In 2017, the Indianapolis Colts had a very disappointing 4-12 campaign that was almost completely shaped by injuries. If you weren’t careful, you could mistake a list of their players on Injured Reserve for a list of their best players.
Because of that, it forced role players into full-time starting positions, and the players who backed them up may not have received much playing time otherwise.
Let’s take a look at who all received snaps this season.
OFFENSE
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
Jeremy Vujnovich | OG | 1,030 | 100.0% | 0 | 0% | 60 | 13.2% |
Anthony Castonzo | OT | 1,030 | 100.0% | 0 | 0% | 21 | 4.6% |
Jacoby Brissett | QB | 989 | 96.0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0.0% |
Joe Haeg | OG | 987 | 95.8% | 0 | 0% | 60 | 13.2% |
TY Hilton | WR | 926 | 89.9% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0.0% |
Jack Doyle | TE | 910 | 88.3% | 0 | 0% | 63 | 13.9% |
Donte Moncrief | WR | 614 | 59.6% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 1.1% |
Kamar Aiken | WR | 588 | 57.1% | 0 | 0% | 106 | 23.3% |
Frank Gore | RB | 555 | 53.9% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0.2% |
Chester Rogers | WR | 445 | 43.2% | 0 | 0% | 31 | 6.8% |
Ryan Kelly | C | 394 | 38.3% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0.0% |
Le'Raven Clark | OT | 323 | 31.4% | 0 | 0% | 57 | 12.6% |
Jack Mewhort | OG | 313 | 30.4% | 0 | 0% | 20 | 4.4% |
Marlon Mack | RB | 310 | 30.1% | 0 | 0% | 25 | 5.5% |
Brandon Williams | TE | 294 | 28.5% | 0 | 0% | 191 | 42.1% |
Denzelle Good | OT | 293 | 28.4% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 3.7% |
Mike Person | C | 217 | 21.1% | 0 | 0% | 30 | 6.6% |
Darrell Daniels | TE | 196 | 19.0% | 0 | 0% | 168 | 37.0% |
Deyshawn Bond | C | 189 | 18.3% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0.0% |
Kyle Kalis | OG | 149 | 14.5% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 3.7% |
Robert Turbin | RB | 124 | 12.0% | 0 | 0% | 82 | 18.1% |
Anthony Fabiano | C | 78 | 7.6% | 0 | 0% | 12 | 2.6% |
Quan Bray | WR | 59 | 5.7% | 0 | 0% | 123 | 27.1% |
Adam Redmond | C | 58 | 5.6% | 0 | 0% | 20 | 4.4% |
Scott Tolzien | QB | 41 | 4.0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0.0% |
Josh Ferguson | RB | 30 | 2.9% | 0 | 0% | 90 | 19.8% |
K.J. Brent | WR | 24 | 2.3% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 2.0% |
Ross Travis | TE | 24 | 2.3% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0.4% |
Matt Hazel | WR | 11 | 1.1% | 0 | 0% | 27 | 5.9% |
Krishawn Hogan | WR | 10 | 1.0% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 3.1% |
Matt Jones | RB | 9 | 0.9% | 0 | 0% | 40 | 8.8% |
Henry Krieger-Coble | TE | 7 | 0.7% | 0 | 0% | 18 | 4.0% |
Jason Vander Laan | TE | 4 | 0.4% | 0 | 0% | 62 | 13.7% |
Tyreek Burwell | OT | 1 | 0.1% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 1.1% |
- Starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo and starting left guard Jeremy Vujnovich were the only offensive players to play every snap. Castonzo played through a reported knee sprain in Week 9 against the Houston Texans and had arguably his best game of the season while facing Jadeveon Clowney.
- Just like in 2016 as a rookie, despite not being planned as a starter in Week 1, offensive lineman Joe Haeg saw about 96% of the snaps due to his versatility. Various injuries along the line forced him into action in different roles.
- There were about 10 offensive linemen that saw significant playing time. Two others (Anthony Fabiano and Adam Redmond) also briefly filled in while the Colts were in a pinch.
- Even though he missed a good portion of a game and a half with a concussion, starting tight end Jack Doyle still played almost 90% of the offensive snaps.
- Despite not playing until Week 7, wide receiver Chester Rogers saw 43% of the snaps, which was only fourth among receivers. However, over the latter portion of the season, he took over as a starter. There were several weeks where he had either the most or second-most snaps among the receiver group.
- The running back balance was something that we kept an eye on all year — Frank Gore out-paced Marlon Mack by a pretty hefty margin. You might also notice that Josh Ferguson managed to sneak in 30 snaps while Matt Jones had just nine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- The Colts had six rookies combine to play 858 snaps on offense.
- Overall, 34 players saw offensive snaps.
DEFENSE
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
Matthias Farley | S | 0 | 0% | 928 | 86.2% | 160 | 35.2% |
Jon Bostic | ILB | 0 | 0% | 915 | 85.0% | 48 | 10.6% |
Jabaal Sheard | OLB | 0 | 0% | 898 | 83.4% | 0 | 0.0% |
Antonio Morrison | ILB | 0 | 0% | 812 | 75.4% | 165 | 36.3% |
Johnathan Hankins | DT | 0 | 0% | 685 | 63.6% | 30 | 6.6% |
Al Woods | NT | 0 | 0% | 586 | 54.4% | 76 | 16.7% |
Margus Hunt | DE | 0 | 0% | 578 | 53.7% | 205 | 45.2% |
Rashaan Melvin | CB | 0 | 0% | 552 | 51.3% | 28 | 6.2% |
Darius Butler | S | 0 | 0% | 504 | 46.8% | 62 | 13.7% |
Barkevious Mingo | OLB | 0 | 0% | 501 | 46.5% | 317 | 69.8% |
John Simon | OLB | 0 | 0% | 469 | 43.5% | 61 | 13.4% |
Malik Hooker | S | 0 | 0% | 410 | 38.1% | 27 | 5.9% |
Quincy Wilson | CB | 0 | 0% | 402 | 37.3% | 20 | 4.4% |
Kenny Moore | CB | 0 | 0% | 383 | 35.6% | 286 | 63.0% |
Henry Anderson | DE | 0 | 0% | 382 | 35.5% | 62 | 13.7% |
T.J. Green | CB | 0 | 0% | 378 | 35.1% | 144 | 31.7% |
Pierre Desir | CB | 0 | 0% | 375 | 34.8% | 15 | 3.3% |
Nate Hairston | CB | 0 | 0% | 336 | 31.2% | 34 | 7.5% |
Vontae Davis | CB | 0 | 0% | 330 | 30.6% | 0 | 0.0% |
Grover Stewart | DL | 0 | 0% | 255 | 23.7% | 97 | 21.4% |
Tarell Basham | OLB | 0 | 0% | 222 | 20.6% | 163 | 35.9% |
Jeremiah George | ILB | 0 | 0% | 180 | 16.7% | 278 | 61.2% |
Hassan Ridgeway | DL | 0 | 0% | 178 | 16.5% | 77 | 17.0% |
Anthony Walker | ILB | 0 | 0% | 115 | 10.7% | 138 | 30.4% |
Clayton Geathers | S | 0 | 0% | 112 | 10.4% | 29 | 6.4% |
Joey Mbu | DL | 0 | 0% | 96 | 8.9% | 15 | 3.3% |
D.J. White | CB | 0 | 0% | 55 | 5.1% | 5 | 1.1% |
Chris Milton | CB | 0 | 0% | 20 | 1.9% | 331 | 72.9% |
Anthony Johnson | DE | 0 | 0% | 5 | 0.5% | 60 | 13.2% |
Joshua Perry | OLB | 0 | 0% | 4 | 0.4% | 29 | 6.4% |
- Who would’ve guessed that safety Matthias Farley would have led the defense in snaps? Injuries to Malik Hooker and Clayton Geathers forced Farley into a starting role all year.
- Starting inside linebacker Jon Bostic was on pace to play a boatload of snaps before he hurt his knee in Week 15 and missed the last two and a half games. There was only one game this year where he was healthy and didn’t play 100% of the snaps. The silver lining of Bostic’s injury is that rookie Anthony Walker Jr. finally got to see some playing time on defense. He started in Bostic’s place and was able to rack up 115 snaps in those final two and a half games. Beforehand, he’d been playing solely on special teams.
- Starting defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins saw increased playing time once Henry Anderson and Hassan Ridgeway got hurt about midway through the season. That was very noticeable; however, Hankins also began to play on special teams for the first time on the season. So, not only did he start to play more on defense, but he was also in on special teams.
- We can’t talk about playing time without talking about rookie cornerback Quincy Wilson. He was infamously inactive from Weeks 3-12. Part of it was explained as a knee flare up, and other times he was a healthy scratch, former head coach Chuck Pagano and defensive coordinator Ted Monachino not really explaining the situation clearly. It wasn’t until the Colts absolutely had to play Wilson that they finally did. A season-ending injury to top cornerback Rashaan Melvin put fellow rookie Kenny Moore into the starting lineup, and then another season-ending injury to starting corner Pierre Desir finally put Wilson in the starting lineup. And wouldn’t you know it; we saw growth from Wilson based on the increased playing time that he received!
- Speaking of Moore and Desir, nobody would’ve expected either of them to become prominent players during the season, but they did. Both were acquired after final preseason roster cuts, and both wound up starting for the Colts at some point in the season. They both played well. It was very reminiscent of when the Colts acquired Melvin and Darryl Morris at the end of the preseason in 2016.
- The Colts had seven rookies combine to play 2,123 snaps on defense.
- Overall, 30 players saw defensive snaps.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percent | Defensive Snaps | Percent | Special Teams Snaps | Percent |
Rigoberto Sanchez | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 227 | 50.0% |
Luke Rhodes | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 148 | 32.6% |
Darnell Sankey | ILB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 100 | 22.0% |
Sean Spence | ILB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 71 | 15.6% |
Jermaine Grace | ILB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 70 | 15.4% |
Adam Vinatieri | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 61 | 13.4% |
Ronald Martin | S | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 18 | 4.0% |
- Considering his sizable role, Rigoberto Sanchez did very well in his rookie season. He saw the most special teams snaps based on being the Colts’ punter, kickoff specialist and holder on field goal and extra point attempts — a la Pat McAfee.
- Overall, seven players saw snaps only on special teams.
BREAKDOWN
WEEK | OFFENSIVE SNAPS | DEFENSIVE SNAPS | SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS |
---|---|---|---|
WEEK | OFFENSIVE SNAPS | DEFENSIVE SNAPS | SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS |
1 | 50 | 65 | 35 |
2 | 71 | 66 | 31 |
3 | 66 | 77 | 34 |
4 | 60 | 68 | 30 |
5 | 76 | 72 | 34 |
6 | 58 | 70 | 32 |
7 | 67 | 68 | 21 |
8 | 74 | 56 | 29 |
9 | 66 | 71 | 29 |
10 | 59 | 66 | 30 |
12 | 63 | 58 | 27 |
13 | 69 | 66 | 24 |
14 | 71 | 67 | 22 |
15 | 54 | 79 | 22 |
16 | 62 | 73 | 27 |
17 | 64 | 55 | 27 |
TOTAL: | 1,030 | 1,077 | 454 |
*Snap counts via NFL official game book.