Dolphins 2023 Week 11 Snap Count Observations

Salvon Ahmed, Andrew Van Ginkel and Tyreek Hill were among the Miami Dolphins with noteworthy playing time against the Las Vegas Raiders

What stood out about the Miami Dolphins snap counts from their 20-13 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

-- As a reminder, all the inactive players came from the offensive side of the ball and the only one not injury-related was RB Jeff Wilson Jr., who was sidelined with the return of RB De'Von Achane from IR. Also inactive G Robert Hunt (hamstring), G Robert Jones (knee), WR Braxton Berrios (hamstring), WR Chase Claypool (knee) and TE Durham Smythe (ankle), with Skylar Thompson again serving as the third (emergency) quarterback in the event both Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White had gotten injured.

-- There were three players who were active but did not play: QB Mike White, CB Eli Apple and OL Chasen Hines, who had been elevated from the practice squad Saturday.

-- Eight position players saw their only action on special teams: LB Channing Tindall, CB Cam Smith, LB Cameron Goode, DB Elijah Campbell, CB Justin Bethel, T Kendall Lamm, OL Kion Smith and Brandon Jones.

DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- The Dolphins had a slight advantage in the time of possession in the game and wound up with 70 offensive plays to the Raiders' 61.

-- We'll start with Achane, whose return to action unfortunately lasted only three plays before he left the game with a slight aggravation of the right knee injury that had kept him out. While Achane never was ruled out from returning, he indeed did not return and Coach Mike McDaniel said afterward that the rookie did want to go back in but the team decided to err on the side of caution.

-- We should note that Achane was in the starting lineup for this game, with the Dolphins opening with him and Raheem Mostert both on the field.

-- With Achane out, Salvon Ahmed ended up getting 20 offensive snaps behind Mostert's 55, a season high for Mostert.

-- The argument also could be made that the Dolphins should have made Wilson active to have four halfbacks in case of injuries, particularly considering that Apple didn't play at all.

-- Wide receiver Tyreek Hill also missed some time during the game, though he did return, in his case because of a hand injury. Hill ended up playing 41 snaps.

-- Cedrick Wilson Jr. ended up with 45 snaps, second-most among Dolphins wide receivers behind Jaylen Waddle's 58. Waddle had been banged up for a few weeks but didn't show any effects against the Raiders.

-- With Smythe missing the game, rookie Julian Hill got an extended work load, finishing with 47 snaps. That was not his season (and career) high because he played 57 snaps in the Week 3 blowout against the Denver Broncos.

-- Finally, Robbie Chosen played five snaps after being re-signed to the practice squad Saturday and then elevated for the game.

DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS

-- As they've done recently, the Dolphins stuck with a very small core, as only 13 players were on the field for at least 21 of the defensive snaps.

-- Five players were on the field for all 61 defensive snaps: S Jevon Holland, LB Jerome Baker, CB Jalen Ramsey, S DeShon Elliott and CB Xavien Howard.

-- The Dolphins opened in a nickel alignment with Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler as the down linemen, Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips on the edge, Jerome Baker and David Long Jr. at linebacker, and Kader Kohou as the slot cornerback.

-- While Long got the start, Andrew Van Ginkel more snaps than him with 42 compared to 28.

-- Wilkins (95 percent of the snaps) and Sieler (89) continued with their heavy work load, three days after Vic Fangio did acknowledged there was some concern about how much they were playing. Then again, defensive end Maxx Crosby played every single defensive snap for the Raiders.

-- Along with the starting 11 and Van Ginkel, the only other player with significant snaps for the Dolphins defense was Raekwon Davis with 21.

-- We close with the special teams, where Duke Riley, Bethel and Campbell again led the way in snaps with 21. The offensive players with the most special teams snaps was Ahmed with 12, which could explain why he was made active instead of Jeff Wilson Jr., followed by Julian Hill and Cedrick Wilson Jr. with 10 apiece.

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