Los Angeles Rams snap count evaluation through three games shows evolution of team in 2019

[BonifayRam]

Rams snap count evaluation through 3 gms shows evolution of team in 2019

Los Angeles Rams snap count evaluation through three games shows evolution of team in 2019

Here’s how the playing time has been handed out through three weeks and what it might mean.

www.turfshowtimes.com

Here’s how the playing time has been handed out through three weeks and what it might mean.

By 3k@3k_ Sep 26, 2019,

So, we’re three games into the Los Angeles Rams’ 2019 regular season. Let’s take a look at the snap counts and what they might reveal.
Offense

2019 Los Angeles Rams regular season snap counts - offense

Player	POS	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Averages	Snap total
SNAPS		77	67	64	69.33	208
Andrew Whitworth	T	77	67	64	69.33	208
Joseph Noteboom	T	77	67	64	69.33	208
Rob Havenstein	T	77	67	64	69.33	208
Jared Goff	QB	77	67	64	69.33	208
Brian Allen	C	77	67	64	69.33	208
Robert Woods	WR	73	66	62	67	201
Cooper Kupp	WR	69	63	63	65	195
Brandin Cooks	WR	71	65	57	64.33	193
Todd Gurley	RB	54	42	47	47.67	143
Gerald Everett	TE	30	48	56	44.67	134
Austin Blythe	G	77	27	0	34.67	104
Jamil Demby	G	0	40	64	34.67	104
Tyler Higbee	TE	40	23	0	21	63
Malcolm Brown	RB	21	25	17	21	63
Josh Reynolds	WR	25	3	16	14.67	44
Darrell Henderson	RB	2	0	0	0.67	2
Johnny Mundt	TE	0	0	2	0.67	2

One thing to note overall is that the offense has gotten less work in each successive game. The Rams had just 64 offensive snaps in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns, nearly a 17% reduction.

Not a ton to be gleamed from the offensive line or quarterback positions.

At wide receiver, not much to see here outside of a noticeable uptick in playing time for WR Josh Reynolds. He played a ton last year, but that was nearly all in the absence of WR Cooper Kupp. This year, the Rams are going with four receivers moreso than at any time under Head Coach Sean McVay.

The injury to TE Tyler Higbee in Week 2 skewed the tight end time over the last two weeks. Hopefully, he heals up over this week and can go on Sunday and we’ll get some more balanced opportunities to evaluate the relationship between he and TE Gerald Everett.

But obviously the most interesting thing to look into here is at running back.

Here’s a quick chart of the playing time balance between RB Todd Gurley, RB Malcolm Brown and RB Darrell Henderson, Jr.:

Now that chart looks very different than this one which looks at their carry totals and not snaps:

This of course leads to the question of how many snaps per carry each running back has gotten:

The real standout here is Brown’s Week 1 performance. While Henderson’s rate was similar, that’s because he had a single carry on two snaps. Brown had 11 carries on 21 snaps crossing that 50% rate falling under 20% in Week 3 with just three carries from 17 snaps.
Defense

2019 Los Angeles Rams regular season snap counts - defense

Player	POS	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Averages	Snap total
SNAPS		67	63	68	66	198
Cory Littleton	LB	67	63	68	66	198
John Johnson	SS	67	62	68	65.67	197
Marcus Peters	CB	66	63	68	65.67	197
Aqib Talib	CB	66	58	66	63.33	190
Aaron Donald	DT	56	50	63	56.33	169
Dante Fowler	DE	55	56	56	55.67	167
Eric Weddle	FS	26	63	68	52.33	157
Michael Brockers	DE	49	50	52	50.33	151
Nickell Robey	CB	42	41	56	46.33	139
Clay Matthews	LB	46	35	45	42	126
Taylor Rapp	DB	32	40	52	41.33	124
Samson Ebukam	LB	33	33	35	33.67	101
Sebastian Joseph	NT	36	20	16	24	72
Bryce Hager	LB	25	22	12	19.67	59
Morgan Fox	DE	15	15	12	14	42
Marqui Christian	FS	41	0	0	13.67	41
Tanzel Smart	NT	14	12	9	11.67	35
Troy Hill	CB	0	5	2	2.33	7
Greg Gaines	DT	0	3	0	1	3
Natrez Patrick	LB	0	2	0	0.67	2
Travin Howard	LB	1	0	0	0.33	1

Let’s start up front:

The major tell here is the combination of DT Sebastian Joseph-Day, DE Morgan Fox and DT Tanzel Smart seeing their time decrease week after week. Combined, they played 97.01% of the snaps in Week 1, 75.60% in Week 2 and just 54.41% in Week 3.

So skipping the linebackers who have had, remarkably, consistent playing time save for a Week 3 decrease from ILB Bryce Hager, the intrigue in relation to the defensive line is at the safety spot because of a certain rookie:

While the two conventional safety slots have been at 100% with John Johnson III holding down one spot and Eric Weddle holding the other (backed up by Marqui Christian when Weddle went down in Week 1 with a concussion and a pretty nasty cut), the story here is rookie S Taylor Rapp earning more and more time in his overhang-type role and the fact those snaps are coming from the defensive line (the cornerbacks were largely similar save for a jump in Week 3 from slot CB Nickell Robey-Coleman though not as stark as the season-long jump for Rapp).

Of course the caveat here is that we’re looking at just three games. Is Rapp’s increase in playing time a function of gameplan? Was it just situational? The picture should get clearer in the weeks ahead.
Special Teams

2019 Los Angeles Rams regular season snap counts - special teams

Player	POS	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Averages	Snap total
SNAPS		33	27	24	28	84
Troy Hill	CB	25	22	18	21.67	65
Nick Scott	FS	26	21	17	21.33	64
Marqui Christian	FS	18	22	19	19.67	59
Travin Howard	LB	22	18	14	18	54
Natrez Patrick	LB	18	18	12	16	48
Bryce Hager	LB	19	15	13	15.67	47
Troy Reeder	LB	17	15	12	14.67	44
Mike Thomas	WR	16	16	9	13.67	41
Samson Ebukam	LB	19	11	9	13	39
Taylor Rapp	DB	16	15	5	12	36
Darious Williams	CB	21		14	17.5	35
Greg Zuerlein	K	14	11	10	11.67	35
Johnny Hekker	P	11	9	7	9	27
Jake McQuaide	LS	11	9	7	9	27
JoJo Natson	WR	9	9	9	9	27
Cory Littleton	LB	8	9	7	8	24
Malcolm Brown	RB	9	8	4	7	21
Morgan Fox	DE	8	6	5	6.33	19
Nickell Robey	CB	7	6	5	6	18
Michael Brockers	DE	5	4	9	6	18
Andrew Whitworth	T	7	5	5	5.67	17
Joseph Noteboom	T	7	5	5	5.67	17
Rob Havenstein	T	7	5	5	5.67	17
Jamil Demby	G	7	5	5	5.67	17
David Edwards	T	7	5	5	5.67	17
Sebastian Joseph	NT	6	4	4	4.67	14
Aaron Donald	DT	6	3	5	4.67	14
Dante Fowler	DE	6	3	5	4.67	14
Josh Reynolds	WR	0	3	8	3.67	11
Tyler Higbee	TE	8	2	0	3.33	10
John Johnson	SS	4	5	0	3	9
Austin Blythe	G	7	1	0	2.67	8
Johnny Mundt	TE	0	0	6	2	6
Coleman Shelton	C	0	0	5	1.67	5
Brian Allen	C	0	4	0	1.33	4
Robert Woods	WR	1		0	0.5	1
Brandin Cooks	WR	1		0	0.5	1
Gerald Everett	TE	0	1	0	0.33	1
Eric Weddle	FS	0	1	0	0.33	1
Clay Matthews	LB	0	1	0	0.33	1

Seven players top 50% of the teams snaps including three rookies. Always the best way for Day 3 picks to make the team.

 

[Merlin]

Rapp 32 snaps > 40 snaps > 50 snaps... That's a great example of a young player forcing the staff to play him by executing consistently and taking advantage of opportunities in-game. Sure is nice to see this young player ascending right before our eyes.

Also it always trips me out how many special teams snaps there are. Makes sense and all, but in my head I'm always thinking it's 10 or so snaps lol.