AFC IDP Snap Counts: Week One

Tom Kislingbury

Week one is always a key time for IDP moves as we suddenly see what teams are planning. In 2020, with no preseason, it’s even more important.

The smart way to approach waivers this week is to ignore box scores, sacks and stats and look at playing time, because snaps are more predictive than anything else.

Here’s a breakdown of the personnel every defense in the AFC used in week one.

READ: NFC IDP Snap Counts

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens have a stacked line this year. Calais Campbell (45), Derek Wolfe (52), Brandon Williams (35), Jihad Ward (31), Justin Ellis (21) and Broderick Washington (28) all saw significant time.

The edge players were Matt Judon (43), Tyus Bowser (40), Pernell McPhee (27) and Jaylon Ferguson (23). Bowser playing that much is a surprise.

As expected, the Ravens look like they’re only going to use one full-time LB. Patrick Queen (54) is the guy to own with LJ Fort (24), Malik Harrison (22) and Chris Board (10) all limited.

Marcus Peters (71) and Marlon Humphrey (69) were the top corners. Jimmy Smith (24) was a wildcard and Tavon Young (36) manned the slot.

Chuck Clark (73) and DeShon Elliott (72) were the top safeties. Clark played significantly more in the box (as he did last year) and is the IDP priority.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills appeared to rotate some players in after this game was won early on. As a result, several big names only played a limited amount of the 56 snaps.

Ed Oliver (35) and Quinton Jefferson (35) were the notable DTs on the Bills (although Jefferson spent some time on the edge too). Jerry Hughes (38), Mario Addison (35), Trent Murphy (25) and Darryl Johnson (17) all played DE.

Tremaine Edmunds (36) and Matt Milano (21) both spent time out of the game with AJ Klein (35) getting snaps.

Tre’Davious White (44), Taron Johnson (48) and Levi Wallace (56) are the top corners.

Jordan Poyer (56) and Micah Hyde (55) both played the whole game at safety.

Cincinnati Bengals

DT was manned by DJ Reader (50), Christian Covington (38) and Mike Daniels (37).

DE was Sam Hubbard (58), Carlos Dunlap (52) and Carl Lawson (43). It was lovely to Lawson with a sack.

Germaine Pratt (54) and Josh Bynes (53) led the team in LB snaps – but both missed around 20 snaps. This is a situation to avoid for now. Rookies Logan Wilson (22) and Akeem Davis-Gaither (20) stole playing time from them.

William Jackson (73) and Darius Phillips (71) were the top corners with Mackensie Alexander the third man.

As expected, Vonn Bell (74) played strong safety with Jessie Bates (73) deep.

Cleveland Browns

Sheldon Richardson (36) and Larry Ogunjobi (32) were the top DTs with rookie Jordan Elliott (26) impressing too.

Myles Garrett (48) and Olivier Vernon (42) are top ends with Adrian Clayborn (32) the next option.

After lots of speculation, Sione Takitaki (54) and BJ Goodson (49) won the main LB jobs. Malcolm Smith (19), Jacob Phillips (12) and Tae Davis (10) also saw some time.

Denzel Ward (59) was partnered at corner by Terrance Mitchell with Greedy Williams out. Tavierre Thomas (28) is the slot DB. Don’t be taken in by his rogue sack.

Karl Joseph (59) and Andrew Sendejo (59) are the safeties. Ronnie Harrison (2) barely played.

Denver Broncos

This was supposed to be the year Vic Fangio’s defense really took off. Let’s see if he can make that happen after not stopping the Titans in week one.

The interior line saw four players used significantly. Jurell Casey (57) led the way on his Denver debut. Shelby Harris (45), Mike Purcell (41) and Dre’Mont Jones (38) were all out there too.

On the edge, Bradley Chubb (59) was partnered by Jeremiah Attaochu (60) with Malik Reed (33) spelling them.

AJ Johnson (81) is the top LB but the question was “who would join him?”. The answer was Josey Jewell (79).

Bryce Callahan (80) was the top corner AJ Bouye played just 28 snaps before getting hurt. Michael Ojemudia (64) stepped in as his replacement. Essang Bassey (45) manned the slot.

At safety, Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson (both 81) played every snap in their customary left/right alignment.

Houston Texans

The Texans used their usual four-man line. It tends to confuse people because the RDE (Whitney Mercilus) stands up.

Mercilus and JJ Watt were the starting ends. Brennan Scarlett (26) and Jacob Martin (17) gave them breathers.

Charles Omenihu played 44 snaps inside with Brandon Dunn (42) the starting nose.

At LB Zach Cunningham played all 69 snaps with Benardrick McKinney on just 56. He’s only an emergency start in most leagues.

Bradley Roby played every snap at corner. Vernon Hargreaves (44), Lonnie Johnson (29) and John Reid (29) did not get close.

Justin Reid (69) and Eric Murray (67) are the starting safeties but play mostly deep with AJ Moore (26) a part-time box safety.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts played just 50 snaps this week. So, productivity was a little odd.

DeForest Buckner (43) led DTs in spas ahead of nose tackle Grover Stewart (30).

On the edge, Justin Houston (34) is still The Man. Denico Autry (38) played the “big end” role and Al-Quadin Muhammad (23) was next in line.

Star LB Darius Leonard of course played all 50 snaps. Anthony Walker (43) maintained his typical share. Hot name Bobby Okereke (19) lagged way behind.

Rock Ya-Sin (46) and Xavier Rhodes (38) are the top outside corners with Kenny Moore (38) in the slot.

Malik Hooker and Khari Willis both played every safety snap. Willis is the box safety, Hooker the disappointing free safety.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On the other side of the field from the Colts were the Jags who played 74 defensive snaps.

Taven Bryan (57) led DTs in snaps. He’s not very good but he’ll likely be productive through pass rush volume. He rushed 41 times in this game. Abry Jones (30) is the top nose tackle with Davon Hamilton (26) behind.

On the edge we saw a four-way rotation. Josh Allen (46), K’Lavon Chaisson (46), Adam Gotsis (39) and Dawuane Smoot (33) all played significant snaps. They combined for just four pressures though from 156 pass rushes. Yuck.

Myles Jack and Joe Schobert both played every snap (74). After last year’s horror-show hopefully the Jags can get back to good LB play in 2020.

Tre Herndon (73) led the team in CB snaps but the star was CJ Henderson (62). He managed three PDs and a pick on his debut – impressive stuff. DJ Hayden (62) is the slot corner.

Josh Jones (72) has won the strong safety job. Jarrod Wilson (63) played deep but he has been placed on IR.

Kansas City Chiefs

Chris Jones (52) had a great game at undertackle. He’s the only interior lineman on your radar here.

Frank Clark (53) and Tanoh Kpassagnon (49) started at DE with Michael Danna (29) and Alex Okafor (10) getting some snaps too. Although Okafor got to the QB, Kpassagnon is a batter start in week two.

Linebacker was just as messy as we thought it would be. You should not be starting any of these guys in most leagues. Ben Niemann (36) led the way but still missed 20 snaps. Anthony Hitchens (26), Damien Wilson (20) and Dorian O’Daniel (5) all played fewer than half the snaps. They are traps until they play more.

At corner, Charvarius Ward (31) was injured and unstartable until we see if he can play with a cast. Rashad Fenton (32) came in to replace him.

Rookie L’Jarius Snead (55) is the number two on the perimeter, with Antonio Hamilton (38) in the slot.

Of course, the top slot DB is still Tyrann Mathieu (59) who also played a bunch in the box and on the edge. Daniel Sorenson (57) played mostly in the box. Juan Thornhill (38) and Tedric Thompson (21) were mostly deep.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have telegraphed their unhappiness with DT Maurice Hurst all off-season. And so, it came to pass. He played just 20 snaps with Maliek Collins (47) well ahead of him as well as nose Johnathan Hankins (39).

Clelin Ferrell (52) and Max Crosby (51) remain the top edge rushers with Arden Key (29) and Carl Nassib (20) keeping them fresh.

Thew new LBs were mixed. Cory Littleton (67) played every snap but Nick Kwiatkoski (22) got hurt. Raekwon MacMillan (6) was barely a factor. With Kwiatkoski off the field, Nicholas Morrow (46) played.

Trayvon Mullen (63) was the top corner with rookie Damon Arnette (48) missing some snaps and LaMarcus Joyner (60) reprising his slot role.

Johnathan Abram (67) and Erik Harris (65) played safety. Abram played more in the box than Harris, but it was still in the confines of Paul Guenther’s two-deep scheme. Abram is just not the banger people want him to be.

Los Angeles Chargers

Great news – there might be signs of life for Jerry Tillery (28). He was utterly dire as a rookie but forced three pressures in this game. He still played behind Justin Jones (42) and nose Linval Joseph (42) but it was progress.

At DE Joey Bosa (47) was predictably excellent with Melvin Ingram (54) impressive too. Uchenna Nwosu (16) and Isaac Rochell (19) both need work, so the starters need to stay healthy.

At LB we saw Gus Bradley put his faith in rookie Kenneth Murray (62) and Drue Tranquill (7). Tranquill was injured – hence the low snaps. With him out, Nick Vigil (58) stepped up. Denzel Perryman (12) and Kyzir White (7) saw limited time.

Casey Hayward (68) and Michael Davis (60) were the top outside corners with Chris Harris (68) manning the slot. Desmond King (41) played safety alongside Rayshawn Jenkins (68) with Nasir Adderley (27) getting some time in too. King is the man to own in Derwin James’ absence.

Miami Dolphins

On this evidence, it’s going to be at least another year before the Dolphins defense drags itself out of the “awful” category.

They rotated three DTs – Davon Godchaux (44), Christian Wilkins (43) and rookie Raekwon Davis (27). Wilkins is the one to own. He’s a LOT better than the others.

Emmanuel Ogbah (55) and Shaq Lawson (60) played more than expected at DE. Maybe it was the run-heavy Patriots offense.

Kyle Van Noy (41) is very much an edge player in this system too, with Andrew Van Ginkel (8) playing a similar role.

At conventional LB Jerome Baker (61) led the way. Elandon Roberts (40), Kamu Grugier-Hill (18) came in in certain packages.

The Dolphins use a lot of multiple-safety packages. Bobby McCain (58) is a deep, center-fielder. Brandon Jones (34) and Eric Rowe (54) are used further forward. Based on volume, Rowe is the better bet for now.

At corner we saw Xavien Howard play just 27 snaps which meant Noah Ighbinoghene (37) played mostly on the perimeter. Byron Jones (62) was on the other side. Jamal Perry (30) was the specialist slot corner for much of the game.

New England Patriots

The Patriots defense was much as it was in 2019. If it ain’t broke…

At DT Lawrence Guy (22), Adam Butler (34) and Byron Cowart (21) were all major factors.

On the edge John Simon (42) and Chase Winovich (42) led the way. Notably, Winovich’s role has expanded since 2019. Shilique Calhoun (33) Derek Rivers (20) and Deatrich Wise (24) were all rotational pieces.

The top LBs on the team were Ja’Whaun Bentley (51) and Adrian Phillips (43). Phillips is often called a safety – but he played 39 snaps in the box and just four deep.

Brandon Copeland (8) and Anfernee Jennings (9) are not IDP factors now.

The strength of this team is still the defensive backs.

Stephon Gilmore (59), Jonathan Jones (46) and JC Jackson (45) were the orthodox corners. Jones in the slot.

Joejuan Williams (27) mostly played in the slot. Jason McCourty (46) played in the box as well as some corner. Terrence Brooks (29) played plenty of box safety and Devin McCourty (62) played mostly deep.

With all that class, Kyle Dugger could only get on the field for 11 snaps.

New York Jets

The Jets played an enormous 87 defensive snaps. This is likely going to happen a fair bit to them in 2020. This is a bad team, but volume should translate into productivity.

At DT we saw Quinnen Williams (50) backed up by Folorunso Fatukasi and Steve McLendon (both 31).

The edge is a mess as it has been for so long on this team. Tarrell Basham (47), Kyle Phillips (41), Jordan Willis (35), Nathan Shepherd (34), Henry Anderson (32), Jordan Jenkins (31) and Frankie Luvu (21) all saw action. Some of them split time between true DE edge and OLB (which is why there are so many snaps here) but you’re best off avoiding the whole situation.

There was a surprise at inside LB. Blake Cashman saw just three snaps before getting hurt with Harvey Langi (83) stepping in. Neville Hewitt (87) owned the other spot.

Blessuan Auston and Brian Poole (both 86) played corner with Pierre Desir (35) and Nate Hairston sharing a job after injury.

We saw an interesting development at safety. Marcus Maye (87) played the strong safety role with Bradley McDougald (86) playing deep. This might change as McDougald acclimatizes to the team but it’s a major action point for IDP owners. You should be adding Maye if he is unowned.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The seasons change but the Steelers defensive line seems immutable. Stephon Tuitt (55) and Cameron Heyward (50) anchored the line as they usually do. Tyson Alualu (32) moved inside a bit more to replace the departed Javon Hargrave.

TJ Watt (57) and Bud Dupree (58) were the top edge players with Alex Highsmith (10) and Olasunkanmi Adeniyi (11) in relief.

LB was interesting. Devin Bush (68) played every snap which was great – he was not given that trust for much of 2019. But Vince Williams still only played 40 snaps. That’s just not really enough to feel confident in him as a startable IDP. He managed a sack this week which masked it but he’s a big worry.

The corners were Joe Haden (68), Steven Nelson (67) and Mike Hilton (42) in the slot.

At safety we saw Minkah Fitzpatrick (68) play deep just like 2019 with Terrell Edmunds (68) in the box. Edmunds is not a good NFL player but he’s the better bet for IDP purposes. Cameron Sutton (20) was the number three safety and is one to watch.

Tennessee Titans

Potential breakout Jeffery Simmons led the D-line with 45 snaps. DaQuan Jones (36), Matt Dickerson (21), Jack Crawford (13) and Isaiah Mack (11) all got on the field too.

The edges were manned by Harold Landry (57), Jadeveon Clowney (47) and Kamalei Correa (17). Vic Beasley missed the game and looks like a huge red flag.

Jayon Brown (57) led LBs with Rashaan Evans (13) ejected from the game early on for throwing a punch. Will Compton (26) and David Long (10) replaced him.

Malcolm Butler (56), Johnathan Joseph (44), Chris Jackson (35) and Kristian Fulton (24) played corner.

Safety was Kevin Byard and Kenny Vaccaro (both 59). They played equally in the box and deep.

tom kislingbury