In the Arizona Cardinals’ 20-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, they played 83 offensive snaps. It was the second week in a row they played more than 80 snaps on offense.
Let’s take a look at the playing time for each individual player and what we can take away from the numbers, separated by position group.
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Quarterback
Kyler Murray, 83
This is going to be the norm. Trace McSorley played in the opener after things got out of hand. Murray wouldn’t come off the field unless it is for an injury or a blowout.
Running back
James Conner, 50; Eno Benjamin, 22; Darrel Williams, 14
There were three snaps with multiple running backs on the field. Conner’s usage is probably about right, getting 60% of the snaps. Kenyan Drake, when he was the No. 1 back, played in about 59% of the snaps in 2020.
Wide receiver
Marquise Brown, 79; Greg Dortch, 67; Andy Isabella, 32; A.J. Green, 28; Andre Baccellia, 26
Brown almost never left the field. Isabella got more time because Green got hurt.
Tight end
Zach Ertz, 77; Maxx Williams, 9; Stephen Anderson, 6; Trey McBride, 5
McBride saw four more snaps than his NFL debut last week. Ertz will likely see this sort of usage all season. It will be rare to see him get less than about 80% of the snaps.
Offensive linemen
D.J. Humphries, 83; Rodney Hudson, 83; Will Hernandez, 83; Kelvin Beachum, 83; Justin Pugh, 72; Max Garcia, 11
Pugh left the game in the first half with an elbow injury. He returned in the second half. We see that Garcia now is ahead of Sean Harlow as the main backup guard.
