Chiefs-Cardinals: Making sense of snap counts

On Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Arizona Cardinals 17-10 in their preseason Week 2 game. Let’s see how the Chiefs used their players in the game.

Starters (offensive): WR Demarcus Robinson, WR Mecole Hardman, LT Orlando Brown Jr., LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Lucas Niang, TE Travis Kelce, WR Byron Pringle, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and QB Patrick Mahomes.

Starters (defensive): DT Chris Jones, DT Jarran Reed, DT Khalen Saunders, DE Michael Danna, LB Willie Gay Jr., LB Anthony Hitchens, CB Mike Hughes, CB Charvarius Ward, CB L’Jarius Sneed, S Daniel Sorensen and S Tyrann Mathieu.

Did not play: WR Tyreek Hill, CB Rashad Fenton, DE Frank Clark, OL Austin Blythe, G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and DT Derrick Nnadi.

Offensive takeaways

• As expected, starting offensive linemen Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Lucas Niang played just over half of the total offensive snaps. After them, offensive linemen Darryl Williams and Yasir Durant had the most snaps. This could mean that they are at the bottom of the pile among offensive linemen — or that the Chiefs are trying to decide between them for the last spot.
• Just as in Week 1, tight ends Noah Gray and Jody Fortson had very similar numbers. It looks like the Chiefs are trying to make up their minds about what to do with these two players.
• Among wide receivers, Mecole Hardman saw the most use — followed by Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, Marcus Kemp, Daurice Fountain, Cornell Powell, Dalton Shoen, Gehrig Dieter and Maurice Ffrench. Hardman had substantially more use than any other wideout — probably because Tyreek Hill was on the sidelines. Robinson, Pringle, Kemp and Fountain had fairly similar numbers. This suggests that they — along with Hardman — could be leading the way to make the team with Hill. But we probably shouldn’t count out fifth-round draft pick Powell.
• After the game, we learned that starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffered an ankle sprain. His five snaps suggest that the injury occurred during the Chiefs’ first drive — on the second-and-14 play at the Arizona 37-yard line.
• While discussing injuries after the game, head coach Andy Reid did not mention offensive lineman Austin Blythe, so the reason he didn’t play was originally a mystery. But according to a new report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Blythe has undergone hernia surgery. He is expected to be out for three weeks.

Defensive takeaways

• Linebacker Darius Harris led the team in defensive snaps — likely because he is the player best-suited to call plays when Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann are off the field. That also suggests he is in line to make the 53-man roster.
• Safety Juan Thornhill saw action early in the game — and was also among the leaders in defensive and special-teams snaps. It’s good that he saw plenty of action — and his interception at the end of the first half was likely to be a confidence builder for the third-year player.
• Cornerback Mike Hughes saw plenty of snaps with the first team — and his defensive snap counts are in the same range as other starters, making it appear that he has a leg up over cornerback Deandre Baker. But since third-year cornerback Rashad Fenton didn’t play after tweaking a hamstring in warmups, those numbers could be skewed a little.

Special teams takeaways

• In a low-scoring game where several long drives were ended by turnovers, there were relatively few special-teams snaps. But it is interesting that defensive back Chris Lammons led the pack. This could mean that he will end up making the team as a core special-teams player.