Snap Count Observations from Week 13 (Fantasy Football)
If your league is like most, Week 13 marked the end of your regular season. If you made the playoffs, congrats! If you missed, I’m sorry and you’ll do better next year, especially if you’re still taking the time to read articles about snap counts!
As we enter playoff territory, every roster move is crucial. Using the snap counts from last week, I’ll try to help you decide which players deserve waiver claims and roster spots or which guys it’s time to dump. There is a big focus on RB this week, with so many injuries making for so many cloudy backfields.
100% Club
Every week this season, I take the time to highlight any RB/WR/TE that played 100% of their team’s snaps. To put a bow on the fantasy regular season, we had two such players make the list. The lone WR was Zach Pascal. With the injuries that the Colts have suffered through, this shouldn’t be shocking but with the dud he put up a few weeks ago, this is a pleasant surprise. At TE, George Kittle was the only guy to play every down. This is only the 2nd time this season that Kittle has accomplished the feat and he did it with a broken bone in his ankle.
Week 13 Snap Count Observations
Indianapolis RBs (Jordan Wilkins 32, Nyheim Hines 31, Jonathan Williams 16)
It would seem we were a bit premature in anointing Jonathan Williams king of this backfield. After consecutive 100-yard games, Williams took the very backseat to both Hines and Wilkins. Hines landed the only rushing TD despite being used primarily as the passing-down back. Wilkins led the team in carries with 11 and Williams left fantasy owners out in the cold, turning eight carries into just 14 yards. With the return of Marlon Mack looming, Hines might be the only trustworthy member of this trio.
Kansas City RBs (LeSean McCoy 24, Darwin Thompson 24, Darrel Williams 18)
Another trio of RBs filling in for an injured starter. With Damien Williams out, we saw the resurrection of rookie Darwin Thompson, at least from a snap counts perspective. Thompson took 11 carries for 44 yards and a TD but saw no passes thrown his way. The passing-down work was split by Shady and Darrel Williams. Nobody really wowed but all three RBs scored a TD and that saved the fantasy days for each of them.
San Francisco RBs (Raheem Mostert 42, Tevin Coleman 10, Jeff Wilson 5)
What do you know, we have another trio of RBs carrying the load for an injured teammate. As Matt Brieda continues to mend, Col. Mustard has taken over this backfield. His usage has been all over the place but he has looked like a viable fantasy RB in each of the last two weeks. In Week 13, Mostert led the team in carries, 19 to 5, and had as many catches (2) as the other two RBs combined, plus he added a rushing TD. Mostert needs to be rostered everywhere but if Brieda returns, he will be hard to trust in a backfield that can split multiple ways.
New England Patriots RBs (James White 68, Sony Michel 15, Rex Burkhead 4)
Oh boy, let the chorus of “Don’t trust Patriots RBs” begin. This is classic Bill Belichick. Last week, James White totaled -1 yards, yes that is negative. This week, he more than quadruples the snap count of any other RB. While Michel did turn 10 carries into a respectable 45 yards, White had the most carries (14) and the 2nd most targets (11) on the team and looked like a solid fantasy RB1, finishing with 177 yards and two TDs. If this becomes a trend, and it may with Kansas City up next, somebody is going to be thanking James White for their fantasy championship.
Washington Redskins RBs (Adrian Peterson 23, Chris Thompson 23, Derrius Guice 19)
Guice and Peterson destroyed Carolina’s notoriously bad run defense. Guice is the trendier pick-up, totaling 129 yards and a TD on just 10 carries. This is just the 3rd game back from IR for Guice and may be a sign of things to come for 2020…and hopefully the rest of 2019. Peterson still played his part, taking 13 carries for 99 yards. Thompson was mostly used on 3rd down but it didn’t translate to targets in his 1st week back from injury.
Minnesota Vikings RBs (Alexander Mattison 27, Dalvin Cook 24)
Cook came into this game nursing a chest injury and came out having to explain his usage to the media. After taking a hard hit to the chest/shoulder and fumbling in the 3rd quarter, he missed almost the entire 2nd half of the game. Cook said they were saving him for “crucial games down the stretch” but his fantasy owners have to be terrified. Hopefully, you were able to ride him to a Week 14 bye, otherwise, it’s fingers crossed for the playoffs. Mattison did more in the passing game than he did in the running game, which is not surprising given the high-scoring game. Hopefully, you’ve been listening to The Fantasy Footballers’ recent podcasts and have Mattison rostered. Otherwise, he is a high-priority waiver target this week.
New England Patriots WRs (Julian Edelman 80, Phillip Dorsett 62, Jakobi Myers 61, N’Keal Harry 22, Mohamed Sanu 19)
So essentially, every WR on the Patriots’ roster saw playing time in Week 13. Instead of an N’Keal Harry coming out party, we got more of the same “throw the ball to Edelman and James White” offense that we should all be used to at this point. Sanu is still nursing an injury so it’s likely his playing time will increase but there is not a trustworthy fantasy asset in the bunch outside of Edelman.
Buffalo Bills WRs (John Brown 61, Cole Beasley 59, Robert Foster 28)
If you’re looking for a high playing time and production WR, look no further than Cole Beasley. Beasley took full advantage of the “revenge game” narrative and beat the Cowboys for six catches, 110 yards, and a TD. This is the 2nd straight 16+ point fantasy week for Beasley and he is the WR24 on the season. John Brown continues to be the team’s WR1 but Beasley is proving to be much more than a slot-WR.
Indianapolis Colts TEs (Jack Doyle 68, Mo Allie-Cox 15)
Doyle is looking like a TE to own down the stretch. With Eric Ebron heading to IR and no Colts’ WR being able to stay healthy, Doyle might be the most reliable target that Jacoby Brissett has right now. He dominated the TE snap counts and ended the game with 11 targets, turning that into six catches for 73 yards and a TD.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TEs (O.J. Howard 63, Cameron Brate 28)
We may have come full-circle here. After what appeared to be a “job-losing” drop a few weeks ago, Howard has dominated snap counts for the Buccaneers the last two weeks and rewarded loyal (and insane) fantasy owners with a 5/61 stat line. Sure that’s not quite the dominating performances we expected when the season began, but in the current TE landscape, Howard might just be your playoff TE.