The Arizona Cardinals played 48 defensive snaps in their 20-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. How were the snaps divided up?
Let’s take a look at the individual snap counts for each player, divided by position group.
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Defensive line
Zach Allen, 40; J.J. Watt, 30; Leki Fotu, 20; Michael Dogbe, 19; Rashard Lawrence, 19
Lawrence exited the game with a hand injury. He had surgery and will miss time.
Watt played right about the target (62%) of snaps the team wants to him to play at his age. Allen continues to be the workhorse.
Outside linebacker
Markus Golden, 32; Devon Kennard, 15; Dennis Gardeck, 14; Cameron Thomas, 3; Victor Dimukeje, 2
This week, the Cardinals had only 66 total OLB snaps in 48 total snaps, so they didn’t use the outside backers much. They used J.J. Watt and Zach Allen often as the second edge defender.
Thomas is used in their “NASCAR” package.
inside linebacker
Zaven Collins, 35; Nick Vigil, 18; Isaiah Simmons, 16; Ben Niemann, 15; Tanner Vallejo, 13
Simmons again was only used in specific packages again. Until he is back to a full defensive role, it appears they will be using all their linebackers in certain scenarios.
Cornerback
Marco Wilson, 48; Byron Murphy, 48; Jace Whittaker, 45
Whittaker played way more than most fans would want. He got playing time again over Trayvon Mullen. Clearly, the coaches trust Whittaker fully within the scheme and don’t quite do so with Mullen.
Safety
Budda Baker, 48; Jalen Thompson, 48
As expected, the two starters played every snap.
