Vikings Snap Count Analysis, Week 5: Young Players Continue to Emerge

After a fun one-week hiatus, we're back to breaking down the Vikings' snap counts after a painful loss.

It is what it is. If you're looking for optimism, one thing to be encouraged by is how many young players saw major roles in Seattle. The Vikings' first three picks in the 2019 draft (Garrett Bradbury, Irv Smith Jr., and Alexander Mattison) all had great games on offense. Rookie Justin Jefferson couldn't continue his streak of big performances, but he still played a ton and was targeted five times

Defensively, the Vikings had two rookie starters at cornerback and watched two Day 3 rookies make an impact on the defensive line.

Let's take a look at the snap counts for every Vikings player on offense and defense against the Seahawks and see what we can learn from that information. I'll also highlight the biggest risers and fallers from last week to this week.

Offense (87 snaps)

Last week: 66 snaps

QB Kirk Cousins: 87

LG Dakota Dozier: 87

C Garrett Bradbury: 87

RG Dru Samia: 87

LT Riley Reiff: 87

RT Brian O'Neill: 87

WR Adam Thielen: 81

WR Justin Jefferson: 70

TE Kyle Rudolph: 64

TE Irv Smith Jr: 59

RB Alexander Mattison: 43

RB Dalvin Cook: 36

FB CJ Ham: 29

WR Chad Beebe: 27

TE Tyler Conklin: 10

WR Bisi Johnson: 8

RB Mike Boone: 5

OT Rashod Hill: 2

RB Ameer Abdullah: 1

Played this week but not last week: Boone, Abdullah

Played last week but not this week: N/A

Biggest non-QB or OL risers (team was +21): Mattison (+28), Thielen (+23), Jefferson (+19), Smith (+18), Rudolph (+16)

Biggest fallers: Cook (-13, injury), Ham (-3)

Analysis: Can you believe the Vikings ran 87 plays on offense and still lost? They had the fourth-highest time of possession in a single game this season (39:28), which almost always is a recipe for a victory. Some of the statistics from that game are just mind-boggling. If not for that absurd stretch in the third quarter where the Seahawks scored 21 points in the blink of an eye, the Vikings might've won handily. Oh well.

The most obvious difference in the offensive snap counts, beyond just the sheer volume of plays – a ton of guys saw career-highs in snaps in this game – is that Cook getting hurt meant a heavy workload for Mattison in the second half. The second-year back out of Boise State did quite well with the opportunity, going for 136 yards from scrimmage and posting a better PFF grade than Cook did. Yes, he missed the hole on the fateful fourth down play, but Mattison is really good. He'll get another chance to shine this weekend against the Falcons with Cook expected to sit for precautionary reasons with the groin injury.

Given the way the game played out, all of the Vikings' main pass-catchers (Thielen, Jefferson, Smith, Rudolph, Beebe) saw expanded roles while Ham actually managed to play fewer snaps this week than he did in Houston despite the massive difference in total plays. Thielen was his old dominant self and is tied for the NFL lead with six touchdown catches. The Vikings made a concerted effort to get Smith more involved, and it resulted in a career day:

Here's every catch from Irv Smith Jr.'s career day in Seattle (64 receiving yards). Excellent athlete who just turned 22 in August and is going to be a really good player if he keeps developing.

Would love to see Smith continue to be part of the offensive plan going forward. pic.twitter.com/phsSqkSZlo
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 12, 2020

The best Vikings PFF grades on offense were given to Thielen, O'Neill, Smith, Cousins, and Mattison. Thielen is currently the No. 1 receiver in the league per PFF's grades (with Jefferson at No. 3), and Cousins has rebounded from a sloppy start to be the No. 8-ranked QB.

Defense (54 snaps)

Last week: 65 snaps

LB Eric Kendricks: 54

S Anthony Harris: 54

LB Eric Wilson: 54

CB Jeff Gladney: 54

CB Cameron Dantzler: 54

S Harrison Smith: 54

DE Yannick Ngakoue: 46

CB Mike Hughes: 43

DE Ifeadi Odenigbo: 42

DE Jalyn Holmes: 31

DE D.J. Wonnum: 27

DT Jaleel Johnson: 26

DT Shamar Stephen: 24

DT Armon Watts: 11

LB Todd Davis: 11

DT James Lynch: 8

S George Iloka: 1

Played this week but not last week: Hughes, Lynch

Played last week but not this week: Holton Hill, Hardy Nickerson Jr., Hercules Mata'afa

Biggest risers (defense was -11 as a unit): Smith (+29, no ejection), Wonnum (+9), Davis (+3), Odenigbo (-2)

Biggest fallers (defense was -11 as a unit): Iloka (-42), Stephen (-13), Holmes (-12)

Analysis: After being on the field for 73-78 snaps in each of the first three weeks, the Vikings' defense has had to play fewer and fewer snaps over the past two games. First it was 65 in Houston, and then a mere 54 in Seattle. Talk about staying well-rested.

Six players were out there for every single snap, with the usual two linebackers and two safeties but also rookie corners Gladney and Dantzler. It was a rough game for Dantzler, who saw a fair amount of DK Metcalf, but Mike Zimmer isn't too concerned. "It’s all a learning process for them," he said of his young corners. "I still feel good about Dantzler. I think he’s going to be a heck of a player." Zimmer was complimentary of Gladney, who was very solid for a second straight week.

The other big winner from this game is Wonnum, the fourth-rounder from South Carolina. He has played at least 18 snaps in each of the last four games after being inactive in Week 1, but saw a career-high 27 this week. That's a 50 percent playing time rate after being no higher than 34 percent previously. Fellow fourth-rounder James Lynch made his NFL debut and recorded a sack on just eight snaps. The rookies ate into the snap counts of Stephen, Holmes, and Johnson.

At linebacker, Davis completely seized the No. 3 role from Nickerson, as expected. The best PFF grade of any defensive player who saw major snaps went to Wilson, who balled out with an interception, a sack, and a tackle for loss. Watts, Davis, and Lynch also graded well in small sample sizes.

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