Packers Snap Counts – Week One, 2024

 

The Packers elevated Ellis Merriweather from the Practice Squad.  Although active, Merriweather and Andre Dillard did not play.  The inactive players were Brenton Cox, Arron Mosby, Malik Heath, MarShawn Lloyd, Travis Glover, and Kadeem Telfort.  The Packers elected not to elevate Sean Clifford.  

 

OFFENSIVE LINE:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Walker	67	100	7/23%
Jenkins	67	100	7/23%
Tom	67	100	7/23%
Myers	65	97
Rhyan	42	63	7/23%
Morgan	28	42	7/23%
Monk			7/23%

 

The Packers allowed 5 quarterback hits and 2 sacks.  Those are good numbers, but it seemed like Love was under consistent pressure.  The Packers were called for offensive holding 3 times, including two by Rasheed Walker.  They were also called for 2 false starts, one by Rasheed Walker and the other by Zach Tom.  Walker did not have a good night, overall, though he did get way downfield to throw a block that led to a touchdown.  

The Packers’ running backs gained 130 yards on 20 carrier for an impressive 6.5-yard average.  Add in Jayden Reed’s 33-yard gain on a jet sweep and the Packers gained 163 yards on 21 carries for a 7.8-yard average.  The line did open some nice holes but the offense was choppy, with several very long runs and a lot of unsuccessful runs.  The offensive line for the most part got pushed around.  

 

RUNNING BACKS:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Jacobs	49	73
Em Wilson	16	24

Jacobs gained 84 yards on 16 carries for a 5.3-yard average and caught both of his targets for 20 receiving yards.  Emanuel Wilson added 46 yards on just 4 carrier for an average of 11.5.      Despite those numbers, it never felt like running the ball was their bread and butter, go-to, plan.  There were quite a few big gains wrapped around runs that went no where. 

Emanuel Wilson looked good and just when I wondered why he was not getting more snaps Jacobs went off for a big gain.  I am going to wait to evaluate Jacobs (that is, compare him to Aaron Jones) until I see him on a normal field.  Initially, I was unimpressed by Jacobs but seemed to get quicker and started to make people miss as the game progressed.  Emanuel Wilson belongs on an NFL roster. 

 

QUARTERBACKS:  

Player	Snaps	%
Love	65	97
Willis	2	3

 

Love did not have a good night.  He finished 17 of 34 for 260 yards (7.65 yards/attempt)with 2 TDs and 1 interceptions.  He had a passer rating of 83.0.  I lost count of how many turnover-worthy throws he made and the number of passes that were poorly placed.  Aaron Nagler counted at least four dropped passes, and while that seems to me to be a trifle harsh towards the receivers, they did Love few favors.  Love had happy feet at times and tried to make some passes off platform, sometimes with an odd hop that was nearly disastrous.  It sure is great when he can pull it off.    

 

TIGHT ENDS:

 

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Kraft	64	96	26/52%
Musgrave	17	25
Sims	1	1	8/26%

 

Tucker Kraft caught 2 of his 3 targets for 37 yards.  He also was called for offensive holding and was involved in the penalty for illegal motion when two Packers were in motion at the same time at the time of the snap.  Musgrave was targeted twice but had no receptions in limited playing time.  Kurt Benkert placed the blame for Love’s interception on poor route-running by Musgrave.  You can check out his tweet here. 

 

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Doubs	58	87
Reed	48	72	2/6%
Watson	42	63
Wicks	31	46
Melton	8	12	9/29%

Jayden Reed caught 4 of his 6 targets for 138 yards, a 34.5-yard average with a long of 70 and a TD.  Reed added a 33-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep.  Romeo Doubs caught 4 of 7 targets for 50 yards.  Watson played a lot of snaps to produce just 13 yards on 3 receptions with a long of 6 yards.  He did score a touchdown on a well-schemed slant.  Wicks did not catch any of his three targets.  Melton had just 8 offensive snaps and recovered a fumble but had no carries or targets.  

 

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN:

 

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Clark	56	74
Slaton	40	53	12/39%
Wyatt	36	47
Brooks	20	26	8/26%
Wooden			2/6%

    

The Packers did a good job in the first half against the opposing running back and in containing Jalen Hurts.  The Eagles gained 47 yards on 17 carries for a 2.8-yard average.  That slipped in the second half as the Eagles gained 97 yards on 21 carries in the second half for a 4.62-yard average.  The Eagles gained 144 yards on 38 rushes and 2 touchdowns.  Despite the success in the first half against the run, the Eagles scored 17 points in both the first and second halves.  The emphasis on containing Hurts greatly undermined the Packers pass rush.  Hurts frequently had excellent time in the pocket. 

Clark was often double-teamed.  He managed a few pressures but only had 2 tackles (1 solo).  TJ Slaton got a lot of snaps.  He had 5 tackles (1 solo).  Brooks had 4 tackles (2 solo).  Wyatt also played a lot of snaps but had just 1 solo tackle for loss and he recovered a fumbled snap.  Wooden had no statistics and surprisingly played only 2 special teams snaps.

The Eagles ran 76 offensive players.  I would not have expected a 4-man rotation on the interior defensive line, even though the temperature was only 63 degrees at kickoff time.  

        

EDGE:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Smith	54	71
Gary	49	64
Enagbare	30	39	17/55%
Van Ness	19	25	11/35%

Gary was at least active.  He had 3 tackles (1 solo), a sack, 2 QB hits, and a pass defensed.  The sack was when the Eagles right tackle (Lane Johnson) incorrectly thought the play had been called dead and Gary just ran around Johnson, who barely got out of his stance.  For the most part, Johnson nullified Gary.  Van Ness had 2 solo tackles but got little to no pressure.  Smith had 2 tackles (1 solo) and played the run well and had a couple of pressures at most.  Enagbare had no stats.  There just was not enough pass rush and what there was did not come fast.         

The Eagles ran 76 offensive players.  I would not have expected a 4-man rotation for the Edge position, even though the temperature was only 63 degrees at kickoff time.  

        

LINEBACKER:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Walker	76	100	6/19%
McDuffie	74	97	9/29%
Er Wilson	15	20	24/77%
Cooper	11	14	7/23%
Hopper			14/45%

Quay Walker had 11 tackles (7 solo), including a tackle for loss.  Walker was out of position when Barkeley scampered up the middle for his 11-yard touchdown run.  The Packers would love to see Walker improve.  McDuffie had 6 tackles (3 solo) and a quarterback hit.  He played the run well but as usual got picked on in coverage.  McDuffie gave up the touchdown to Barkley, though it was a very accurate pass.  Eric Wilson had 4 tackles (3 solo), two of which were tackles for loss. He is a nice player to have on the roster.  Edgerrin Cooper had 3 tackles (2 solo) and a pass defensed.  He looked big and very fast.  After missing so much time during training camp, Cooper’s comfort with the playbook might have been limited.  Based on this sample, the Packers will look to having Cooper reduce McDuffie’s snaps as the season progresses.  

 

DEFENSIVE BACKS:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Bullard	76	100	15/48%
McKinney	76	98	13/42%
Alexander	76	100	6/19%
Stokes	67	88
Nixon	52	68	12/39%
Valentine	9	12	16/52%
Ballentine			18/58%
Anderson			18/58%
Williams			16/52%
Olapado			6/19%

 

Bullard had 11 tackles (7 solo).  He took a bad angle on one play, but it was a pretty good night for a rookie playing in his first game.  Nixon had 7 tackles (6 solo) two of which were tackles for loss.  He had 2 quarterback hits and a pass defensed.  He was certainly active.  He made some nice plays, including when he showed excellent recognition and came to to hit Hurts on a roll out.  Nixon’s decision to bring out a kickoff from 9 yards deep was a head-scratcher when the team was down 5 with about 20 seconds left in the game.  Nixon was credited with a 24-yard return but he only got the ball to the 15-yard line.

Alexander had an up and down day.  He got burned on a long completion and gave up multiple completions.  He also had some issues with tackling while making 4 solo tackles.  He did have an interception which he also, like Nixon, decided to bring out of the end zone.  Besides the interception, Alexander had another pass defensed.  Stokes also had some issues with tackling.  McKinney had 4 tackles (3 solo) and an interception.  Things are apt to be difficulty when there is so little pass rush that the opposing quarterback usually has time to go through his progressions, especially when a team can field the likes of Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown.

 

SPECIALISTS:

Player	Snaps	%	ST
Orzech			10/32%
Whelan			10/32%
Narveson			14/45%

 

Narveson made both of his extra points and 3 of his 4 field goals.  He missed a 44-yarder while the 3 he made were all short attempts.  Narveson did execute a directional kickoff that landed inside the 5 yardline and resulted in poor field position for Philadelphia.   Whelan punted twice and averaged 37 yards net with one punt inside the 20. 

 

Photo courtesy of Tork Mason, USA Today Network