Snap Count And Usage Analysis - Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers for Week 7

Joey analyzes fantasy football snap counts risers and fallers. Are these fantasy football players emerging, or a risk for starting them in Week 7 lineups?

Welcome RotoBallers to another edition of snap count and usage analysis. As we head into Week 7, we will look at and analyze snap count and usage from several players across the league – some good and some not so great. 

Week 6 was another injury-filled week with many key players going down. Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (ankle) and Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (ribs) are both trending to be out in Week 7, while two San Francisco 49ers playmakers – Christian McCaffrey (oblique) and Deebo Samuel (shoulder) – are also dealing with injuries.

You will certainly be missing players in your lineup in Week 7 with those injuries and six teams on bye. Here is all the information you need to know for Week 7 based on last week's usage.

 Surprisingly High Snap Count/Usage From Last Week

RB Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings – 79% snap share

When it seemed like Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison was trending toward a 50/50 split with Cam Akers, that wasn't the case last week against the Chicago Bears. Mattison played 79% of the team snaps in the win, his highest usage since Week 3. 

The 25-year-old back saw 45-of-57 snaps in the contest, while Akers played just nine. It was a surprise to see this in Week 6, one week after the Mattison played a season-low 51% of the team snaps. So, it does appear that he still leads Minnesota's backfield going forward.

Despite the high snap count, though, Mattison was extremely inefficient on the ground. He had just 18 carries for 44 yards and four catches for 28 yards on seven targets. With wide receiver Justin Jefferson (hamstring) on the injured reserve list, more targets (like we saw in Week 6) could open up for him in the passing game.

However, it's not great to see Mattison struggle against a bottom-run defense in the Bears. With the Vikings facing top run defenses in the 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, and New Orleans Saints over the next four weeks, the young running back might be a sell candidate right now in fantasy.

RB Breece Hall, New York Jets – 66% snap share

The New York Jets continue to unleash running back Breece Hall. In Week 5, he played 52% of the team snaps and then followed it up by seeing a season-high 66% of the Jets' snaps in the 20-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. In those two games, Hall finished as the RB3 and the RB5 in half-PPR formats.

In Week 6, the second-year back played 43-of-65 snaps, while backup running back Dalvin Cook saw just nine snaps. Despite the offseason acquisition of Cook, it appears this is Hall's backfield for the remainder of the year. He is clearly the RB1 on this offense and certainly deserves it.

Hall had a tough matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles last week and only rushed 12 times for 39 yards and one touchdown, but he was utilized more in the passing game by catching five passes for 54 yards in the contest. 

The 22-year-old running back is a fantasy RB1 moving forward, especially given his uptick in snaps over the past two weeks. With also plus matchups against the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Buffalo Bills coming up after the Week 7 bye, Hall will continue to put up big fantasy numbers. 

WR Drake London, Atlanta Falcons – 12 targets & 125 receiving yards 

I guess Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith does care about fantasy football after all. Since wide receiver Drake London's abysmal one-target, zero-catch game in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers, he has been a top-16 fantasy wide receiver in PPR formats.

From Week 2 to Week 6, London has seen at least six targets in every game and has at least six catches in three of those five contests. He continues to see a high volume of targets, which has made him a weekly reliable fantasy option. 

In Week 6, the 22-year-old wideout caught nine passes on 12 targets for 125 yards. The 12 targets on Sunday tied his career-high, while his nine catches and 125 yards were both career-highs. On top of that, London finished as the WR5 in PPR formats – his best fantasy finish in his short career.

It's been a surprising couple of weeks for London in fantasy. The young wide receiver has scored 10-plus points in PPR formats in four of his last five games and has seen 42 targets over that span. If he continues to see this type of volume in the passing game, he can be trusted every week going forward.

Other Players To Note: 

• Jonathan Taylor (42% snap share)

Surprisingly Low Snap Count/Usage From Last Week

RB Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans – 33% snap share

After seeing 20-plus touches in back-to-back games in Week 4 and Week 5, Houston Texans running back Dameon Pierce's playing time took a massive hit this past weekend. The second-year back played a season-low 21 snaps in the team's 20-13 win over the New Orleans Saints. 

It was quite the surprise to see Pierce take a back seat to veteran Devin Singletary out of Houston's backfield. Singletary played a season-high 34 snaps while seeing 54% of the Texans offensive snaps in Week 6. However, the playing time for both made sense in this game. 

Pierce continued to struggle on the ground on Sunday as he rushed just 13 times for 34 yards. The young back has now rushed for just 2.9 yards per carry this season compared to Singletary's 3.9 yards. The 26-year-old veteran was also much more efficient in Week 6, rushing 12 times for 58 yards and catching one pass for four yards. 

Pierce will head into the Texans Week 7 bye trending in the wrong direction. His 21 snaps were the second-lowest of his career and his fewest since Week 1 of his rookie 2022 season. This Houston backfield might really be a committee after all.

RB James Cook, Buffalo Bills – 49% snap share 

What happened to Buffalo Bills running back James Cook being a workhorse back? As of late, it appears that Cook is in more of a 50-50 split than anything else. 

In the first three weeks, Cook played 41, 46, and 42 snaps while averaging 60% of Buffalo's offensive snaps. Those numbers have dropped since then. From Week 4 to Week 6, the second-year back has played 23, 37, and 30 snaps while averaging just 50.3% of the team's snaps. In Week 6, he continued to lose significant playing time to veteran Latavius Murray.

Cook and Murray both played 30 snaps on Sunday night. However, the former was much more efficient with his touches in the contest. The young running back ran 14 times for 71 yards. Still, it's a concern that he doesn't see much goal-line work and has seen his snaps drop in recent weeks. 

Cook has shown he can be an explosive back, but his snap share has made him hard to trust. This is surely something to monitor going forward, especially if Buffalo adds a free agent with Damien Harris (neck) likely out for the foreseeable future. 

Other Players To Note: 

• Davante Adams (two catches on five targets)
• Emari Demercado (two rush attempts on 43% snap share)

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