Miami Dolphins Week 2 defensive snap counts

We close in on the end of our look back at the Miami Dolphins’ Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Chargers this morning as we take a look at the defensive snap counts for Miami. Yesterday, we completed our look at the offensive snap counts, with a lot of the focus on the rotation at left guard between Anthony Steen and Jesse Davis. Is there anything as interesting as that on the defensive side of the ball?

Really, the defense was fairly straight forward. Linebackers Kiko Alonso and Mike Hull played every snap, as did safeties Reshad Jones and Nate Allen. The two top linebackers were joined by Chase Allen, who replaced Lawrence Timmons who left the team on Saturday for undisclosed reasons, on just 14 players, or 24 percent of the snaps. Otherwise, the Dolphins were essentially in the nickel package, with cornerbacks Xavien Howard (55 snaps, 95 percent of plays), Byron Maxwell (55, 95 percent), and Bobby McCain (44, 76 percent).

On the defensive line, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh continued last year’s trend of playing nearly every play, appearing on 53 of 58 plays this past weekend, far-and-away the most of any defensive lineman. Defensive end Andre Branch was second with 43 of the 58 plays, followed by defensive end Cameron Wake at 33 snaps, and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux with 32 plays. Behind them, rookie defensive end Charles Harris played 27 snaps, veteran defensive end William Hayes appeared on 25 plays, defensive tackle Jordan Phillips played 21 snaps, and rookie defensive tackle Vincent Taylor was on the field for three plays.

Maybe the most surprising name to not make a defensive appearance is safety Michael Thomas, who played 22 special teams snaps - 81 percent of the special teams play, tied for the most special teams plays with Walt Aikens - but did not get used either as a big nickel safety or a true nickel cornerback. Thomas typically makes a few appearances on defense, but the Dolphins stuck with the main five defensive backs all game.

Here is a breakdown of the entire defensive snap counts for the week, as well as the start of the season long tracking of defensive snaps played.

Week 2 Snap Counts