September 20, 2021
Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice
Through the first two games, Zach Ertz's usage is not worth the $8.5 million salary he is eating up.
In their Week 2 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles played 58 snaps on offense, and 70 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.
• 58 snaps: Jalen Hurts
Analysis: Hurts can throw a nice deep ball and he can make plays with his legs, but he is too reliant on his running ability, and his repetitive accuracy in the intermediate area of the field remains a work in progress.
• 39 snaps: Miles Sanders
• 19 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
Analysis: Sanders carried 13 times for 55 yards; Gainwell carried six times for 14 yards. The Eagles as a team gained 151 yards on the ground, and yet, the run game never felt like it got rolling because a lot of those yards came on Hurts scrambles.
• 49 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 42 snaps: Jalen Reagor
• 29 snaps: Quez Watkins
• 21 snaps: Greg Ward
• 8 snaps: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
Analysis: Watkins had receptions of 91 and 26 yards. Otherwise, Smith and Reagor combined for 4 catches and 21 yards on 12 targets.
• 38 snaps: Dallas Goedert
• 37 snaps: Zach Ertz
• 6 snaps: Jack Stoll
Analysis: Eagles tight ends were only targeted four times on Sunday, which made sense with star LB Fred Warner patrolling the middle of the field. Still, as a reminder, Ertz's salary in 2021 is $8.5 million. He had one catch for six yards in this game, and he has three catches for 40 yards on the season.
• 58 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson
• 33 snaps: Landon Dickerson
• 25 snaps: Brandon Brooks
• 2 snaps: Andre Dillard
Analysis: To be determined how much time Brooks will miss with what appears to be a pectoral injury. We didn't get to see Dickerson practice at all during training camp, so the re-watch of this game will be my first chance to get an initial look at him playing in an Eagles uniform.
• 51 snaps: Fletcher Cox
• 50 snaps: Javon Hargrave
• 45 snaps: Derek Barnett
• 32 snaps: Ryan Kerrigan
• 28 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 27 snaps: Milton Williams
• 25 snaps: Hassan Ridgeway
• 15 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 11 snaps: Tarron Jackson
Analysis: Unless Sweat was hurt during this game, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how he got fewer snaps than Kerrigan, and Barnett for that matter. Barnett does some incredibly dumb things. His unnecessary roughness penalty was a benchable play.
Cox has not yet been disruptive this season.
• 57 snaps: Alex Singleton
• 48 snaps: Eric Wilson
• 39 snaps: Genard Avery
• 21 snaps: T.J. Edwards
• 13 snaps: Patrick Johnson
• 9 snaps: Davion Taylor
Analysis: If there was one "tip your cap" play that the 49ers made offensively on Sunday, it was Jimmy Garoppolo's window throw that got by Singleton to Deebo Samuel on their TD drive near the end of the first half.
George Kittle only had four catches for 17 yards.
• 70 snaps: Anthony Harris
• 68 snaps each: Darius Slay and Steve Nelson
• 40 snaps: K'Von Wallace
• 32 snaps: Marcus Epps
• 21 snaps: Avonte Maddox
Analysis: The Eagles have only given up one pass play of over 20 yards this season. This group has gone a good job.
As you're aware, the Eagles traded Carson Wentz to the Colts for a second-round pick that can become a first-round pick if Wentz plays 75 percent of the Colts' offensive snaps, or he plays 70 percent of the Colts' snaps, plus the Colts make the playoffs. Be sure to check out our Carson Wentz snap tracker here.
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