LA Rams snap count analysis for Week 1

The LA Rams have one game in the win column, with 16 more games to go. Per the snap count specialists at Lineups.com, the Rams had opportunities for 52 snaps on offense, 69 snaps on defense, 13 snaps for the placekicker, and seven snaps for the punter. Once you have those basics down, you can determine the workload of each player on the team.

One data point is not significant, but as we track these over time, we hope that we will find players whose performance is improving and therefore are earning an increasing share of responsibilities and opportunities going forward. Of course, some starters will be starters. Unless we are talking receivers or runners, the offense will likely remain what-you-see-is-what-you-get. But the defense will evolve with his steady rotations.  So let’s look at the Rams offensive and defensive starters

Starters from Week 1

The LA Rams played the following starters on offense for all 52 snaps:
QB – Matthew Stafford
TE – Tyler Higbee
OL – Andrew Whitworth, David Edwards, Brian Allen, Austin Corbett, Rob Havenstein

The LA Rams played the following starters on defense for all 69 snaps:
DBs – Jordan Fuller, Jalen Ramsey, Darious Williams, Taylor Rapp
ILBs – Kenny Young

Rotational starters from Week 1

Offensive starters and others who rotated in:
OL – Coleman Shelton (6 snaps, ST), Joseph Noteboom (6 snaps, ST)
RB – Darrell Henderson (49 snaps), Sony Michel (3 snaps)
TE – Johnny Mundt (15 snaps)
WR – Cooper Kupp (49 snaps), Robert Woods (40 snaps), Van Jefferson (36 snaps), DeSean Jackson (14 snaps), Tutu Atwell (2 snaps)

Defensive starters and others who rotated in:
DL – Aaron Donald (66 snaps), Sebastian Joseph Day (52 snaps), A’Shawn Robinson (23 snaps), Greg Gaines (25 snaps), Jonah Williams (13 snaps), Michael Hoecht (9 snaps)
OLB– Leonard Floyd (57 snaps), Justin Hollins (51 snaps), Terrell Lewis (17 snaps), Justin Lawler (6 snaps)
ILB – Troy Reeder (19 snaps)
DB – David Long Jr. (39 snaps), Robert Rochell (27 snaps), Nick Scott (10 snaps)

Pro Football Reference Snap Counts data table Is a bit more detailed, but if you are using a smartphone, you may wish to skip this part:

Quick and dirty snap count analysis

The Rams touted their rookies, but when push came to shove, almost all of their rookies sat on the bench for the first game. the only true exception was defensive back Robert Rochell, who was on the football field for 27 defensive snaps in the first outing.

Keep in mind that when you are assessing how many tackles or receptions occurs with your favorite player, it should always be viewed in light of how many opportunities a player had in a game. It hold true that if a running back rushes 10 times for 120 yards, he is more explosive than a running back who rushed 35 times for 170 yards, even if he had the higher yardage total.

So it is in this type of view that we can not only track how often players played but from that project who will be relied upon going forward. We’ll be looking at this type of data going forward. For now, it’s just one data point.  When we see several, it will be possible to trend the data.