Preseason Week 3 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Miami Dolphins

• Tank Bigsby’s role with the starters increases: He played 36% of snaps with the starters and nearly had as many yards as Travis Etienne Jr.

• At least one Miami Dolphins running back will be cut: Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin are fighting for one roster spot, but Miami could also add a new running back, resulting in both potentially getting cut.

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Tank Bigsby takes 36% of snaps with the starters: Bigsby continued to cut into Travis Etienne Jr.’s playing time.

• The Jaguars used their starters for two long drives. Etienne started each drive, but Bigsby would replace him after three or four plays.
• Etienne played 100% of snaps on third and fourth down and dominated snaps out of 11 personnel, 10 snaps to four.
• Snaps were closer to balanced on first and second down, at 13 to nine in favor of Etienne. The same was true for snaps out of 12 or 13 personnel, on which Etienne led six to five.
• Bigsby averaged 6.2 yards per play compared to 4.9 by Etienne, but Bigsby lost a fumble.
• Jacksonville had just two plays in short-yardage situations, and Etienne received both of those snaps.
• Bigsby seeing this high of a percentage of snaps and a high percentage of carries is not a good sign for Etienne’s fantasy value.
• This is already a significant increase from the first preseason game when Bigsby played only one snap with the starters,
• His playing time is at 36% now, but rookie running backs tend to gain more playing time as the season progresses. We could reach a point where Bigsby is leading the team in carries.
• Etienne is still the favorite to score the most fantasy points out of the Jaguars’ backfield, but he has the 11th-highest ADP for a running back, according to FantasyPros, compared to 49th by Bigsby. They should be getting drafted closer together.

Jacksonville’s wide receiver rotation becomes a little more clear: Zay Jones will likely see more offensive snaps than Christian Kirk, but it won’t be a significant difference in pass routes.

• The Jaguars played their starters in the first preseason game, in which Jones took both snaps in 12 personnel instead of Kirk.
• Jacksonville used its starting offense more extensively in this game, giving us a better picture of how snaps outside of 11 personnel will be distributed.
• The Jaguars took nine snaps out of 12 personnel, with Jones and Kirk each seeing four snaps.
• Jones ended up with three more snaps because he played both snaps the Jaguars ran out of 13 personnel, and Kirk took one snap off out of 11 personnel with Jamal Agnew replacing him.
• Both Zay Jones and Tim Jones took nearly every snap out of 13 personnel last season, so this won’t be much of a change compared to last year. Plus, 13 personnel is typically a rushing formation, so it won’t matter much for fantasy football.
• This kind of usage still means fewer snaps out of 12 personnel for Kirk this year compared to last, but it’s not as significant as it could have been.

The Dolphins’ backfield remains unsettled: Miami has five halfbacks who could make the roster, and they could also sign a running back.

• Raheem Mostert started for the second straight preseason game with Jeff Wilson Jr. out. Mostert and Wilson split snaps when they were both healthy last season.
• Myles Gaskin had appeared to be ahead of Salvon Ahmed on the depth chart, but Gaskin missed last week’s preseason game and Ahmed saw his first offensive snaps before Gaskin in this game.
• Ahmed also broke a 42-yard run in this game.
• Miami spent a third-round draft pick on De’Von Achane, who was consistently fifth on the depth chart when healthy in the preseason. Although he is injured, he’s assured a spot on the roster, given the draft capital spent on him.
• Miami has been among the front runners in a potential trade for Jonathan Taylor, which would leave one less spot open on the roster.
• We will see at least one of these five players off the roster in the next few days, if not two.

Miscellaneous Notes

• The Dolphins announced ahead of the game that quarterback Mike White, running backs Jeff Wilson Jr. and De’Von Achane, wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Braylon Sanders and tight end Eric Saubert would not play in this game, presumably all for injury reasons.
• Tyreek Hill played the first three snaps before being pulled.
• Braxton Berrios has played 100% of snaps in 11 personnel in the first quarter this preseason. He is very likely the third wide receiver for Miami, with Robbie Chosen as the primary backup to both Hill and Waddle.
• Second-round rookie Brenton Strange is clearly third on the depth chart currently, but he did receive one snap with the starters in 11 personnel, which is a sign his role could expand rather than his only playing in two- or three-tight end sets.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.