Dolphins 2022 Week 17 Snap Count Observations
What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 23-21 loss against the New England Patriots Stadium on New Year's Day.
-- As a reminder, the inactives were QB Tua Tagovailoa, LB Bradley Chubb, WR Erik Ezukanma, CB Xavien Howard, T Terron Armstead, T Eric Fisher and TE Tanner Conner. Ezukanma and Conner were the only two of the group not on the final injury report of the week.
-- Every player who was active saw action in the game, including practice squad elevations LB Brennan Scarlett and DT Josiah Bronson.
-- Six position players saw their only action on special teams: FS Justin Bethel, LB Sam Eguavoen, LB Brennan Scarlett, LB Channing Tindall, C Michael Deiter and G Robert Jones. Deiter remains the only position player on the roster who has yet to play a non-special teams snap this season despite being active every game.
DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS
-- For the first time in five games, the Dolphins offense had more snaps than the opponent, with a 71-60 margin over the Patriots.
-- QB Teddy Bridgewater played 44 of those 71 snaps before leaving the game with a finger injury following the pick-six that gave New England the lead for good in the third quarter. That ended up being his second-highest snap count, behind the 54 snaps he played against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6.
-- After replacing Bridgewater, Skylar Thompson played 27 snaps, also his second-highest total of the season. He played 66 snaps against the New York Jets in Week 5 after replacing Bridgewater following the Dolphins' first offensive snap of the game.
-- After playing only 12 snaps each of the previous two games, Mike Gesicki saw a little bit more action against New England with a total of 30 snaps. That was his highest total since the Houston game in Week 12 when he played 41 snaps, but it remained Durham Smythe with the highest snap count among tight ends with 42.
-- With fullback Alec Ingold limited to 11 snaps, likely because of his injured thumb, the Dolphins used Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. together in the backfield at times. Wilson ended up getting more of the work at running back with 46 snaps, compared to 30 for Mostert.
-- Finally at wide receiver, it was more of the same with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle dominating the snaps (as they should) and offseason acquisition Cedrick Wilson Jr. playing only 11 snaps on offense, six fewer than River Cracraft.
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DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS
-- Nobody played every defensive snap for the Dolphins, though cornerbacks Kader Kohou and Keion Crossen (who got the assignment to start in place of the injured Xavien Howard) played all but one of the 60.
-- 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene was back in the lineup after being inactive against Green Bay and played 30 snaps as the third corner. It was the fifth time this season he's played 30 or more snaps. He's also been inactive seven times.
-- Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler again had their usual heavy work load on the defensive line with 54 snaps each, but Raekwon Davis got more work than usual with 41 snaps. The 68 percent figure represented his highest share of defensive snaps since the Week 6 game against Minnesota.
-- At outside linebacker, the absence of Bradley Chubb created more of an opportunity for Andrew Van Ginkel, who played a season-high 38 snaps on defense. His previous high was 33 the previous week against Green Bay.
-- Veteran Melvin Ingram played 28 snaps on defense, the fifth consecutive game he's been under 50 percent of the defensive snaps.
-- At linebacker, Jerome Baker's 49 snaps represented his lowest total since that Week 12 victory against Houston.
-- As always, we close with the special teams, where Justin Bethel and Clayton Fejedelem as usual tied for the highest snap count with 23 followed by 19 for Duke Riley and Van Ginkel. The highest special teams snap count for an offensive player again went to Smythe with 14, followed by wide receiver Trent Sherfield with nine to go along with his 42 snaps on offense.
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