Rams Week 3 snap counts: Secondary shuffling and a 50-50 split at RB

[theramswire.usatoday.com] Rams Week 3 snap counts: Secondary shuffling and a 50-50 split at RB


Cameron DaSilva
September 26, 2022 7:23 am PT

With a long list of injured players entering Week 3, the Los Angeles Rams were forced to dig deep into their roster to find contributors against the Arizona Cardinals. Troy Hill, David Long Jr., Jordan Fuller, Cobie Durant, Brian Allen and Van Jefferson were among the players who missed Sunday’s action, leading to more backups than Los Angeles is used to.

Looking at the snap counts, there are more than a few players who suited up and played meaningful snaps for the first time this season. Terrell Burgess was one of them, as were Derion Kendrick, Grant Haley and even Kendall Blanton.


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Here’s a breakdown of the snap shares on offense and defense from the 20-12 win.

Offense

Four of the Rams’ five offensive linemen played every snap, with the exception of Rob Havenstein. He left the game in the second half and was replaced by Bobby Evans for three plays, but he was fortunately able to return on the next series.

Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson are still the top two receivers in playing time, though Ben Skowronek is getting a ton of opportunities as the No. 3 receiver and No. 1 fullback. He played 85%, only 7% less than Robinson. Brandon Powell was the fourth receiver (12%), with Tutu Atwell barely getting any playing time (6%).

It was a dead-even split at running back between Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson Jr. Each played 50% of the snaps, though Akers got 12 carries compared to only four for Henderson.

At tight end, Tyler Higbee played all but three snaps, with Kendall Blanton getting on the field for five plays in his 2022 debut with the Rams. He’s filling in for Brycen Hopkins, who is suspended.


Defense

The secondary looked very different than it did in the first two weeks of the season. Fuller, Durant, Long and Hill were all out with injuries, which led to bigger roles for Derion Kendrick (90%), Grant Haley (81%) and Terrell Burgess (31%). None of those three players got a single defensive snap in Week 1 or 2, but they were on the field a bunch Sunday.

Nick Scott and Taylor Rapp had been rotating with Fuller in certain packages, but they both played all 83 snaps on defense. That wasn’t much of a surprise, given the dire situation in the secondary.

Bobby Wagner actually came off the field for one play, the first time he’s done so all season. Ernest Jones played 63% of the snaps, which is about his average on the year.

With the Cardinals being so pass-heavy, A’Shawn Robinson was limited to just 32 snaps. The Rams went with lighter fronts to rush the passer, utilizing Terrell Lewis and Justin Hollins more alongside Aaron Donald and Greg Gaines.

Robert Rochell played eight snaps after Kendrick went down with a possible concussion. He’s buried on the depth chart despite being more experienced than Durant and Kendrick.

Takk McKinley made his Rams debut by playing seven snaps. That number should continue to rise as the season progresses.