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Snap counts tell us who is playing but they don’t always paint a clear picture of who is producing for our fantasy football lineups. By digging deep into the snap counts from Week 12, we are able to pull some interesting takeaways that can help us win moving forward.
(minimum 10 snaps in Week 1)
SNAPS Total offensive snaps played by player.
SNAP % Percentage of offensive snaps played.
RUSH % Percentage of snaps played where player had a rushing attempt.
TGT % Percentage of snaps played where player was targeted by a pass attempt.
TOUCH % Percentage of snaps played where player touched the football (includes pass attempts, rush attempts and receptions).
FPTS Fantasy points scored by player.
PTS/100 SNAPS Average fantasy points scored by player per 100 snaps
RUNNING BACKS
• Damien Williams was off to a fast start before exiting with a rib injury. That led to Cordarrelle Patterson’s hefty workload. Supposedly, Williams will be ok. We’ll see how the Falcons employ him when he returns but we’re not expecting Patterson to regularly get 25 touches.
• Game flow ended up hurting Dameon Pierce. Rex Burkhead logged a 71% snap rate but Lovie Smith has already indicated his mistake of not getting his rookie runner more involved. Expect Pierce to be more involved this week but keep in mind that Burkhead is clearly the third-down back. With the Texans expected to be trailing often, that means Burkhead will remain heavily involved.
• Most of Isiah Pachecho’s 16 snaps came in garbage time. Leave him on the bench for now.
•We all saw the bad day at the office for Cam Akers. One of our biggest fades this summer, Akers saw all of three touches and zero yards. He’ll probably get more opportunities moving forward but fantasy managers can’t afford to put Akers into lineups until he earns more playing time.
•Ty Montgomery was placed on IR. That should lead to more reps for both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson. Interestingly, Harris ran 10 routes in Miami but Stevenson only got two. If that kind of usage continues, Damien Harris is going to be a massive value in 2022.
• Michael Carter was indeed the lead back for the Jets. New York used both Carter and Breece Hall often but Carter got the short-yardage reps and out-carried Hall 10-6.
TIGHT ENDS
• Dalton Shultz was the only tight end to play every snap. But with Dak Prescott expected to miss two months, that usage could be quite hollow. The Cowboys’ offense projects to be one of the worst in football with Cooper Rush under center.
• It was nice to see Hayden Hurst draw seven targets on 52 routes run. Hurst was one of our favorite late-round sleeper tight ends and was a top-10 fantasy option the last time he was a starter. Look for Hurst to be a solid weekly option and to post the occasional TE1 outing.
• Pat Friermuth and Tyler Higbee both led all tight ends with a 27% target share. Of the two, Friermuth looks to maintain a ton of looks as the preferred target for Mitch Trubisky. A lot of Higbee’s looks came because Van Jefferson was sidelined.
• Not sure what to make out of Tennessee where Geoff Swaim out-snapped and out-targeted Autin Hooper. We’ll chalk it up to an anomaly but it’s certainly a concern for all those Hooper shares.
• The Chargers ran a lot of ’12’ sets as Gerald Everett and Tre’ McKitty split snaps and targets almost evenly. Everett is clearly the tight end to focus on from a fantasy perspective. McKitty was likely incorporated more into the offense after Keenan Allen exited with a hamstring injury. Expect Allen to sit the week and DeAndre Carter to take his slot role. McKitty can be left on the waiver wire.
WIDE RECEIVERS
• Greg Dortch was one of the biggest surprised from Week 1. Dortch played 91% of Arizona’s snaps and led the team in targets. This usage is only temporary but with Rondale Moore expected to miss another game or two, Dortch warrants some modest attention on the waiver wire in deeper leagues.
• Don’t read too much into Mike Thomas’s 69 snaps. The Bengals played 100 offensive snaps in their overtime loss but Thomas was only as involved as he was because Tee Higgins exited with a concussion. Higgins has a week to clear the league’s protocol but even if he sits out Week 2, Thomas has very little fantasy appeal.
• Josh Reynolds was firmly entrenched as Detroit’s No. 2 receiver. Reynolds only played one less snap than D.J. Chark but didn’t exactly fill up the stat sheet. Reynolds is, at best, the fifth option, so he remains well off the fantasy radar.
• An ugly day at the office for the Green Bay offense. The Packers used four wideouts fairly evenly but couldn’t get into any rhythm. That will change with Allen Lazard back. But the one decent takeaway here was Romeo Doubs led the receiving corps with five targets.
• Alec Pierce was terrible with his 51 snaps. That said, he’s firmly entrenched as Indy’s No. 2 wideout and should be on fantasy radars as a potential contributor when the Colts shake out the cobwebs.
• Nelson Agholor out-snapped Kendrick Bourne 37-2. Predictably, Agholor did little with his 19 routes run while Bourne caught a 41-yard pass on his lowly two routes. Expect Bourne to replace Agholor when the Patriots go into ’11’ personnel.
