Snap Count Observations: Week 14

It’s playoffs time, baby! You better know who is on the field heading into your semi-finals. Remember, 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 14.

Titans RBs – Dion Lewis 63% / Derrick Henry 40%

If somehow you were playing against Derrick Henry in the first round of playoffs, I’m sorry. Henry 17 times for 238 yards and four touchdowns. No, that’s not a typo. With that being said, it’s important to remember that we have 12 other games in Henry’s sample this season. Before Week 14, Henry didn’t even top 58 rushing yards or 65 scrimmage yards. Dion Lewis had 15 touches in this game — just two behind Henry. If you’re looking at Henry on your roster this week facing the Giants and thinking about starting him, I would strongly recommend against it. I wouldn’t trust any player with 40% of snaps and almost no pass-catching prowess this late in the season.

Ravens RBs – Gus Edwards 44% / Kenneth Dixon 32% /   Ty Montgomery 27%

Last Week – Gus Edwards 49% / Ty Montgomery 33% / Kenneth Dixon 21%

The Gus Bus sputtered a little bit this week, rushing 16 times for 67 yards. He also saw zero targets in this game and still hasn’t been targeted since taking over as the Ravens lead running back. This week, Kenneth Dixon jumped ahead of Ty Montgomery. This was just Dixon’s third game of the season and his second game after coming back from a knee injury in Week 1. Dixon logged 8 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown as well as one reception for 21 yards. The Ravens coaching staff must like this guy because they always seem to come back to him. Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh even said that “he expects RB Kenneth Dixon’s role to grow going forward.” With the Ravens playing the Buccaneers this week, he’s someone to roster and possibly flex in deeper leagues.

Browns WRs – Jarvis Landry 81% / Antonio Callaway 73% / Rishard Higgins 50% / Breshad Perriman 37%

Go figure that almost immediately after I sounded the alarm on Jarvis Landry and his snap rate that he starts producing again. Landry has accumulated 9 receptions for 130 yards on 13 targets in his last two games. Not to mention two rushing attempts for 54 yards and an additional score. The Browns have been finding ways to get him back involved in the offense. Breshad Perriman caught both of his targets this week for 88 yards, but that is likely an outlier performance that you can’t rely on. Outside of Landry, I don’t think I would be able to trust any of the ancillary pieces of this receiving corps for the fantasy playoffs.

Broncos WRs – DaeSean Hamilton 97% / Tim Patrick 86% / Courtland Sutton 69%

Granted, Courtland Sutton injured his thigh in Week 14 against the 49ers in what was projecting to be a breakout game for him. He still logged 69% of the team’s offensive snaps. The bigger piece of news here is that DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick both had serviceable fantasy days. Hamilton caught seven of nine targets for 47 yards and a touchdown and Patrick brought in seven of his 10 targets for 86 yards as well as one rush for 11 yards. Since this Broncos team has now lost both of their incumbent wideouts from the beginning of the season — Demaryius Thomas traded to the Texans and Emmanuel Sanders tore his Achilles tendon — this team is in need of a wide receiver or two to step up. With the Browns and the Raiders being their remaining opponents, I’d keep my ear to the floor on Sutton’s status, because Patrick and Hamilton could be league-winner type pick-ups.

Cowboys WRs – Amari Cooper 91% / Michael Gallup 79% / Cole Beasley 66%

Welcome to the spotlight, young man! Amari Cooper has found a home in Dallas with the Cowboys. He put on a rout of an outing on Sunday afternoon this week. Cooper caught 10 of his 13 targets for 217 yards and three touchdowns. A dominating performance for a player that many in the fantasy community were ready to throw in the towel on. Cooper saw 91% of the Cowboys offensive snaps in Week 14 — the first time that he notched a percentage above 90 since being traded away by the Raiders. Dak, Cooper and the Cowboys now have their sights set on playoffs, and I don’t expect them to slow down against the Colts in Week 15 or the Bucs in Week 16. Cooper is a locked and loaded WR1 going forward.