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Chiefs snap counts: Mecole Hardman plays fewest snaps of his career

Charles Goldman
·3 min read

The Kansas City Chiefs played a practically even number of snaps on offense and defense during their game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 11. It speaks to the defense’s ability to get the ball back to the offense. It also speaks to the offense extending drives, even if they came up short at times.

What else can we learn from this week’s snap counts? Here’s a look at how the snaps played out in Week 11:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations

  • For the second consecutive week, Byron Pringle has seen the second-most snaps at wide receiver behind Tyreek Hill. He’s beginning to separate himself as the WR2 for Kansas City. Meanwhile, Josh Gordon increased his snap total this week catching one pass on two targets.

  • In his return to action on Sunday, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire played just 47% of the offensive snaps. Darrel Williams played four more snaps than he did on offense, but Edwards-Helaire was the more productive back with 12 carries for 63 yards and a score.

  • Blake Bell out-snapped rookie TE Noah Gray this week for the first time in a few weeks. Both players caught one pass for eight yards on the night.

  • Mecole Hardman played just 12 offensive snaps on Sunday with no special teams snaps. It was the lowest mark in terms of total snaps in his career, even dating back to his rookie season in 2019. Hardman’s snaps have trended downward since the Week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers.

  • Daurice Fountain played 20 total snaps in his Chiefs debut on Sunday. That includes two snaps on offense.

  • L’Jarius Sneed, Charvarius Ward and Tyrann Mathieu all played 100% of the defensive snaps for Kansas City.

  • Rashad Fenton played 76% of the defensive snaps before leaving the game with an injury. However, his high snap totals combined with two other corners playing 100% of the snaps speaks to how frequently the Cowboys had the Chiefs in sub-package personnel.

  • To the point above, Nick Bolton played just 19 snaps on defense for the second consecutive week. He’s really only on the field when the team is in their base personnel packages. His snaps should increase in Week 13 against a run-heavy opponent like the Broncos unless they get down early.

  • Chris Jones’ monster night came while playing just 75% of the defensive snaps for Kansas City.

  • Willie Gay Jr. continues to lead Chiefs off-ball linebackers in snap total.

  • Melvin Ingram played the most snaps of his Chiefs career on Sunday and seems to have firmly supplanted guys like Alex Okafor and Mike Danna on the depth chart.

  • Jerick McKinnon was injured on the opening kickoff, playing just one snap on special teams before exiting the game with a hamstring injury.

  • Noah Gray led the team in special teams snaps this week with 24. Dorian O’Daniel, Chris Lammons and Armani Watts each played only special teams snaps this week.

List

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