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Benny Snell: Priority Waiver Wire Target for Week 13

Benny Snell: Priority Waiver Wire Target for Week 13

Scoring at least 10.5 fantasy points in 75% of his games this season, James Conner is as consistent of a running back as there is in fantasy football. But that comes with a huge caveat. Conner has only been able to start eight of 11 Steelers’ games this year. Even when Conner has been able to suit up, he’s had to leave several other games early, including against the Browns two weeks ago, when he attempted to return from a shoulder injury, reinjured the shoulder, and departed after one quarter.

During his absences, Pittsburgh has given most of the work to Jaylen Samuels. The problem is that Samuels isn’t very good. In three games this season with eight or more rushing attempts, he’s averaged 10.7 rushing attempts for 21.66 yards on an anemic 2.02 yards per carry. Yards per carry is looked down upon in the fantasy community, so let’s look at some more advanced metrics. Samuels’ 0.35 Yards Created per Attempt ranks 51st at the running back position, while his 6.3% Juke Rate checks is 54th, per FantasyData. The only area that gave Samuels any value is his receiving work, but even there, he averages a below-average 5.73 Yards per Reception. Per Pro-Football-Reference, of 27 running backs with at least 25 receptions, his 5.73 Yards Per Reception ranks 26th. It seems the Steelers finally took note of how bad Samuels is since he only played 21 snaps on Sunday and touched the ball just five times, as noted by Andrew Seifter in his recap of Week 12. In his place, Benny Snell had the best game of his rookie season.

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Player Profile

After missing the last three games recovering from meniscus surgery, Snell was given the start against the Bengals on Sunday. He rushed for 98 yards on 21 carries and added a reception for five yards. Sunday’s win brought the Steelers’ record to 6-5, keeping them alive in the playoff hunt. The Steelers ran the ball a season-high 38 times on Sunday, and I’ll be shocked if they don’t average 30 rushing attempts every week through the end of the season. The quarterback play has been awful since the loss of Ben Roethlisberger. Until James Conner is able to return, the Steelers will need to lean on Snell as their workhorse back. Snell may not be a metric marvel, but he is 5’10”, 225 pounds and averaged 19 rushing attempts per game during his time in Kentucky.

As noted, Snell is a below-average athlete, per his measurables. He’s not fast, doesn’t have a ton of burst, and isn’t very agile. That’s what his measurables say. Though different in stature and style, Snell reminds me of Devin Singletary, another running back with poor athletic measurables who appears greater than the sum of his parts.

If you watch highlights of Snell during his time at Kentucky a few things stand out.

He’s a physical back, which makes sense given his size. He also has good vision, patience, and knows how to utilize his blockers. As shown on his first professional rushing attempt he also has excellent cutting ability.

Don’t expect him to ever run routes out of the slot, but he’s comfortable enough as a receiver to take a dump-off pass when needed.

Outlook

James Conner has already indicated he’s not ready to return in Week 13, and possibly longer. The Steelers have already shown they prefer Snell as the primary ball carrier over the other options on the roster. If you missed out on Jonathan Williams or Bo Scarbrough last week then you need to make sure you don’t miss out on Benny Snell. The Steelers play the Browns next week who are middle-of-the-pack in allowing running back fantasy points. They follow that up with a matchup against the Cardinals who allow the 11th-most fantasy points to the running back position. With Devlin Hodges under center, there is absolutely every reason to believe Snell will be in line for nearly 20 rushing attempts per game until Conner returns.

Running back to consider dropping for Snell based on our Rest of Season rankings:

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Shane Manila is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Shane, check out his archive and follow him @DFF_Shane.

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