This post was originally published on this site
You can learn a lot about the 2024 Steelers from the team’s snap counts.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Steelers snap counts. Pittsburgh is 3-0, and as always, there’s something to be learned from the team’s snap counts.
Plus, this week we have new formatting, separating the offense, defense, and special teams numbers into different tables. Thanks to BTSC member steelwoman for an impromptu Google Sheets tutorial last week.
As always, if the in-article table doesn’t look great on your mobile device (I can’t fix that, sorry!), you can view the Google Sheets version in the link below:
Let’s take a look at the numbers, and then, some takeaways:
The iron men
As always, we’ll start by shouting out the players who played 100% of the snaps on one side of the ball. This week, it’s 4/5ths of the starting O-line (Broderick Jones, James Daniels, Zach Frazier, and Dan Moore Jr.) and starting quarterback Justin Fields on offense.
Starting left guard Spencer Anderson was benched/rotated for rookie Mason McCormick, with the former only recording 82% of the offensive snaps. Tight end Pat Freiermuth logged the same number of snaps as Anderson as the Steelers’ most-played skill position player.
On defense, it was once again the trio of cornerback Joey Porter Jr., safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, and linebacker Patrick Queen to max out their playing time. Cornerback Donte Jackson came close again (89%) but was taken off the field for some plays due to an injury. T.J. Watt played a season-high 96% of the snaps, as did safety DeShon Elliott.
Biggest risers
You’ll recognize a lot of the players mentioned above in this segment. Starting with the defense, Watt jumped from 89.3% of the snaps last week to 96% this week due to the Steelers’ lack of edge depth. Elliott jumped from 75% last week to 96%, a testament to how big of an asset he’s become for the defense.
Defensive linemen Keeanu Benton and Larry Ogunjobi also saw an increase from 44.6% and 51.8% of snaps last week, respectively, to 58% and 69% this week. Free agent D-line addition Dean Lowry saw his first reps of the year on Sunday, logging six defensive snaps (13%). A heavy emphasis in the trenches.
DeMarvin Leal went from 7.1% of defensive snaps in Week 2 to 18% in Week 3. As with Watt, it’s due to the Alex Highsmith injury, but it also seemed the Steelers wanted a bigger edge rusher on the field to match up against the Chargers’ fierce rushing offense. To finish off the edge rusher tangent, Nick Herbig improved from 28.6% of defensive snaps a week ago to 42% against the Chargers. Not a surprise, but a big increase nonetheless.
At linebacker, Elandon Roberts and Payton Wilson each saw an increase in snaps as well, going from 35.7% and 32.1% of the defensive snaps to 47% and 42%, respectively.
Besides the obvious increase in Mason McCormick snaps on offense, Pat Freiermuth followed up just 58.6% of the offensive snaps last week with 82% this week. Following the Van Jefferson injury, wide receivers Calvin Austin III (44.8% of the offensive snaps last week) and Scotty Miller (24.1%), jumped up to 52% and 57%, respectively. Yes, Miller out-snapped Austin.
Running back Cordarrelle Patterson went from just four (6.9%) of the offensive snaps last week to 22 (34%) against LA. Patterson replaced Jaylen Warren in the backfield following the latter’s injury. Najee Harris also jumped from 48.3% to 58%, a number close to his Week 1 total.
And we can’t forget about special teams! Roster newcomers Rodney Williams and James Pierre each saw a lot of time in this phase of the game, playing 72% and 52% of available special teams snaps, respectively. Safety Jalen Elliott, also in his first action of the season, played 64%.
Biggest fallers
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Van Jefferson, Alex Highsmith, Cory Trice Jr., and Jaylen Warren all missed time because of injury. Spencer Anderson was rotated out. These changes were easy to see during the game and not worth pontificating over.
Now for the less obvious fallers.
There isn’t anything to note on offense, but on defense, there were some changes. After jumping to 62.5% of the defensive snaps last week, rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop played just 53% on Sunday. He had his struggles, but I’d note this as the Steelers playing less defensive back packages to match the Chargers’ heavy sets. Safety Damontae Kazee had a similar decrease, dropping from 35.7% of the defensive snaps to just 11%.
Defensive tackle Montravius Adams had the most dramatic fall in snaps, going from 42.9% a week ago to 11% against the Chargers. Again, you have to think of the matchup. Adams is best as a pass-rusher and the Steelers were faced with one of the NFL’s top rushing offenses.
If you’re looking for special teams fallers due to the risers listed above, you won’t find anything crazy. Pittsburgh added three new special-teamers on Sunday, but they also lost several this week: Ben Skowronek and Tyler Matakevich are now on injured reserve. Cory Trice Jr. was hurt versus the Chargers while Darius Rush and MyCole Pruitt were inactives.
Making the most of it award
When you play just 42% of the defensive snaps but still lead the team in sacks (two), that deserves an award. Take a bow, Nick Herbig.
The surprises
- Minkah Fitzpatrick with two offensive snaps. Gotta love victory formation.
- This was George Pickens’ first game this season as the Steelers’ leading receiver in terms of snaps.
- The Steelers had 20 more snaps on offense (65) than defense (45). Pittsburgh improves in the ball control column after a two-snap difference last week against Denver.
What are your takeaways from this week’s snap counts? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!