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First Quarter 2017 Broncos Snap Count Analysis

Here’s how much playing time each player on the Denver Broncos roster is getting through four games.

By Joe Mahoney
Carolina Panthers v Denver Broncos Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

So I will try to keep the words in the to a minimum. There are the offensive and defensive snap % playing trends for every player. I’m going to break it down by position group and give a one or two sentence takeaway from each group. For those who are color blind I’ll include the tables at the end.

Offensive Line

Paradis has taken every offensive snap. Garcia and Barbre continue to rotate. McGovern’s inability to supplant Garcia is worrisome.

Running Backs and Tight Ends

AJ Derby is clearly TE2 with Jeff Heuerman TE3. CJ Anderson has been in on a heavy load of offensive snaps so far. With Jamaal Charles playing well and Devontae Booker back, it will be interesting to see how the snap % changes for the three RBs. Note that DeAnglelo Henderson has yet to take an offensive snap (he’s been on 41% of the special teams snaps).

Wide Receivers

Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are rarely coming off the field on offense. Bennie Fowler is clearly the WR3. When he was hurt, Isaiah McKenzie stepped into his role, not Cody Latimer. Latimer continue to be a huge disappointment as a WR (and had only been on 44% of the special teams snaps). Our top three WRs have 80 targets through 4 games; the other three WRs have combined for 5 targets in 4 games (2 catches both by Latimer).

Defensive Lineman

Derek Wolfe has been an ironman through the first four game. Adam Gotsis was trending up in the first three games, but was given some rest vs OAK while Ahtyba Rubin played.

Inside Linebackers

Brandon Marshall hardly comes off the field. Todd Davis played very little in the first two games, but has been deployed extensively in the last two.

Outside Linebackers

Shaq Barrett and Von Miller have hardly come off the field. Kasim Edebali and Demarcus Walker have played very sparingly on defense and contributed very little when the have (1 assisted tackle). It will be interesting to see how Shane Ray is used once he is back. We can debate if he is an upgrade over Barrett (he’s not), but he’s definitely and upgrade over Walker (who should not be playing OLB) and Edebali.

Cornerbacks

This is pretty clear. Chris Harris and Aqib Talib hardly leave the field. Bradley Roby is oru third CB and Lorenzo Doss hasn’t been used on defense except for a few snaps in game two. Branden Langley has not been used on defense at all this season. He’s been in on 29% of the special teams snaps so far.

Safeties

Jamal Carter only got significant defensive snaps in game one when Darian Stewart was injured. Will Parks was used heavily in the first two games and not as heavily in the second two games. I noted this in my discussion of the “heavy nickel”. I’ll leave this note here are well. We have three players who are involved on 75% or more of our special teams snaps: Corey Nelson (79%), Will Parks (77%) and Jamal Carter (75%).

Offensive Players Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4
Garett Bolles 100% 75% 100% 100%
Menelik Watson 100% 100% 100% 98%
Matt Paradis 100% 100% 100% 100%
Trevor Siemian 100% 100% 100% 100%
Demaryius Thomas 87% 88% 87% 88%
Emmanuel Sanders 77% 90% 89% 75%
C.J. Anderson 70% 73% 70% 69%
Virgil Green 65% 60% 53% 66%
Bennie Fowler 55% 30% 69% 53%
Allen Barbre 52% 69% 49% 58%
Ronald Leary 52% 94% 100% 100%
Max Garcia 48% 53% 51% 42%
Connor McGovern 48% 6% 0% 0%
A.J. Derby 42% 38% 41% 45%
Jamaal Charles 30% 26% 30% 17%
Andy Janovich 25% 9% 11% 17%
Jeff Heuerman 25% 30% 21% 27%
Cody Latimer 17% 18% 16% 0%
Donald Stephenson 7% 3% 0% 12%
Isaiah McKenzie 0% 39% 13% 9%
Devontae Booker 0% 0% 0% 12%
Jordan Taylor 0% 0% 0% 11%
Defensive Players Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4
Justin Simmons 100% 99% 88% 100%
Aqib Talib 100% 97% 94% 100%
Chris Harris 95% 97% 92% 94%
Shaquil Barrett 92% 87% 89% 91%
Von Miller 90% 80% 85% 85%
Brandon Marshall 88% 77% 88% 94%
Darian Stewart 80% 89% 95% 91%
Will Parks 73% 75% 42% 56%
Derek Wolfe 73% 73% 78% 83%
Bradley Roby 68% 87% 46% 78%
Shelby Harris 56% 46% 45% 46%
Adam Gotsis 53% 62% 69% 43%
Domata Peko 46% 27% 54% 41%
Todd Davis 32% 23% 63% 57%
Jamal Carter 20% 1% 2% 2%
Corey Nelson 12% 23% 12% 6%
DeMarcus Walker 10% 13% 15% 15%
Kasim Edebali 8% 27% 12% 9%
Tyrique Jarrett 5% 0% 0% 0%
Kyle Peko 0% 10% 0% 0%
Lorenzo Doss 0% 7% 0% 0%
Zach Kerr 0% 0% 26% 0%
Zaire Anderson 0% 0% 5% 0%
Ahtyba Rubin 0% 0% 0% 9%

Poll

What if anything surprised you most here?

This poll is closed

  • 25%
    Garcia’s continued playing time
    (105 votes)
  • 27%
    McGovern’s lack of playing time
    (113 votes)
  • 8%
    CJ Anderson’s extremely heavy workload
    (35 votes)
  • 5%
    Jeff Heuerman’s lack of offensive snaps
    (22 votes)
  • 8%
    Adam Gotsis’ playing time
    (34 votes)
  • 1%
    Corey Nelson’s lack of defensive snaps
    (7 votes)
  • 6%
    Shaw Barrett’s heavy workload
    (27 votes)
  • 5%
    Will Parks’ utilization
    (24 votes)
  • 2%
    Branden Langley’s complete lack of defensive snaps
    (12 votes)
  • 1%
    Zo Doss hardly seeing the field on defense so far
    (5 votes)
  • 4%
    something else
    (20 votes)
  • 1%
    Shasta
    (7 votes)
  • 1%
    Whorfin
    (6 votes)
417 votes total Vote Now

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