Falcons snap counts from the season finale against the Buccaneers

It’s the final edition of Falcons snap counts for the 2022 season. Well, close to it. We’ll wrap up the total snap counts sometime in the next week or so.

Here’s who played against the Buccaneers and a few notes about standouts and those who saw their stock fall at the very end of the season.

Offense

Drew Dalman: 68

Kaleb McGary: 68

Desmond Ridder: 64

Jake Matthews: 64

Chris Lindstrom: 64

Tyler Allgeier: 47

Parker Hesse: 45

Matt Hennessy: 45

Drake London: 39

MyCole Pruitt: 31

Frank Darby: 28

Colby Gossett: 23

KhaDarel Hodge: 20

Keith Smith: 20

Damiere Byrd: 20

Cordarrelle Patterson: 19

Anthony Firkser: 16

Josh Ali: 7

Avery Williams: 5

Ryan Neuzil: 5

Germain Ifedi: 4

Logan Woodside: 4

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The team was hellbent on showcasing Tyler Allgeier and getting him that rookie rushing record, which showed up in the snap counts. Allgeier played more than any other running back, receiver, or tight end on Sunday, dominating touches and dominating the game. He’s a good one, and he’s going to be the lead back in 2023.

The Falcons also interestingly seemed keen on getting a longer look at Frank Darby, who played a significant share of the snaps and came up with a catch. The team seems to have a slow-burning plan for their former sixth round pick, who might actually latch on to a reserve role next year in a receiving corps that has to be almost entirely rebuilt once again.

Poor Matt Hennessy, meanwhile, can’t catch a break. He’s started three games this season and exited two of them with injury, including Sunday’s. The fact that he exited with a knee injury hopefully does not mean he suffered the kind of injury that might impact his 2023 season, as he’ll likely be in the mix for the starting left guard job if he’s healthy.

Otherwise, the only surprise was that this got so out of hand that Logan Woodside got into the game, even with Tampa Bay’s reserves in.

Defense

Richie Grant: 55

Cornell Armstrong: 55

Rashaan Evans: 55

Troy Andersen: 52

A.J. Terrell: 51

Jaylinn Hawkins: 48

Lorenzo Carter: 42

Isaiah Oliver: 39

Grady Jarrett: 39

Adetokunbo Ogundeji: 29

DeAngelo Malone: 21

Timothy Horne: 21

Abdullah Anderson: 19

Matt Dickerson: 19

Jaleel Johnson: 18

Arnold Ebiketie: 18

Dee Alford: 13

Mykal Walker: 7

Darren Hall: 4

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The year ends with some clear trends. Troy Andersen has been very up-and-down as a full-time starter, but he is indeed a full-time starter, with the team banking on experience helping a player with immense upside improve heading into his second season. The big finish to the year for Cornell Armstrong and Isaiah Oliver, with both players clearly improving as the season grinds on, points to both potentially returning as at least useful reserves in 2022.

The playing time for Arnold Ebiketie and Timothy Horne, meanwhile, began to dwindle at the end of the year. Ebiketie’s upside was evident in the early going, but after his injury he has mostly had quiet weeks for Atlanta. His second year—and the second year for fellow 2022 draft choice DeAngelo Malone—figures to be a big one, so I’m not worried about either player not making a huge impact down the stretch. I would have liked to have seen both more, however.

A key question on my mind is what happens next for Dee Alford. The former CFL standout was a very effective reserve all season long, and his play suggested that he could probably offer more with more playing time. Whether he gets it or not is an open question, but with an unsettled corner group as I noted above, I like his chances of at least sticking as a reserve again.

Special Teams

Erik Harris: 22

Mike Ford: 22

Nick Kwiatkoski: 22

DeAngelo Malone: 19

KhaDarel Hodge: 19

Avery Williams: 19

Keith Smith: 19

Bradley Pinion: 16

Parker Hesse: 13

Richie Grant: 10

Isaiah Oliver: 10

MyCole Pruitt: 10

Liam McCullough: 9

Troy Andersen: 8

Darren Hall: 7

Adetokunbo Ogundeji: 6

Kaleb McGary: 6

Chris Lindstrom: 6

Jake Matthews: 6

Colby Gossett: 6

Ryan Neuzil: 6

Germain Ifedi: 6

Younghoe Koo: 6

Lorenzo Carter: 5

Mykal Walker: 4

Frank Darby: 4

Cordarrelle Patterson: 4

Timothy Horne: 3

Abdullah Anderson: 3

Jaleel Johnson: 3

Dee Alford: 3

Cornell Armstrong: 2

Jaylinn Hawkins: 2

Tyler Allgeier: 1

Anthony Firkser: 1

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Special teams was a team strength this year, and you have to give credit to Marquice Williams for that in addition to the players, especially because there’s no guarantee this year’s top contributors will be back next year. That’s the nature of the beast on special teams.

The team will have Younghoe Koo, who was one of the most reliable kickers in football, and Avery Williams, one of the league’s most fearsome punt returners. They may also strongly consider bringing back Erik Harris, a respected veteran who played a huge special teams role after holding down a starting job in 2021, and Mike Ford, who can play cornerback and safety in a pinch and was heavily relied upon as well. Other players like Nick Kwiatkoski and Keith Smith could be replaced by younger players, but we’ll find out soon enough.