The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.
OFFENSE
- Jalen Hurts and four out of five starting offensive linemen played the entire game. The Eagles should win a lot when that happens.
- DeVonta Smith led all skill players in snaps played but only saw three targets. He caught all three of them for 16 yards.
- A.J. Brown played a lot but somehow didn’t see his first target until the Eagles’ penultimate play of the game (not counting three kneel downs to run out the clock).
- Landon Dickerson left early with a back injury. He previously missed practice on Monday due to that issue. He definitely appeared to be in pain throughout the game.
- Dallas Goedert led the Eagles in targets with seven. He caught all of them for 44 yards. His longest reception went for nine yards.
- Saquon Barkley may have seen a larger snap count than originally planned with Will Shipley getting banged up early on with an injury to his ribs.
- No targets for Grant Calcaterra are TE2. But he played a good amount.
- Jahan Dotson’s role as WR3 was relatively limited but he caught all three of his targets for 59 receiving yards, which led the Eagles.
- Kylen Granson saw time as TE3 and as a fullback with Ben VanSumeren getting hurt on the opening kickoff. Granson’s sole target resulted in a catch for one yard.
- Brett Toth came in to play left guard after Dickerson left the game.
- A.J. Dillon might’ve had an even smaller role if Shipley didn’t get hurt.
- Undrafted rookie free agent signing Darius Cooper made his NFL debut. Only two offensive snaps and five special teams snaps, so, not the biggest role. But still cool that he earned that much after originally joining the team as a long shot to stick around.
- John Metchie logged a special teams tackle on one of his five special teams snaps. WR4 and WR5 had small roles behind the top trio.
- Note that Cooper DeJean’s three offensive snaps came as the player lined up deep behind the offense on kneel downs. Just in case there’s a fumble, which is very unlikely. The Eagles used Reed Blankenship for that role last year.
DEFENSE
- The aforementioned DeJean played 100% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps for the first time in his NFL career.
- Zack Baun continues to fill out the stat sheet. He led the Birds in tackles.
- Jihaad Campbell got the start next to Baun. The 21-year-old rookie had an impressive debut.
- Moro Ojomo was the only Eagles defender to log a quarterback hit. He was not very present in the box score otherwise. He stands to benefit from playing next to Carter moving forward.
- Jordan Davis was called upon to help fill Carter’s missing snaps. Davis played the highest snap count percentage of his career, topping his previous mark at 67.7%. 53 snaps in the most by Davis in regulation. He played 62 in an overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in 2023. Davis finished third on the Eagles in tackles.
- Nolan Smith is clearly the Eagles’ top edge rusher.
- Andrew Mukuba played safety in nickel while Sydney Brown, who got banged up at one point but finished the game, played safety in base. Mukuba could continue to eat into Brown’s playing time.
- Adoree’ Jackson missed some time while being evaluated for a concussion. The veteran cornerback struggled in coverage and against the run.
- Jalyx Hunt was the Eagles’ second edge rusher and Joshua Uche was the third, as expected.
- Byron Young was DT3 and he helped to force a fumble. Gabe Hall had a limited role as DT4.
- Patrick Johnson contributed to the Eagles’ defense after being temporarily elevated from the practice quad. He also played a lot of special teams snaps.
- Jakorian Bennett briefly saw some playing time while Jackson was being evaluated for a concussion. He broke up a pass but it was wiped out by a pass interference call on him
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Demoted out of starting cornerback contention, Kelee Ringo resumed his role as a gunner on punt coverage.
- After losing out to Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is a backup linebacker who will focus on playing special teams for now.
- Marcus Epps only played special teams after being temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
- Rookie linebacker Smael Mondon, also a ST guy.
DID NOT PLAY
INACTIVE: Tanner McKee, Azeez Ojulari, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Ty Robinson, Drew Kendall, Cameron Williams, Kenyon Green
ACTIVE: Jalen Carter, Sam Howell
- McKee hasn’t been able to throw a football since suffering a fractured thumb. We’ll see if he’s able to return to practice ahead of Week 2.
- The Eagles only kept four edge rusher actives with Ojulari and Okoronkwo as the odd men out.
- Robinson is clearly DT6 on the depth chart.
- Kendall, Williams, and Green were healthy scratches behind the top eight offensive linemen active for this game. If Dickerson has to miss time, either Kendall or Green could be active moving forward.
- Carter obviously didn’t play a snap since he got ejected right after the opening kickoff. Dumb.
- Howell is QB2 until McKee returns. Then he’ll be inactive as the emergency third quarterback.