Breaking Down the Miami Dolphins 2026 Week 1 Snap Counts

Diving into the playing time against the Las Vegas Raiders and the implications for Chris Bell, Greg Dulcich, Dante Trader Jr., and others

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington moves with the ball while defended by Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Taron Johnson (3) in the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 27-13 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday:

We'll start with the list of inactives, where the biggest news involved veteran wide receiver Jalen Tolbert being a healthy scratch.

The only Dolphins players who were active but did not play were backup quarterback Kyle McCord and offensive lineman Andrew Meyer.

Six players saw action only on special teams: Julius Wood, Ryan Miller, Seydou Traore, Marcellas Dial Jr., Ronnie Harrison Jr. and Jarrett Kingston.

The starting lineup featured six rookies — guard Kadyn Proctor, wide receiver Caleb Douglas, tight end Will Kacmarek, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, cornerback Chris Johnson and safety Michael Taaffe.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- Maybe the most noteworthy aspect of the offensive snaps was wide receiver Malik Washington played all but one of the 56 snaps. This went counter to this idea that it was going to be all about rookies Chris Bell and Douglas, though Doulgas did play 51 snaps.

-- We probably shouldn't be surprised that Bell played a modest 29 offensive snaps considering this was his first regular season game since he tore his ACL last November while playing for Louisville.

-- We expected De'Von Achane to get the bulk of the work at running back, but perhaps not to this extent. He got 48 of the offensive snaps, with Ollie Gordon II and Jaylen Wright each getting four. The relatively low number of offensive snaps contributed to Achane's high percentage.

-- The Dolphins didn't use two tight ends very often after doing it on the first snap, with Kacmarek playing only 14 snaps. Of course, he nursed a calf injury late in training camp and perhaps he needs to work his way back into football shape.

-- Dulcich got the heavy work load at that position, with 43 snaps.

-- The Dolphins brought back the six-lineman look that was so effective last year when they used Caedan Wallace on one play, though it ended with Achane getting stuffed for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1.

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

-- Two players were on the field for every defensive snap, and it was the team's top two picks on that side of the ball, Chris Johnson and Jacob Rodriguez. Jordyn Brooks was off the field for one play.

-- Jeff Hafley kept true to his word of using three different safeties, though it was Zayne Anderson (53 snaps) and Michael Taaffe (51) who got most of the work, with Dante Trader Jr. getting 32 snaps. This could be a fluid situation.

-- At cornerback, it was notable that Jason Marshall Jr. got 64 snaps compared to only 26 for JuJu Brents when we'd suggest Brents is the better player. It's unclear whether Brents' work load was affected by the taunting penalty that kept alive a Raiders field goal drive in the first quarter.

-- On the defensive line, the Dolphins went big, with Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers all playing more than 40 snaps and Chop Robinson the only edge defender to reach that number.

-- After being elevated from the practice squad Saturday, Clelin Ferrell ended up playing only 11 defensive snaps, three fewer than Robert Beal Jr. Malik Herring was second behind Robinson among edge snaps with 32.

-- The Dolphins used three linebackers quite often, with Willie Gay Jr. logging 40 defensive snaps after starting alongside Rodriguez and Brooks.

-- Along with his work on special teams, rookie Kyle Louis got three snaps on defense before leaving the game with a knee injury.

-- We close with special teams, where newcomer Julius Wood led the way with 17 snaps, followed by 15 each for Beal, Jackson Woodard, Ryan Miller and Seydou Traore.