One of the best ways to gauge a teams value in a player is by examining their snaps counts. Typically each preseason game needs to be interpreted through a different set of looking glasses, and with Week 3 being considered the dress rehearsal for the regular season, the expectations are that the starters will play significant snaps.
Let’s examine 12 specific situations from preseason Week 3, where a player’s, or group of players, snaps counts impact how the Detroit Lions likely view them.
Lions starting offense played 33 snaps
Here’s how the snaps were divided among the projected starters:
- 33 snaps: Mathew Stafford, Taylor Decker, Rick Wagner
- 32: Graham Glasgow, Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay
- 31: Frank Ragnow
- 27: Joe Dahl
- 26: T.J. Hockenson
- 18: Danny Amendola
- 16: Jesse James
- 10: Nick Bawden
- 8: Kerryon Johnson
The skill player snap distribution is about what we have been expecting — save Kerryon Johnson’s low total.
Jones and Golladay will take up two of the five skill player spot with the first team. At running back and tight end there will a rotation of a few key players, while the final spot will vary between a second tight end, a fullback and a slot receiver — in this game Amendola saw 55-percent of snaps, which is probably close to what he will see in the regular season.
Lions have a clear top 3 at RB
The biggest stand out observation among the starters was Kerryon Johnson receiving only eight snaps, while C.J. Anderson saw 23. Ty Johnson even got in on the action with the starters saw a couple snaps with the first team — finishing with nine on the night. There should be little doubt at this point that these three are the preferred top options out of the backfield.
Mark Thompson vs Zach Zenner
Despite Thompson (13 snaps) getting reps ahead of Zenner (20 snaps) and finding the endzone for the second week in a row, I still have Zenner ahead on the depth chart for one main reason: Thompson saw zero special teams snaps, which will be an important role for the fourth running back on this roster.
Back up QB is far from settled
When Stafford exited the game it was David Fales who took over and played 21 snaps. Josh Johnson, who saw reps ahead of Fales in Week 2, closed out the game with 20 snaps.
At this point, I’m not sure anyone can project the Lions backup situation with any certainty.
Reserve offensive line snaps
Here’s a breakdown of the reserve offensive linemen snap counts
- 34 snaps: Beau Benzschawel
- 33: Andrew Donnal
- 28: Kenny Wiggins (he had one series with the starters, then another 2 snaps with them, taking over at right guard after Ragnow’s injury)
- 25: Leo Kolomatangi
- 24: Luke Bowanko and Matt Nelson
- 23: Oday Aboushi (he had one series with the first team with Wiggins)
- 15: Micah St. Andrew
- 8: Ryan Pope
While Wiggins and Aboushi saw a series with the first team in this game, the most interesting thing on this list is that Benzschawel continues to get long looks from coaches. Subtle clues like this are why I had him making the roster in my recent Roster Stack.
Wide receivers and tight ends
It’s no surprise that beyond the starters, the coaches wanted to get long looks at the rookie pass catchers. Travis Fulgham led the reserves with 29 snaps, followed by Isaac Nauta with 23, then Jon Duhart with 19.
Among the remaining players expected to be in the mix for the final wide receiver, Chris Lacy saw 17 snaps, Brandon Powell 10 and Andy Jones 8. These all seem a bit low considering what was at stake, but Game 4 will really be what separates this group.
Starting defense played 16 snaps
- 16: Darius Slay, Rashaan Melvin, Quandre Diggs, Tracy Walker
- 14: Jahlani Tavai and Christian Jones
- 12: Devon Kennard, Mike Daniels, Romeo Okwara
- 11: A’Shawn Robinson
- 9: Damon Harrison, Justin Coleman
Despite the Lions scheme constantly adapting, there are a few things that remain consistent.
The core four defensive backs will see close to 100-percent of snaps most games. The same is true of at least one linebacker. While the front-six will see a lot of variation to keep the bigger bodies fresh.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin sees 34 snaps
I didn’t list Reeves-Maybin among the starters — even though he got a lot of time with them — because he stayed on the field after they left, racking up 53-percent of snaps.
With Jarrad Davis expected to miss time at the beginning of the season, Reeves-Maybin should see his role increase and how much he plays next week in Cleveland will be something to monitor.
Rookie LBs lead the defense in snaps
With Tavai, Jones and Kennard leaving the field with the starters, along with Davis’ injury and coaches not wanting to overwork Reeves-Maybin, the coaches leaned heavily on rookie linebackers Anthony Pittman (48 snaps, leading team) and Malik Carney (42, second-most on the team).
Both Pittman and Carney are capable of playing all four linebacker spots and should see their snaps counts increase even further in the final preseason game. The final rostered linebacker, Garret Dooley, saw 29 snaps.
Kevin Strong continues to lead DL snaps … again
I know I can be a bit of a Strong slappy at times because I see an NFL future for him, but he has led the defensive line in snaps all three games this preseason. In Game 1 he saw 51 snaps (61-percent), Game 2 he got 47 snaps (60-percent) and last Game he received 40 snaps 62-percent.
Even as the Lions have gotten healthier on the defensive line, Strong’s snaps have stayed steady — and that’s very notable.
Will Harris gets time with starters, leads DBs in snaps
Harris and Tavon Wilson both saw the field as second-team safeties, but when the starters required a third safety to run with the first-team, they called on the rookie, not the vet. That led to Harris finishing with 39 snaps, while Wilson only saw 25. On the surface, it very much appears Harris has passed Wilson on the depth chart.
Special teams snaps
Special teams can be a ticket to the 53-man roster for reserve players so these snap counts are always worth monitoring. Let’s take a closer look at how the snaps shook out among the position battles:
- WR: Lacy (8) vs Fulgham (6) vs Andy Jones (2) vs Brandon Powell (2)
- TE: Logan Thomas (11) vs Nauta (10) vs Jerome Cunningham (11)
- LB: Killebrew (11) vs Dooley (12) vs Pittman (9) vs Carney (7)
- CB: Mike Ford (7) vs Dee Virgin (9)
- Safety: Charles Washington (13) vs Harris (13) vs Wilson (6) vs Adams (11) vs C.J. Moore (6)
The wide receiver and safety battle paint a telling picture, while the other spots are still a bit muddled.
