Cincinnati Bengals Snap Count Analysis: Jordan Battle Joins Rotation at Safety

Jay Morrison | Oct 7, 2024

Oct 6, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard (94) celebrates a safety with safety Jordan Battle (27) during the first half against the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals had their best defensive rotation of the season Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and still gave up 520 yards and the second-most points in the Zac Taylor/Lou Anarumo era in a 41-38 overtime loss.

The Bengals were hoping to get a boost from the return of Myles Murphy and B.J. Hill and the debut of rookie third-round pick McKinnley Jackson along the defensive line, but it was more of the same for Lou Anarumo’s struggling group.

Let’s take a look at how the Bengals shuffled personnel on both sides of ball with this week’s snap count analysis.

Snap counts do not include plays negated by penalties.

DEFENSE

Defensive Line

B.J. Hill 55 (71 percent)

Sam Hubbard 50 (65 percent)

Trey Hendrickson 46 (60 percent)

Kris Jenkins 44 (57 percent)

Myles Murphy 34 (44 percent)

Joseph Ossai 31 (40 percent)

Lawrence Guy 28 (36 percent)

Jay Tufele 20 (26 percent)

McKinnley Jackson 9 (12 percent)

Hill returned from his hamstring injury to lead the group, recording five tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass defended.

Much as the Bengals did last week with Jenkins, the team eased Murphy in against Baltimore with only 34 snaps.

Jenkins saw his snap count double from 22 against Carolina to 44 against Baltimore.

Even with Murphy returning and lining up mostly in Hubbard’s position at left defensive end, Hubbard’s snap count remained high as he slid inside to defensive tackle on a few snaps and blitzed from the middle linebacker spot a couple of times.

Hendrickson’s 60 percent share was on the lower end of what he typically plays as he was fighting through a neck stinger that knocked him out of last week’s game.

Linebackers

Logan Wilson (77, 100 percent) and Germaine Pratt (75) rarely left the field as usual, but Anarumo worked all of the other linebackers into the scheme at some point.

Akeem Davis-Gaither played a balanced 20 snaps (seven on first down, eight on second down, five on third down), while undrafted rookie Maema Njongmeta got four snaps (three of which came in the first quarter) and Joe Bachie logged two.

Cornerbacks

It’s unclear what the plan was for the rotation given that Dax Hill left the game with a knee injury in the first quarter, limiting his day to just 14 snaps, half of which came in the slot with Mike Hilton inactive due to a knee injury.

Cam Taylor-Britt played 75 of the 77 snaps, and DJ Turner II logged 67, the third-highest total of his young career.

With Hill injury, Jalen Davis, who was elevated from the practice squad Saturday, played 32 snaps in the slot.

Rookie Josh Newton played 11 snaps, eight of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Safeties

Jordan Battle replaced Vonn Bell on seven snaps Sunday, all of which came on early downs – five on first down, two on second.

In addition to giving up a 27-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews, Battle was on the field for Baltimore gains of 18, 18, 13, 13, 0 and -2 yards.

Geno Stone played 75 snaps.

Personnel Groupings

Nickel (five defensive backs): 50

Short yardage: 20

4-3: 5

Not all 20 short-yardage plays were actually short yardage. That’s just how the package appeared when Anarumo went big with five defensive linemen.

Almost half were of the 20 plays came on first and 10. There also was a first and goal from the 8.

Only six of the 20 plays came in true shortage with 1 or 2 yards to go.

OFFENSE

Running Back

Even though Chase Brown was the more efficient ball carrier – 12 carries for 46 yards (3.8) to Zack Moss’ nine rushes for 24 yards (2.7) – there was a 2:1 split in snaps in Moss’ favor.

It’s further proof that the Bengals feel much more comfortable with Moss in pass protection than Brown.

Moss played 44 of the 65 snaps, while Brown had 21. Only three of Brown’s snaps came on third down.

Wide Receiver

Ja’Marr Chase 58 (89 percent)

Andrei Iosivas 52 (80 percent)

Tee Higgins 48 (74 percent)

Charlie Jones 5 (8 percent)

Jermaine Burton 1 (2 percent)

This follows the trend we’ve seen since Higgins returned from the hamstring injury.

With the Bengals leaning more into 12 personnel, most of the breaks the Big 3 get come when the team adds a second tight end to the field, leaving mere scraps for Jones and Burton.

Despite running one "sh--ity route", Chase had a huge day with 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

JA'MARR CHASE 70-YARD TD.

FIVE TOUCHDOWN PASSES FOR JOE BURROW.

📺: #BALvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/XJKCC0bWOb

— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024

Tight End

Erick All 34 (52 percent)

Drew Sample 28 (43 percent)

Mike Gesicki 28 (43 percent)

For the second week in a row, All outpaced all of the tight ends, although this was pretty close to a three-way split.

While All and Gesicki’s snaps were pretty even split across all downs, Sample played more than half of his (15) on first down and had none on third down.

Offensive Line

Rookie right tackle Amarius Mims was carted off with an ankle injury and missed 20 snaps, but he fought to get back in the game in the fourth quarter.

Cody Ford played the 20 snaps Mims was out and an additional five as a sixth offensive lineman.

Personnel Groupings

11 (one running back, one tight end): 42

12 (one running back, two tight ends): 16

Jumbo/short-yardage: 7

The Bengals dipped to 25 percent in 12 usage, due partly to the team using a sixth offensive lineman on a handful of plays.

But even if you counted Ford, an eligible receiver, as a tight end, it still would only be 21 plays for 32 percent.

That’s down from recent weeks but still higher than what the offense has looked like prior to this season.

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