Dolphins 2022 Week 7 Snap Count Observations

Noah Igbinoghene, Jaelan Phillips and Clayton Fejedelem were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against Pittsburgh

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 16-10 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night:

-- As a reminder, the inactives were RB Myles Gaskin, WR Erik Ezukanma, QB Skylar Thompson, CB Keion Crossen, CB Kader Kohou and DE Emmanuel Ogbah. Thompson (thumb), Crossen (knee), Kohou (oblique) and Ogbah (back) all were on the injury report heading into the game.

-- The only player who was active but did not seen any action was quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

-- Six position players saw their only action on special teams: DB Elijah Campbell, LB Channing Tindall, T Greg Little, G Robert Jones, C Michael Deiter and RB Salvon Ahmed.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- Durham Smythe was back in the lineup after missing the game against the Minnesota Vikings because of a hamstring injury, but Mike Gesicki still dominated the snaps at tight end (38-26). The injury might have been a factor for Smythe, because he didn't play a single snap on special teams after playing at least 10 in each of his five games this season.

-- Beyond Smythe and Gesicki, Hunter Long and Tanner Conner barely got any action at tight end, with four and two snaps each.

-- Another example of the team's top-heavy usage of personnel is at wide receiver, where Trent Sherfield again dominated the snaps behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Sherfield played 35 snaps, compared to six for River Cracraft and four for Cedrick Wilson Jr. Wilson did take over as the punt returner, however, against the Steelers.

-- At running back, Raheem Mostert again got the bulk of the work, with 44 snaps to Chase Edmonds' 18, and it's clearer and clearer every week that Mostert is the top back on the team.

--  Fullback Alec Ingold saw his most extensive playing time, both in terms of snaps (29) and snap percentage (47 percent). It's interesting to note that Ingold has been in the 20s in terms of snaps for six of the seven games, the one exception being the Week 3 game against the Buffalo Bills.

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DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- On defense, what immediately jumps out is Noah Igbinoghene playing all 75 snaps on defense. Igbinoghene, who got the start with Kohou and Crossen out, was one of three players on the field for every defensive snap along with the fellow cornerback Xavien Howard and free safety Jevon Holland.

-- Also in the secondary, Justin Bethel's 59 snaps on defense represented his highest total since 2017 when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals. Bethel has been a special teams standout in the NFL for many years, but his playing time on defense has been limited.

-- Like Bethel, Clayton Fejedelem has made his career on special teams, but he got 18 snaps on defense against Pittsburgh after Brandon Jones was injured. That total represented a higher total than Fejedelem's snap counts for the entire 2021 season (16) and the entire 2020 season (15). It also needs to be said that Fejedelem made the most of his snaps.

-- The two rookies who were elevated from the practice squad Saturday got playing time on defense, with DB Verone McKinley III getting 16 snaps and DL Ben Stille getting 9.

-- On the front seven, Jaelan Phillips' 60 snaps didn't represent a season high (he had 62 against Buffalo), but he did play a season-high 80 percent of the defensive snaps.

-- We close with the special teams, where Bethel was tied for highest snap count with Duke Riley at 22 apiece, followed by Fejedelem and Sam Eguavoen with 20, and Campbell and Andrew Van Ginkel with 19. Sherfield again led the offense for special teams snaps with 14.

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