2019 Snap Leaders

In many cases, fantasy football is all about opportunity. Guys that aren’t on the field don’t have a chance to make plays. Conversely, the guys who play a ton of snaps have ample opportunities. (Insightful, right?) Therefore, it would behoove you to target players who are on the field for a ton of snaps. This article focuses on snap counts and snap percentages for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends, to give you some nuggets that may be useful as you construct your fantasy rosters this season. All data courtesy of www.footballoutsiders.com.

Quarterbacks

Can you identify the quarterback who played the most offensive snaps last season? It’s not who you’d expect. Believe it or not, Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz led all passers in offensive snaps last season, with 1,169. He was followed by Jameis Winston (1,149), Tom Brady (1,142), Dak Prescott (1,124), Russell Wilson (1,124), Jared Goff (1,120), Matt Ryan (1,087), Aaron Rodgers (1,082), Jimmy Garoppolo (1,079), and Baker Mayfield (1,058).

So how can we use this data? Well, it likely suggests who is running the most plays, and more plays = more chances to put up fantasy points. Winston and Brady have changed teams, so there’s not much we can do with their snap counts from 2019. And Prescott and Wilson are both already being drafted relatively early, with Ryan not far behind. But the data tells us that Wentz (1st in offensive snaps), Goff (6th), Rodgers (8th), Garoppolo (9th) and Mayfield (10th) could all be decent late-round-QB gambles in fantasy drafts this season.

Running Backs

Surprising no one, Christian McCaffrey led all running backs in offensive snaps and offensive snap percentage. But it is kind of amazing that his 93.4% offensive snap share was a full 10 percentage points higher than the #2 guy, Ezekiel Elliott.

Rather than go through each and every RB’s snap counts and data (which is available at www.footballoutsiders.com), I’m going to highlight those backs whose total offensive snaps or snap shares surprised me. One guy that definitely stands out is Le’Veon Bell. He’s currently being drafted as a RB2 in virtually every format, but he was Top 5 in the NFL in offensive snaps among running backs (798) and also top 5 in offensive snap share (77.1%). In fact, there were only four running backs last season who handled more than 75% of their teams’ offensive snaps: CMC (93.4%), Elliott (83.3%), Leonard Fournette (82.9%), and Bell. Bell, who has previously been the RB1 in fantasy, is being undervalued as a RB2 this season, despite the Jets’ lack of offensive firepower.

Packers RB Aaron Jones gets a ton of flak for being a committee back whose touchdown production is bound to regress. However, it may surprise you to learn that Jones is actually among the top ten running backs in terms of snap share (61.3%, 9th-best) and total offensive snaps (676, also 9th best). This is higher than for several runners perceived to have a greater workload, such as Joe Mixon and Alvin Kamara, You can fade Jones in drafts based on TD-regression concerns, but don’t fade him too far. He’s still seeing a healthy workload compared to his peers.

I am not a fan of Eagles running back Miles Sanders. But his snap data suggests that he may live up to the hype. Despite splitting carries with Jordan Howard for much of last season, Sanders still saw a 52.9% snap share, which was a top-20 number in the league; and was top 15 in total offensive snaps with 626 (13th-best). If we assume even a marginal increase in his workload now that Jordan Howard is gone, it’s not hard to see him finishing the season as a top 12 back.

One guy I’m not high on is Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs. Despite a respectable rookie season, this guy just does not see the workload to justify his second-round ADP in fantasy drafts. He was on the field for 469 snaps last year, which was good for only 27th in the league, and was below players like Tarik Cohen, Royce Freeman, and Duke Johnson, and barely above Giovani Bernard. Given that the team added Lynn Bowden to cut into Jacobs’ workload, and I’m just not comfortable spending a high draft pick on a guy who was on the field for scarcely more than 45% of his team’s offensive snaps last year.

A player similarly situated is Ravens RB Mark Ingram. Ingram saw 511 snaps last year, which was good for 25th in the league. He was on the field for less than 50% of his team’s plays. Combine that with the fact that he’s on the wrong side of 30 and the Ravens drafted his replacement this year in J.K. Dobbins, and you have a player that I’m likely to avoid despite his lofty touchdown totals from a season ago.

The final player that stood out to me is Texans running back Duke Johnson. A season ago, the Texans split the snaps pretty evenly between Carlos Hyde (538 snaps) and Johnson (531 snaps). Clearly, the Texans trust Johnson. This could translate into even more work if trade acquisition David Johnson is as cooked as he looked last year; but even if not, the Duke is still likely to see around 50% of the team’s offensive snaps yet again.

Wide Receivers

Allen Robinson led all wide receivers with 1,025 offensive snaps last season. That’s pretty impressive, considering he played for a #notgreat offense. Odell Beckham, whom many were disappointed in last season, led the league with a 95.4% snap share. This makes Beckham a prime bounce-back candidate; he likely underperformed given the workload he was seeing.

Another guy that saw a ton of snaps that is worthy of your attention is Panthers WR Curtis Samuel. He was on the field for 970 offensive snaps, which was a top 10 number in the league, and more than Michael Thomas, Kenny Golladay, and Chris Godwin, among others.

The only players to be on the field for more than 1,000 offensive snaps were Robinson, Beckham, Tyler Lockett, Robert Woods, Julian Edelman, Tyler Boyd, and DeAndre Hopkins. (Jarvis Landry barely missed the cut with 998). Lockett and Woods are value picks as WR2s, and Edelman and Boyd are fantastic selections as WR3s with high PPR floors.

Another player to keep an eye on is Broncos WR Courtland Sutton. Sutton’s total snaps are somewhat depressed because the Broncos didn’t run as many plays as several other NFL teams, but he was on the field for 92% of Denver’s offensive snaps, which was a top-5 number in the league. Assuming offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur can coax a better tempo out of this offense, Sutton could be in line for a monster season.

Among 2019 rookies, only DK Metcalf (83.6%) and Terry McLaurin (81.6%) were on the field for more than 80% of their teams’ offensive plays. Those numbers aren’t likely to get any worse in 2020, and in McLaurin’s case, they may very well improve considerably.

In Minnesota, WR Stefon Diggs was on the field for only 75.6% of his team’s offensive snaps. New teammate John Brown was on the field for 85.6% of the Bills’ offensive snaps. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect Diggs’ 2020 snap share be closer to what Brown saw in Buffalo last season as he settles in as the team’s #1 target.

There are two other names to keep in mind at the wide receiver position, both of whom are essentially free in drafts. First, Jaguars WR Chris Conley was on the field for 880 snaps last season (nearly 80% of the team’s plays), which was more than highly-touted teammate DJ Chark. Second, future Hall-of-Famer Larry Fitzgerald continues to find ways to get on the field, having played 903 offensive snaps last season (21st in the league). He led all Cardinals’ receivers by playing nearly 85% of the snaps. The next-highest Cardinal, Christian Kirk, was on the field for only 75.5% of the snaps. Fitzgerald still plays a big role in what Arizona is trying to do offensively.

Tight Ends

Only three tight ends played at least 80% of their teams’ offensive snaps: Travis Kelce (92.5%), Darren Waller (90.6%), and Zach Ertz (80.5%). If you expand the list to include those who played at least 75% of their teams’ snaps, only three names are added: Kyle Rudolph (77.9%), Jason Witten (75.4%), and George Kittle (75%). There are two primary takeaways from this data: (1) Darren Waller and Jason Witten are now teammates, making it unlikely that they both hit the 75% threshold this season (and really, decreases the odds that either make it to that threshold), and (2) Kyle Rudolph is a bargain. Sure, Irv Smith is likely to cut more into his workload this year. But this is also a team likely to run more 2-TE sets this season due to a lack of talent on the WR depth chart behind Adam Thielen and first-round-pick Justin Jefferson.