IDP Snap Counts: Week Three
This was a frantic week of action on the defensive side. Let’s get straight to it.
Arizona Cardinals
Haason Reddick managed just four defensive snaps this week compared to Josh Bynes (74) and Gerald Hodges (58). Reddick could turn it around with a change of team but at the moment, he’s not close to being startable.
Atlanta Falcons
Takkarist McKinley missed this week with an injury. In his absence, Vic Beasley played 65 snaps which is his highest total of the year and Brooks Reed was the other main starter with 62 snaps.
At safety, Ricardo Allen was hurt and will miss the entire season. Damontae Kazee and Jordan Richards are now the starting pair. Richards should be the box player going forwards.
Baltimore Ravens
With C.J. Mosley out injured, Kenny Young (44) got to play alongside Patrick Onwuasor (36) again. Young had a big day on the stat sheet, which was mostly the result of him being far easier to target than Onwuasor.
[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]
Buffalo Bills
At cornerback, the Bills are in a bit of a pickle following Vontae Davis’ sudden retirement and Phillip Gaines’ injury. As a result, rookies Ryan Lewis (54) and Taron Johnson (45) both played in this game. They’re both likely to see significant targets going forward if they’re on the field. The Vikings threw at them 17 times last week.
Carolina Panthers
Donte Jackson returned at corner and goes straight back to being an excellent starting option. He was thrown at eight times in his 61 snaps last week.
At safety, with Da’Norris Searcy done for the year, Colin Jones (43) got the nod over rookie Rashaan Gaulden (22).
Chicago Bears
Roquan Smith was up to 41 of 50 snaps this week. As a result, Nick Kwiatkoski is back to irrelevance. He didn’t play on defense this week.
Prince Amukamara took a knock this week and could miss time. Kevin Toliver stepped up to play in his absence.
Cincinnati Bengals
Carl Lawson picked up an injury and was restricted to just 20 snaps at end. Jordan Willis (48) has now played 97 snaps in the last two games combined. He’s still only the fourth-choice end when everyone is healthy though.
Cleveland Browns
Jamie Collins played 61 of 63 snaps in the win over the Jets. Also noteworthy was how much he played inside. This is excellent news for him. At least until Christian Kirksey returns.
Larry Ogunjobi continues to be a monster at tackle. He leads the position with 197 snaps – 17 more than anyone else.
Dallas Cowboys
Just as Kavon Frazier was looking like a great option, he got hurt in this game and played just 19 snaps. Xavier Woods came in to replace him and played 64 snaps – mostly deep. As a result, Jeff Heath (55) moved to the strong safety spot.
Linebacker Sean Lee got hurt too (no surprise there) and Leighton Vander Esch came in to play the biggest game of his young career from just 33 snaps.
Denver Broncos
There were no significant changes this week for the Broncos. The biggest change week-on-week was Brandon Marshall only managing 33 snaps with Josey Jewell picking up the slack and reaching 38.
Detroit Lions
The Lions only played 48 defensive snaps with the Patriots struggling to sustain drives. Romeo Okwara started at end in the absence of several players and managed 40 snaps.
At linebacker, this was classic Matt Patricia. He used one middle linebacker (Jarrad Davis who played every snap), one edge backer (Devon Kennard who also played all 48 snaps) and a part-time second inside player who was Christian Jones (just 24 snaps). Kennard is really the only player to use here in most leagues.
Green Bay Packers
Rookie linebacker Oren Burks made his debut in this game but played just eight snaps. Antonio Morrison managed 23. This should flip sooner rather than later but it looks unlikely Burks will be a full-time player any time soon. The Packers just don’t tend to use two linebackers on every down.
Houston Texans
Kareem Jackson moved back to safety this week after filling in at corner in week two. Shareece Wright came in to play corner as a result with 40 snaps. Johnathan Joseph and Shareece Wright is a singularly unexciting pair of boundary corners. Justin Reid was dropped from starter status to just 21 snaps.
Jadeveon Clowney returned on the edge to play 54 snaps. As a result, Whitney Mercilus managed just 41.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts played a heavy 82 snaps this week which inflated several players’ stats.
Darius Leonard played every single one and continues to look like a star. Next to him, Anthony Walker (73) has well and truly won the job over Skai Moore who did not play on defense.
Margus Hunt (69) is playing full-time tackle at the moment with Denico Autry hurt. He’s still being extremely effective though and is a good streaming option.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars suffered a very rare defensive injury this week with D.J. Hayden missing the game. In his absence, Tyler Patmon played 34 snaps in the slot.
Dante Fowler (18) was out-snapped by Taven Bryan (19) at end. Not a big difference, but Fowler has just 37 total snaps this season. He should not be started.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have been good. But also lucky. They’ve had no defensive injuries and enjoyed the luxury of using exactly the same personnel every game so far on the defensive side.
The sole change this week was Reggie Ragland (49) playing more than Terrance Smith (16). They were flipped around last week. Smith is the better coverage player. This is a game-planning thing. Ragland better in the running game.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers brought a bit more clarity to the LB situation this week. Denzel Perryman (59) and Kyzir White (60) played the majority of time with Jatavis Brown (19), Uchenna Nwosu (19) and Adrian Phillips (16) all reduced to smaller roles.
Amazingly, Derwin James and Jahleel Addae again switched with James playing deep and Addae in the box. They’ve done this the last two weeks now.
Los Angeles Rams
Corners Aqib Talib (35) and Marcus Peters (15) both picked up injuries this week. That leaves Sam Shields (37) and Troy Hill (nine) as the starters elect on the boundary. That is a potential major weakness for one of the best defenses in the league.
Miami Dolphins
I was at this game and it was clear that when DE William Hayes went down hurt he had a serious injury. Sadly, he’ll miss the whole season. This should give a small boost to the other ends on the roster.
Defensive tackle Akeem Spence was ejected from the game which led to Jordan Phillips (46), Davon Godchaux (52) and Vincent Taylor (43) all playing more than usual.
With Reshad Jones missing the game through injury, Minkah Fitzpatrick (74) moved from the slot to safety with Torry McTyer coming in to play corner.
Minnesota Vikings
Cornerback Trae Waynes was injured in this game and played just 16 snaps. In his absence, Mackensie Alexander (39) and Mike Hughes (53) played more.
At end, Everson Griffen missed the game through injury. He also had some sort of off-field incident too which could lead to further missed time. Tashawn Bowser (22) and Stephen Weatherley (51) picked up the slack.
New England Patriots
With Patrick Chung out hurt, the Pats changed their normal habits quite a bit. Normal being a tough word to define for a team that changes gameplan weekly.
Duron Harmon played 71 snaps whereas he normally only plays in passing situations. But there was no third safety. Instead, the Pats gave a plethora of fringe corners extra playing time. J.C. Jackson (13), Cyrus Jones (seven) and Keion Crossen (one) all got on the field in addition to Stephon Gilmore (71), Jonathan Jones (56) and Jason McCourty (62).
The Pats are also using linebackers at defensive end a lot. In this game both Kyle Van Noy (64) and Dont’a Hightower (63) spent time lined up as true edge players in a 4-3 front. We’ll have to wait and see if this persists or drops when Trey Flowers is healthy again. Needless to say, it is bad for IDP value.
New Orleans Saints
In the first two games of this season, the Saints rotated their LBs a lot. In this game, A.J. Klein and Demario Davis played all 68 snaps with Alex Anzalone next best on just 13.
At safety, Kurt Coleman managed just 22 snaps. He’s played fewer every week since a relatively heavy week one. Vonn Bell correspondingly played 54 snaps. He’s added playing time every week so far.
New York Jets
The only significant change this week for the Jets was Buster Skrine only managing 15 snaps. In his absence, Parry Nickerson stepped up to play 42.
New York Giants
Eli Apple was out for this game, so Donte Deayon stepped up to play 45 snaps.
Linebacker B.J. Goodson played just 27 snaps with Ray-Ray Armstrong lining up 41 times. It’s time to accept Goodson is never going to be what people wanted him to be.
Oakland Raiders
The Raiders lined up for just 44 defensive snaps against Miami so many of them had especially poor weeks.
The biggest shock was Derrick Johnson managing just 14 snaps. As a comparison, Tahir Whitehead played all 44 and Marquel Lee 28. If Johnson was hurt, then it was not apparent in the stadium. He’s simply got a bad case of old.
Philadelphia Eagles
Linebackers Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nathan Gerry combined for just nine snaps this week. They’re both droppable.
At DE, this was the perfect rotation. Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett, Derek Barnett, and Chris Long all played between 34 and 38 snaps. This is terrible news for IDP owners but it’s fun to watch.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have used their safeties differently in all three of their games so far. This week Morgan Burnett missed out entirely and Terrell Edmunds played another full load of 74 snaps. He’s played 180 total snaps now which remarkably is only third among rookie safeties.
Seattle Seahawks
Bobby Wagner returned at linebacker for the Seahawks. He played six snaps, which was a huge boost. Mychal Kendricks managed 38 snaps next to him which was well ahead of Austin Calitro (nine) and Shaquem Griffen (relegated to special teams only).
Frank Clark is playing significantly more than the other ends. Clark lined up 47 times this week. Second-best was Rasheem Green on just 30. Clark has a sack in each of his first three games now.
San Francisco 49ers
All the talk last week was whether Fred Warner had done enough to win a full-time role with Reuben Foster and Malcolm Smith back. He had.
Warner lined up for 76 snaps with Foster on 75. Smith was way back on 34. Foster and Warner have the makings of another classic LB partnership.
With injuries at safety (standard for the 49ers these days), Jimmie Ward (71) and Antone Exum (76) were the full-time players.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brent Grimes returned at corner to line up 66 times. It was his first action of the year. Rookies Carlton Davis (63) and M.J. Stewart (43) continue to play heavily though.
At safety, Chris Conte had a disaster trying to tackle Vance McDonald and only managed 11 snaps. Rookie Jordan Whitehead covered with 55 snaps.
Tennessee Titans
Rookie LB Rashaan Evans made his proper debut with 18 snaps. He basically took over for William Compton who sat this one out. Jayon Brown (38) maintained his specialist cover-backer job.
At corner, Adoree’ Jackson missed some time and was spelled by LeShaun Sims. This group of corners has been a big let-down so far.
Washington Redskins
Defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne managed to play 65 and 64 naps respectively this week. As always, this is a poor scheme for lineman stats but if they can play volume like that there could be some good days ahead.
Sadly, Matthew Ioannidis was restricted to just 18 snaps after playing lights out and recording a sack in each of the first two games.
That’s it for this week’s whistle-stop tour of defense in the NFL. As always, your advantage is following playing time and not box scores.
Good luck everyone!
[/am4show]
- Ten IDP Fantasy Football Stats You Need to Know after Week 16 - December 29, 2023
- Ten IDP Fantasy Football Stats You Need to Know after Week 15 - December 22, 2023
- Ten IDP Fantasy Football Stats You Need to Know after Week 14 - December 14, 2023
