Dolphins 2023 Week 5 Snap Count Observations

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 31-16 victory against the New York Giants at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

-- As a reminder, the inactives were LB Jaelan Phillips (oblique), CB Kelvin Joseph, RB Salvon Ahmed, newcomer Chase Claypool and DT Brandon Pili, with Skylar Thompson again serving as the third (emergency) quarterback in the event both Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White had gotten injured.

-- There were two players who were active but did not play: White and T Kion Smith.

-- Nine position players saw their only action on special teams: LB Channing Tindall, G Lester Cotton, rookie CB Cam Smith, DB Elijah Campbell, LB Duke Riley, S Brandon Jones, CB Parry Nickerson, TE Tyler Kroft, and LB Chase Winovich, who was brought up with his third practice squad elevation of the season Saturday.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- Despite the convincing victory, the Dolphins offense ended up a lot fewer offensive plays than the Giants, 72-54.

-- What really stands out on offense is the fact that Tyreek Hill, despite having yet another monster game (8-181-1), played only 25 snaps on offense as he appeared to deal with a minor leg issue.

-- Also at wide receiver, it was interesting to note that Cedrick Wilson Jr. got the second-most snaps with 29, behind Jaylen Waddle's 44. Wilson had become a forgotten man on offense and almost appeared destined to fall further after the acquisition of Claypool in the trade with the Bears on Friday.

-- As it is, it could end up being Robbie Chosen who becomes a non-factor; he played only 10 snaps against the Giants despite Hill's limited work.

-- While Raheem Mostert (32) and De'Von Achane (26) got similar snap counts at running back, maybe the significant development Sunday — at least from a symbolic perspective — is that Achane officially made his first NFL start, as the team opened on offense with both on the field. Achane became the first rookie to start a game at running back for the Dolphins since Ahmed in 2020.

-- One last thing at running back, rookie Chris Brooks got some snaps on offense for the second time this year but the first legitimate snaps because the other occasion was in garbage time against Denver. In this one, Brooks played seven snaps and took on a blocking role while Alec Ingold appeared to be dealing with some kind of physical issue.

-- At tight end, Durham Smythe again dominated the snaps, but it was noteworthy that rookie free agent Julian Hill was used on offense ahead of the veteran Kroft.

-- Finally, on the offensive line, Liam Eichenberg got one snap at left guard while Isaiah Wynn exited the game with a neck injury before he returned.

DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- The Dolphins didn't do a ton of substituting on defense in this game, with five players lining up for all 72 snaps and two more playing 90 percent or more of the snaps.

-- Among those who played every snap were safety DeShon Elliott, who was back after missing the Buffalo game because of a groin injury; and linebacker Jerome Baker, who had played 75-76 percent of the snaps in Weeks 3-4 after playing every snap the first two games.

-- Also playing every snap were S Jevon Holland, and CB Kader Kohou and Xavien Howard.

-- Eli Apple resumed his role as the lead outside cornerback opposite Howard in nickel alignments and played 66 snaps. Apple had been replaced for a couple of games by veteran Justin Bethel, who played only six snaps on defense against the Giants.

-- The Dolphins opened in a traditional 3-4 look with Zach Sieler, Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis up front, though they ended up with more nickel snaps (2-4-5).

-- Besides the 11 players in that 2-4-5 defense (everybody mentioned so far plus David Long Jr., Bradley Chubb and Andrew Van Ginkel) and Davis, the only two players on defense to get more than Bethel's six snaps were LB Emmanuel Ogbah (27) and DT Da'Shawn Hand (26).

-- With Elliott back in the lineup, Brandon Jones went from starting and playing every snap against Buffalo to playing only special teams against the Giants.

-- And those wanting to see Cam Smith on defense were left having to wait at least another week.

-- We close with the special teams, where Riley and Elijah Campbell led the way in snaps with 21 followed by Brandon Jones with 19. The offensive player with the most special teams snaps again was Smythe with 12, followed by Brooks with 10.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Check out our daily podcast (All Dolphins Podcast) on YouTube and also available wherever you get your audio podcasts under Miami Dolphins Insider on the Fans First Sports Network. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.