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The Atlanta Falcons won, and in the course of doing so, they rolled out a lot of familiar faces. This is the weekly tale of the snap counts, which contains few surprises but does serve as a useful reminder of just how stacked this Falcons team is.
The closest thing we got to a surprise this week was Takk McKinley’s snap count, which was a huge jump up over the first two weeks of the season. Consider the Falcons were without Vic Beasley and in need of some pass rushing punch, though, it’s not like they were going to start a veteran instead just because they were a veteran. Can you imagine?
Offense
Andy Levitre G 68
Wes Schweitzer 68
Ty Sambrailo 68
Jake Matthews 68
Alex Mack 68
Matt Ryan 68
Julio Jones 58
Mohamed Sanu 57
Austin Hooper 49
Devonta Freeman 41
Taylor Gabriel 36
Levine Toilolo 35
Tevin Coleman 28
Derrick Coleman 19
Justin Hardy 15
Eric Saubert 1
Andre Roberts 1
The Falcons kept things pretty clean and predictable on this side of the ball. Devonta Freeman outsnapped and outtouched Tevin Coleman to the point where it’s obvious who the feature back is, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect Steve Sarkisian to close that gap any time soon. Guys like Justin Hardy, Eric Saubert and Andre Roberts are barely involved in the offense at all, with most of the snaps and looks going to Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Austin Hooper, and Taylor Gabriel. The offense hasn’t really suffered for it, even if I’d like to see a little more Hardy, at least.
Defense
Robert Alford 70
Keanu Neal 70
Deion Jones 70
Desmond Trufant 67
Brian Poole 61
Ricardo Allen 55
Grady Jarrett 53
De’Vondre Campbell 52
Dontari Poe 51
Adrian Clayborn 50
Takk McKinley 48
Duke Riley 26
Brooks Reed 22
Derrick Shelby 20
Jack Crawford 19
Damontae Kazee 18
Joe Vellano 17
Blidi Wreh-Wilson 1
You’ve got your high-usage starters, and then you’ve got your rotational guys. Especially with Vic Beasley out, Adrian Clayborn and Takkarist McKinley got a ton of run, and each of them nabbed a sack versus the Lions. The Falcons found roughly equal numbers of snaps for Reed, Shelby, Crawford and (surprisingly) Vellano, and continue to enjoy the advantage of having a lot of quality guys available to keep their starters fresh. It just didn’t lead to a whole hell of a lot of pressure on Matthew Stafford, unfortunately and the Falcons will need to see if Reed or Shelby can offer a little more next week.
Takk being on the field that much was this week’s most pleasant surprise. He looks special.
Special Teams
Kemal Ishmael 27
C.J. Goodwin 26
Jordan Tripp 21
Eric Saubert 21
Derrick Coleman 21
Justin Hardy 21
Damontae Kazee 19
Sharrod Neasman 19
Matt Bosher 15
Andre Roberts 14
Ben Garland 13
Robert Alford 12
There hasn’t been much room for them on defense, but Kemal Ishmael and C.J. Goodwin continue to be two of the team’s most important special teamers. Eric Saubert has been able to carve out a much more significant role on teams than on offense, as well, while Damontae Kazee and Sharrod Neasman should be able to ensure gameday roles for themselves if they continue to play well on special teams. Tripp getting 21 snaps this week might suggest that he’ll continue to suit up ahead of Jermaine Grace, a better defender in a deep corps of linebackers who doesn’t have the special teams experience.
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