Tag: snaps

Packers among leaders in snaps played by rookies entering Week 7

Predictably, the Packers are among the leaders in snaps played by rookies through six weeks.

The Green Bay Packers, who entered the season with the youngest and least experienced roster in football, have predictably leaned heavily on rookies to start 2023.

Per Steve Palazzolo of PFF, the Packers rank fifth in the NFL in snaps played by non-quarterback rookies entering Week 7 of the season, and it’s worth noting the Packers have only played five games because of the Week 6 bye.

The Packers entered the season with 17 rookies or first-year players.

Among the rookies playing important snaps for Matt LaFleur’s team:

TE Luke Musgrave: 211
WR Jayden Reed: 179
WR Dontayvion Wicks: 160
DL Karl Brooks: 130
OLB Lukas Van Ness: 128
DL Colby Wooden: 117
CB Carrington Valentine: 80
TE Tucker Kraft: 61
WR Malik Heath: 50
K Anders Carlson: 41

Many rookies (but especially Kraft, Valentine and Musgrave) have also played snaps on special teams.

Musgrave trails only Sam LaPorta in snaps played and targets by rookie tight ends. Reed and Wicks are 10th and 12th in routes run by rookie receivers, respectively. Brooks and Wooden rank seventh and eighth in snaps played by rookie defensive linemen, respectively. Van Ness is seventh among rookie edge rushers.

The Packers knew they were going young at many positions, especially on offense, and understood growing pains would be a part of the learning process. That’s exactly how the first six weeks have played out. Now, the Packers are exiting the bye and looking to rebound after a 2-3 start. The hope in Green Bay is that the rookies continue getting more comfortable and executing at a higher level as the season progresses, but it’s tough to be consistent when so many first-year players are on the field in important roles.

B/R picks Bryan Bresee as the likeliest bust of the Saints’ 2023 season

Bleacher Report picks Bryan Bresee as the likeliest bust of the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season, pointing to his college injury history | @crissy_froyd

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The 2023 season is on the horizon and there are several exciting new names in the fold for the Saints, one of which is rookie defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, selected by the team in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

There’s a lot of optimism about the boost he can bring to the defensive side of the ball for a New Orleans team that hopes to be the best in the NFC South this season, but there is some doubt there as well.

More specifically, from the likes of those such as Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report. Ballentine recently pinned Bresee as the likeliest bust of the Saints’ 2023 season:

“In 2022, the Saints took Trevor Penning, a boom-or-bust prospect in the first round of the draft to step into a critical role as a rookie.

Penning ended up not fulfilling those expectations. An injury prevented him from making his debut until Week 12 and he didn’t make his first start until the final game of the season where he suffered a Lisfranc injury that kept him out of OTAs.
History has repeated itself in the Bayou.

The Saints lost a considerable amount of talent on the defensive line. David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle both left on the interior of the defensive line with Marcus Davenport also leaving them with a need for more pass-rushing.

In theory, Bryan Bresee will help in both departments, offering pass rush while taking some of the snaps left behind by Onyemata and Tuttle.

In the long-term, the potential of the former 5-star recruit is undeniable. In the short-term there’s reason to worry about his injury history and lack of technique. Here’s what B/R scout Matt Holder wrote about Bresee in his scouting report:

“… he has missed nearly as many games as he’s played. That’s prevented him from showing he can pair his physical traits with clean technique and likely made it difficult to iron out kinks in his game.”

Now Bresee is going to be expected to stay healthy in the grind of an NFL season while learning the finer points of playing defensive line on the fly. It’s a lot to ask.”

There have been several first-rounders throughout football history who have fallen far short of the expectations, and only time will tell if Bresee becomes one of them — it’s obviously still way too early to do anything but make educated predictions for the long-term.

Based on his injury-limited snap counts at Clemson, though, reaching maximum potential will most definitely hinge on him remaining healthy.

The former Tiger totaled 430 reps in 2020, 152 in 2021, and 330 in 2022. It’s easy to see the differences there when one compares that to the players he’s replacing in New Orleans. David Onyemata had 682 snaps in 2022, while Shy Tuttle had 557 and Kentavius Street had 518.

How Bresee can manage this going forward as he also takes the jump to the next level will be something to keep an eye on.

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Demario Davis was the NFL’s only every-down linebacker in 2022

Demario Davis was the NFL’s only every-down linebacker in 2022, playing 100% of the New Orleans Saints’ 1,132 defensive snaps:

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Now this is impressive. There aren’t many true every-down linebackers in the NFL these days, but Demario Davis isn’t just one of them — he’s arguably the only one, per Pro Football Reference and Stathead. Davis was on the field for all 1,132 defensive snaps the New Orleans Saints played in 17 games during the 2022 season.

For context, Davis was the only linebacker to play 100% of his team’s defensive snaps in the last three years. Since Davis arrived in New Orleans in 2018, it’s a feat just three players have achieved: Myles Jack did it with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 (playing 1,024 snaps through 16 games) and Jordan Hicks went the distance with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019 (on 1,133 snaps in 16 games).

And Davis is doing it having celebrated his 34th birthday in January. Jack was 23 at the time and Hicks was 27 when he joined the 100% club. His durability has been a real asset for the Saints defense, but we shouldn’t make light of his ability to make plays all over the field. Davis has had at least 100 combined tackles and 10 tackles for loss, 3 or more sacks, and 4 or more passes defensed in each of his five years with New Orleans. The only other linebacker to match that production multiple times in that span is Roquan Smith, who did it twice.

So don’t take Davis for granted. He’s one of the best linebackers in the NFL, and the Saints are very, very fortunate to have him captaining their defense. He deserves all the accolades that have come his way after arriving in New Orleans.

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Saints, All-Pro special teams ace J.T. Gray reach deal on 3-year extension

Saints, All-Pro special teams ace J.T. Gray reach deal on 3-year extension ahead of free agency:

This is good to see: ESPN’s Dianna Russini first reported that the New Orleans Saints reached an agreement on a there-year contract extension with safety J.T. Gray, their top special teams player. This was confirmed by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who added that Gray’s deal includes $2.4 million in guarantees with $500,000 per-year playtime incentives. His new contract is worth $9.6 million over three years with a maximum value of $11.1 million if he earns every bonus and incentive.

Gray led the team with 12 tackles in the kicking game in 2022, having posted 19 of them in 2021. He’s a key player for New Orleans on punts and kickoffs. Gray ranked third on special teams snaps played last season and second in each of the two years before. He’s done really well for himself as a former undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State — Gray was recognized made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2021, and he’s twice been honored as an All-Pro by the Associated Press in 2019 (second team) and 2021 (first team).

While he’s been limited to defensive snap counts of just 28, 41, and 20 plays in each of the last three years, Gray did rack up 2.5 sacks last season. We’ll see if the Saints have an expanded role for him in mind as starting safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye enter the second year of their deals in 2023.

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New Orleans Saints rookie review: WR Chris Olave

New Orleans Saints rookie review: Chris Olave started his career strong, but the wide receiver still has room to grow

Chris Olave was the wide receiver the New Orleans Saints coveted all along during the 2022 NFL draft, and the team was over the moon to come away with him last April. So what’s the feeling for his first year in the pros now that it’s all behind him? How do you grade Olave’s performance after he very nearly reset the team’s rookie receiving records?

Let’s put a pin in the 2022 Saints rookie class by reviewing Olave’s campaign, having previously meditated on his fellow first-year pros Trevor Penning, Alontae Taylor, Rashid Shaheed, and Lewis Kidd. Here’s our take:

Bears poach backup DE Taco Charlton from the Saints practice squad

The Bears poached backup defensive end Taco Charlton from the Saints practice squad. Will they make a new addition?

Well that’s unexpected. The New Orleans Saints practice squad lost backup defensive end Taco Charlton on Wednesday to the Chicago Bears, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reports, who are signing Charlton to their 53-man roster. The former Dallas Cowboys first-round pick played well for the Saints in their preseason games but hadn’t been activated during the regular season with Cameron Jordan (72.4% of snaps), Marcus Davenport (51.3%), Tanoh Kpassagnon (29.5%), and Carl Granderson (29.3%) seeing the majority of time at defensive end.

Charlton was one of several players listed at defensive end on the practice squad, along with 2022 draft pick Jordan Jackson and early-season free agent pickup Jabari Zuniga. He’ll have an opportunity to hit the field on Sundays with Chicago, whereas in New Orleans he was buried on the depth chart behind the aforementioned players and 2021 first rounder Payton Turner (22.4% of snaps played).

So will the Saints make an addition after losing Charlton? Maybe, maybe not. They have the numbers at defensive end to absorb the loss, and there are other position groups that might be a higher priority (like the offensive line). We’ll keep an eye out for movement in case they do want to restock the depth chart.

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Chiefs snap count leaders at the bye week

A look at the #Chiefs’ snap leaders on offense, defense and special teams during the bye week.

The Kansas City Chiefs had a lot of offseason turnover with Brett Veach choosing to replace several key players in every phase of the game for 2022. They lost a ton of experience in the way of snaps, but they’ve reinforced their roster with veterans and rookies alike.

Which players have seen the field the most at the bye week? Below we break down the team’s snap leaders by position:

Snap numbers via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Packers LT David Bakhtiari plays 70 of 73 snaps vs. Patriots

Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari doubled his snaps from last week and played 13 of the offense’s 14 possessions on Sunday against the Patriots.

Sunday’s overtime win at Lambeau Field marked another big step for Green Bay Packers left tackle, David Bakhtiari, who handled 70 of 73 offensive snaps and missed only one of the team’s 14 offensive possessions on Sunday against the New England Patriots.

Bakhtiari and backup Yosh Nijman rotated in and out of the game last week in Tampa, but with Nijman battling an illness and Bakhtiari in a better physical position, the Packers rolled with the five-time All-Pro for 96 percent of the snaps during the overtime win over the Patriots.

The step up was a big one for Bakhtiari, who played 35 snaps in his return to the field against the Bucs last week. He doubled his snaps against the Patriots and played an extra two series thanks to the game going into overtime.

It’s certainly possible that Bakhtiari will be a full-time player at left tackle with no need to rotate out of the game as soon as this coming week against the New York Giants.

Nijman, who started the first two games at left tackle, played three snaps on offense and another five on special teams.

Expect the Packers to continue limiting Bakhtiari’s practice time, especially this week as the team prepares for an international flight to London.

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TE, QB, special teams ace? Whatever you call him, call Taysom Hill a playmaker

Tight end, quarterback, or special teams ace? Whatever you call him, call Taysom Hill a playmaker. The Saints are lining him up right where he needs to be:

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We honestly didn’t have a great feel for what the New Orleans Saints planned for Taysom Hill this year. After initially announcing his move from quarterback to tight end, that turned out to be more of a shift in focus than a full-time switch. Hill still lined up in the backfield during Week 1’s game with the Atlanta Falcons, though he didn’t throw a single pass, and ended up producing some of the team’s most explosive plays.

But as Dennis Allen had said over the summer, Hill was taking snaps at quarterback without spending the entire game there. Jameis Winston is the unquestioned starter, and Andy Dalton is his backup. That doesn’t mean Hill doesn’t provide some real value in his role as a do-it-all gadget player. He converted a first down twice as a runner, picking up an impressive 81 yards on the ground and scoring the game’s first touchdown on an 11-yard carry — which followed a huge 57-yard gain to set his new personal record.

He also played special teams with the punt return and punt coverage units, forcing a crucial holding penalty on Falcons long snapper Liam McCullough in the game’s final minute that moved the Saints offense into better field position on the ensuing possession. If McCullough hadn’t committed a hold Hill may have blocked the punt. Instead, Winston took over at his own 20-yard line (rather than the New Orleans 10) and lobbed a 40-yard pass to Jarvis Landry to flip the field. A couple of plays later, Wil Lutz booted a 51-yard field goal to retake the lead, and ultimately win the game. There’s a real possibility that things play out much differently had Hill not forced that penalty to start the sequence.

So he isn’t a quarterback, and he isn’t just a special teams asset. He also isn’t a conventional tight end. Hill played fewer snaps than tight ends Juwan Johnson (45) and Adam Trautman (25) against Atlanta, seeing 16 reps on offense. He carried the ball himself 4 times (gaining 57, 11, 9, and 4 yards) while running 4 routes (catching his lone target as a receiver to pick up 2 yards on 1st-and-10, which the Falcons admittedly defended well) and working as a blocker on 8 snaps.

That’s a unique distribution that sets him apart from the other tight ends on the roster, and taken with the greater context of his efforts on special teams and his dynamism as a runner, it explains why the Saints value him so highly. They have a package of plays in which he can help the team win games, and they’re going to continue giving him those opportunities until opposing defenses guard him better.

Hill gave it a good shot at trying out as a full-time NFL quarterback. That didn’t work out the way he wanted, but that’s okay. He’s being a team player and stepping back into the role that Pete Carmichael Jr. and the offensive coaching staff can work with. It’s earned him a contract extension with New Orleans that is paying him $10.1 million this year, per Over The Cap. If he can keep playing well when his number is called, that’ll end up looking like a bargain.

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Juwan Johnson led the Saints in TE snaps played against Falcons by a wide margin

Juwan Johnson led the Saints in tight end snaps played against the Falcons by a wide margin. Is he the new TE1, or was that dictated by game flow?

Has Juwan Johnson leveled up? The collegiate wide receiver-turned-pro tight end took more snaps than anyone else at his position in the New Orleans Saints’ season opener, including 2020 third-round draft pick Adam Trautman. It’s an impressive sign of growth for the former undrafted free agent, but it goes to show that Johnson’s hard work is paying off.

His efforts to put on weight during the offseason, bulking up to 250 pounds at the start of training camp, have resulted in better performance as a blocker — Johnson helped spring Taysom Hill for several big gains in Week 1’s win against the Atlanta Falcons. He logged double-digit snaps as a run blocker for just the second time in the last two years, showing marked improvement over what we’ve seen before.

But Johnson first made this team for his receiving skills, and that’s where things get interesting. He was tasked with protecting Jameis Winston on just one passing down, running 33 routes the rest of the time. And of those 33 routes, Johnson lined up in the slot a staggering 23 times (67.6%). Only Jarvis Landry (28 routes, or 82.4% of his total) spent more time in that alignment.

To put in perspective, Johnson ran nearly as routes from the slot (23) as Adam Trautman saw total snaps (25). Trautman was designated to many more blocking assignments, lining up to move people on 15 running downs and 6 passing plays. He only ran 4 routes on the afternoon, all from an inline alignment. With veteran blocking specialist Nick Vannett a healthy scratch on the inactive list, Trautman was given the nod to fill that role while Johnson was deployed as a receiver. Taysom Hill made a big impact on just 16 snaps (4 as a receiver, 4 as a runner, and 8 as a run blocker), but he isn’t really a conventional tight end or part of this equation.

So is Johnson now the TE1? Maybe. Maybe not. We need to see how the Saints approach more situations in more games to say for sure. They ended up playing from behind in Week 1 against the Falcons and switched to a more pass-heavy script than they may have first intended. So while Johnson may be preferred on passing downs (and as a receiver rather than pass protector), it’s possible Trautman still sits ahead of him on the depth chart and the game flow dictated differently.

Either way, it goes to show how far Johnson has come. And he has a ways to go still. Running a lot of routes is one thing. Catching passes when they’re sent his way is something else. Johnson was targeted 5 times against Atlanta but only caught 2 receptions to gain 43 yards, converting a single first down. His 11.2 average depth of target and few contested catch opportunities suggest he’s getting open while working at a typical range for an NFL tight end.

Johnson’s on his way to becoming a good player for the Saints. His willingness to continue helping the team any way he can, including on special teams (Johnson played on the kick return and coverage units against the Falcons, as well as the field goal kick squad with Trautman) is commendable. It’ll continue to help him earn opportunities in this league, and maybe to see enough reps to progress in other areas of his game and meet his potential.

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