What the Giants’ Week 2 Snap Counts Reveal

Subtle changes, headscratchers--it's all inside this breakdown of the Giants Week 2 snap counts.

The good news is the Giants made some adjustments with their personnel.

Part of the adjustments was mostly due to the opponent, but there was probably a healthy sprinkling of performance-driven decisions mixed in.

For example, cornerback Corey Ballentine was once again listed as the starter. But in judging by his snap counts, which dropped significantly from last week (59), it won’t be a surprise if one or both Isaac Yiadom or Logan Ryan usurp him in that role.

The Giants also went with one less tight end this week, as Eric Tomlinson was deactivated. Add this to the fact that Levine Toilolo saw a drop in his snaps from 24 in Week 1 to 11 this week, plus throw in the return of receiver Golden Tate, and the Giants likely ended up in 11-personnel more than 12- and 13-personnel like last week.

Speaking of Toilolo, after not being listed for any special teams snaps in Week 1, he was back contributing on special teams this week.

There were also a couple of headscratchers regarding the practice squad players called up to the roster for the game this week.

First, I’m not sure I understand why the Giants would call up a player from the practice squad and not give him any snaps whatsoever in the game, especially considering that the rules allow for every player to be called up a maximum of two times before he becomes subject to waivers.

That’s what happened with cornerback Ryan Lewis, who was called up (and has since reverted) to the practice squad.

Second, safety Sean Chandler has now been called up twice from the practice squad, meaning if he’s called up again, he’ll have to hang around on the 53-man roster or be subjected to waivers if the team wants to return him to the practice squad.

Call it a gut feeling, but if the Giants place receiver Sterling Shepard (toe) on the injured reserve list, which would not surprise me if, as has been reported, he has turf toe, I could see Chandler filling that roster spot.

Chandler has twice graded out in the top five for the Giants on special teams per PFF, so it would certainly make sense for the team to find a way to keep him on the roster and not have to expose him to waivers.

While logic would dictate the Giants replace Shepard with a receiver were he to go to injured reserve (remember players placed on IR only need to miss a minimum of three weeks instead of six, and there is no limit on the number of players that a team can bring back from IR thanks to a COVID-19 inspired amendment to the rules), the Giants might be able to cover Shepard’s production with players they already have on the roster.

Those would include Darius Slayton, C.J. Board, and Damion Ratley on the outside and more of Evan Engram (who, per PFF, currently leads the team's tight ends and receivers in slot snaps with seven) for the slot.

SNAP CHATS:

• Head coach Joe Judge said that he would deploy his starters on special teams, and he’s done just that. I counted nine players who weren’t used for special teams: QB Daniel Jones, WR Darius Slayton, WR Golden Tate, RB Saquon Barkley, WR Damion Ratley, WR Sterling Shepard, ILB Blake Martinez, CB Darnay Holmes, and OLB Markus Golden. That’s two fewer than last week’s total of 10 when Wayne Gallman (who doesn’t play special teams anyway), tight end Levine Toilolo (deployed a lot on offense), and receiver CJ Board were not listed as having played special teams per the league generated gamebook.

• Jabrill Peppers is a machine. He is the only one who played 100% of the snaps on his side of the ball and then went out and added 45% of the special teams snaps (10).

• Blake Martinez and James Bradberry are the only two members of the defense to have perfect attendance through two weeks, as they’ve lined up for every single snap played by the defense so far.

• On offense, other than the offensive linemen and quarterback Daniel Jones, the only player to come close to having perfect attendance is tight Evan Engram, who has missed just six snaps in two games.

Charting the Snaps:

Offense (65)

Offensive linemen: Kevin Zeitler 65; Will Hernandez 65; Nick Gates 65; Cam Fleming 65; Andrew Thomas 65

Wide Receivers: Darius Slayton 58; Golden Tate 40; Damion Ratley 27; Sterling Shepard 15; CJ Board 11

Tight Ends: Evan Engram 63; Kaden Smith 31; Levine Toilolo 11

Running Backs: Dion Lewis 57; Saquon Barkley 8; Eli Penny 4

Quarterback: Daniel Jones 65

Defense (65)

Defensive Linemen: DT Leonard Williams 42; DE Dexter Lawrence 39; NT Dalvin Tomlinson 38; DT BJ Hill 20; NT Austin Johnson 19

Linebackers: ILB Blake Martinez 65; OLB Lorenzo Carter 55; OLB Kyler Fackrell 36; OLB Oshane Ximines 19; OLB Markus Golden 15; ILB Devante Downs 11

Defensive Backs: SS Jabrill Peppers 65; CB James Bradberry 65; FS Julian Love 64; FS Logan Ryan 55; CB Isaac Yiadom 36; CB Corey Ballentine 29; CB Darnay Holmes 25; SS Nate Ebner 5; FS Sean Chandler 3

Special Teams

SS Nate Ebner 18; FB Eli Penny 14; Julian Love 11; WR CJ Board 11; OLB Oshane Ximines 11; S Sean Chandler, 10; LB Cam Brown 10; LB Tae Crowder 10; CB Brandon Williams 10; DE Dexter Lawrence 9; OLB Kyler Fackrell 6; NT Dalvin Tomlinson 8; OLB Lorenzo Carter 8; K Graham Gano 8; P Riley Dixon 7; LS Casey Kreiter 7; TE Kaden Smith 7; CB Corey Ballentine 7; LB Devante Downs 7; Leonard Williams 5; TE Levine Toilolo 5; FS Logan Ryan 4; CB Isaac Yiadom 4; Kevin Zeitler 4; Will Hernandez 4; Nick Gates 4; Cam Fleming 4; Andrew Thomas 4; Evan Engram 4; DT BJ Hill 4; Dion Lewis 2; NT Austin Johnson 1

Did Not Play

QB Colt McCoy; CB Ryan Lewis; OL Shane Lemieux; OT Matt Peart; OL Spencer Pulley