Hello Footballers, in this column I will be taking note of some key NFL Team Trends to keep a watch on for playing DFS and Fantasy Sports. Lets jump right into what we learned from snaps and targets in week 4 with a look forward to week 5.
Arizona Cardinals
With Damiere Byrd out the team turned to Trent Sherfield instead of Keesean Johnson
for the most part. Sherfield logged 84% of snaps while Johnson only saw 57%. Going forward Christian Kirk may be hampered going forward so there is a potential for Keesean to see more field this week if Kirk is unable to give it a go. Maxx Williams also notably played his highest amount of snaps of the season with 34%.
Atlanta Falcons
Not a whole lot new here in terms of snaps besides Devonta Freeman whose workload went down while seeing a returning Ito Smith the duo currently share a split 60-40 backfield when both are healthy.
Baltimore Ravens
Marquise Brown and Willie Snead look to have secured the roles at the receivers most likely to see the field. However the Ravens snaps are still tough to diagnose at other spots like RB and TE, while Ingram and Andrews are the clear lead guys at those positions, in essence both places are three person timeshares.
Buffalo Bills
Cole Beasley saw his highest volume of snaps in week 4 all the way up from 60% in week 3 to 85% in week 4. Beasley is the clear possession guy that should see a safe floor of target volume but is dependent on touchdowns for any kind of upside going forward. TJ Yeldon surpassed Frank Gore in terms of snaps 54% to 45% mainly due to a pass heavy game script. Its a good thing to note going forward that Yeldon and Devin Singletary will be in play when game script is Buffalo playing from behind. This same conclusion I think can be made for the raise in snaps for all the pass catchers mentioned above as well as Dawson Knox and Zay Jones.
Carolina Panthers
Greg Olsen played the most snaps since week 1 during week 4 with 97%. Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore snaps rose back to where they should be around the 90% margin. Christian McCaffrey continues to dominate running back snaps logging 100% snaps in week 4.
Chicago Bears
Javon Wims snaps jumped to 94% in week 4 with the absence of Taylor Gabriel and was targeted 8 times. Allen Robinson stayed top dog on snaps for the week at wideout. Mike Davis appears to now officially be on the out as he was scratched last week. leaving a 70-40 split at running back between Mongomery and Cohen, the 10% difference should be due to Gabriel lining up at receiver and or dual running back formations. At tight end Burton and Shaheen are playing a 60-40 share with an overlap for two TE sets.
Cincinnati Bengals
Auden Tate saw a 90% snap count which has sustained over the past two weeks, while snaps went down for John Ross to 65% as he was forced from the game with a shoulder injury. Those extra snaps went to Damion Willis, so if Ross misses time, chances are there is a huge jump in week 5 for Willis. Drew Sample at TE has been working his way in at 30% snaps in 2 of 4 weeks, so we are now seeing their TE spot is a three player timeshare, which is a real bummer for all fantasy purposes. Gio and Mixon continued their 60-40 timeshare regardless of the fact that The Bengals were in desperation mode virtually the entire week 4 game against Pittsburgh.
Cleveland Browns
Ricky Seals Jones played a season high 30% snaps and snagged a touchdown. Demetrius Harris and Pharoah Brown also seeing a number of reps as well. All three guys are running plenty of routes as well so this is a big part of Clevelands game apparently. Jarvis Landry forced from the game early, did not make Ratley's snaps go up by any significant margin. Nic Chubb had a great fantasy game in week 4 but lets not let that overshadow the fact that he is apparently back in a 60-40 timeshare with Dontrell Hilliard.
Dallas Cowboys
Devin Smith goes from a 90% snap share in week 3 down to just 79% of snaps played in week 4. We saw Tavon Austin for the first time since week one, checking in for 18% of snaps. Ezekiel Elliot snap share blasts up to 96% virtually eliminating Tony Pollard from the equation. My conclusion would be to look for Pollard to still get work in positive game scripts for The Cowboys, week four was certainly not one of them. Witten played near 80% of snaps which seems to be his ceiling, while Jarwin should hover right around 30 to 40 percent.
Denver Broncos
Royce Freeman outsnapped Philip Lindsay for the second time this season swinging a 60-40 split. Freeman and Lindsay continue to both see steady flow targets, touchdown dependent for highest upside with their split. Courtland Sutton is outsnapping Emmanuel Sanders and is only three targets behind him as well. Split at Tight End remains the same with Noah Fant in for the majority of snaps while Jeff Heureman sees significant snaps behind him but has been targeted remarkably less.
Detroit Lions
TJ Hockenson plays season low snaps after leaving the game with a concussion. Jesse James in turn saw an uptick and their snap split is around 50-50 for week four. Danny Amendola missed week 4 so we saw a slight increase in snaps for Marvin Hall who saw 3 targets. The Lions also opted to use J.D. McKissic out wide as a receiver on part of his 35% snaps which is the highest he has seen all year. Kerryon stayed locked right at 70% of the snaps, we have to assume that is the snap ceiling unless an injury were to occur.
Green Bay Packers
Davante Adams exited week 4 with turf toe and in turn only played 70% of snaps. MVS's snaps stayed the same while Geronimo Allison saw a definitive bump in week 4, jumping up to 79% of snaps. Adams is expected to suit up in week 5, but if he doesn't it would be interesting to note that Darrius Shepherd and Allan Lazard both saw around an 18% snap share in week 4 upon Adams's exit. Jamal Williams was forced from the game early and left Aaron Jones to play a season high 84% of snaps. Also, notably Jimmy Graham played 70% of snaps for the second time this season, in weeks 1 and 3 he played only 54 and 42 percent.
Houston Texans
Hopkins and Fuller have to be out there more than any other duo in the league or close to it. Still waiting on that Will Fuller TD regression to set in. Darren Fells still outsnapping Jordan Akins around 60-40. Duke played his most snaps since week one, checking in with 64% of snaps played. Kenny Stills exited early with a hamstring injury so Keke Coutee played a season high 58% of snaps.
Indianapolis Colts
With T.Y. Hilton missing week 4 The Colts employed four wide-outs that all saw on or near 70% of snap share, in a game where they were trailing from the start. So this was the perfect game script for someone from the group to breakout, Zach Pascal ended up doing the most damage with a very pedestrian fantasy day. Marlon Mack exited the game early and Nyheim Hines saw a season high 44% of snaps and Jordan Wilkins also saw a season high 20%.
Jacksonville Jaguars
We saw the season debut of Ryquell Armstead in week 4, Leo Fournette played a season low 83% snaps while Armstead snuck onto the field for 16% of snaps. Dede Westbrook also played a season low of 62% of snaps. Conley and Chark both stayed well into the 70th percentile. Seth Devalve has seen a steady right around 25% of snaps over the last two weeks while O' Shanuessey played a slightly lower count in week 4 of 58% of snaps.
Kansas City Chiefs
Tyreek Hill and Damien Williams returned to practice, so a situation to monitor going forward. We saw the usual usage for the wideouts with Watkins and Robinson taking the majority of snaps whith Hardman just behind them. One would assume whem Hill returns Hardman is edged out and Robinson would get his count. Damien Williams return would see him in the timeshare role again most likely. Kelce still dominates TE snaps with Blake Bell seeing the field at most 48%, has seen a target in each game and surprisingly runs a route on 65% of his plays.
Los Angeles Chargers
Dontrelle Inman played a season high 74% of snaps. Sean Culkin exited the game and now Lance Kendricks should be in line to see some serious snaps at TE for The Chargers. Melvin Gordon was active but did not play a snap, instead we saw the season debut of Troymaine Pope who checked in at 41% of the offensive snaps compared to Austin Ekelers 70%.
Los Angeles Rams
Woods, Kupp and Cooks, Woods, Kupp and Cooks. Gurley and Malcolm Brown are still running a 75-25 split. Gerald Everett slightly outsnapping Tyler Higbee in week 4. Higbee was targeted 7 times in week 4 during a negative gamescript.
Miami Dolphins
Davante Parker and Preston Williams mirrored each others 82% snap count leading the team as a duo, perhaps now officially. Jakeem Grant and Isiah Ford appear to be on the outside looking in. Durham Smythe outsnapped Mike Gesicki but Gesicki ran more routes. Kalen Ballage phased out in week 4 down to 15% snaps while Mark Walton played 25%. Kenyan Drake continues to play on average around 55% of snaps a game.
Minnesota Vikings
Week 4 we saw the debut of receiver Bisi Johnson checking in with 58% of snaps. Thielen captains the WR snaps while Diggs played 83% of snaps in week 4 he has not played over 89% of snaps in a single game this season. Irv Smith Jr. continues to run more routes while being outsnapped by Kyle Rudolph at TE. Dalvin Cook played a season high of 79% of snaps his previous high was week 2 playing 72% of snaps, Cook will see more time on the field in situations where Minnesota is behind.
New England Patriots
Edelman returned from rib injury to maintain his intense volume of offensive snaps at over 95%. Josh Gordon has stayed at 90% of snaps for two straight weeks now. New England used WR3 Phillip Dorsett less in this situation at 61% being outsnapped by TE Ryan Izzo who had 67%. Sony Michel has not played more than 48% snaps in a game this season.
New Orleans Saints
Austin Carr plays season high 62% of snaps in week 4. Everything else was very standard, Michael Thomas leading the way with over 90% while Tedd Ginn rolled in for his usual 70% or so of snaps. Saints employing double TE with Cook playing 56% of snaps and running routes on 95% of those plays, while Josh Hill played 57% of snaps while running routes on 70% of plays.
New York Giants
Giants first WR tier in week 4 was Sterling Sheperd leading the way with Bennie Fowler in the number two spot, we also saw a smattering of Cody Latimer and Darius Slayton. Wayne Gallman ended up playing only 60% of snaps in his first full game filling in for Saquon Barkley, Jon Hillman made his season debut and played 34% of snaps. Evan Engram is averaging around 70% of snaps per game besides a spiked week in week 3, just something to keep in mind when we think of him as an "automatic volume" player. Rhett Ellison checking in around 55% of snaps but naturally not running as many routes.
New York Jets
Robby Anderson and Leveon Bell played 100% of snaps in week 4, Crowder and Griffin were right behind at around 90%. Braxton Berrios checked in at 58% snaps, keeping it real simple it looks like.
Oakland Raiders
Tyrell Williams and Darren Waller are the anchors playing over 90% of snaps. Season debut of Trevor Davis playing 55% of snaps and scoring a TD run on an end around play. Fullback Alec Ingold saw the most action he has seen by playing 37% of snaps, It also appears that Josh Jacobs has half of the running back pie while Jalen Richard and Deandre Washington shared the other half. One has to wonder if that will continue going forward. Also have to keep an eye on Keelan Doss who snuck in for 22% snaps this week a season high. JJ Nelson did miss the game so the usage for everyone outside of Williams and Waller should be taken with a grain of salt.
Philadelphia Eagles
Agoholor lead snaps again in week 4 with over 90% while Jeffrey played 80%. Mack Hollis played his lowest snap count since week one with 64%. Arcega Whiteside phased out with less than 10% of snaps. Sproles usage down from 30% to 11% and Jordan Howard saw a season high 53% of snaps, and looks to be trending up. Goedert plays season high 69% of snaps, while Ertz plays a season low 75%.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Juju plays season low 72% of snaps, Pittsburgh is now running the wildcat....Nick Vannett debuts and sees 74% snaps. James Washingtons snaps also trend down to 76% after an over 90% snap rate in week 3. If they continue to run this wildcat it may hurt this WR production. Diontae Johnson checks in at 63% behind them while Samuels played a season high 45% snaps as a part of this wildcat offense. Zach Gentry in his second game at TE plays 42% of snaps and has ran routes on 82% of his overall snaps.
Seattle Seahawks
Tyler Lockett the clear number one with over 90% of snaps played in every game. DK Metcalf used slightly less in week 4 down over 20% to just 63% of snaps played for week 4, while Jaron Brown checks in at 55%. Will Dissly plays season high snaps of 79%. Rashad Penny misses second straight week Chris Carson sees 76% of snaps in week 4, while CJ Procise was not used as often.
San Francisco 49ers
George Kittle played 100% of snaps, other than that, they played a lot of dudes......that's all I can say.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Godwin-Howard-Evans are clearly the workhorses of this team as far as volume of plays. Cameron Brate is actually running more routes that OJ Howard while seeing less snaps, Brate is running routes on nearly every play. Ronald Jones leads the three headed monster still snap wise. Auclair is not running routes.
Tennessee Titans
Corey Davis continues to lead the WR position while Derrick Henry played a season high of 75% of snaps in week 4. Dekanie Walker down to just 31% of snaps in week 4 perhaps slowed by injury. Jonnu Smith and Pruitt are running around 70% routes on their plays.
Washington Redskins
In the absence of Terry McLaurin we saw a mix of Kelvin Harmon (53%) and Robert Davis (43%) at the third WR. Thompson-Peterson backfield still 50-50 give or take. Jeremy Sprinkle looks to fill Vernon Davis routes should he miss time, up to this point Sprinkle is running at 70% routes on his total plays.