Chiefs-Commanders snap counts: extra work for wideouts and defensive linemen

In Saturday’s preseason Week 2 matchup, the Kansas City Chiefs handed the Washington Commanders a 24-14 defeat at Arrowhead Staidum. let’s see how the Chiefs used their players in the game.

Starters (offensive): TE Jody Fortson, TE Noah Gray, LT Orlando Brown Jr., LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Andrew Wylie, TE Travis Kelce, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Starters (defensive): CB L’Jarius Sneed, RDE Frank Clark, RDT Derrick Nnadi, LDT Tershawn Wharton, LDE Michael Danna, LB Nick Bolton, LB Willie Gay Jr., RCB Rashad Fenton, S Justin Reid, S Juan Thornhill and LCB Trent McDuffie.

Did not play: QB Chad Henne, DE Carlos Dunlap, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR Mecole Hardman, OL Lucas Niang, TE Blake Bell, TE Matt Bushman and DT Chris Jones.

Offensive takeaways

• The first-team offense had 24 snaps in the game, as indicated by the snap counts for Patrick Mahomes, Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Andrew Wyile. It’s looking more and more like Wylie will be the team’s right tackle when the regular season begins.
• With JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman out, the Chiefs had plenty of opportunities to give reserve wideouts some game action. In order, wide receivers Josh Gordon, Cornell Powell, Corey Coleman and Justin Watson had the most time on the field.
• In Week 1, reserve offensive guard Mike Caliendo was on the field for 75% of the offensive snaps to lead the team. In Week 2, fellow offensive tackle Vitaliy Gurman led the offense with 63%. This doesn’t suggest that either of these players has a shot to make the final roster. Instead, the Chiefs are doing their due diligence, giving each of these men a chance to show what they can do. Either of them has a shot to be on the team’s 2022 practice squad.

Defensive takeaways

• With defensive end Carlos Dunlap and defensive tackle Chris Jones held out of the game, the Chiefs listed Frank Clark, Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn Wharton and Michael Danna as the starting defensive line — and listed L’Jarius Sneed as the nickel corner, with Trent McDuffie and Rashad Fenton starting outside. The first-team defense was on the field for the first two Washington drives, which totaled 11 plays.
• Just as in preseason Week 1, defensive ends Joshua Kaindoh and Malik Herring were among the defensive players with the most snaps. The Chiefs want to be sure they have plenty of tape on these two players before they decide what to do with them.
• The fact that veteran defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth had so many snaps in the first two preseason games — along with some sharp play from Khalen Saunders — probably indicates Stallworth is on the roster bubble.

Special-teams takeaways

• Every season, special-teams coordinator Dave Toub wields some influence on the final roster. That may be especially true in 2022, since four of the five top special-teams contributors from 2021 are no longer with the team. After two games, the players with the most special-teams snaps (in order) are Justin Watson, Jaylen Watson, Bryan Cook, Darius Harris, Leo Chenal, Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson, Noah Gray, Jack Cochrane, Chris Lammons, Elijah Lee and Deon Bush. These are the players who will be the most likely to get additional consideration to make the final roster.

Editor's Note: Arrowhead Pride obtains snap count data from the NFL's game stats and information system, which allows us to break out snap counts by run or pass on offensive and defensive plays. Because GSIS data ignores plays that were nullified by penalties, total offensive and defensive snap counts will vary from other sources, which get their data from NFL Gamebooks