Dolphins Week 9 Snap Count Observations

Diving into the playing time and its implications for Raheem Mostert, Odell Beckham, Jr., Anthony Walker, Jr., Mohamed Kamara, and other Miami Dolphins players.

Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert (31) runs with the ball against the Buffalo Billsduring the first half at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 30-27 loss against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday?

We'll start with the inactive list, highlighted by a quartet of players out because of injuries:

• DT Zach Sieler (eye)
• CB Kader Kohou (neck)
• CB Storm Duck (ankle)
• TE Julian Hill (shoulder)

Also inactive were RB Jeff Wilson, Jr. and OL Andrew Meyer.

Every active player, including practice squad elevations Neil Farrell and newcomer Matt Overton, saw action in the game except backup quarterback Skylar Thompson.

Six players saw action only on special teams: Kendall Lamm, Lester Cotton, Patrick Paul, Channing Tindall, Ethan Bonner, and David Long, Jr., who was replaced in the starting lineup at linebacker by Anthony Walker, Jr.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

The teams' numbers of offensive plays were pretty close, with Buffalo having a 66-61 advantage.

The disparity at running back stood out on offense, with De'Von Achane getting 42 snaps compared to only 14 for Raheem Mostert and nine for rookie Jaylen Wright. Not only has Achane become the undisputed lead back, but he's also become a focal point of the offense.

With Mostert, it's easy to suggest his playing time was affected by his lost fumble early in the second half, but we should point out he got the Dolphins' next rushing attempt after that turnover. The 14 offensive snaps represented Mostert's lowest total since rejoining the Dolphins in 2022.

As for Wright, this notion that he's going to be getting a ton of snaps at any point continues to be more of media creation because he does look good as a rookie than based in reality.

For a second consecutive game, rookie Malik Washington got the third-most snaps at wide receiver, this time with 23, again way behind Tyreek Hill's 59 and Jaylen Waddle's 52 snaps.

After playing exactly 11 offensive snaps each of his first three games, Odell Beckham Jr. got 12 snaps in this game. Though he did record his first two catches with the Dolphins, it's clear he's still not a very big part of the game plan.

Alec Ingold played only 19 snaps at fullback as a result of leaving the game with a calf injury. Remember that Ingold was on the injury report during the week because of a cal issue.

With Julian Hill out, Durham Smythe saw a small uptick in his snap count but nothing overly significant (from 17 to 26). Of course, it didn't help that Smythe was flagged for a false start and was later pushed back into the backfield on Mostert's failed third-and-1 run.

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

Five players were on the field for all of the Dolphins' 66 defensive snaps: Walker, fellow linebacker Jordyn Brooks, and three starters in the secondary — Jalen Ramsey, Marcus Maye, and Jordan Poyer. Cornerback Kendall Fuller was off the field for only one snap.

Veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell saw another jump in his snap count while continuing his really impressive season. Campbell played a season-high 50 snaps, seven more than he did against Arizona and 13 more than any other game this season. The last time Campbell had reached 50 defensive snaps in a game was Week 7 of the 2023 season when he was with the Atlanta Falcons.

Da'Shawn Hand again got extended work up front with Sieler out with his eye injury, this time with 57 snaps. That's 86 percent of the defensive snaps, which is Sieler territory.

Playing through his bicep injury, Emmanuel Ogbah was able to log 49 defensive snaps.

Rookie first-round pick Chop Robinson got his first NFL sack against the Bills, but his snap count (33) was his lowest in four games.

After playing 35 defensive snaps against Arizona in his first game of the season, Cam Smith was down to 29 snaps against Buffalo despite the defense still missing Kohou, Duck, and Holland for this entire game.

Kamara got only five defensive snaps in his second NFL game, 11 fewer than in his debut against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6. Kamara did look somewhat hesitant when he's in on defense, which would explain why he's spent so much time on the inactive list as a rookie.

We close with special teams, where Siran Neal and Quinton Bell again tied for the lead in snaps for the seventh time in eight games, this time with 20 apiece. Duke Riley was next with 19 snaps. Tanner Conner, back in the lineup after being inactive against Arizona, led all offensive players in special teams snaps with 15, followed by Smythe with 13 snaps.