The Los Angeles Rams aren’t a team that rotates its players very often to begin with, but on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, they gave their backups even fewer opportunities than usual. The 11 starters on offense all played at least 82% of the snaps, with no one else playing more than 11%.
The gap between the starters and backups was narrower on defense, but Los Angeles still didn’t rotate its players much on either side of the ball Sunday.
That’s fine because the Rams won fairly easily, 26-9, but it could be a sign of the team’s lack of depth, particularly on offense.
Here’s a look at how the snap counts broke down on both sides of the ball.
Offense
Four of the five starting offensive linemen played all 57 snaps, but Kevin Dotson missed three snaps – though no injury was reported. Tremayne Anchrum Jr. replaced him on those three snaps he was absent for.
Cooper Kupp played every snap in his second game back from injury, a sign that he’s feeling no limitations or ill effects from the hamstring strain. Puka Nacua played 55 of a possible 57, so he’s clearly the No. 2 receiver. Tutu Atwell played 50 snaps, which is his usual workload. Beyond the starting trio, Austin Trammell played just four snaps and Ben Skowronek was limited to three.
At running back, Kyren Williams played 47 of 57 snaps, though it might’ve been even more than that had he not gotten the wind knocked out of him and then tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter. Ronnie Rivers was his backup, playing four snaps himself before injuring his knee. That allowed Zach Evans to get six snaps on offense.
At tight end, Tyler Higbee played 95% of the snaps and continues to be the only real contributor at that position. Interestingly, rookie Davis Allen played four snaps compared to Brycen Hopkins’ one snap.
Defense
On defense, Jordan Fuller and Russ Yeast were the only two players to stay on the field for every snap, largely because the Rams pulled most of their starters at the end with the score out of reach. Quentin Lake played more than usual, getting 27 snaps as the third safety to counter the Cardinals’ passing game. John Johnson logged one snap on defense.
At cornerback, the Rams played Derion Kendrick, Ahkello Witherspoon and Cobie Durant a lot, with the trio playing 68, 68 and 66 snaps, respectively. Again, that was to counter the Cardinals’ passing attack because they were in 11 personnel most of the game. Tre Tomlinson and Duke Shelley came in at the end with the Rams leading by 17.
Ernest Jones surprisingly played fewer snaps than usual, only seeing a 78% snap share. He’s the defensive signal caller so he typically plays every snap, but the Rams lightened his workload, potentially because of the knee swelling he dealt with in the week leading up to the game. Christian Rozeboom played 54% and Jake Hummel played 12%.
The edge rushers remained mostly the same in terms of playing time, with Byron Young leading the way at 86%. Michael Hoecht was second in snaps played (54), while rookie Ochaun Mathis played 18 snaps (24%) as he ramps up. Zach VanValkenburg played 15 snaps as the fourth edge rusher.
This was the Rams’ first game without Bobby Brown III, and they used a rotation of players to help replace him. Aaron Donald played 80% of the snaps, with Kobie Turner getting an increased workload (74%) in Brown’s absence. Jonah Williams had a solid performance in the 34 snaps he played, with Cory Durden and Marquise Copeland each playing 11 snaps after being called up from the practice squad. Earnest Brown IV played four snaps.
