New York Giants Takeaways from the Week 16 Snap Counts

Here are a few takeaways from the Giants recent snap counts.

-- I don’t quite understand why Will Hernandez isn’t getting more snaps, especially when the Giants are in catch-up mode. Unless I missed it, I don’t think Hernandez, who this week played a season-low ten snaps on offense, got in the game once in the second half. Hernandez is a better pass blocker right now than Lemieux, so unless the coaching staff is just trying to get the rookie up to speed in every facet of the game, I don’t understand the decision.

--Xavier McKinney played in a season-high 46 snaps, with the majority of those snaps coming at free safety. Logan Ryan split his time, meanwhile, between free safety, strong safety, and the slot.

--No snaps for cornerback Darnay Holmes, who was active after missing the last two games with a knee sprain. Per PFF, Logan Ryan and Jabrill Peppers took turns taking the bulk of the reps at the slot cornerback position.

--ILB Blake Martinez, who tweaked his ankle in last Friday’s practice, made it through his usual workload, taking every snap.

--No snaps for Dante Pettis on special teams. Pettis is primarily a punt return specialist, but the Giants stuck with Jabrill Peppers in that spot. But I would have thought that maybe Pettis might find his way onto a coverage team at the very least.

--RB Dion Lewis got 24 snaps on offense this week, his highest total since he was on the field for 57 snaps back in Week 2, the week the Giants lost Saquon Barkley early in the second quarter, and when they had Wayne Gallman inactive. Lewis only received one rushing attempt, which went for 15 yards this week.

--Kaden Smith took most of the fullback snaps with Eli Penny a late scratch due to illness that’s not COVID-19 related.

--Three snaps isn’t a big deal, but still, it was surprising to see James Bradberry and Isaac Yiadom, who in the past have played every defensive snap together, not on the field for three of this week’s defensive snaps.

OFFENSE: 64

RG Kevin Zeitler 64; LT Andrew Thomas 64; OC Nick Gates 64; QB Daniel Jones 64; WR Sterling Shepard 61; WR Darius Slayton 55; OG Shane Lemieux 54; TE Evan Engram 50; OT Cameron Fleming 47; RB Wayne Gallman 32; WR Dante Pettis 2; TE Kaden Smith 26; RB Dion Lewis 24; WR Austin Mack 20; OT Matt Peart 17; OG Will Hernandez 10; WR CJ Board 9; RB Alfred Morris 8; TE Levine Toilolo 6

DEFENSE: 68

SS Jabrill Peppers 68; ILB Blake Martinez 68; FS Logan Ryan 68; CB James Bradberry 65; CB Isaac Yiadom 65; ILB Tae Crowder 57; DE Dexter Lawrence 51; DT Leonard Williams 51; DB Xavier McKinney 46; NT Dalvin Tomlinson 45; ILB David Mayo 44; DE Jabaal Sheard 30; OLB Cam Brown 24; DT B.J. Hill 20; NT Austin Johnson 20; FS Julian Love 11; OLB Carter Coughlin 11; DE Niko Lalos 4

SPECIAL TEAMS

LB Cam Brown 20; SS Nate Ebner 20; ILB Devante Downs 18; LB David Mayo 15; OLB Carter Coughlin 13; TE Levine Toilolo 12; FS Adrian Colbert 10; FS Julian Love 11; DE Dexter Lawrence 10; QB Joe Webb 9; WR C.J. Board 8; NT Dalvin Tomlinson 8; K Graham Gano 7; DL Leonard Williams 7; P Riley Dixon 7; LS Casey Kreiter 7; CB James Bradberry 7; CB Isaac Yiadom 7; RB Dion Lewis 5; DT B.J. Hill 5; ILB TJ Brunson 5; TE Kaden Smith 4; RG Kevin Zeitler 3; LT Andrew Thomas 3; C Nick Gates 3; LG Shane Lemieux 3; RT Cameron Fleming 3; WR Austin Mack 3; ILB Tae Crowder 3; DB Xavier McKinney 2; NT Austin Johnson 2

Add us as a preferred source on Google