Snap Count Observations: Week 6
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 6.
Colts RBs – Nyheim Hines 43% / Marlon Mack 35% / Robert Turbin 19% / Jordan Wilkins 0%
I only included Jordan Wilkins on this list to point out the fact that, not only did he not touch the ball on Sunday, but he didn’t even play an offensive snap. Wilkins early season opportunity was essentially squandered and this has left him to serving special teams duties. This game was Mack’s second game in action this season, so I expected his snaps to rise from Week 5. They did, but his percentage of snaps played only rose 5.3%. Still, Mack received 12 rushing attempts that he turned into an impressive 89 yards. Robert Turbin injuring his shoulder will open up more opportunity and snaps for Mack, while Hines will remain a PPR flex consideration as Mack only saw two targets.
Jets WRs – Jermaine Kearse 83% / Robby Anderson 75% / Terrelle Pryor 62% / Quincy Enunwa 21%
Enunwa left this game with a high ankle sprain and will likely miss a few weeks. Stepping into his place was Jermaine Kearse. Kearse stepped up in a big way last season when Enunwa was out with a neck injury — he accumulated 65 receptions for 810 yards and 5 touchdowns. Kearse also stepped up in Week 6 against the Colts where he caught nine of his 10 targets for 94 yards. Robby Anderson cooled down a bit from his Week 5 performance that no one saw coming, and he will probably continue to be boom or bust for the remainder of this season. Pryor is one of the main reasons that Anderson won’t be reliable, as he has had a touchdown in each of the last two weeks. The trio of Kearse, Anderson, and Pryor, should see around 65% or more of the snaps until Enunwa returns.
Dolphins RBs – Kenyan Drake 63% / Frank Gore 38%
Let’s take a look at the last three weeks for the Dolphins’ running backs:
Right now they are operating with Gore as the early-down and short yardage back, and Drake as the pass catcher with some rushing sprinkled in. Many expected Drake to be a three-down back in this offense, but it seems that is not likely to come to fruition. As is normally expected from a pass-catching RB, Drake is averaging 2.8 more 0.5 PPR points when the Dolphins are playing from behind. The snap rates for these two guys have been hovering around these numbers all season, I expect nothing to change barring injuries.
Bears RBs – Jordan Howard 51% / Tarik Cohen 49%
If you are rostering Howard, you might be starting to panic. As you should. Howard has only had one game with over 100 yards from scrimmage and only has one touchdown on the year. To make things worse, Howard fumbled on the goal line against the Dolphins in Week 6, causing an eight-point swing. Cohen, on the other hand, has now had two huge weeks in a row. Pass catching aside, Cohen is starting to be used more on the ground as well. He scored a 21-yard rushing touchdown last week, and just the week before he had 13 rushing attempts. In terms of yards per carry, Cohen is also outperforming Howard, 5.31 to 3.49. This backfield will likely be an even split going forward. I’d suggest waiting for a big Howard game and then trading him.
Patriots WRs (revisited) –Julian Edelman 91% / Josh Gordon 80% / Chris Hogan 60%
Last Week: Chris Hogan 91% / Julian Edelman 70% / Phillip Dorsett 61% / Josh Gordon 26%
No other wide receiver for the Patriots logged more than 8% of snaps Week 6 against the Chiefs in primetime Sunday Night Football. For the sake of fantasy purposes, these are the three names that have emerged from the Patriots smoke. Josh Gordon had nine targets as well as 90 air yards in this game, both team-leading numbers. Edelman will be manning the slot mostly and will likely be Tom Brady‘s safety blanket receiver going forward, but I am excited about Gordon’s upside in this offense. Hogan may get occasional deep shots, but he will be unreliable for the remainder of the season. At this point, even the biggest anti-Gordon people should recognize that he is going to get the opportunity in this high-powered Patriots’ offense.