Preseason Opener Snap Counts ... And What They Mean
The Miami Dolphins opened their 2021 preseason schedule with a 20-13 loss against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Saturday, but there clearly were many things more important than the score.
The game also provided a glimpse as to where each player stands in the pecking order based on the snap counts.
Here are the things that stood out in that regard:
-- The Dolphins announced before the game that the following 12 players were not expected to play and none of those did play: WR Albert Wilson, WR Will Fuller V, WR Allen Hurns, WR DeVante Parker, LB Jaelan Phillips, CB Byron Jones, CB Xavien Howard, S Brandon Jones, LB Vince Biegel, T Liam Eichenberg, TE Hunter Long and DE Emmanuel Ogbah. Howard, Byron Jones and Ogbah obviously were kept out of the game because of their experience plus their value to the team, while eight others have been dealing with some kind of injury issue. The one outlier here was Hurns, who did practice Thursday and clearly is fighting for a roster spot, leaving as a best guess the idea that he got injured in that Thursday practice.
-- Along with those 12, four others did not play: CB Jaytlin Askew, T Timon Parris, DT Jerome Johnson and G Durval Queiroz Neto. Queiroz did not practice Thursday, so his absence might have been injury-related and a game-time decision. For Askew, Parris and Johnson, not getting a snap against the Bears is not a good sign ahead of the roster cuts to 85 on Tuesday because they're unproven players sitting at or near the bottom of the depth chart.
-- Leading the way for team-high snaps were offensive lineman Adam Pankey and linebacker Duke Riley with 44 each, in Riley's case perhaps a bit of a surprise given his veteran status.
- The number that jumps out on offense, though, is 41, which was the number of snaps for Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley, the three 2020 draft picks on the offensive line. The other two starters up front against the Bears, Michael Deiter and Jesse Davis, played 33 and 23 of the team's 67 offensive snaps. This clearly is an indication the Dolphins are looking for their young offensive to quickly develop.
-- The quarterback snaps were almost evenly divided, which actually is pretty rare for any preseason game. Tua Tagovailoa and Jacoby Brissett each got 23 snaps, while Reid Sinnett played 21. In a normal preseason opener, the third-string quarterback gets the majority of the snaps, though this obviously is a different preseason with three games as opposed to the customary four. We shouldn't read anything into the snap counts at quarterback in terms of the big picture, though, because the depth chart is firmly established at this position.
-- The playing time was pretty evenly split at running back, though it was interesting to see Malcolm Brown get the start. Brown and Myles Gaskin each payed 16 snaps, while Ahmed got 12 snaps. It was Ahmed who easily was the most productive of the three, though the Bears' starting defense was done by the time he got in the game. The best takeaway here is that we can expect to see the Dolphins go running back by committee, even though we'd still anticipate Gaskin getting the most work.
-- With so many wide receivers sitting out, this represented a good opportunity for someone like Lynn Bowden Jr. to stand out and he did just that while getting 37 snaps. That easily was the highest number on the team, with Robert Foster second with 29 snaps.
-- Turning to the defense, Noah Igbinoghene got a heavy dose of action with Byron Jones and Howard sitting out, playing 33 of 52 defensive snaps. The 2020 first-round pick needs to develop, so him getting a lot of snaps wasn't surprising.
-- It also probably wasn't surprising to see rookie second-round pick Jevon Holland also get 33 snaps. While he's been impressive in practice, Brian Flores has been quick to downplay his big plays and shift the focus to basics and fundamentals. Given his rookie status, it would make sense then that he would get more snaps that veteran Jason McCourty, who got the start at safety but played only 10 snaps.
-- While they suited up, starters Eric Rowe, Benard McKinney, Raekwon Davis, Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel also each played 10 snaps or less. That also was nothing surprising given that this was a preseason opener. Their work load figures to increase, if only slightly, in the next two preseason games.
-- Along with those young players who did not get any snaps, it's worth noting that linebacker Kylan Johnson got two snaps on special teams, and offensive linemen Jonathan Hubbard and Tyler Marz only played one special teams snap each.
-- So if we're looking at the cuts to 85 based on the preseason opener playing time. it's fair to suggest the most vulnerable players are Askew, Parris, Hubbard, Marz, Jerome Johnson and Kylan Johnson.
