Dolphins 2022 Week 8 Snap Count Observations

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 31-27 victory against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday.

-- As a reminder, the inactives were RB Myles Gaskin, WR Erik Ezukanma, QB Skylar Thompson, S Eric Rowe and WR River Cracraft. Cracraft, who was ruled out with a neck injury Saturday, was the only one kept out of the game because of health issues.

-- For the second consecutive game, the only player who was active but did not seen any action was quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

-- Four position players saw their only action on special teams: DB Elijah Campbell, LB Channing Tindall, T Greg Little and C Michael Deiter. Deiter is the only position player on the roster who has yet to play a non-special teams snap this season.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- After coming into the lineup for injured left guard Liam Eichenberg, second-year player Robert Jones played a season-high 15 snaps. He had played eight offensive snaps this season before that — three against New England and five against Buffalo.

-- Running back Salvon Ahmed, who was active ahead of Gaskin, got his first three snaps of the season on offense in his fifth game. He had one rushing attempt. Raheem Mostert again got the overwhelming majority of the snaps at running back with 44 to Chase Edmonds' 16. There's no reason to think that's going to change anytime soon — barring injury, of course.

-- Same story as usual at wide receiver, with Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill and Trent Sherfield dominating the snaps. It was interesting, however, that rookie free agent Braylon Sanders got the same number of snaps on offense (14) after being elevated from the practice squad as offseason acquisition Cedrick Wilson Jr. While he has dealt with some minor injuries, it's telling that Wilson hasn't played more than 16 snaps in any game since he played 28 and 22 in the first two weeks of the season.

-- Our tight end check reveals that Durham Smythe and Mike Gesicki each played 31 snaps after Smythe got the start. What was noteworthy at this position was Hunter Long getting 17 snaps after getting only four in the Sunday night game against Pittsburgh.

-- Fullback Alec Ingold played 27 snaps on offense — he scored his first touchdown for the Dolphins — marking the seventh time in eight games his snap count was in the 20s.

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DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- On defense, we have to start with the safety position and the very interesting decision to elevate rookie Verone McKinley III, put him in the starting lineup and have Rowe as a healthy inactive. CBS play-by-play man Andrew Catalon revealed during the broadcast that head coach Mike McDaniel indicated the decision to sit Rowe had to do with the fact he doesn't play special teams. Well, here's the thing: McKinley played 48 of the 60 defensive snaps in his first NFL start but he didn't play a single snap on special teams himself. So, essentially, this means the Dolphins chose McKinley over Rowe for this game because of defense, not special teams. It was a decision that was surprising to many, and that includes Rowe.

I’m just as shocked too…
— Eric Rowe (@TheEricRowe) October 30, 2022

-- Also in the secondary, Kader Kohou started opposite Xavien Howard after missing the past two games with an oblique and played 57 snaps. That should clear up any doubt about Kohou being the No. 2 Dolphins cornerback while Byron Jones remains out.

-- Like Kohou, Keion Crossen was back in the lineup after missing the Pittsburgh game with a knee injury and he played 14 snaps on defense, along with 15 on special teams.

-- After playing a full game against Pittsburgh, 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene was back to a secondary role in the secondary (pun intended). He played only 19 of the 60 defensive snaps.

-- Eichenberg's injury was the only one involving a Dolphins player reported in the press box, which makes it interesting to note that edge defender Melvin Ingram played a season-low 16 snaps against the Lions. His previous low was 24 against Minnesota in Week 6.

-- On the front seven, Jaelan Phillips set a season high in defensive snap percentage for a second consecutive game, going from 80 percent of the snaps against Pittsburgh to 82 against Detroit (49 of 60).

-- Emmanuel Ogbah played a season-low 32 snaps on defense, but it's possible he was on a snap count after missing the Pittsburgh game with a back injury.

-- We close with the special teams, where Justin Bethel and Duke Riley tied for highest snap count with 20 apiece, followed by Clayton Fejedelem and Sam Eguavoen with 19. Sherfield again led the offense for special teams snaps with 14.

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