Revenge of the Birds
In the Arizona Cardinals loss to the Denver Broncos on Saturday night, we saw some interesting usage of the Arizona Cardinals roster.
While snap counts are not necessarily something to care about during the season, matchup dependent and most teams use the same personnel consistently, it is something to take a look at in a preseason game where starters did not play.
So, how did the Arizona Cardinals deploy their snaps on Saturday?
Let’s take a look.
Quarterbacks –
Jacoby Brissett – 16 snaps
Clayton Tune – 33 snaps
In 49 offensive snaps, which is just a shockingly low number in itself, the Cardinals only got 16 snaps from Brissett. Yet, he played almost a full quarter, and took about half the snaps that Tune took. That is a huge indictment of what we saw from Tune and the next offensive players, because you cannot play slightly more than three quarters and only get 33 snaps. It shows an inability to stay on the field on offense and an inability to get off the field on defense.
Running Backs –
Michael Carter – 23 snaps
Emari Demercado – 20 snaps
Zonovan Knight – 5 snaps
DeeJay Dallas – 1 snap
I was shocked how much they used Demercado in this one.
Wide Receivers –
Xavier Weaver – 31 snaps
Simi Fehoko – 30 snaps
Tejhaun Palmer – 30 snaps
Andre Baccellia – 17 snaps
Bryson Green – 13 snaps
Nate McCollum – 6 snaps
Nothing surprising here, sans how poorly Weaver played.
Tight Ends –
Josiah Deguara – 25 snaps
Travis Vokolek – 23 snaps
Elijah Higgins – 15 snaps
Oscar Cardenas – 6 snaps
Higgins playing is surprising, Cardenas barely playing is surprising.
Offensive Line –
Jeremiah Byers – 49 snaps
Sincere Haynesworth – 46 snaps
Nick Leverett – 43 snaps
Josh Fryar – 36 snaps
Jon Gaines II – 33 snaps
Royce Newman – 16 snaps
Jake Curhan – 13 snaps
McClendon Curtis – 6 snaps
Hayden Conner – 3 snaps
Conner was injured in the game, likely will miss time, is he an IR designated to return candidate? Byers played every snap in this one.
What stood out to you?
