Miami Dolphins Week 12 Snap Counts ... And What They Mean
The Miami Dolphins snap counts revealed some interesting nuggets on both offense and defense coming out of their 20-3 victory against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
On offense, perhas the most interesting development involved wide receiver Mack Hollins playing 47 of the 71 offensive snaps (or 66 percent). That was almost twice as many snaps as those of Jakeem Grant, who clearly had been the team's No. 2 wide receiver since Preston Williams landed on injured reserve with a foot injury.
Now, maybe some of that can be explained by Grant coming into the game with a hamstring injury — remember that he was listed as questionable Friday — and a desire to not overtax him so he could handle his regular return duties.
Along with Hollins, Lynn Bowden Jr. also was a factor at wide receiver, as he played 22 snaps, though a lot of that could be attributed to fellow rookie Malcolm Perry leaving the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.
On the flip side at wide receiver, Antonio Callaway again saw little action, getting 13 snaps (18 percent).
With Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed missing the game with injuries, Matt Breida got the start at running back, but it was newcomer DeAndre Washington who ended up with the most snaps at the position.
Washington played 34 snaps, compared to 23 for Breida and 10 for Laird. Washington closed out the game after Breida and Laird both lost fumbles in the third quarter.
Maybe it was because the Dolphins didn't have their two most productive running backs or maybe it was because Ryan Fitzpatrick was back at quarterback, but Mike Gesicki played a season-high 50 snaps against the Jets.
On defense, what stood out was the defensive line usage.
Christian Wilkins led all defensive linemen with 45 snaps (82 percent of the defensive total), followed by 39 for Emmanuel Ogbah, 33 for Raekwon Davis and only 20 for Zach Sieler.
In terms of snaps or percentage of defensive snaps (36), this was Sieler's most limited action since Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills.
For Ogbah, the 39 snaps represented a season low and his 71 percent of the team's defensive snaps represented his second-lowest total ahead only of the 67 percent he played against the 49ers.
Ogbah went a second consecutive game without a sack against the Jets after having at least one full sack in six straight games.
Linebacker Elandon Roberts made two of the biggest plays on defense for the Dolphins on Sunday with a half-sack and the big fourth-down stop, and it's interesting to note he did that in only 18 snaps.
Fellow linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill did not play a snap on defense for the first time all season, his game action limited to 11 snaps on special teams.
In the secondary, rookie first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene didn't get a defensive snap for the third time in four games (he got two snaps against the Broncos).
