We are getting there folks - the home stretch. There are still a few bye weeks left but we’ve made it through most of the gauntlet and should be finalizing our playoff rosters. Now more than ever we need to focus
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: It’s been just Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk as viable options for the vast majority of the season. That won’t change moving forward without an injury.
RB: With Elijah Mitchell out, Jeff Wilson got the bulk of the work in both phases followed by Trey Sermon. We will have to see if Mitchell can recover from this finger injury to be effective.
TE: George Kittle is a stud - be happy to have him.
Bears
WR: With no Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney got the start treatment. Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd were the other WRs. If ARob doesn’t go on Thanksgiving, Goodwin looks to be the preferred next man.
RB: David Montgomery played 54 of 59 snaps. It doesn’t get much better than that.
TE: Scary usage this week for Cole Kmet. After spending 9 weeks averaging 3.8 pass blocking snaps per game, out of nowhere he blocked on 11 pass plays this week. So he was out there for 26 pass plays but only ran routes on 15. That’s nightmare usage.
Bengals
WR: This has been one of the more consistent position groups on any team and rightfully so. It’s Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on the outside with Tyler Boyd in the slot.
RB: Joe Mixon is the man for this team - the others mix in sporadically but he gets the bulk of the work in all phases. Stud.
TE: CJ Uzomah got his typical deployment which is usually good - he runs a decent number of routes and is rarely asked to stay in and block. His issue has always been his spot on the target pecking order. He needs an injury to Chase or Higgins to have true upside.
Bills
WR: Diggs and Sanders paced the WRs as always. Cole Beasley must be feeling a little better about the ribs because he went back to his slot role. Gabriel Davis simply isn’t playing enough.
RB: We honestly didn’t think this backfield could get uglier than the split between Moss and Singletary. Until they decided to split the snaps between Moss (16), Singletary (21), AND Matt Breida (18). Breida has been the most affective as of late but can you honestly trust any of them?
TE: Complete change of usage for Dawson Knox and for the better. Last week he blocked on a ton of pass play. This week he blocked on one. He played 55 of 56 snaps and ran routes on 42 of 44 pass plays. Now he’s back in the mix battling Stefon Diggs and Manny Sanders to be a top two target.
Browns
WR: The Browns are thin at WR and not just because of Odell - no Donovan Peoples-Jones or Anthony Schwartz either. The top WRs were Ja’Marcus Bradley, Rashard Higgins, and Jarvis Landry. Landry left with a knee injury but he’s tough and usually finds a way to play.
RB: Nick Chubb returned to do Nick Chubb things. He got pretty much all the carries though D’Ernest Johnson played 19 pass snaps to his 17. Kareem Hunt should reclaim his role from Johnson upon his return.
TE: The team had 39 pass plays. Austin Hooper ran 21 routes, David Njoku ran 19, and Harrison Bryant ran 17. That kind of deployment just keeps everyone’s ceiling nice and low.
Buccaneers
WR: Same as what they’ve been doing while Antonio Brown is absent - Mike Evans and Chris Godwin every snap, Tyler Johnson playing the AB role which was a partial snap share even for him.
RB: It might not feel like it from the box score but Leonard Fournette played 47 snaps and Ronald Jones only played 15. Fournette is the guy you want.
TE: With Rob Gronkowski back we don’t have to worry too much about Cameron Brate or OJ Howard. I guess in VERY deep leagues, Brate is still more valuable than Howard in fantasy football.
Broncos
BYE
Cardinals
WR: This week kind of confirms the suspicion we had - Antoine Wesley is the direct backup to a certain degree to DeAndre Hopkins, for better or worse. He played more snaps than any other Cardinals WR. AJ Green operated opposite of him and Christian Kirk played out of the slot. Despite his huge target share, Rondale Moore actually only played 32 of 83 snaps which is a 38.5% snap share. That’s scary.
RB: As long as Chase Edmonds is out, James Conner is the man here. Eno Benjamin only played 18 snaps to his 68.
TE: Another good week in terms of deployment for Zach Ertz. His 41 routes run was actually second to only Christian Kirk (42). Only question left is how the targets shake out when Hopkins gets back.
Cowboys
WR: No Amari Cooper for this week or next because he’s unvaccinated. Noah Brown actually got the start alongside Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb but Lamb left the game with injury (and will reportedly miss the next game on Thanksgiving as well unless he clears concussion protocol). We expect to see Brown at split end, Gallup at flanker, and Wilson in the slot.
RB: Zeke left the game briefly but he still ended up with more snaps and touches in the grand scheme of things. That’s how it’s set up.
TE: With all the injuries to the pass-catchers, Dalton Schultz is one of the more reliable pieces. He played on 49 pass snaps out of 50 which led the team but he blocked on three so his 46 routes was just behind Michael Gallup. He’ll be a fairly safe option for Thanksgiving.
Chargers
WR: Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are the only two playing enough here. Jalen Guyton played more than Josh Palmer but both are afterthoughts for fantasy outside of the random DFS dart throw.
RB: Austin Ekeler is that dude.
TE: Similar four-headed monster at TE to what we saw last week. Jared Cook pretty much only plays pass downs - 34 of his 38 snaps were passes. All the other guys actually played more run snaps than pass snaps including Donald Parham. Considering we can hardly trust Cook, we don’t really need to think much about the others.
Chiefs
WR: Tyreek Hill always leads - that’s locked in. Byron Pringle was next followed by Josh Gordon, Demarcus Robinson, and Mecole Hardman. This team just doesn’t have a viable WR2.
RB: Clyde Edwards-Helaire returned and got more of the run work while Darrell Williams played 27 snaps to 18 for CEH. That might be the new setup - we will have to stay tuned. Jerrick McKinnon suffered a hamstring injury so maybe one less guy to worry about.
TE: Travis. Kelce.
Colts
WR: We were hoping TY Hilton would take a step forward here in terms of snaps but he did not - still only a 45% snap share. It’s Michael Pittman and Zach Pascal that play full snap shares.
RB: Jonathan Taylor is just a beast. Nyheim Hines has been relegated to strictly change of pace work.
TE: Last week Mo Alie-Cox led in routes run. This week it was Jack Doyle with 16 over Alie-Cox with 7 and Kylen Granson with 6. Useless.
Dolphins
WR: This situation is in flux. We know Jaylen Waddle is locked in. DeVante Parker and Will Fuller will be back at some point but it’s still uncertain. Because of the usage of Mike Gesicki, it’s hard to trust any other WRs here.
RB: Myles Gaskin is the guy 100%.
TE: Mike Gesicki has played 90% of his snaps from a WR position. Will be really interesting to see what happens when Will Fuller and DeVante Parker are back.
Eagles
WR: Week after week DeVonta Smith leads the WRs in snaps and routes run and it’s getting harder and harder to trust anyone else.
RB: Miles Sanders returned and led the team in carries though technically Boston Scott led the team in routes run (16 to 14). Hopefully Sanders can claw away more of that role.
TE: It’s all systems go for Dallas Goedert. He played 75 of 78 snaps and ran 28 of 31 routes.
Falcons
WR: With no Calvin Ridley it’s still essentially Russell Gage, Tajae Sharpe, and Kyle Pitts playing WR.
RB: Cordarelle Patterson was a gametime decision last week which usually means he was close enough that he should go this week. But keep an eye on it. If he’s out, it looks like they moved Mike Davis into the pas down role Patterson was in and had Qadree Ollison on run downs.
TE: Kyle Pitts doesn’t actually play much TE (only 9 in-line snaps) so it was Lee Smith who picked up the in-line TE duties with Hayden Hurst out.
Giants
WR: With no Sterling Shepard it was Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, and Darius Slayton. Now that Jason Garrett has been fired, hopefully there is some sort of spark in this offense. We will have to wait for word on Sterling Shepard.
RB: Saquon is the only guy you need to worry about for fantasy but you also need to worry about whether this offense is going to be any good or not.
TE: Evan Engram was out there for 52 of 58 snaps and he ran routes on 40 of 44 pass plays. The player who ran the next most routes was Kenny Golladay with 34. Not sure what else he can do if they just aren’t throwing him the ball.
Jaguars
WR: Marvin Jones has been a staple. Laviska Shenault had been playing opposite him on the outside but, with Jamaal Agnew injured, they made another shift. This time Shenault moved inside and Laquon Treadwell played outside. Hard to say if any can be productive.
RB: Carlos Hyde split some of the pass work but, in an offense like this, James Robinson is the only one you can trust.
TE: Despite the box score, Dan Arnold got his usual deployment. He ran 25 routes which was second only to Marvin Jones. Might just chalk it up to a tough matchup.
Jets
WR: With Joe Flacco it was Elijah Moore who emerged as the guy opposite of Corey Davis - Jamison Crowder was in the slot and the rest were relegated to a limited role. I think given the performance, Moore is likely here to stay.
RB: Michael Carter left the game with a sprained ankle leaving things up to Ty Johnson on pass downs and Tevin Coleman on run downs. Expect that type of split if Carter misses extended time.
TE: Ryan Griffin is still getting a pretty good snap share though he was asked to block on 12 of his 35 pass snaps. That puts a damper on things.
Lions
WR: Trinity Benson was missed the game so open tryouts rolled on - this time with Josh Reynolds getting the most snaps. Khalif Raymond played opposite him with Amon-Ra St. Brown in the slot.
RB: Jamaal Williams came back to play a partial snap share but this is still D’Andre Swift’s job.
TE: TJ Hockenson continues to get full deployment as a top pass catching option on the team. It’s all about whether the game script cooperates or not.
Packers
WR: They seem to have settled on their three guys with Allen Lazard out - Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Randall Cobb.
RB: As long as Aaron Jones is out, it’s the AJ Dillon show. Unfortunately David Bakhtiari had follow up surgery on his knee so his timeline is in jeopardy again.
TE: In incredibly deep leagues where every player is rostered, Josiah Deguar would technically be the best pass catching tight end on this team. I guess.
Panthers
WR: DJ Moore and Robby Anderson play pretty much the whole game. Ever since his injury, Terrace Marshall has fallen to the wayside a bit. They seem to be running a lot of two TE sets.
RB: Christian McCaffrey is the man. End of Story.
TE: Both Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble play a decent amount but neither runs enough routes. Of 29 pass plays Thomas ran 16 and Tremble ran 12.
Patriots
WR: This is locked in at this point - Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor are the dudes. Kendrick Bourne and N’Keal Harry have an interesting rotation going where Bourne plays more pass plays and Harry plays more run plays but neither are getting consistent work.
RB: Looks like it’s a split now between Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson on run downs, Brandon Bolden gets the pass downs. Annoying.
TE: Both Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith played exactly 32 plays. Henry ran 21 routes and Jonnu ran 7. So that’s how that works.
Raiders
WR: Same as we said last week - Byran Edwards, Zay Jones, and Hunter Renfrow. That’s how it’s likely to be moving forward.
RB: The offense has settled itself out - Jacobs is the starter and Drake is just the backup. Jacobs plays more in all phases.
TE: Darren Waller is a must start tight end every week.
Rams
BYE
Ravens
WR: Sammy Watkins led the team in pass snaps with Hollywood Brown out, followed closely by Rashod Bateman. Hoping they just run three WR sets with these three moving forward.
RB: With Le’Veon Bell gone we saw Devonta Freeman get the bulk of the work and Latavius Murray in a backup capacity. I wonder if Murray will claw back some run down work or not.
TE: Mark Andrews once again led the team in routes run with 48 (next closest was Watkins with 40). He’s the guy.
Saints
WR: It continues to be Tre’Quan Smith and Marquez Callaway playing most snaps. Deonte Harris only played a 50% share once again. That’s two weeks in a row.
RB: Anytime Kamara is out, Ingram is worth a start.
TE: Brutal injury for Adam Trautman as he was just getting hot. Nick Vannett played 18 snaps and ran routes on 15 of them so he’s the best bet for fantasy but don’t sleep on converted WR Juwan Johnson if they want to go that way.
Seahawks
WR: Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. That’s all we need to think about.
RB: With Chris Carson done for the year, there seems to be a clear trend. It’s Alex Collins on run downs, DeeJay Dallas on pass downs.
TE: Gerald Everett is the only TE you need to worry about on this team. This was a brutal matchup for him so let’s see how he bounces back this week.
Steelers
WR: With Chase Claypool back, Ray-Ray McCloud was clearly the odd man out.
RB: Najee Harris continues to be the man.
TE: The snaps were split fairly evenly this week between Freiermuth and Ebron but Ebron hurt his knee and he’s likely headed for surgery. So Muth continues to luck out.
Texans
WR: No one besides Brandin Cooks ever really plays more than 70% of the snaps or so. Kind of lame honestly. Let Nico Collins ball out.
RB: David Johnson got the pass work, Rex Burkhead got extra run downs. Phillip Lindsay got released.
TE: With the return of blocking tight end Pharaoh Brown, Jordan Akins was oddly a healthy scratch. That makes Brevin Jordan the best pass catching TE of the bunch, for whatever that is worth.
Titans
WR: Marcus Pollard left with a hamstring injury and AJ Brown was limited so Dez Fitzpatrick, Chester Rodgers, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine stepped up. Can’t trust any of them honestly.
RB: In a surprise move Dontrell Hilliard played a huge role this week. And in another surprise move, Adrian Peterson was released. We can likely expect Hilliard to play pass snaps and D’Onta Foreman to be more run oriented.
TE: Once again, not enough routes run for any one player.
Vikings
WR: Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. You love to see it.
RB: When Dalvin is healthy, he’s as locked in as it gets.
TE: Tyler Conklin has at least been blocking on fewer pass plays recently but his upside simply is not appealing.
Washington Football Team
WR: Same as last week - Terry McLaurin plays every play and no one else does. Your Next best bets are DeAndre Carter and Adam Humphries.
RB: Antonio Gibson got more run work, JD McKissic got more pass work. That’s how that’s been going so why would it change now?
TE: Logan Thomas should return this week and he should be stashed in all leagues.