Chiefs snap counts: Jaylen Watson’s playing time on the rise

What can we learn from the #Chiefs’ Week 16 snap counts?

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Seattle Seahawks 24-10 on Christmas Eve.

There was a pretty big disparity in offensive and defensive snap counts this week, which speaks to how busy the offense kept Tommy Townsend on Saturday. He tied his single-game high of the season with six punts in Week 16 against the Seahawks.

What else can we learn from the weekly snap numbers? Here’s a look at how the snaps came down in Week 16:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations

  • Justin Watson’s offensive snaps are exceedingly high given his lack of production. He was targeted eight times in the last three games including four times in Week 16 and has no catches to show for it. In that same span, he’s played no less than 65% of the offensive snaps.
  • Jerick McKinnon and Isiah Pacheco are right around the same snap share every week. The big difference has been McKinnon’s ability to get into the end zone, with six touchdowns in the last four weeks.
  • Kadarius Toney was up to 22 total snaps this week after playing just 10 snaps a week ago. I’d expect another increase in snaps during Week 17 against the Denver Broncos.
  • Skyy Moore’s snaps are going the wrong way. This is the time of the year that you’d expect him to play more often. Instead, he played his fewest offensive snaps since Week 3.
  • Blake Bell played just six offensive snaps in his return to action. The team is limiting his workload now, but I’d like to hope he’d be able to get more involved come playoff time. His ability to help as an in-line blocker is needed in both the passing game and the running game.
  • Five defenders played 100% of the defensive snaps in Week 16 (McDuffie, Bolton, Reid, Sneed and Thornhill).
  • Willie Gay Jr. only played 61% of the defensive snaps on Sunday. This writer is of the opinion that he should always be on the field in situations that call for two or more linebackers.
  • Jaylen Watson played his most snaps in a single game since Week 7. He’s been in a platoon situation with Joshua Williams, who was benched until late in the game after a pair of penalties in the second quarter.
  • Derrick Nnadi played his second-most defensive snaps of the season with 31. Surprisingly, Brandon Williams played fewer snaps in Week 16 than he did the week prior. Danny Shelton also played just nine snaps in his 2022 debut with the Chiefs.
  • Chris Lammons, Nazeeh Johnson, Jack Cochrane, Deon Bush, Lucas Niang, Nick Allegretti and Prince Tega Wanogho all only played special teams snaps in Week 15.
  • Lammons and Leo Chenal paced the special teams unit with 20 total snaps each.

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