Dolphins 2022 Week 1 Snap Count Observations

Myles Gaskin, Mike Gesicki, Kader Kohou and Zach Sieler were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against New England

Sam Navarro - USA Today Sports

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 20-7 victory against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday:

-- As a reminder, the inactives were CB Noah Igbinoghene, LB Trey Flowers, WR Erik Ezukanma, QB Skylar Thompson, S Eric Rowe, RB Salvon Ahmed and TE Tanner Conner. Of those, Rowe (pectoral), Ahmed (heel) and Conner (knee) were listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week.

-- The two players who were active but didn't play were quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and rookie safety Verone McKinley. In the case of the Bridgewater, this is what figures to happen every week (ideally), but it was surprising that McKinley wasn't used at all considering the Dolphins used up one of his three allowed practice squad elevations. It's even more noticeable because he didn't play even though Rowe was inactive.

-- Five players saw their only action on special teams: DB Justin Bethel, LB Sam Eguavoen, LB Channing Tindall, C Michael Deiter and RB Myles Gaskin. Of those, the biggest surprise was Gaskin and we'll explain why a bit later. As for Tindall, anybody who saw training camp and the preseason shouldn't be surprised by this and it could be a while before he gets playing time on defense.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- Let's deal with the running back situation, including Gaskin not getting any snaps on offense. While it did appear pretty clear that Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert were the top two running backs on the team (and they both were listed as first-team players on the depth chart), it still was eye-opening that they got all the playing time in the opener — Edmonds played 38 of the 60 offensive snaps and Mostert played 25.

-- While we're on the number 25, that was the snap count for tight end Mike Gesicki and it represented only 42 percent of the offensive plays. That percentage was the second-lowest for Gesicki since his rookie season of 2018 and ironically the lowest also came in an opener and also against New England — he played 39 percent of the offensive snaps in the 2021 game at Gillette Stadium. This situation, of course, is difference given all the mystery surrounding just how good of a fit Gesicki is in the new offense brought in by head coach Mike McDaniel.

-- As we suggested during training camp, it was Durham Smythe who clearly was the top tight end for the Dolphins with 38 snaps (63 percent of the plays).

-- At wide receiver, the playing time played out as expected, with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle tied for most snaps with 40, followed by Cedrick Wilson Jr. with 28 and Trent Sherfield with 21. What's interesting here is that River Cracraft played 10 snaps at wide receiver and only four on special teams after being elevated from the practice squad, which suggests that maybe there was more of a trust factor there on offense for the season opener than there was with Ezukanma, the rookie fourth-round pick from Texas Tech.

-- Along the offensive line, what's notable is that Liam Eichenberg's 60 snaps included two at left tackle when Terron Armstead briefly left the game. Robert Jones played those two snaps at left guard in Eichenberg's spot and also played one snap at right tackle after Greg Little briefly left the game for one play after replacing starter Austin Jackson.

DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- On defense, what stood out came on the defensive line with Zach Sieler getting the most snaps (44) of anybody in that group. It's an indication that maybe we can stop calling Sieler underrated because the coaching staff clearly values what he brings.

-- Four players were on the field for all 57 defensive snaps — FS Jevon Holland, LB Jerome Baker, SS Brandon Jones and CB Xavien Howard — while cornerback Nik Needham played all but one snap.

-- Behind Howard and Needham, it was rookie free agent Kader Kohou who got the most snaps with 18, followed by Keion Crossen with 16, an indication of the kind of confidence the Dolphins have in Kohou, who rewarded that faith with a standout performance.

-- At linebacker, the snaps after Baker were fairly evenly spread out, though it's worth noting that Andrew Van Ginkel played only seven snaps. Of course, we shouldn't forget that he had an appendectomy about three weeks ago and was listed as questionable on the final injury report Friday — though Van Ginkel also played seven special teams snaps.

-- Looking for a quick indication as to who might represent the special teams core, the following seven players reached double digits in snaps in the kicking game: Justin Bethel (15), Duke Riley (15), Durham Smythe (14), Trent Sherfield (13), Keion Crossen (13), Elijah Campbell (11) and Sam Eguavoen (11).