Snap Count Observations: Transactions for Week 6 (Fantasy Football)
We are five weeks into the 2026 NFL season, and situations around the league are changing quickly. Injuries, poor team performances, and depth-chart changes have affected player values and importance to NFL offenses. Let’s dive into what overall trends and Week 5 snap counts could mean for your fantasy teams.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
New York Giants
Malik Nabers (90%)
Every NFL player seems to be “ahead of schedule” when recovering from injury and “in the best shape of their life” in the offseason, specifically around August, when most fantasy players are catching up on what they missed throughout the summer. Malik Nabers was one of the players that fantasy managers had to read between the lines and figure out how healthy he truly was. The clip of Nabers jogging to first at a charity softball game was dissected and criticized by many online, and maybe there was some validity to the skeptics’ beliefs. Nabers opened the season playing fewer snaps than Malachi Fields and Darnell Mooney through the first two weeks of the season. However, Nabers is back as a full-time player.
Nabers has played in more total snaps in each game this season. His snap share has steadily risen from 52% in Week 1 up to 90% in Week 5. His production has also taken a jump, as he has recorded 233 receiving yards and two TDs over his past two games. Twenty targets from any QB is a recipe for fantasy success, and that helped him finish as the WR3 in Week 5.
Conclusion: The window to buy the injury dip on Nabers has likely passed at this point, but his involvement in the New York Giants’ offense should stay around the highest usage amongst WRs in the NFL for the rest of the season. His 28.2% target share ranks eighth amongst WRs this season. However, TE Isaiah Likely leads the team in target share with 29.4%, but I expect that to change before New York’s Week 8 bye.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Germie Bernard (92%)
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie WR Germie Bernard saw exactly 55 snaps both in Week 2 and Week 5. He saw 49 total snaps in the other three games he has played so far as a rookie. What do Weeks 2 and 5 have in common? The absence of Michael Pittman Jr. Pitty City was placed on IR before Week 5 due to a foot injury, creating opportunity for Steelers’ WRs.
Bernard played in most of Pittsburgh’s 2WR sets in Week 5 and tied for the most snaps among Steelers skill-position players. Aaron Rodgers targeted Bernard 17 times across his two games as a featured WR, and he posted a combined 10/115. His 5/58 averages would lead the pack for 2026 rookie WRs in total receptions, and would be just behind Denzel Boston in receiving yards for rookies.
Conclusion: Bernard is a viable FLEX play without Pittman Jr. on the field for the Steelers. His 24% target share from Rodgers is good enough for me to feel comfortable plugging Bernard into my lineup against Tampa Bay this week and against New Orleans next week.
Philadelphia Eagles
Dameon Pierce (77%)
Saquon Barkley missed the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 5 matchup due to a hamstring injury, and Will Shipley went down with a partial tear of his plantar fascia. Dameon Pierce was the only Eagles RB to see the field after Shipley’s injury. He gained 12 yards on 16 opportunities, and Philadelphia will likely add someone as depth or a Shipley replacement should he miss an extended period of time.
Pierce, who was once a rookie sensation for the Houston Texans, has not produced for fantasy managers for a while now. His last top-24 finish came in Week 18 of the 2024 NFL season, where he finished with a 19/176/1 stat line on the ground. However, you should not expect anything like that from Pierce in the coming weeks.
Conclusion: Pierce will be worth some FAAB this week on the waiver wire. The Eagles’ roster moves before waivers run will signal exactly how much FAAB he’s worth, as he and Carson Steele are the healthy members of Philadelphia’s backfield.
Dameon Pierce Week 5
– 78% snaps
– 11 carries, 14 yds
– 22 routes
– 5 targets, 2 rec, -2 ydsTurning 16 opportunities into 12 yards is tough… Still, he was the only RB to play a snap after Will Shipley left
— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) October 11, 2026
Chicago Bears
Rome Odunze (99%); Luther Burden III
Ben Johnson notoriously stated that he wanted to be the highest-scoring offense in NFL history this offseason, but Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury put a halt to that. The Chicago Bears’ pass-catching situation has been a tough situation to navigate for fantasy managers so far this season. Preseason narratives have been hard to shake, and Chicago’s start to the season has negatively impacted how we view all of their pass-catchers other than Kalif Raymond. However, there are some positive trends for the Bears.
Rome Odunze has seen a higher snap rate in each game so far this season, culminating in him playing in 99% of snaps in Week 5. Odunze’s fantasy production has yet to catch up to his involvement in Chicago’s offense, and it showed in Week 5. Odunze earned nine targets, but only caught three of them for 30 yards. His 18% target share ranks 47th amongst WRs through the first five weeks of the season, but his increased playing time should result in more opportunities in the coming weeks.
Luther Burden III’s usage in the Bears’ offense has been a rough watch for Burden III believers. He has finished as a top-36 WR once through the first five weeks of the season, earning an F in the Ballers’ consistency grades. While his total snaps have hovered around the mid-40s to mid-50s so far this season, his snap percentage has been a little less consistent. Burden III played in 77% of Chicago’s snaps in Week 5, coming off of playing 56% of total snaps in the Bears’ Week 4 time of possession battle against the New York Jets.
Conclusion: Caleb “Iceman” Williams looming return to the field for the Bears serves as a light at the end of the tunnel for Odunze and Burden III fantasy managers. Their season-high snap counts in Week 5 should be enough reason to trust them in your lineup in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons, should Williams return.
Washington Commanders
Rachaad White (67%); Jacory Croskey-Merritt (35%)
Bill Croskey scored on an early 33-yard TD run against the New York Giants to start one of the wildest NFL games this season. However, that didn’t lead to more playing time throughout the game. As a believer in JCM, I noticed Rachaad White was on the field for all of Washington’s most important plays. The trusted veteran produced 18 total yards across his 37 total snaps and was mostly used for his pass protection services in two-minute drills for the Commanders.
Croskey-Merritt’s lack of involvement in the passing game limits his ceiling as a fantasy RB, and this game was a perfect example of why. He finished with 11/82/1 on the ground, but failed to earn a target. While 7.5 yards per carry is an impressive feat behind Washington’s offensive line, JCM can only do so much for fantasy managers with 11 rushing attempts. JCM has also finished with fewer snaps in three consecutive games, despite White dealing with a shoulder injury.
Conclusion: The Commanders’ schedule gets relatively tough over the next six weeks. Washington is not favored in a game until November 29 against the Arizona Cardinals, making JCM a tough start until then. However, this leaves more room for White, who has finished as a top-24 RB twice this season, to be plugged into your lineup as a FLEX play or replacement for bye-week RBs.