gaskin showed everyone this week whose job it is.
TE: With the injuries at WR, Mike Gesicki played 28 snaps in the slot, 4 out wide, and 13 at in-line tight end. Expect heavy usage from him this week against a Bills team that hasn’t been great vs. the TE.
-Eagles-
WR: The Eagles don’t have anything to play for but the rest of the division outcome depends on their results. In fact, if they lose and things to right, they can pick as high as third. If Washington beats them they are in - if not then it falls to the winner of the Cowboys and Giants. I’d expect Greg Ward and Jalen Reagor to play a good chunk of snaps given their usage recently followed by a mix of the rest of the guys. DeSean Jackson just came back from injury and was probably on a snap count so I’d have him pegged for third, for what that’s worth.
RB: Miles Sanders should be locked in regardless but I’d also imagine they would be quick to pull anyone who gets nicked up.
TE: We’ve been touting Zach Ertz over Dallas Goedert ever since Ertz returned and, with a calf injury for Goedert, that’s more true than ever. Ertz’s 31 routes was second only to 39 for Greg Ward and well ahead of Jalen Reagor (24).
Falcons
WR: Things obviously change over the season and so do positions. That’s been the case for Russell Gage. Before Julio was hurt he was averaging 35-40 snaps a game from the slot and was playing less than 10 a game out wide (sometimes as low as 1, like week 5). Now he plays primarily outside opposite Calvin Ridley and, since that change, he’s had more opportunities. No other WR besides those two are playing enough at this point.
RB: Ito Smith continues to get more of the run work and Todd Gurley continues to get the run work. Not an appealing split.
TE: Hayden Hurst is in a similar boat to Dalton Schultz. Good usage in terms of scheme but the opportunity isn’t really there and the talent/connection between he and Matt Ryan is spotty.
Giants
WR: Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton lined up on the outside. With no Golden Tate, Dante Pettis was the one who got to split slot snaps with Evan Engram.
RB: Wayne Gallman is the feature back - Dion Lewis helps on pass downs with Alfred Morris on running downs. It’s yet to be seen if Devonta Freeman will make his way back out there.
TE: Evan Engram almost made it the full year but managed to hurt his ankle week 16. In a must win game, I expect him to be back out there but, if not, Kaden Smith is the guy.
Jaguars
WR: Laviska Shenault and DJ Chark on the outside, Keelan Cole in the slot. The veteran and captain Chris Conley still plays an insignificant role.
RB: James Robinson was out this week so Dare Ogunbowale led the charge, getting almost all the carries. Devine Ozigbo contributed on pass plays in Dare’s former role.
TE: Tight ends were used sparingly though Erifer ran the most routes of them with 23. Still not enough to be interesting.
Jets
WR: Same as it’s been - Mims, Perriman, Crowder. Even if Gase does get fired there’s not enough time for things to change.
RB: Frank Gore dominated the carries. Ty Johnson works in on pass plays. Know your format.
TE: This season is essentially wrapped but I shared my thoughts on Chris Herndon in dynasty with Gase being gone if anyone is interested. The short and sweet is that Gase is so bad for tight ends usage wise that Herndon actually becomes interesting as a guy you can add for free. Numbers to support that are in the tweet.
Lions
WR: Marvin Jones plays the whole game. Sanu lines up opposite him in most multi-WR sets and Amendola is in the slot. But the snap share isn’t consolidated as most teams so only Jones is trustworthy.
RB: Swift is the guy. The others merely spell swift.
TE: Jesse James may get a loose target here or there but he only ran 5 routes while Hockenson ran 34. Hockenson is an interesting keeper choice as Golladay, Marin Jones, and Amendola are all free agents after this year.
+++Packers+++
WR: Davante Adams and MVS on the outside, Allen Lazard in the slot. It’s been like that since Lazard got back.
RB: The game wasn’t particularly compelling in the Green Bay snow so Aaron Jones got some time off as they tested AJ Dillon as his back up with no Jamaal Williams. This week matters for the Packers to secure the bye (bonus points for ending the Bears season) so Aaron Jones is still a solid play.
TE: We warned this could happen with Robert Tonyan. Low target, TD dependent guys can do that to you and he did. If you coasted on him this far, hopefully you were able to survive the dud.
Panthers
WR: Typically its a lot of three wide sets here with DJ Moore and Robby Anderson on the outside and Curtis Samuel in the slot but they mixed in a good chunk of two and even three tight end sets at his expense.
RB: No CMC = Mike Davis. For the final time.
TE: Lots of multi-tight end sets with Ian Thomas getting the best usage. And still he doesn’t do much. Such is life.
Patriots
WR: Jakobi Myers and Damiere Byrd played full snap shares again and are the only guys even worth thinking about.
RB: Even without Damien Harris this backfield is a big split mess. Would be silly to bring him back now so Sony Michel is the best bet but he doesn’t catch passes so his upside is low.
TE: Devin Asiasi got a full snap share. He’s more of a dynasty stash than anything but could be a real wild card start in DFS considering the Jets are the very worst defense vs. the tight end.
Raiders
WR: Ruggs returned so it was him and Agholor on the outside with Hunter Renfrow in the slot. See no reason why it wouldn’t be the same this week.
RB: Josh Jacobs show. Everyone else is just an understudy.
TE: Darren Waller once again played nearly every snap and ran routes on almost all meaningful pass plays. Stud.
+++Rams+++
WR: The big news here is that Cooper Kupp is OUT. This is a must win game for the Rams so they won’t be holding back. The Rams run a “next man up” style approach at WR so Van Jefferson is the guy - the only question is whether he moves in the slot or Cooper Kupp does.
RB: No Goff. No Darrell Henderson. And possibly no Cam Akers. Akers was a force before he got hurt so, if he’s a go, maybe he’s the guy but otherwise they need to lean heavily on Malcolm Brown.
TE: The Rams should go a lot of heavy two TE sets as they did this week. Everett ran 31 routes to 28 for Higbee.
+++Ravens+++
WR: Ravens need to win here so expect them to deploy the starters and go hard - Marquise Brown and Myles Boykin have been playing the most but the pass game has been spotty.
RB: Despite Dobbins clearly being the best looking, they continue to split between he and Gus Edwards. At least Mark Ingram has been out of the question but the coach has mentioned he will be involved at some point.
TE: Eric Tomlinson ran 2 routes. Of course we only care about Mark Andrews but maybe they should have him run a couple more just to keep the defense honest?
+++Saints+++
WR: Saints have clinched the NFC South but could technically still get the 1 seed and the bye so they will be playing to win. Maybe they don’t rush anyone back but Emmanuel Sanders and Marquez Callaway will be playing to win.
RB: Alvin Kamara. Good lord.
TE: With the lack of WRs Adam Trautman played a ton of snaps but mostly inline. Both he and Jared Cook ran 20 routes but Cook played more slot/split so he’s still the better option. Trautman is a good dynasty asset.
Seahawks
WR: Metcalf and Lockett are the two you can trust. Freddie Swain and David Moore split snaps. <<This is actually directly copy and pasted from last week so they are at least consistent in what they do.
RB: Chris Carson got all the important carries. He’s the guy.
TE: None of these tight ends are fantasy relevant.
---Steelers---
WR: We thought maybe Diontae Johnson was over his yips but he dropped two more this week. Ouch. The team will be resting starters though and are now 10 point underdogs with Mason Rudolph starting so best just to leave them be.
RB: Same situation. The Steelers are not playing to win so can’t really see them running James Conner into the ground. This is like playing DFS in preseason. Good luck.
TE: Maybe they lean on Ebron, maybe they just let Vance play.
Texans
WR: Chad Hansen is playing Will Fuller’s full role opposite Brandin Cooks. Kind of interesting. Keke Coutee is the slot guy who comes out for extra TEs so tough to rely on him.
RB: David Johnson was a pleasant surprise in your championship. Their first round pick belongs to the Dolphins so no reason not to stick it to their division rival in Indy.
TE: Jordan Akins is still your best bet for catching passes but they use too many TEs so the snaps are diluted.
+++Titans+++
WR: The Titans have the division on the line so can’t hold anything back. AJ Brown and Corey Davis play the whole game but Corey Davis has a tendency to disappear, as we just saw. No other WR is worth thinking about.
RB: Derrick. Henry.
TE: Since AJ Brown and Corey Davis got back on the field together Jonnu Smith has taken a back seat in the attack. Since week 8 he’s been TE17. Too hard to trust.
Vikings
WR: Adam Thilen and Justin Jefferson. That’s it.
RB: Dalvin Cook won’t be playing this week after his father tragically passed away. With no Alexander Mattison, Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah pick up that slack.
TE: With no Rudolph, Irv Smith was the pass catching TE. But his upside is third target on a run first team so it’s not exactly appealing.
+++++Washington Football Team+++++
WR: Like the Dolphins, this is a 5 plus sign matchup. If they win they are in - lose they are out. They might have Alex Smith but might not. They also won’t have Terry McLaurin. It falls on rookie Antonio-Gandy Golden, Steven Sims, and Isaiah Wright. Yikes.
RB: Antonio Gibson is the preferred run down back but JD McKissic is clearly the guy on passing downs. We like McKissic with the floor that gives him.
TE: Logan Thomas has been a beast in the second half and he played every single snap this week. He’s the guy they are going to lean on.