IDP Snap Counts: Week 12
The end of the season really is creeping up on us. Hopefully you’re sitting here secure in a playoff spot, but some leagues are already over for non-post season teams. Sobering isn’t it?
Arizona Cardinals
The Cards finally had their bye week. They needed one to get a bit of a rest after laying so many snaps.
Atlanta Falcons
Takk McKinley (13) was very much limited by injury for this game. It seemed that the Falcons used more four-man fronts to compensate with Allen Bailey playing 43 snaps. Vic Beasley (31) had no injury excuse. He’s just not very good.
Baltimore Ravens
LB continues to be a mess on this team. Patrick Onwuasor (21), Josh Bynes (21) and L.J. Fort (eight) all played. Admittedly it was a blow-out, but these guys are all just unstartable right now. Onwuasor has averaged 20 snaps per game in the four weeks since he returned from injury. That’s right, 20.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills played just 50 snaps against the woeful Broncos offense.
There were no surprises within those limited snaps. The Bills are a settled and effective (if unspectacular) defense.
Carolina Panthers
Former third-round pick Rashaan Gaulden was cut after a special teams foul-up this week. He’d played just 19 defensive snaps this season. And 18 of them were in week one.
Brian Burns (22) had his first sack since week six. It’s really hard to be a productive pass rusher playing this little. He’s seen just 49 snaps in his past three games combined.
Chicago Bears
Fill-in Nick Kwiatkoski (57) played all but three snaps. This is noteworthy as in the past two games he’d been a part-time player filling in for the injured Danny Trevathan.
Khalil Mack (52) managed a long-overdue sack. He and Leonard Floyd (52) now have a combined three sacks in their past 837 snaps (over seven games) as a duo. That is terrible production.
Cincinnati Bengals
Rookie LB Germaine Pratt (46) is still not a full-time player. The reason for this is he’s been awful. Coverage was a strength of his on college, but he’s been abused in the NFL. He looks more than a step away at all times. Nick Vigil (70) is the only LB you can trust here.
Cleveland Browns
With Morgan Burnett on IR eyes were on the safety position. Juston Burris (63) played every single snap with Damarious Randall (56) just behind. Rookie Sheldrick Redwine (25) saw limited action. This column thought Redwine was going to be the guy. That was wrong. Trade him in for Burris.
Fellow rookie Sione Takitaki managed 15 snaps this week at LB. That’s not much, but it was his biggest game yet. He’s seen 32 snaps over the past three weeks now.
At DE there was a bit of a crisis with Myles Garrett suspended and Olivier Vernon not ready to return. Chad Thomas (43) played the most with Bryan Cox (32) trading in particle physics for pass-rushing physics. Chris Smith saw just 16 snaps. Although Thomas did not manage a sack, he had more pressures (four) than in the two combined games before this when he had a sack each time.
Dallas Cowboys
The Patriots manipulated the Cowboys defense and forced them to play a nickel DB more than they normally do. Jourdan Lewis (55) had been averaging just 36 snaps per game as the starting nickel before this game.
With Leighton Vander Esch out hurt Sean Lee played just 48 (of 70) snaps with Joe Thomas (32) also involved. Lee is a tough start at this stage even with LVE out.
Jeff Heath returned at safety and walked back into 69 snaps. Darian Thompson (one) lost his place emphatically. Heath is still not very good.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos played 80 defensive snaps this week. They couldn’t hold the ball and the Bills controlled it by rushing 47 times.
Alexander Johnson (66) and Todd Davis (76) clocked up 19 solos and nine assists between them as a direct result. Mostly coverage snaps equate best to tackles for LBs but this was a special case.
Detroit Lions
Rashaan Melvin missed the game at corner so Justin Coleman (60) played every snaps alongside Darius Slay (60) with rookie Amani Oruwariye (45) getting his first serious action.
DE Trey Flowers missed the game so Romeo Okwara (56) was the top end. Austin Bryant (16) quietly saw his first action of the season.
Amazingly Miles Killebrew saw the field as a defender. He played 16 snaps.
Green Bay Packers
Against the ball-control 49ers the Pack saw just 48 snaps – comfortably their lowest of the season (they had averaged 67 per game before this).
Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith (both 40) somehow managed to rack up three combined sacks anyway. They’ve been spectacular.
Houston Texans
Vernon Hargreaves (55) played mostly in the slot on his Texans debut with Johnathan Joseph (66) and Gareon Conley (55) outside. Hargreaves has been a good IDP over the years, but he’s a poor start for now.
Safety Justin Reid missed this game. Tashaun Gipson and Jahleel Addae (both 67) played instead.
Indianapolis Colts
Safety settled down a bit. Malik Hooker (59) led in playing time at free safety. Clayton Geathers (45) was way ahead of George Odum (14) and Khari Willis (eight). It’s still tough to start any of them.
Pierre Desir returned from injury and walked into 59 CB snaps. Rock Ya-Sin admittedly missed the game.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Against the historic Titans the Jags spent most of the day in base defense. Quincy Williams (53), Myles Jack (46) and Leon Jacobs (38) all played heavy snaps, while slot DB D.J. Hayden saw just 15 snaps.
Box safety Ronnie Harrison was concussed fairly early and saw just 11 snaps. Andrew Wingard (42) stepped up in his absence.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs enjoyed their bye week. Mmmmmm barbecue.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers had their bye this week. So, no teasing us with LB usage for once.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are awful at the moment. It’s a great example of how quickly fortunes change in the NFL. We should all remember this in the off-season when we can’t imagine the Ravens or Saints or some other team who shows up in January not being great in 2020.
Lots of Rams played a crazy amount this week which helps explain the production. Lineman Michael Brockers (71), All-Pro Aaron Donald (63), star LB Cory Littleton (78). And safeties Eric Weddle (78) and Taylor Rapp (71) were especially productive. Needless to say, the fact that they are playing so much on defense is not a good sign for the team.
Marqui Christian (47) is still the team’s de facto second LB, but he managed just a single solo and an assist – another example of the fact that being a “starter” does not always bring IDP value.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have now used 35 players this season on defense. Their division-rival Bills have used just 24.
They’ve played over 70 defensive snaps in five straight games and hit that mark in eight-of-eleven games this year. They play a lot of defense.
Nik Needham (68) seems to have established himself as the Dolphins’ top corner. Amazing, eh?
The LB rotation has now settled down, too. Jerome Baker (76) remains the top option, but he’s quietly been as bad as the rest of this team. His future is not assured on this form. Raekwon McMillan (69) played nearly a full game with Sam Eguavoen (nine) an afterthought. If Eguavoen was hurt, they kept it quiet. Vince Biegel (67) is the third player involved although he’s really a pass rusher. Remember: the Dolphins use a system just like the Patriots where there’s normally an OLB.
Steven Parker (69) is the lone fit safety on this team, which meant he had to play alongside Eric Rowe (59) who’s still filling in back there. Parker could be an interesting emergency option for the rest of the season.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings have enjoyed a week off from football. They’re just sitting around blowing on their horn.
New England Patriots
CB Jason McCourty missed this game meaning the Pats actually used an orthodox three-man system. Stephon Gilmore (64) led the way with Jonathan Jones(39) and JC Jackson (48) alongside him.
The Patriots showed their flexibility by rolling out more three-safety looks. Devin McCourty (64), Patrick Chung (55) and Duron Harmon (45): the classic look.
Edge Chase Winovich was back to limited snaps – just 11 this week after his big 30 last week.
New Orleans Saints
DE Marcus Davenport (47) was back to high-volume. Lots of people panicked after he saw just 23 last week, but that was due to the Buccaneers funky personnel. This week Davenport was again back out ahead of Trey Hendrickson (19) as befits their relative talent and production.
Demario Davis (76) remains the top LB by a long way. A.J. Klein (43) and Kiko Alonso (47) are afterthoughts and not very rosterable as IDPs.
New York Jets
The Jets played just 59 defensive snaps in their dismantling of the Raiders.
Neville Hewitt (58) and James Burgess (59) are clearly the LBs for now, with CJ Mosely poised to return.
New York Giants
Th Giants may have finally noticed that Deandre Baker(48) is terrible. He’d averaged 68 snaps this season (excluding his week one debut). Other teams certainly have. He’s given up a passer rating of over 144 in his coverage so far.
There is still just one inside LB job worth taking advantage of here. Alec Ogletree (76) owns it with Deone Bucannon (27) and David Mayo (37) sharing the other spot.
Oakland Raiders
Maxx Crosby (53) continues to impress. He now has six sacks in is past three games. Despite this he’s still a conundrum. He’s played really poorly at times (nine pressures in his first six games), but really well at others. He’s definitely an interesting player, but he’s nowhere near the elite player some will have you believe based on just his recent sacks numbers. Regardless it seems clear that he and Clelin Ferrell (50) are the Raiders’ starting DEs until otherwise informed.
Philadelphia Eagles
LB Nigel Bradham (65) finally returned this week after missing four straight games. Nate Gerry (35) was turned into a part-time player as a result. No Eagles LB has been a good choice for much of this season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Rookie LB Devin Bush has now played 126-of-206 snaps in the past three games. This week he saw just 36-of-58. For whatever reason, it seems clear the Steelers do not currently see him as a full-time player. It will hurt, but you may have to bench him for now.
By the way Mark Barron (55) has played 174 snaps in the same period.
Seattle Seahawks
Mychal Kendricks had a very productive day with double-digit tackles, but it’s worth noting that he continues to be the third LB on this team. Bobby Wagner (76) and K.J. Wright (74) play much more than Kendricks (51) does. Wagner and Wright have played 211 and 167 more snaps than him over the season. That’s about three or four games at Kendricks’ pace.
Ziggy Ansah (37) had a big game too. He does that sometimes, but he’s just not reliable. He’s played over 600 snaps just twice in his career and not since 2015. In fact, he’s played fewer than 3,500 total snaps in total
San Francisco 49ers
The Niners actually played their highest defensive total of the year with 80 this week.
DE Dee Ford missed the game which meant Nick Bosa (54), Arik Armstead (50) and even Solomon Thomas (42) all played among their heaviest workloads of the season. Bosa and Armstead caused havoc as a result. Not Thomas of course – he’s a giant bust.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs saw a huge 87 snaps this week.
With Vernon Hargreaves gone and M.J. Stewart out injured Jamel Dean came back in to play 69 snaps at corner. Carlton Davis played a whopping 87.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans also had a huge day. They played 86 defensive snaps.
LB Jayon Brown played 84 and had his best game of the season.
Edge rusher Harold Landry (71) got to the QB and now has a sack in four straight games. He’s progressed significantly since his underwhelming rookie season.
Lineman Jurrell Casey (49) returned from injury. Although everyone thinks he’s underrated he’s going to be 30 in a couple of weeks and frankly looks like he’s slowing down a little. This is a good opportunity to sell him on name value.
Washington Redskins
They actually won a game! Unconvincingly it has to be said.
With overrated big-name corner Josh Norman out Jimmy Moreland (53) stepped in.
Matt Ioannidis (61) has recorded a sack in six of his last nine games. He’s also managed 28 solo tackles in that period. He’s a good player.
Good luck in what is likely to be the final game of your league’s regular season. To the play-offs . . . and beyond.
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