Week 13 Snap Report: Follow the Volume in Week 14

All season long, I’ll be looking back at the week to see how we can best leverage what took place on the field at the running back position to our advantage. This weekly article will hone in on weekly snap shares and highlight a few players who could benefit from their team putting them on the field more in the coming weeks.

One of the more shocking things of Week 13, which I won't dive too deep into since I spent last week touting him, was the dud of a performance we saw from Zack Moss. Moss saw an elite snap share (94.1 percent) and an equally elite opportunity share (34 percent) but managed just 9.7 PPR points, finishing as the RB22. The good news is Moss still finished as a top-24 back with several teams on bye. The bad news is his performance fell well below expectations.

Still, everything we hoped to see from Moss as far as volume is concerned was in place. I love his chances at a bounce back in Week 14 against a Bengals defense that's allowed the seventh-most fantasy points per game (23.7) to running backs over the last five weeks.

I highlight a few of them in this week's Snap Report.

As always, below are some players whose performances and situations stood out this past week, and at the end of the article is a table of every player to see 20 percent or more of their team’s snaps in Week 13.

Week 14 byes: ARI and WSH

NOTE: Snaps and route data courtesy of FantasyPoints.com and PFF.com.

Ezekiel Elliott (NE)

In his Week 14 waiver wire column, Kyle Dvorchak notes that volume alone should fuel a top-24 running back performance for Ezekiel Elliott when he and the Patriots take on the Steelers on Thursday night.

Knowing what we know about the state of the Patriots' backfield, it's hard to disagree.

Elliott saw a season-high 21 touches in the Pats' Week 13 loss to the Chargers, totaling 92 yards from scrimmage and 13.2 PPR — good for an RB13 finish. He managed an inefficient 3.1 YPC and saw his receiving floor buoyed by a 23-yard catch.

With Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) expected to miss a few weeks, the volume will undeniably be there for Zeke — assuming Bill Belichick is up to his old backfield tricks. But the decline we've seen in recent years remains in place. Elliott is averaging a career-low 2.54 YCO/ATT and has just one breakaway run to his name — a 17-yard scamper in Week 8 against the Dolphins. His 3.8 YPC has him on track to finish below the running back Mendoza Line of 4.0 for a second consecutive season.

Many will point to James Conner's Week 13 explosion against the Steelers (15-105-2) as a reason to expect good things from Zeke. What they might forget is the fact Conner is playing some of the best ball of his career in his age-28 season. Conner's 4.9 YPC has him on pace for a new career-high if it were to stick, and his 3.64 YCO/ATT is well above his career-high of 2.87. Conner is also forcing missed tackles at an absurd 31.8 percent rate — his previous high was in 2020 (20.6 percent).

For two 28-year-old backs, Conner and Elliott are playing at entirely different levels. A top-24 running back performance could be in store for Zeke this week, but facing a Steelers defense that's allowed the 11th-fewest points per game to running backs (19.4) over the last five weeks doesn't create overwhelming optimism. The Steelers have also excelled at keeping opponents off schedule this season. Offenses have only a 41.3 percent success rate against them — good for eighth-best in the league. The Patriots' offense, on the other hand, has only a 41.8 percent offensive success rate, the 12th-worst in the league.

Fantasy managers trying to weigh what a top-24 performance from Zeke could look like as opposed to a top-24 performance from a receiver in PPR leagues should know the RB24 in points per game this season is James Cook (12.9), while the WR24 is Courtland Sutton (14.1).

De’Von Achane (MIA)

De'Von Achane returned from a knee injury in Week 11 only to get bounced after two touches. The Dolphins opted to sideline him in Week 12 against the Jets to give him an additional week of rest but let him rip in Week 13 against the Commanders.

Achane's 57.6 percent snap share led the Dolphins — as did his 17 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns. As long as he's healthy, he's a must in most fantasy lineups, although his snaps saw a massive spike in the second half after the Dolphins went to halftime with a 24-point lead. Below are the first-half splits between Achane and Mostert in last week's win.

And now for the second-half splits.

In a more "normal" setting, it's possible Mostert and Achane would have seen a more even distribution of snaps and opportunities. In Weeks 3 through 5, when both backs were ripping off big plays and at full strength, Mostert edged out Achane with a 51 percent snap share, but Achane earned the slightly higher opportunity share at 27 percent.

Achane continues to be the league's most explosive back, averaging an impressive 9.5 YPC and 6.04 YCO/ATT. He gets a challenging Week 14 matchup against the Titans, who will be without run-stopper Jeffery Simmons.

Give the gift of Rotoworld Draft Guides with our exclusive holiday Bundle offer. Unlock hundreds of player profiles, rankings, mocks, and more for the 2024 football, baseball, and basketball seasons. Use code HOLIDAY23 at checkout to receive 25% off and a $10 Fanatics gift card. Click here to get started!

Kenneth Gainwell (MIA)

Fantasy managers who rolled with D'Andre Swift were sorely disappointed after Week 13's loss to the 49ers. Swift, who entered the week with a 61 percent snap share and 29 percent opportunity share, took a back seat to Kenneth Gainwell last week, as Gainwell popped up for a 53.6 percent snap share while also earning eight opportunities.

An injury to Swift late in the loss could keep him out in Week 14, although we will know more about that later. However, we can't overlook what appears to be a growing role for Gainwell in the Eagles' offense.

Through the first eight weeks of the season, Swift led the way with a 60.8 percent snap share and 29 percent opportunity share, averaging 17.4 routes per game and 4.0 targets per game. Over the last five weeks, the snap share has remained largely the same, but it's Gainwell leading the backfield with 59 routes to Swift's 50, while each back has earned 10 targets. On passing downs alone, Gainwell and Swift have seen a near 50/50 split of the snaps since Week 9. Through the first eight weeks, Swift played on 60.1 percent of passing downs snaps.

Swift's health is something to monitor throughout the week, but his decline in passing snaps is also a concern. While we should continue to expect Swift to handle most of the rushing duties, any severe dip in pass volume would lower his ceiling by a slim margin while perhaps putting Gainwell on the watch list as a low-end RB3 some weeks. At worst, Gainwell, who is rostered in only 31 percent of Yahoo leagues, looks like a high-upside handcuff to Swift heading into the fantasy playoffs. Eagles running backs have the fifth-easiest fantasy schedule from Weeks 14 through 17 per the RotoViz Strength of Schedule app.

Chuba Hubbard (CAR)

In the Panthers' first week without Frank Reich, Carolina's backfield situation remained unchanged. Chuba Hubbard, who I touted in last week’s article, continued to lead the way with a 63.8 percent snap share and handled 25-of-36 running back opportunities. Interestingly, Hubbard didn't see a target in last week's game against the Buccaneers, but it didn't matter, as his 25 rush attempts were three times that of Miles Sanders, who continues to be an afterthought in Carolina's offense.

Hubbard has played on 60 percent of the Panthers' snaps over the last three weeks and has seen a steady increase in snaps in each of his last three games.

Far from the league's most efficient back, he's quickly turned into a volume-based play. His 56 opportunities since Week 11 are the ninth-most of any back in the league, while his 18.7 opportunities per game are ahead of guys like Rhamondre Stevenson, Derrick Henry, and Breece Hall — to name a few. Facing a Buccaneers defense that was down several top linebackers, Hubbard turned in his first 100-yard performance of the season, going for 25-104-2 while averaging 3.08 YCO/ATT.

It's only a one-game sample, but Hubbard's usage under the new regime should keep him in the conversation as a top-24 fantasy back for Week 14 against the Saints.

Week 13 Snap Share