When examining the Detroit Lions (3-7-1) snap counts from Week 12, a few key things stood out. Of the 46 players active for the Lions in Washington, 11 of them were rookies, including Isaac Nauta, Austin Bryant, Beau Benzschawel, and Michael Jackson, all making their NFL debuts.
That and more takeaways from this week’s snap counts below:
Jeff Driskel continues snap streak
Jeff Driskel — 75, 100-percent
Despite Driskel’s playing style leading to him getting hit with frequency, he still manages to stay on the field for every snap.
Lions use 7 of 8 active offensive linemen
LT Taylor Decker — 75, 100-percent
LG Joe Dahl — 74, 99-percent
C Graham Glasgow — 75, 100-percent
RG Kenny Wiggins — 68, 91-percent
RT Tyrell Crosby — 75, 100-percent
OG Oday Aboushi — 8, 11-percent
OT Tyrell Crosby — 5, 7-percent
OL Beau Benzschawel — 0, 0-percent
The Lions have nine offensive linemen on their active roster. With Frank Ragnow out due to a concussion, that left them with eight healthy — all of which were active on Sunday. Typically the Lions only deploy seven offensive linemen on game days and that held true again yesterday, with Benzschawel still waiting to see his first NFL snaps.
Scarbrough leads the backfield again
Bo Scarbrough — 38, 51-percent
Ty Johnson — 27, 36-percent
J.D. McKissic — 11, 15-percent
Scarbrough was once again one of the bright spots in the Lions offense and the Lions leaned on him for the second week in a row. Behind him, Johnson and McKissic flipped roles from last week, with the game plan calling for more of a ground presence.
WR snaps have been consistent
Kenny Golladay — 68, 91-percent
Marvin Jones Jr. — 67, 89-percent
Danny Amendola — 46, 61-percent
Marvin Hall — 10, 13-percent
This snap count distribution has been fairly close to what the Lions have deployed since Driskel took over at quarterback. The only difference being Hall’s snap counts declined a bit after he left the game early with a lower leg injury.
Hockenson see lowest snap counts of the season
T.J. Hockenson — 33, 44-percent
Jesse James — 32, 43-percent
Logan Thomas — 28, 37-percent
Isaac Nauta — 10, 13-percent
Most young quarterbacks rely on tight ends as safety valves, but that has not been the case with Driskel. That may not be the primary reason the tight ends snaps counts dropped this week, — Hockenson was added to the injury report late Saturday — but it was likely a factor.
Nauta, who was just promoted to the active roster on Saturday, saw several snaps out of the backfield filling in for injured fullback Nick Bawden.
Interior DL snaps
A’Shawn Robinson — 43, 72-percent
Damon Harrison — 38, 63-percent
John Atkins — 25, 42-percent
Mike Daniels — 9, 15-percent
These snaps counts are very similar to what we saw from this group last week, which begs the question — why isn’t Daniels seeing the field more?
EDGE players see a big bump in snaps
Romeo Okwara — 56, 93-percent
Devon Kennard — 55, 92-percent
Austin Bryant — 16, 27-percent
Last season, Okwara routinely had multiple games where he received over 90-percent of snaps, but his numbers declined with the addition of Trey Flowers. With Flowers missing this week with a concussion, Okwara was back over 90-percent once again.
Bryant began the game only seeing the field on third downs but saw his snaps increase in obvious passing situations.
Linebackers dip in snaps
Jarrad Davis — 51, 85-percent
Christian Jones — 30, 50-percent
Jahlani Tavai — 29, 48-percent
Miles Killebrew — 16, 27-percent
All three primarily off-the-ball linebackers saw a slight dip in snaps. This is only the fourth game this season where Davis saw less than 90-percent of snaps, Tavai saw his snaps drop after a month in the 60th percentile, while Jones saw his lowest snap counts of the season.
Like Bryant in the last section, Killebrew saw the field on third downs and obvious passing situations as the game wore on.
Oruwariye steps up in Melvin’s absence
Darius Slay — 60, 100-percent
Justin Coleman — 60, 100-percent
Amani Oruwariye — 45, 75-percent
Last week, Oruwariye took over for Mike Ford in the fourth cornerback spot, and this week with Rashaan Melvin unable to play due to injury, Oruwariye was once again promoted into a more prominent role.
Oruwariye flashed the skill level he showed off in training camp and secured his first career interception:
Safety use was clear and defined
Tavon Wilson — 60, 100-percent
Will Harris — 60, 100-percent
C.J. Moore — 7, 12-percent
With no Tracy Walker, the Lions leaned heavily on Wilson and Harris, only turning to Moore when they went into three safety sets.
Special teams
Miles Killebrew — 26
Dee Virgin — 26
Mike Ford — 23
Steve Longa — 21
Jalen Reeves-Maybin — 21
Isaac Nauta — 21
C.J. Moore — 20
Ty Johnson — 17
Logan Thomas — 15
Jesse James — 11
Amani Oruwariye — 11
Will Harris — 10
Christian Jones — 9
J.D. McKissic — 6
Jarrad Davis — 5
Tavon Wilson — 4
Justin Coleman — 4
Marvin Hall — 3
Danny Amendola — 3
Michael Jackson — 2
With no Jamal Agnew available, the Lions turned to Ty Johnson on kick returns and Marvin Hall on punt returns, but when Hall went down, the team needed veteran Danny Amendola to field the final three punts.
Michael Jackson saw his first-ever NFL snaps yesterday, getting two looks on special teams.
