Week 8 NFL Snap Count Report For Fantasy Football: Jonah Coleman Has Arrived

The Week 8 Snap Count Report is highlighted by two rookie running backs who could become key fantasy contributors down the stretch of the season. And it makes sense. This is right around the time of the season rookies, for whatever reason, start to emerge.

Let’s take a look at which backfields stood out the most from Week 7.

NFL Snap Count Report for Week 8

Jonah Coleman Has Arrived (Again)

All offseason long, HC Sean Payton spoke very highly of his rookie running back. So it wasn’t too surprising to see Payton, who is now calling plays, involved Jonah Coleman quite a bit in his first game back from a high-ankle sprain.

It was Coleman, not J.K. Dobbins nor RJ Harvey, who led the Denver backfield in snap share (50%), carries (9) and touches (11). And after the game, Payton said they needed to get him more touches going forward. Considering he had 11 touches in his first game back from injury, that’s pretty exciting. It was Dobbins who scored the goal-line touchdown and Harvey who took a screen 50 yards to the house, but Coleman handled 100% of the short-down-and-distance snaps. And he continued to look a lot more explosive than Dobbins.

On 87 carries this year, Dobbins has rushed for 10-plus yards just five times, and has yet to record a run of 20-plus yards. Coleman, meanwhile, has the same amount of 10-plus yard runs on nearly 70 fewer carries. Harvey’s role as the team’s pass-catching running back isn’t going to change, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Broncos fully commit to Coleman as the early-down and short-yardage option, thus phasing Dobbins out of the offense. And it appeared that the takeover might have been on the horizon back in Week 2 when Coleman saw 13 touches to Dobbins’ 10 in a close game against Jacksonville. That’s the upside case for Coleman, who is the top waiver wire add of the week in leagues where he’s been dropped.

Can We Trust Cam Skattebo?

Honestly? I’m not sure yet.

Once again, there are a lot of moving parts in the Giants backfield. The team moved on from Najee Harris last week, but this remained a three-man backfield. Following a Week 6 benching, Cam Skattebo logged 55% of the snaps and 50% of the rush attempts this past Sunday, rushing for 124 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. It was an impressive game from Skattebo, who ran with power and purpose, but it wasn’t as if the Giants fully committed to Skattebo as their lead running back.

The game started with Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy splitting work. During the first two quarters, Skattebo logged 8 carries to Tracy’s 6, while out-snapping him, 20-14. Tracy suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter and did not return. But instead of solely relying on Skattebo the rest of the way, the Giants turned to Devin Singletary, who out-snapped Skattebo 18-15 during the final two quarters plus overtime.

Skattebo ripped off a long run in overtime to set up the walk-off score by Singletary, but apparently tweaked his hamstring in the process. It isn’t believed to be serious and the Giants have a Week 8 bye, but it really doesn’t seem like this team wants to give Skattebo all of the work. Tracy has been placed on injured reserve, which should allow Skattebo to see a bump, but the first-place Giants (no, really) have been one of the top teams mentioned as running back trade candidates. Despite the great stat line this past week, there’s still a lot of uncertainty within the Giants backfield right now. I’d be looking to sell high if you can.

The Indianapolis Colts Backfield

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Over the past two weeks, no player in football has been discussed more in trade rumors than Jonathan Taylor. At first, I laughed it off, thinking there was no chance the Colts would move on from their All-Pro running back. But then they lost to the Titans. And again to the Vikings, pushing their record down to 2-5. With no first-round picks until 2028 and the Colts looking like a mess, a Taylor trade is starting to become more and more possible.

And the Week 8 usage only heightened the speculation. Taylor was still the lead back in Indianapolis, logging 69% of the snaps and 56% of the rush attempts. However, both rates are well below his season averages of 80% and 74%, respectively. Seth McGowan, meanwhile, set season highs in snap share (31%), rush share (34%) and touches (12). And this was in a game the Colts only lost by 6 points. Given the current trade talks, I find this dip in Taylor’s usage highly interesting, and I’m not sure it’s a coincidence.

Entering Week 8, McGowan should be added in most fantasy leagues on the chance Taylor is traded and he becomes a starting running back going forward. He would be in line for an Ollie Gordon-like usage bump, with likely more usage in the passing game. The Colts offense is a mess right now, but they have a great rest-of-season schedule for fantasy running backs.

Dylan Sampson Returns For Cleveland

In Week 6, Cleveland’s top two running backs were Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. Safe to say they were very pleased to not only have Quinshon Judkins back this past week, but also Dylan Sampson, who was sidelined since Week 1. The backfield usage was about as you’d expect: Judkins dominating early downs and goal-line work, while Sampson operated as the clear pass-catching option.

Judkins logged 52% of the snaps and 61% of the rush attempts against the Titans on Sunday, carrying the ball 17 times for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Unsurprisingly, his recent spike in targets came to an end with Sampson, who played 47% of the snaps, back in the lineup. He logged 80% of the long-down-and-distance work, as well as every two-minute drill snap. Sampson was efficient with his 9 touches, accumulating 77 scrimmage yards.

Through seven weeks, Cleveland is sitting at a surprising 5-2 record. The Browns being a winning football team is a massive development for Judkins, who is game-script dependent when Sampson is available. Going forward, Cleveland has Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas on the schedule, all games they likely won’t find themselves down multiple scores. Sampson, meanwhile, is a player you should look to add off waivers, especially if Judkins is on your roster.