Dolphins 2022 Week 3 Snap Count Observations

Jevon Holland, Mike Gesicki and Nk Needham were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against Buffalo

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 21-19 victory against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday:

-- As a reminder, the inactives were RB Myles Gaskin, WR Erik Ezukanma, QB Skylar Thompson, TE Cethan Carter, TE Hunter Long and DT Raekwon Davis. The only change from the Week 2 game at Baltimore had Channing Tindall in the lineup for Davis, who missed the game because of a knee injury.

-- The only player who was active but did not seen any action was running back Salvon Ahmed, as the Dolphins split the snaps between Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds.

-- Five position players saw their only action on special teams: DB Justin Bethel, DB Elijah Campbell, LB Channing Tindall, CB Noah Igbinoghene and C/G Michael Deiter. Bethel and Deiter are the two players who have special teams-only all three games this season — Igbinoghene was special teams-only the last two games after being inactive in Week 1.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- It seems we start here every week with tight end Mike Gesicki, and that's because he's the most prominent player whose snap count has greatly fluctuated so far this season. After going from 25 in the opener to 44 in Week 2, Gesicki was back down to only 40 percent of the offensive snaps (17 of 43) against the Bills. While the low number of offensive plays made a difference here, it's noteworthy that Durham Smythe got almost twice as many snaps (32) as Gesicki did.

-- As the result of (thankfully) minor injuries, Liam Eichenberg, Connor Williams and Terron Armstead were the only three offensive linemen who played all 43 snaps. Robert Hunt missed one play because of an apparent leg injury that looked worrisome because somebody fell into him from the side; Greg Little missed five snaps with a hand/finger injury but also was able to finish the game.

-- With Hunt and Little out on the same play, 2021 seventh-round pick Larnel Coleman got his first NFL regular season snap.

-- At wide receiver, Cedrick Wilson Jr. played only five snaps, though that likely was the result of the Dolphins not having the ball very much but also Wilson playing despite being limited in practice with toe and rib injuries. 

DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- We start off with big props for safety Jevon Holland, who played every single one of the Dolphins' 92 defensive snaps (counting penalties). That's quite the feat on a day when players from each team kept having heat-related issues. Oh, and on top of everything, Holland also played four special teams snaps.

-- As further proof that we really should make definitive conclusions based on the playing time of one game, Nik Needham got the second-most snaps on defense of any Dolphins player with 90 (98 percent). That came after he was replaced in the second half of the Baltimore game by rookie free agent Kader Kohou.

-- While speaking of Kohou, he again got a significant amount of playing time against Buffalo with 70 defensive snaps (76 percent). There should be no doubt left that the Dolphins trust the rookie from Texas A&M-Commerce.

-- Veteran newcomer Trey Flowers got a big bump in playing time, going from 8 snaps against Baltimore in Week 2 to 41 against the Bills. While the high number of Buffalo plays accounted for some of that, it also could be an indication he's more comfortable with what the Dolphins are doing defensively.

-- Andrew Van Ginkel got some action on defense after being limited to special teams against Baltimore, but his snap count still was relatively low (21) compared to most linebackers on the team. Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said last week that Van Ginkel continues to work his way back after his late-August appendectomy.

-- On the defensive line, it was Emmanuel Ogbah (70) and Christian Wilkins (63) who were the most active in terms of playing time. With Buffalo so pass-heavy on offense, Zach Sieler played only 50 percent of the snaps after playing 77 and 78 percent the first two games.

-- We close with the special teams, which were dominated in terms of snap counts by Bethel (19), Duke Riley (19, along with 28 snaps on defense) and Van Ginkel (18). Among the offensive position players, wide receiver Trent Sherfield again had the most special teams snaps with 15 (along with 27 on offense).