Wow. Absolute carnage this week and not just because of the COVID games. We had duds across the board from a number of otherwise reliable fantasy players. Hopefully you were watching from afar with a bye week or survived the devastation but, if not, we always have DFS to keep our dreams alive. Let’s sift through the wreckage here and prepare for week 16.
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: The snap numbers might look higher for Brandon Aiyuk but Deebo ran 23 routes to Aiyuk’s 25 so they both played plenty. Deebo was just treated like a running back at times and RBs need breathers.
RB: Jeff Wilson is the early down, grinder RB until Elijah Mitchell returns - as long as Mitchell is out, he has a decent floor. Deebo Samuel still takes a chunk of the work though, as we mentioned.
TE: George Kittle played his full snap share. You start him every week.
Bears
WR: Allen Robinson returned though it was just more of the same of what we’ve come to expect. Darnell Mooney also didn’t give you much despite those two playing the bulk of the snaps. Really hard to trust anyone with Justin Fields as the QB.
RB: At least we know for sure David Montgomery is the guy here. Roll him out where you need him.
TE: Once again Cole Kmet got the bulk of the snaps but Jimmy Graham had a set of packages in the red zone. If Andy Dalton were the quarterback then perhaps we may like Kmet in PPR leagues but just not a good scene.
Bengals
WR: Chase and Higgins on the outside, Boyd in the slot. This one will only change if there is an injury. Makes things easy.
RB: Joe Mixon left the game late with an ankle injury which is certainly something to monitor. Next man up is Samaje Perine.
TE: CJ Uzomah did what he does - he played the whole game and didn’t get the ball a whole lot
Bills
WR: As expected Gabriel Davis took over the Emmanuel Sanders role opposite of Stefon Diggs. Cole Beasley operated out of the slot. It’s a good thing we remembered what happened last year when John Brown was out so we could be ahead of this.
RB: Devin Singletary is the guy right now - 65 of 70 snaps. It’s his job to lose.
TE: Dawson Knox played his full snap share though the Panthers pass rush is tough so he was asked to block on five pass plays. Just not a good game script for him and next week vs. the Pats is even worse.
Browns
WR: This team is just a big mess right now with COVID so you will have to try and stay updated on the latest news. Jarvis Landry is on the list which leaves Donovan Peoples-Jones as the most trustworthy option. With Case Keenum at QB…
RB: Kareem Hunt suffered an ankle injury vs. the Ravens which makes him fairly difficult to trust. It’s all systems go for Nick Chubb.
TE: After David Njoku and Harrison Bryant didn’t play last week, now Austin Hooper shows up on the list. Njoku would normally be appealing but the team is going to be without their QB and coach which is always risky.
Buccaneers
WR: Well this is bad timing. Chris Godwin is now done for the season. Mike Evans is also banged up. Antonio Brown should be back soon but we can likely expect the mix to be Evans, AB, and Tyler Johnson. Breshard Perriman should also be back soon and will factor in some.
RB: Speaking of bad timing, Leonard Fournette is also going to miss a couple games. Ronald Jones will get the start but they did sign Le’Veon Bell to see what he can offer.
TE: Rob Gronkowski is in a good spot moving forward assuming he can stay healthy. Ball has to go somewhere.
Broncos
WR: Tim Patrick and Courtland Sutton are the outside guys who played every snap and run every route (40 and 39 respectively). Jerry Jeudy plays slot but comes out for two-wide sets so he only ran 33 routes. That’s how they’ve been doing it.
RB: Melvin Gordon is banged up so Javonte Williams got more snaps - especially in the passing game where he was asked to pass block more. They still split the carries fairly evenly.
TE: Noah Fant played more snaps than Jerry Jeudy and ran just as many routes so he’s still involved plenty. Albert Okwuegbunam does slightly hurt his upside though simply by existing.
Cardinals
WR: Christian Kirk set the tone here, running 53 of 55 routes. As we suggest might happen, Antoine Wesley filled in for DeAndre Hopkins at split end and AJ Green played flanker. Rondale Moore got banged up so Andy Isabella stepped into his role.
RB: James Conner and Chase Edmonds split the snaps pretty much down the middle here. On run plays and pass plays (21 for Conner to 23 for Edmonds). Don’t love that.
TE: There was concern about his health but clearly based on his usage, Zach Ertz is just fine. Start him wherever you have him.
Cowboys
WR: For the second week in a row, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup played full snap shares on the outside while CeeDee Lamb played a smaller role from the slot. Cooper and Gallup ran 40 and 39 routes compared to 29 for Lamb.
RB: Zeke got the bulk of the work again with Tony Pollard mixing in sporadically. Back to business as usual.
TE: Dalton Schultz plays a huge snap share every week and is always involved to some degree. He’s a fairly safe player.
Chargers
WR: Back to business as usual here. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are the full time wideouts. No one else can be trusted.
RB: Austin Ekeler got a little banged up so Justin Jackson took over. If Ekeler can’t go, Jackson is the guy.
TE: A bunch of tight ends rotate here but Jared Cook is the only one that actually runs routes. We’ve been talking about that week in and week out. Snaps: Cook 42, McKitty 41, Anderson 38. Routes: Cook 29, McKitty 9, Anderson 9.
Chiefs
WR: Tyreek Hill is the only WR you can even think about trusting in any sort of weekly format.
RB: CEH took the lion’s share of the work this week. Darrel Williams is just a guy.
TE: “Travis Kelce is a guy you start every single week. Don’t overthink it.”
^^^ This is what we said last week. And that’s how you should always treat him.
Colts
WR: Michael Pittman got ejected but even then TY Hilton didn’t step up and play more snaps. They just buckled down with tight ends and ran the ball heavy. Michael Pittman is still the only relevant guy in fantasy.
RB: Jonathan Taylor is a monster. That is all.
TE: None of these TEs can be trusted for fantasy. Not a single one of them ran double digit routes.
Dolphins
WR: With no Jaylen Waddle, they leaned into DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson. Beyond that they mostly just used tight ends.
RB: This was probably the shocker of the week. Duke Johnson ended up having the hot hand and just ran with it. Hard to trust Myles Gaskin at all after what happened this weekend.
TE: Mike Gesicki did what he usually does and plays a bunch of WR snaps. Durham Smythe actually played more snaps than any of the WRs or TEs since he actually plays in-line tight end.
Eagles
WR: DeVonta Smith played 62 of 71 snaps and ran 32 routes. The next closest WR was Jalen Reagor with 39 snaps and 18 routes. Just not going to cut it.
RB: This is not what Miles Sanders fans had envisioned coming into the season. Sanders and Howard split the snaps right down the middle and, oddly enough, Howard actually played more pass snaps. Less than ideal.
TE: Dallas Goedert on the other hand did have ideal usage. No TE or WR played more snaps than him. He’s locked in.
Falcons
WR: Russell Gage led in snaps and has become a viable option as of late. It would need to be a fairly deep league to consider any of the other WRs.
RB: Patterson go the bulk of the work in both phases this week, making it harder to trust Mike Davis. Who was already difficult to trust.
TE: Kyle Pitts continues to get great deployment, playing more than half his snaps at WR each week. The usage and targets are there every week so the upside is if he can capitalize.
Giants
WR: Kenny Golladay played a full snap share and paced everyone with 37 routes run - the next closes in terms of routes were Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton with 30.
RB: Saquon Barkley is getting the bulk of the work but it just wasn’t a great matchup for him this week.
TE: Evan Engram continues to play the bulk of the snaps and run a ton of routes (32 routes run was second only to Kenny Golladay). The quarterback play and the offense has not done him any favors.
Jaguars
WR: Saem as last week - Marvin Jones and Laquon Treadwell on the outside playing full snap shares, Laviska Shenault playing a partial one from the slot.
RB: With Urban Meyer gone and Carlos Hyde out, James Robinson got the full workload. As he should.
TE: James O’Shaughnessy once again lined up at WR for a good chunk of snaps (18) and was involved in the pass attack. He’s a safe yet uninspiring options.
Jets
WR: We talk about which players are full time vs. part time - that seems to be Jamison Crowder and Keelan Cole. When Denzel Mims comes in as the third man, Crowder moves to the slot, but it’s Crowder staying in for two wide receiver sets.
RB: Michael Carter did get the bulk of the work but Tevin Coleman still contributed in the run game. We’d like Carter to play 40+ snaps when they run 57, no 31.
TE: Tyler Kroft blocked on 7 pass plays so he only ran 19 routes. Not viable.
Lions
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymon, and Josh Reynols got the vast majority of the snaps. ARSB is clearly the preferred target.
RB: Last week I said “you aren’t starting Craig Reynolds” but I may have been a little too hasty there as he’s looked good. If Swift is out, I think you might actually be starting Craig Reynolds. If he’s back though, no dice.
TE: Brock Wright played a ton of snaps but he only ran 16 of 30 routes. And didn’t catch his only target. So not worth it.
Packers
WR: Adams, Lazard, MVS. Adams you always start, the other two are a bit of a guessing game.
RB: A much more favorable split for Aaron Jones in this game than the last one. He’s clearly the starter and got more work in both phases.
TE: 23 routes for Josiah Deguara to 11 for Marcedes Lewis. But that’s on 39 pass plays. So not really high end enough for us.
Panthers
WR: Robby Anderson and DJ Moore played virtually all the snaps - in fact, Robby Anderson did play all of them. Brandon Zylstra is off the radar.
RB: Once again, Ameer Abdullah got more pass work while Chuba Hubbard got more run work. Cam Newton took a good chunk of the run work for himself though.
TE: Neither tight end is even close to reliable.
Patriots
WR: Jakobi Meyers leads the snaps as always with 46 of 49 routes run. Bourne was next with 37 of 49. Nelson Ahgolor started but only ran 19 routes. Not great.
RB: This is a “two back system” though the running down work has been split further between Harris and Stevenson. Stevenson got that work this week. Brandon Bolden is the pass back (James White’s role) and he led this week in a negative game script.
TE: The Colts are not great vs. the tight end so Hunter Henry had a big day running 40 routes. Jonnu Smith only ran 6.
Raiders
WR: It’s the same three guys as always - Zay Jones and Bryan Edwards on the outside, Hunter Renfrow in the slot.
RB: With no Kenyon Drake to hold him back it’s all Josh Jacobs. Peyton Barber is the next man up.
TE: Foster Moreau played every single snap this week and ran 41 routes. With Waller out and the right matchups, you could do worse.
Rams
WR: We know who the three WRs are - this team is highly consolidated. Even though OBJ may have played fewer snaps on paper, the routes were Jefferson (37), Kupp (36), Odell (35).
RB: In a bit of a surprise, Sony Michel retained the starting job and played more snaps in both the pass and the run game. Henderson is now the one who is hard to trust.
TE: Tyler Higbee should be back this week. He plays a ton of snaps but just isn’t quite a focal point of that offense.
Ravens
WR: Rashod Bateman went from a 65% snap share last week to 93% this week. And his production plummeted. Frustrating. Hollywood also played a full snap share.
RB: The backfield was much more of a split than usual this week between Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray. Freeman still played more but Murray technically started. Makes us nervous.
TE: You start Mark Andrews every week.
Saints
WR: Marquez Callaway and Tre’Quan Smith continue to be the only guys playing meaningful snaps.
RB: Mark Ingram resumed his backup role but Alvin Kamara is still the man.
TE: Adam Trautman returned but split snaps dead even with Nick Vannett. Trautman has some upside but remains risky because of the split.
Seahawks
WR: With Tyler Lockett out, Freddie Swain played his full time role though Dee Eskridge only ran 2 fewer routes. Lockett should be back this week anyway.
RB: DeeJay Dallas is the pass down back so he played more in a negative game script. Penny still got more carries as the run down back.
TE: Gerald Everett got a chance to be the second guy rather than the third with Lockett out. Solid 10 PPR points.
Steelers
WR: As we feared, Chase Claypool seems to be in the doghouse to some degree. Only ran 19 routes on 32 pass plays (compared to Diontae Johnson who ran all 32). Even Ray-Ray McCloud ran 24.
RB: Najee Harris doesn’t have that problem. He played every snap.
TE: Pat Freiermuth was ruled out with a concussion. If he’s cleared, we like him. If he’s not, we aren’t going to start Zach Gentry.
Texans
WR: “Brandin Cooks is a guy you start. Nico Collins is close but just hasn’t quite shown us enough.” - This is what we said last week and it remains true.
RB: David Johnson “started” but Rex Burkhead got the bulk of the work. If you have to start anyone, it’s him.
TE: Brevin Jordan was kind of appealing for awhile but didn’t play with a hand injury. Jordan Akins isn’t doing it for us so Texans tight ends are off the menu.
Titans
WR: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine paced the pass catches running 36 routes on 39 pass plays giving him some appeal. Julio Jones left the game with an injury as he often does. Cody Hollister is probably the next best option.
RB: D’Onta Foreman got the bulk of the run work, Dontrell Hilard the pass work. Jeremy McNichols was the third man in. Don’t love a three man split.
TE: No one here is worth utilizing in fantasy. The closest is probably Firkser but he only ran 15 routes.
Vikings
WR: No Thielen means Jefferson and KJ Osborn. When Thielen gets back, Osborn is off our radar.
RB: Whenever Dalvin is healthy, he’s the man.
TE: We warned multiple times to not trust Tyler Conklin. This is why.
Washington Football Team
WR: Terry McLaurin played a full snap share as always. The rest of them are in a strange rotation that we don’t really love.
RB: Antonio Gibson is getting about as full of a workload as one can get. Jarret Patterson came in for a handful of plays but we are talking 43 to 10.
TE: John Bates once again outsnapped Ricky Seals-Jones though RSJ did run 22 routes to 16 for Bates. Even then he got seven targets. Imagine what that might have looked like he he had his old usage running 34 of 34 routes.