New Orleans Saints Snap Counts

The Saints rolled out their starters to try and knock down division rivals, but failed to get much going. Mark Ingram had a successful week, playing 58% of the snaps. Brandin Cooks and Michael Thomas played the most snaps of any wideout. Coby Fleener also saw higher snaps than usual.

The Saints used Mark Ingram heavily this week, playing 68% of the snaps, and why they wouldn't. He was one of the higher scoring running backs. Brandin Cooks played just 68% of the snaps. New Orleans used quite a bit of John Phillips for blocking. John Kuhn was also involved on 44% of the snaps.

The New Orleans running backs continue to share time together. Tim Hightower played 31% of the snaps, and Mark Ingram played 48% of the snaps. Brandin Cooks played 77% of the snaps, and Michael Thomas bounced back after missing one week with 81% of the team snaps.

New Orleans continued to struggle on offense, and we can look at the losses of Michael Thomas, and Josh Hill. Coby Fleener played 69% of the snaps without Hill, and was targeted just three times. Brandon Coleman played 84% of the snaps, and neither running back made a difference in this one.

It was a disappointing performance for the Saints at home, and one thing to note is Josh Hill was injured. This means Coby Fleener will not have his snaps cut into anymore. He played 67%. Mark Ingram played just 33% of the snaps, who was banged up before the week even started.

The Saints took care of business at home, and we saw a couple of noteworthy players out there. Josh Hill was cutting into Coby Fleener's workload, and now John Phillips is. Fleener is sliding out of this offense quickly. Mark Ingram held higher snaps than Tim Hightower after seeing a more 50-50 workload.

Coby Fleener and Josh Hill continue to split time, and Josh Hill slightly had the edge. Fleener did catch a touchdown, but his usage remains limited. Tim Hightower played 57% of the snaps, after Mark Ingram left with a concussion. If Ingram misses time, Hightower will be above 60%.

Michael Thomas fumbled twice, but I don't we believe this is one of those situations where we never see him again. Coby Fleener out-snapped Josh Hill this week, which hasn't been the case in the last few. Mark Ingram also played just 43% of the snaps, and we didn't see any Tim Hightower.

The backfield coming into this week was a mess. Tim Hightower played 43% of the snaps to Mark Ingram's 38%. Both found the end zone, and Ingram was the higher fantasy producer. Coby Fleener had another down week in snaps, and we are officially worried. Michael Thomas played 83% of the snaps last week.

The Mark Ingram fumble in the fist quarter earned him a benching. Tim Hightower played 62% of the snaps, which has led to him getting a few more snaps, according to Sean Payton. Brandin Cooks played just 50% of the snaps this week, which was a bit odd. Josh Hill out-snapped Coby Fleener.

This could be matchup based, but Coby Fleener played just 43 snaps this week, which was 58% of the snaps. His workload has dropped each week. Michael Thomas took a large role again, and we saw all three wideouts produce. Mark Ingram played 51% of the snaps this week, and continues to be touchdown dependent.

Coby Fleener only played 56% of the snaps this week, as Josh Hill played more. A little odd, but as we have seen in New Orleans that they will load up with a ton of weapons. Mark Ingram also played a down week in snaps for a game flow that should have led to a little more running opportunity.

Bye Week

We were looking at Michael Thomas this week, but with Willie Snead back we might have come off of him. Thomas led the Saints in snaps this week. Brandin Cooks and Snead were below him. Mark Ingram played 66% of the snaps, but unfortunately John Kuhn played 34%. It was an abnormal amount for him.

Atlanta blew out New Orleans in Week 3, and Drew Brees was firing from behind. Mark Ingram played just 40 snaps, and Travaris Cadet out-snapped him. Willie Snead sat out last night, which forced Michael Thomas and Brandon Coleman into more snaps. Both played above 80% of the Saints snaps.

Michael Thomas continues to be the third wideout in his system, playing 60% of the snaps in week 2. Coby Fleener played 76% of the snaps, but failed to make any noise with Drew Brees. Travaris Cadet continued to make some noise receiving 33% of the snaps, mainly in passing situations.

This passing attack is going to hold a wide range of options. Three wide receivers plus Coby Fleener played over 75% of the snaps. We also saw Travaris Cadet play 38% of the snaps, and was used in the passing game a bit. He cut into Mark Ingram's snaps quite a bit, but this is likely more of a week 1 sample, and not what is to come.

Quarterback Snap Counts

Running Back Snap Counts

Wide Receivers & Tight End Snap Counts

New Orleans Saints Snap Count Breakdown

Drew Brees battled injuries throughout 2015, including a shoulder injury, but that didn't stop him from playing 94 percent of the snaps. For the first time in five years, Brees missed a game. Luck McCown started that game, and represented the other six percent that Brees was missing.

Mark Ingram was finally a successful lead back for a solid stretch. He was the do-everything feature back the Saints envisioned when they drafted him. The only issue was he got hurt and missed a bunch of time. Because of that missed time, he ended up with only 46 percent of the snaps, but that isn't indicative of the ratio when he played. Tim Hightower, Khiry Robinson

Obvious statement of the century, Drew Brees spreads out his targets, and tries to get as many weapons involved as possible. Four receivers saw above 35 percent of the offensive snaps in 2015, and that seems to be a similar path the Saints are going to take in 2016. Marques Colston is no longer with the team after a long tenure, but they instantly replaced him with a second round draft pick of Michael Thomas. Willie Snead should once again see a lot of snaps out of the slot, but might have to take a backseat in volume to some of the Saints new additions. Khiry Robinson and CJ Spiller picked up the slack when Ingram was absent. The Saints offense is extremely pass heavy, and whichever back is getting the majority of snaps will have fantasy value.

Ben Watson ruled the tight end land for the Saints last year. Watson saw career-highs across the board and played 85 percent of the teams offensive snaps. It fair to assume newly signed Coby Fleener will take over that role. Michael Hoomanawanui and Josh Hill also both played above 28 percent of the snaps, but mostly as blockers or in the red zone.