Detroit Lions Week 14 snap counts: Is the Tracy Walker takeover upon us?

Here are the snap counts for the Detroit Lions’ Week 14 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Offense:

Quarterbacks

Matthew Stafford: 60 (1005)

Running backs

Theo Riddick: 25 (42%)
LeGarrette Blount: 19 (32%)
Zach Zenner: 16 (27%) — 17 special teams snaps (71%)

Fullback

Nick Bellore 4 (7%) — 5 (21%)

Tight ends

Levine Toilolo: 48 (80%) — 4 (17%)
Luke Willson: 21 (35%) — 5 (21%)
Michael Roberts: 9 (15%)

Wide receivers

Kenny Golladay: 50 (83%)
Andy Jones: 37 (62%) — 12 (50%)
TJ Jones: 32 (53%) — 3 (12%)
Bruce Ellington: 27 (45%) — 3 (12%)

Offensive tackles

Taylor Decker: 60 (100%) — 2 (8%)
Tyrell Crosby: 35 (58%) — 3 (12%)
Rick Wagner: 29 (48%) — 1 (4%)

Guards/centers

Kenny Wiggins: 60 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Graham Glasgow: 60 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Frank Ragnow: 59 (98%) — 3 (12%)
Joe Dahl: 9 (15%) — 3 (12%)

Observations:

• There were injuries everywhere that affected the Lions’ personnel usage. With Bruce Ellington going down early, Andy Jones saw the most playing time on offense in his entire career. Tyrell Crosby also played more than half of the game after Rick Wagner left the game.
• Interestingly enough, Zach Zenner took a big chunk of playing time away from LeGarrette Blount. Blount’s 19 snaps were the lowest he’s seen since Kerryon Johnson’s injury.
• Despite coming back from an injury the Lions barely used tight end Michael Roberts. Instead, they kept the playing time for Levine Toilolo and Luke Willson around the same levels they were at when Roberts was out.

Defense:

Defensive end

Romeo Okwara: 60 (86%) — 5 (21%)
Eric Lee: 25 (36%) — 3 (12%)
Da’Shawn Hand: 7 (10%) — 1 (4%)
Ezekiel Ansah: 5 (7%) — 1 (4%)

Defensive tackle

A’Shawn Robinson: 49 (70%) — 4 (17%)
Ricky Jean Francois: 41 (59%) — 3 (12%)
Damon Harrison: 36 (51%) — 3 (12%)

Linebackers

Jarrad Davis: 70 (100%) — 4 (17%)
Christian Jones: 40 (57%) — 7 (29%)
Eli Harold: 38 (54%) — 13 (54%)
Kelvin Sheppard: 11 (16%) — 15 (62%)
Nicholas Grigsby: 0 (0%) — 9 (38%)

Cornerbacks

Nevin Lawson: 70 (100%) — 5 (21%)
Darius Slay: 67 (96%) — 2 (8%)
Mike Ford: 48 (69%) — 9 (38%)
DeShawn Shead: 30 (43%) — 17 (71%)
Marcus Cooper: 13 (19%) — 5 (21%)

Safety

Quandre Diggs: 70 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Tracy Walker: 43 (61%) — 15 (62%)
Glover Quin: 43 (61%) — 5 (21%)
Tavon Wilson: 4 (6%) — 14 (58%)
Miles Killebrew: 0 (0%) — 19 (79%)
Charles Washington: 0 (0%) — 8 (33%)

Observations:

• With Ezekiel Ansah and Da’Shawn Hand down very early in this game, Romeo Okwara saw a season-high 60 snaps against the Cardinals. Eric Lee also saw a season-high 25 snaps.
• Kelvin Sheppard saw his first time as a Lion on Sunday. Part of that was likely to make up for the loss of Devon Kennard, although Eli Harold took up some of those snaps, as well.
• The Lions went heavy on defensive backs against the Cardinals, opting to trust a short-handed defensive front to stop the run, while devoting more resources to the pass. As you can see, a lot of cornerbacks got some playing time, including Marcus Cooper, who got his first shot in the Lions’ secondary.
• Tracy Walker got a ton of playing time of Sunday. His 43 snaps was way higher than his previous high (27). He basically split time with Glover Quin, which may be something we should get used to in these final three games of the season.

Special teams

Sam Martin: 10 (42%)
Don Muhlbach: 10 (42%)
Matt Prater: 7 (29%)