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This week's question from Marshall Faulk is about which player leaves everything on the field. For the Detroit Lions, you could go in a number of different directions. You could find the player with the most "heart" and "determination," or you could select somebody who puts his body on the line no matter the circumstances.
Personally, I decided to use this week's question to look at defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's durability. The fact that it was such big news last week that he finally missed a practice said a lot about how durable he is. And even then, it was an illness that kept him from practicing rather than an injury.
Suh's talent alone makes him a valuable player, but the fact that he is so durable really takes him to another level. He's somebody who can rack up a large number of snaps and still never show up on the injury report with an actual injury, and that's a huge plus considering he plays such a physical position. The only two games he's missed during his career were due to a suspension, and of all the defensive tackles in the NFL this year, only Kansas City's Dontari Poe has played more snaps than Suh, according to Pro Football Focus.
Here's a game-by-game breakdown of how many snaps Suh has played this year:
Week | Game | Suh snaps | Overall snaps | Percentage |
1 | vs. New York Giants | 50 | 60 | 83% |
2 | at Carolina Panthers | 52 | 67 | 78% |
3 | vs. Green Bay Packers | 42 | 53 | 79% |
4 | at New York Jets | 50 | 64 | 78% |
5 | vs. Buffalo Bills | 55 | 71 | 77% |
6 | at Minnesota Vikings | 54 | 68 | 79% |
7 | vs. New Orleans Saints | 64 | 74 | 86% |
8 | at Atlanta Falcons | 49 | 60 | 82% |
10 | vs. Miami Dolphins | 48 | 61 | 79% |
11 | at Arizona Cardinals | 56 | 62 | 90% |
12 | at New England Patriots | 61 | 78 | 78% |
13 | vs. Chicago Bears | 55 | 64 | 86% |
14 | vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 52 | 64 | 81% |
15 | vs. Minnesota Vikings | 59 | 69 | 86% |
TOTAL | 747 | 915 | 82% |
For comparison's sake, Nick Fairley played about 100 fewer snaps than Suh during the first seven weeks of the season (i.e. before Fairley got hurt). That's a pretty big difference for only seven games, which further shows just how important Suh is to this defense.
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