Falcons preseason snap counts: J’Terius Jones & Cornelius Edison lead the way against the Dolphins

I’ve been a fan of snap count analysis, as it’s a helpful way to get an overall sense as to how the Falcons are deploying personnel, especially with a defense as multiple as Dan Quinn’s and with an offense that utilizes deep, varied personnel as the Falcons offense does.

But a fair warning here: snap count analysis has its limits during preseason week 1.

High snap counts for preseason week 1 are great if you’re family or friends with the guys at the top of the list and want to see them on the field. But given that the starters played only one or two series each, the bottom of the list is where the greater overall roster security lies.

With that being said, here are this week’s snap counts:

Offense

The offensive snap counts are dominated by offensive linemen, with Cornelius Edison, Sean Harlow, Daniel Brunskill, and D.J. Tialavea all getting a lot of work on Thursday night. Matt Simms was given a fair opportunity to stake out a spot on the active roster. And with Julio Jones and Taylor Gabriel being held out, that gave guys like Marvin Hall and Anthony Dablé more of an opportunity to pick up snaps at wide receiver.

Cornelius Edison 58

Sean Harlow 52

Daniel Brunskill 46

Matt Simms 45

D.J. Tialavea 42

Eric Saubert 36

Marvin Hall 28

Travis Averill 28

Anthony Dablé 27

Terron Ward 25

Brian Hill 24

Reggie Davis 24

Deonte Burton 23

Josh Perkins 20

Josh Magee 19

Wes Schweitzer 19

Darion Griswold 18

Andreas Knappe 16

Ben Garland 16

Larson Graham 13

Tyler Renew 13

Alek Torgersen 13

Reggie Davis 13

Nick Williams 12

Bra’Lon Cherry 10

Kelvin Taylor 10

Jake Matthews 9

Ryan Schraeder 9

Andy Levitre 9

Alex Mack 8

Derrick Coleman 7

Marquis Lucas 7

Wil Freeman 6

Austin Hooper 6

Levine Toilolo 6

Justin Hardy 5

Matt Ryan 5

Matt Schaub 5

Andre Roberts 4

Tevin Coleman 4

Mohamed Sanu 4

Devonta Freeman 3

Alex Gray 1

Defense

Both J’Terius Jones and Joe Vellano played plenty of second-team and third-team defensive snaps, pushing them to the head of the pack for this week’s defensive snap counts. As can be seen, the top of the list consists of many rookie free agents. Jalen Collins’ name jumps out as a returning defensive contributor who played more than 25 snaps, but those additional snaps did not appear to help his cause, as Coach Quinn acknowledged on Friday that Collins did not have himself a very good game.

J’Terius Jones 46

Joe Vellano 40

Marcelis Branch 33

Chris Odom 32

Jarnor Jones 32

Taniela Tupou 32

Jalen Collins 31

Josh Keyes 29

Duke Riley 27

Sharrod Neasman 24

C.J. Goodwin 21

Deron Washington 21

Jermaine Grace 20

Derrick Shelby 20

Kemal Ishmael 19

Deji Olatoye 18

Jack Lynn 18

Damontae Kazee 17

Ra’Shede Hageman 17

Jordan Moore 16

Quincy Mauger 14

Blidi Wreh-Wilson 14

Courtney Upshaw 14

Brooks Reed 13

LaRoy Reynolds 12

De’Vondre Campbell 10

Deion Jones 10

Robert Alford 9

Grady Jarrett 9

Dontari Poe 9

Ricardo Allen 9

Desmond Trufant 6

Vic Beasley 3

Brian Poole 2

Adrian Clayborn 2

Special Teams

The “starting” kick coverage, punt coverage, kick return, and punt return units were only all together on the field for one play each as far as I could tell, so once again, take these snap counts with a grain of salt. Meyer handled some kickoffs in Bosher’s stead.

Primary:

Josh Harris 11

Matt Bosher 11

Mike Meyer 7

Matt Bryant 3

Others with double-digit snaps on special teams:

Eric Saubert 19

Marcelis Branch 18

Jermaine Grace 15

Damontae Kazee 15

Josh Perkins 15

Deante Burton 12

Josh Keyes 12

Duke Riley 11

Brian Hill 11

Marvin Hall 10