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In order to make the best waiver and lineup decisions each week you really need to break down who is on the field the most and who is touching the ball the most. If you follow those very basic principles you will do quite well week in and week out.

So every week I will be taking a close look at the amount of snaps that players who are in platoon situations are getting in order to uncover those hidden gems that win championships.

This week I am reviewing some notable playing time splits and how they played out in week eight. This information should be useful to making your waiver bids and setting your lineups for week nine.

Let’s get to it. Here is the Snap Counts For Week 9:

Indianapolis Colts WR’s

T.Y. Hilton – 66-67 (99%)

Hakeem Nicks - 61-67 (91%)

Donte Moncrief – 41-67 (61%)

Griff Whalen – 13-67 (19%)

Review: Surprising to see that Hakeem Nicks played significantly ahead of Donte Moncrief last week despite a massive difference in production. So, you might want to slow your roll on Moncrief this week if Reggie Wayne is indeed out yet again. Nicks absolutely could be the more productive WR if he were to get another start.

 

Buffalo Bills RB’s

Anthony Dixon – 43-57 (75%)

Bryce Brown – 14-57 (25%)

Review: I really thought that Brown would get more of this split especially in passing situations but that just wasn’t the case. Dixon is clearly the guy to own here in Buffalo but I wouldn’t complete rule out Brown in PPR formats just yet.

 

New England Patriots RB’s

Shane Vereen – 33-75 (44%)

Jonas Gray – 29-75 (39%)

James White – 13-75 (17%)

Brandon Bolden – 0-75 (0%)

Review: The Patriots were up big and thus ran the ball for the majority of the second half. The takeaway here is that they did so with Jonas Gray getting most of the carries. James White was finally active and got some late work as well but Gray is clearly the short yardage option right now. It is completely safe to drop Brandon Bolden at this point folks.

 

Cincinnati Bengals WR’s

Mohamed Sanu – 65-70 (93%)

Brandon Tate – 50-70 (71%)

Greg Little – 30-70 (43%)

James Wright – 8-70 (11%)

Dane Sanzenbacher – 6-70 (9%)

Review: A.J. Green is set to return here soon so none of the above players are that valuable at this point in time. But I decided to include the Bengals WR’s because I found it interesting that Greg Little is getting a pretty solid amount of snaps despite being signed off the street just a couple of weeks ago.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers WR’s

Antonio Brown – 83-84 (99%)

Markus Wheaton – 34-84 (40%)

Martavis Bryant – 33-84 (39%)

Darrius Heyward-Bey – 29-84 (35%)

Lance Moore – 22-84 (26%)

Review: Martavis Bryant has emerged as the #2 WR in the Steelers passing offense over the past two weeks and is a legitimate red zone weapon. He and Markus Wheaton are in a deadlock for snaps right now but close behind is forgotten WR Darrius Heyward-Bey. Neither DHB nor Lance Moore have any real fantasy value right now.

 

Jacksonville Jaguars WR’s

Allen Robinson – 65-72 (90%)

Cecil Shorts – 62-72 (86%)

Allen Hurns – 39-72 (54%)

Marqise Lee – 22-72 (31%)

Ace Sanders – 3-72 (4%)

Review: Allen Robinson is the clear WR1 here in Jacksonville. Hurns had a hot start but has fallen to third on the Jags depth chart.

 

Detroit Lions RB’s

Joique Bell – 46-75 (61%)

Theo Riddick – 31-75 (41%)

George Winn – 2-75 (3%)

Review: Riddick wasn’t on the field a lot in London last week but he sure made a gigantic impact. The problem is that when Reggie Bush returns there just won’t be enough snaps for Riddick to remain viable.

 

Seattle Seahawks WR’s

Doug Baldwin – 60-63 (95%)

Jermaine Kearse – 58-63 (92%)

Paul Richardson – 44-63 (70%)

Kevin Norwood – 11-63 (17%)

Ricardo Lockette – 10-63 (16%)

Review: It’s interesting that Jermaine Kearse is getting a ton of snaps but is only currently owned in about 10% of fantasy leagues across ESPN, CBS, Yahoo & My Fantasy League. Even though the Seahawks don’t throw the ball a lot, you have to respect any WR that is playing 90+% of his teams offensive snaps.

 

St. Louis Rams RB’s

Tre Mason – 19-53 (36%)

Benny Cunningham – 17-53 (32%)

Zac Stacy – 16-53 (30%)

Review: The Rams have one of the most even three way RB splits that I have ever seen. None of these guys are worth owning at this point and unless one or two of them go down with an injury, this situation won’t have much fantasy impact.

 

Baltimore Ravens TE’s

Crockett Gillmore – 52-67 (78%)

Review: That is right you are reading this correctly. Gillmore was the only TE to play for the Ravens on Sunday. I cannot remember the last time I saw a team use just one TE for an entire game like this. I really like Gillmore as a sleeper TE while Owen Daniels is out.