Hope you guys crushed it last week but there is still another week of regular season before playoffs. So we will not stop in our pursuit of knowledge and excellence. Lucky for us, the only team that has zero implications this week is honestly the Packers (though some teams may know their fate by half-time). So the threat of players being benched isn’t as bad as we had assumed.
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: Same as usual with Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel as the primary WRs. Jauan Jennings manned the slot but only played half the snaps.
RB: Like we figured, Elijah Mitchell is there guy when he’s healthy. He got the most work on run and pass downs.
TE: George Kittle plays nearly every snap every week if not all of them so his snaps are never of concern.
Bears
WR: Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney are the only full time wide receivers because of how many tight ends this team uses. Damiere Byrd and Marquise Goodwin split the remaining snaps.
RB: David Montgomery is about as dialed into a full snap share as it gets.
TE: Cole Kmet continues to play a ton of snaps while Jesse James is the blocking tight end. Jimmy Graham always lurks as a guy who steals red zone looks and that’s about it.
Bengals
WR: The Bengals have had one of the most highly consolidated snap shares all season. You know who the three wide receivers are.
RB: Joe Mixon with another big snap share day, as we have grown accustomed to.
TE: CJ Uzomah continues to play a lot but, once again, there is only one ball.
Bills
WR: With Emmanuel Sanders out, Gabriel Davis got another full workload at flanker opposite Stefon Diggs. Cole Beasley and Isaiah McKenzie rotated at the slot. Could it be the changing of the guard at flanker?
RB: Devin Singletary has clearly run away with the job at this point. Zack Moss is just a backup.
TE: We have warned that this day could come. Dawson Knox is a bit matchup and touchdown dependent and this just happened to be the week he didn’t do anything.
Browns
WR: Same as last week - Donovan Peoples-Jones and Rashard Higgins on the outside, Jarvis Landry primarily in the slot.
RB: D’Ernest Johnson played the Kareem Hunt role that skews towards passing downs and in a negative game script game, he actually played more snaps than Nick Chubb. Chubb still got more carries but running is often the luxury of the winning team.
TE: Split once again - this time David Njoku ran more routes, likely due to a couple costly drops and a false start early by Austin Hooper.
Buccaneers
WR: By now everyone knows about the bizarre display by Antonio Brown. That obviously messed up the snap counts a bit. If Brown is out, it will be Mike Evans, Tyler Johnson, and Cyril Grayson.
RB: Here’s a curveball - Le’Veon Bell led the team in snaps followed by Ke’Shawn Vaughn and then Ronald Jones. Jones got the most carries but they seem to like Bell on passing downs.
TE: Rob Gronkowski once again played a monster snap share - 70 of 74 snaps. Doesn’t get much better.
Broncos
WR: With Tim Patrick and Jerry Jeudy out this team was scrapping for wideouts. Rookie Seth Williams was called up from the practice squad and the other wide receiver was Kendall Hinton (famous for his one start at quarterback vs. the Saints last year). The real guys should be back this week.
RB: Exactly 30 snaps for each player. That’s how it’s been.
TE: Noah Fant plays the bulk of the snaps and Albert Okwuegbunam plays just a portion. Can’t trust Albert O beyond a dynasty stash.
Cardinals
WR: It’s A.J. Green and Antoine Wesley on the outside with Christian Kirk in the slot. They use enough tight end that you don’t see as much four wide receiver sets as you used to.
RB: With no James Conner, Chase Edmonds got the full workload at running back. When Conner is active of course, Conner takes the short yardage work.
TE: Zach Ertz played 69 of 76 snaps - he is fully ingrained in this offense.
Cowboys
WR: Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb play every snap - Michael Gallup suffered a season ending knee injury so it will likely be Cedrick Wilson stepping up as the third wideout.
RB: Business as usual - Ezekiel Elliott is the starter and Tony Pollard is the change of pace guy.
TE: Dalton Schultz played 60 of 64 snaps but he was asked to pass block on 12 pass plays so he only ran 35 of 49 routes.
Chargers
WR: Mike Williams returned so it was Williams and Keenan Allen playing the full snap shares with Jalen Guyton and Josh Palmer rotating in.
RB: Austin Ekeler is the man playing a role similar to Alvin Kamara. Justin Jackson plays a role similar to Mark Ingram.
TE: With Jared Cook out, Stephen Anderson and Tre’ McKitty got a boost in snaps. Anderson ran the most routes but only ran 22 of 33, so not ideal.
Chiefs
WR: Tyreek Hill played the full snaps and no one else did which is what we’ve seen all season. Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, Mecole Hardman, and Josh Gordon all split.
RB: With Clyde Edwards-Helaire out, Darrel Williams essentially played the full role. Derrick Gore played fewer than 10 snaps.
TE: Travis Kelce is the man. He ran 37 of 40 routes and didn’t pass block once.
Colts
WR: Michael Pittman played all the snaps. Usually Zach Pascal does too but this week the rest of the wide receivers all split snaps. T.Y. Hilton and Pascal were close to the top and Ashton Dulin was next.
RB: Jonathan Taylor. Beast.
TE: Jack Doyle wasn’t set to play but then he did which sapped some upside from Mo Alie-Cox. Mo only ran 17 of 32 routes.
Dolphins
WR: DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle played full snap shares as we’ve come to expect. Also as we’ve come to expect, Mike Gesicki played too many wide receiver snaps for any other receiver to matter.
RB: Duke Johnson got the most work followed by Myles Gaskin. This situation is just tough to trust.
TE: We’ve said this week after week but Mike Gesicki plays wide receiver in reality. Durham Smythe is the actual in-line tight end.
Eagles
WR: DeVonta Smith is the only wideout that you can trust here. The rest of these guys simply don’t play enough. If you want a dart throw, Jalen Reagor or Quez Watkins.
RB: With no Miles Sanders, Boston Scott got the bulk of the work but Jordan Howard still mixed in for short yardage work. That’s probably how it’s going to look in Week 18 as well.
TE: Dallas Goedert is the main reason it’s hard to trust any other wide receivers here. He’s clearly the second option in the passing game and he only played one fewer snap than Smith.
Falcons
WR: This team is fairly depleted at this point. Olamide Zaccheaus and Russell Gage played full wide receiver snaps than Kyle Pitts, who was realistically the third wide receiver. If Pitts is out, Christian Blake is likely the next wide receiver up.
RB: Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson split the snaps right down the middle, in both phases of the game. 11 routes, eight carries for Davis and 12 routes, seven carries for Patterson. Yuck.
TE: As we alluded to, Kyle Pitts was dealing with a hamstring injury. They didn’t have Hayden Hurst either, so Parker Hesse played. If Pitts is out, Hayden Hurst becomes an intriguing DFS play.
Giants
WR: Another team hurting badly for healthy players - Kenny Golladay led the charge followed by David Sills. Pharoh Cooper was next up.
RB: Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker split the snaps pretty evenly. Pretty disappointing stuff.
TE: Evan Engram realistically was the third wide receiver after Golladay and Sills. He played 18 snaps at wide receiver and 18 in-line.
Jaguars
WR: Business as usual with Marvin Jones Jr. and Laquon Treadwell on the outside. Laviska Shenault just returned from COVID and he played a very limited snap share.
RB: With James Robinson and Carlos Hyde out, Dare Ogunbowale got the start and most of the work while Ryquell Armstead was the change of pace guy.
TE: With James O'Shaughnessy and Dan Arnold out, Luke Farrell played a full snap share. The offense couldn’t get anything going but he at least played a good chunk of snaps.
Jets
WR: Down pretty much all their starters, they rolled out Jeff Smith, Braxton Berrios, and Keelan Cole. Hard to trust anyone really.
RB: Michael Carter was ruled out fairly early with a concussion so Ty Johnson and Austin Walter handled things. Austin Walter got more run down work, Ty Johnson more pass down work.
TE: Tyler Kroft was out, so Kenny Yeboah got an extended look but Kroft is expected back this week. Neither are viable in that case but we like Yeboah’s pass catching ability better.
Lions
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown continues to pace the wide receivers followed by Trinity Benson and KhaDarel Hodge. St. Brown has been fantastic in the current circumstances.
RB: D’Andre Swift retired but Jamaal Williams got most of the carries. Swift is playing primarily in a passing role.
TE: With both T.J. Hockenson and Brock Wright out, Jared Pinkney played the most tight end snaps but they opted to do more four wide receiver sets so it didn’t matter much.
Packers
WR: Davante Adams is a stud of course and, with most guys healthy, the usual suspects in Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling played the most snaps.
RB: Aaron Jones played fewer snaps than AJ Dillon on both pass and run downs. Not great.
TE: Coming out of left field a bit, Tyler Davis played the most tight end snaps and tied Josiah Deguara for most routes run. None of them are doing much.
Panthers
WR: Robby Anderson and DJ Moore led - Terrace Marshall is working his way back to the 60-70% snap share he had before the concussion.
RB: Chuba Hubbard got the most run down work, Ameer Abdullah had the most pass down work. Same story.
TE: With Tommy Tremble out, Ian Thomas actually played the full role. He still only remains mildly interesting for a DFS dart throw.
Patriots
WR: This was a blowout so hard to judge these snap shares. For instance, Kristian Wilkerson led the team in snaps.
RB: Rhamondre Stevenson got the bulk of the work in the blowout. It’s still the same three way split for normal games.
TE: Hunter Henry played fewer snaps than Jonnu Smith but he ran 24 routes to 11 for Smith.
Raiders
WR: Zay Jones and Bryan Edwards on the outside, Hunter Renfrow in the slot. Locked in.
RB: Josh Jacobs has been the guy ever since Kenyan Drake has been out.
TE: Foster Moreau played every snap once again with no Darren Waller. He’s just not as good as Darren Waller.
Rams
WR: They typically play just three guys but this week Van Jefferson split with Ben Skowronek. Sean McVay said Van is healthy and it was simply based on flow of the game. That makes Van a tough start.
RB: Sony Michel played every snap but one. That’s all you need to know.
TE: Tyler Higbee plays a big snap share but they spread the ball around which hurts his ceiling.
Ravens
WR: Rashod Bateman and Marquise Brown led the charge - no one else played more than 50% of the snaps.
RB: Devonta Freeman played the bulk of the work but Latavius Murray switched in for some run downs.
TE: Mark Andrews is locked in regardless of matchup.
Saints
WR: No Tre’Quan Smith so it was Marquez Callaway followed by Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
RB: Alvin Kamara is the guy - with no Mark Ingram we saw a new name in Adam Prentice.
TE: Adam Trautman led the charge with Juwan Johnson playing more snaps than usual due to the lack of pass-catchers.
Seahawks
WR: Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are the main guys on the outside. Freddie Swain plays the slot but plays a limited snap share.
RB: Rashaad Penny has proven to be an amazing pickup for fantasy gamers. Another big usage week.
TE: Gerald Everett plays a good amount but he’s just not really a focal point.
Steelers
WR: Claypool is clearly out of the doghouse at this point considering he and Diontae Johnson played a ton of snaps. Ray-Ray McCloud was the slot guy.
RB: Najee played 78 of 81 snaps. He’s a gamer.
TE: Pat Freiermuth is the guy here and he should be for a long time.
Texans
WR: We’ve been rooting for Nico Collins but he played less than Brandin Cooks and Chris Conley this week. Ran almost 10 fewer routes than both.
RB: Rex Burkhead is still the guy but that only works out in fantasy in positive game scripts. Which are rare.
TE: Pharaoh Brown played more snaps but Brevin Jordan ran more routes. He’s more fantasy relevant.
Titans
WR: A.J. Brown and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine led. No one else played enough because of multi-tight end sets.
RB: D’Onta Foreman is the guy you want here. 28 carries.
TE: Geoff Swaim played 57 of 60 snaps but only ran eight routes. Anthony Firkser isn’t playing enough either.
Vikings
WR: Adam Thielen is done for the season so it’s Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn now. Dede Westbrook is the next man up.
RB: Dalvin Cook is the man and Mattison is the backup.
TE: Tyler Conklin simply blocks too much to be trusted.
Washington Football Team
WR: Terry McLaurin plays nearly every snap, per usual. Cam Sims, Adam Humphries, and DeAndre Carter all split and it’s frustrating.
RB: With all the running back injuries, it was Jaret Patterson’s job. Wendell Smallwood was the backup.
TE: Ricky Seals-Jones was carted off so John Bates was the man. And should be moving forward.