Snap Count Observations: Week 11

Snaps lead to opportunity, opportunity leads to production, production leads to fantasy points, and fantasy points lead to #FootClanTitles (not the dark side!). Let’s get into some interesting snap count situations from Week 11.

Ravens RBs – Gus Edwards 62% / Alex Collins 22% / Ty Montgomery 11% / Javorious Allen 6%

I know what you are thinking, WHO THE HELL IS GUS EDWARDS?! Well, he was an undrafted free agent who flashed a bit in Week 6 after being activated from the practice squad. Since then he’s been quiet, so he seems like a flash in the pan. Well, Gus flashed once more for 115 yards and a touchdown on 17 rushing attempts against the Bengals this week. This was a juicy match-up to start off a string of great match-ups for Ravens’ skill position players, but instead, Gus got his. Alex Collins did rush for a touchdown in this bout, but that was about all he did and it was in the first quarter of the game. Is this a trend that continues? I’m not sure. There could be something about Lamar playing with Gus during the offseason, but that’s conjecture at best. With 62% of the snaps, he’s certainly worth adding if the Ravens are sick of Collins lack of production.

Saints WRs – Michael Thomas 81% / Tre’Quan Smith 71% / Austin Carr 44%

Have a day, Mr. Smith. Tre’Quan Smith finished the day with 10 receptions, 157 receiving yards and a touchdown on 14 targets against the Eagles this week. After a disappointing goose-egg last week, many (including myself) gave up on Smith and dropped him. From zero to hero, Smith was heavily involved in the game plan against the former Superbowl champs and looked great doing it. Brandon Marshall, who was recently signed by the Saints, was not active in this game. With that being said, I don’t see any reason that he should eat into Smith’s opportunity in this offense. Michael Thomas is certainly the primary wide receiver, but with how Drew Brees has been playing lately, there’s more than enough targets to go around for Smith.

Eagles WRs – Alshon Jeffery 100% / Nelson Agholor 86% / Golden Tate 71% / Jordan Matthews 27%

The inclusion of recently traded Golden Tate into the Eagles offense has not been as smooth as some might like if you have him rostered. The offense as a whole has sputtered as of late, and their lack of running game is allowing defenses to play deep and handle the pass with ease. Agholor might have out-snapped Tate and Matthews in this game, but he only saw two targets and didn’t catch either of them. Tate’s eight targets led the team on Sunday, and that seemed to cut heavily into the opportunity of Zach Ertz mostly. It might be difficult to predict which of Jeffery, Tate, Agholor, or Ertz will be the one getting targeted the most in any given game. That being said, it starts with quarterback Carson Wentz, who only threw for 156 yards and three interceptions against a Saints defense that has been generous to QBs all season.

Eagles RBs – Josh Adams 55% / Corey Clement 27% / Wendell Smallwood 8%

Looking into the backfield of the Eagles, there’s actually some positive news — the Eagles appear to be leaning on Josh Adams. Now, I mentioned that the Eagles have had a lack of running game recently — and that is still true — but when they do run the ball lately, it has been with Adams. Over the last three weeks, Adams has rushed 23 times for 161 yards and a touchdown. That’s not a ton of carries, but he is averaging exactly 7.0 yards per carry in that stretch. In addition to that, he’s seen seven targets in that same period, of which he’s caught four, so there’s a bit of PPR value there as well. Clement and Smallwood only combined for a total of 18 snaps in this game, while Adams played 28 himself. If he’s still available in your league, I’d strongly recommend adding him in hopes that the Eagles can get ahead in a few games and give Adams double-digit carry numbers.

Rams WRs – Robert Woods 99% / Josh Reynolds 98% / Brandin Cooks 88%

If you didn’t have the pleasure of watching the Rams play the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, you have to stop reading this article and go watch it. There were a combined 105 points scored and 1101 total yards of offense. It was a fantasy player’s dream game — unless you played Todd Gurley, inexplicably. One of the best things about this game is the rookie wideout Josh Reynolds stepped directly into Cooper Kupp‘s role left behind by a torn ACL. Reynolds finished the day with eight targets, of which he caught six for 80 yards and a score. He also played 98% of the team’s offensive snaps. We knew that the Rams utilized more 11 personnel than any other team in the league, but we weren’t sure if Reynolds would be a key fixture in that going forward. Those fears can be put to rest and, in my opinion, Reynolds is an instant WR2 in all formats.