Monti Ossenfort Arizona Cardinals General Manager | Arizona Cardinals Website
Monti Ossenfort Arizona Cardinals General Manager | Arizona Cardinals Website
The Arizona Cardinals' Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams provided an insightful look into player participation, particularly in terms of snap counts. After their commanding victory, the Cardinals were able to rotate in several players, reducing the number of candidates who have played every snap this season to just one: left guard Evan Brown.
This rotation allowed rookie safety Rabbit Taylor-Demerson to get his first defensive snaps of his NFL career, totaling eight. Overall, the percentage of snaps played by most players remained relatively stable from Week 1.
On defense, Budda Baker, Garrett Williams, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Jalen Thompson, and inside linebacker Kyzir White each led with 44 out of a possible 52 defensive snaps. The inside linebacker position saw a noteworthy rotation with Mack Wilson Sr. playing 23 snaps and Krys Barnes close behind with 20. Owen Pappoe followed with 16 snaps.
In the secondary, Starling Thomas V had significant playtime with 35 snaps while rookie Max Melton contributed 25 despite previous concussion concerns. Safety Joey Blount and cornerback Kei'Trel Clark joined Rabbit Taylor-Demerson at the end for eight snaps each.
The defensive line saw Justin Jones leading again with 35 snaps due to Dante Stills being a healthy scratch. Roy Lopez (22), Bilal Nichols (21), L.J. Collier (20), and Khyiris Tonga (15) followed in participation.
At outside linebacker, Dennis Gardeck topped the list with 26 snaps on a day he achieved a career-best three sacks. Zaven Collins (23), Xavier Thomas (21), Julian Okwara (15), and Victor Dimukeje (11) also contributed significantly.
Offensively, only Evan Brown and right tackle Kelvin Beachum played all 66 offensive snaps. The rest of the offensive line was subbed out for the final six plays when backup quarterback Clayton Tune replaced Kyler Murray.
Tight end usage was notable as Trey McBride led with 55 snaps while Tip Reiman and Elijah Higgins also saw considerable action with 38 and 36 snaps respectively. At wide receiver, Marvin Harrison Jr. led with 46 plays followed closely by Michael Wilson's 45. Greg Dortch (23), Chris Moore (9), and Zach Pascal (8) rounded out the group.
Running back James Conner participated in over 60 percent of the plays with 41 snaps, while Trey Benson had 22 and Emari Demercado saw seven.
Caitlyn Epes/Arizona Cardinals
G Evan Brown
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