Eagles-Saints Snap Counts: Vic Fangio relies more on Brandon Graham and less on Bryce Huff

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints are in! Let's take a look and go through some analysis.

ATTACK

• Jordan Mailata hasn’t missed a snap since October 30, 2022.
• Jahan Dotson played the most of any pass catcher. He had just three passes for two catches and eight yards. That means in three games this season he had five passes for three catches and 14 yards. Dotson did play a key role in the (legal) pick play that gave Dallas Goedert complete freedom for his 61-yard catch-and-run late in the game. Dotson will obviously have to step up as a receiver if both AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are unavailable to play in Week 4.
• Dallas Goedert was great, catching 10 of his 11 passes for 170 yards. It's pretty crazy that the Eagles only caught four passes for him in Week 2. Jalen Hurts and the coaching staff need to force the ball on him, especially when they're missing one or two of their best wide receivers.
• Tyler Steen had to step in at right guard for Mekhi Becton, who had to leave the game with a finger injury. Steen seemed to hold up well. The same goes for Fred Johnson, who stepped in at right tackle for the concussed Lane Johnson. This was Fred Johnson's highest snap count percentage since his time with the Cincinnati Bengals in December 2021. After the game, he said he was emotional.
• After Saquon Barkley had 26 touches in each of his first two games, he only had 21 in this game. Still, his best game in terms of yards from the offensive line was 156.
• DeVonta Smith probably would have played the entire game (or almost the entire game) if the referees had done a better job of calling off his drive and not subjecting him to a late hit from the Saints that left him with a concussion.
• Parris Campbell had the third most WR snaps since AJ was out and both DeVonta and Britain Covey were injured in this game. His two tackles resulted in two catches for 13 yards. Campbell could play a big role in Week 4.
• Grant Calcaterra played his lowest snap count percentage of the season despite the Eagles being decimated at the wide receiver position. Calcaterra stood out in a bad way; he really struggled as a blocker.
• Due to the WR injuries, Johnny Wilson's playing time has increased somewhat.
• Kenny Gainwell's playing time was consistent with Week 1. He did not manage a run (the first time in a game since Week 16 of the 2022 season), but he had three passes that resulted in two catches for 12 yards.
• With Calcaterra struggling as a blocker, one might wonder if the Eagles will want to bring Jack Stoll in more, as he is the better option in that role. Of course, he is not as good as Calcaterra as a pass catcher.
• Britian Covey is expected to be placed on the injured list after sustaining an injury that could reportedly keep him out for at least six weeks.
• The Eagles had Reed Blankenship lined up deep in the backfield in the Victory Formation in case he fumbled and had to make a tackle, which is how they used him in one game last year.

DEFENSE

• Blankenship is the only Eagles defender who has not missed a single snap this season.
• After taking a step back in Week 2, Zack Baun was flying around making plays again in Week 3. Baun led the Eagles with 13 total tackles (nine solo). Baun has 37 total tackles this season, which ranks second in the NFL only to Nick Cross (39). Baun's previous season high for tackles was 30, which he had in both 2021 and 2023. After three games with the Eagles, he has already surpassed that mark by seven.
• CJ Gardner-Johnson did not miss a single snap against his former team, although his participation was listed as questionable after missing practice on Thursday and Friday due to a foot injury.
• Jalen Carter's previous career high in a single game was 80% when he played against the Buffalo Bills last year. In this game, he was 89%, and it's not hard to see why he played so much as he kicked and destroyed the Saints offense. Carter was credited with three solo tackles, two TFLs, two pass deflections (the only two of his career!), and a quarterback hit. But his impact clearly went beyond the score.
• Darius Slay left the game early after Trevor Penning acted like an idiot and blocked him into the ground well outside the court after the play was clearly over. Slay tweeted that he is fine and not seriously injured.
• Milton Williams recorded two TFLs. Another good performance from him as he played the second most DT snaps. This was the highest snap count percentage of Williams' career, surpassing the 63% he played against the New York Jets last season.
• Brandon Graham played 47.8% of the Eagles' snaps in Week 1 and 45.9% in Week 2. Vic Fangio boosted the 15-year veteran's production to 62.5% in Week 3. That's the highest percentage of snaps BG has played since he was at 70% in Week 18 of the 2022 season. You have to wonder if BG can handle that workload over the course of the season, but maybe he can give it his all again in his senior year. BG was such a key player for the Eagles in that game, playing a role in the Eagles' fourth down stop for a turnover on downs and also scoring the quarterback hit on Derek Carr on his interception to Reed Blankenship. BG is still an absolute stunner. It's not ideal that the coaches have to rely on him as the team's best edge rusher, but that's not his fault.
• Josh Sweat has done a good job of applying pressure, and in three games this year he has three quarterback hits. However, he has only one sack in his last 12 games (in the playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), which is not good.
• Less nickel defense in this game meant less Avonte Maddox. Maddox playing almost the entire game the way he did the first two weeks just doesn't seem ideal.
• Jordan Davis was DT3 in this game. He recorded his first sack since a half-sack in Week 7 of last season. It was his first game with a full sack since Week 2 of last season. And only the second game of his career in which he had a full sack. Davis was also credited with his first TFL since Week 2 of last season. Can he build on that performance?
• Nolan Smith finished seventh on the team with three tackles despite playing the 13th most snaps of any defensive lineman. He was the third edge rusher behind BG and Sweat.
• Bryce Huff officially started the game, but he played his lowest snap count percentage after previously being at 44.8% in Week 1 and 52.5% in Week 2. From an investment perspective, it's not good to see the Eagles' top free agent playing a small role and not having a positive impact (zero stats for the second straight game, and still only one assisted tackle and no other stats this season). From a coaching perspective, it was good work by Fangio to take him off the field. The defense definitely looked better with less involvement from Huff. This was Huff's lowest snap count percentage since he was at 22% in Week 3 of last season.
• Kelee Ringo was called into action because Slay left the field early. It is notable that he entered the game before Isaiah Rodgers.
• Although Thomas Booker looked good in a small sample size in Week 2, he was unable to significantly increase his playing time. He did manage to defend one pass, though.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• No Cooper DeJean on defense. He took over for Covey as the Eagles' punt returner.
• Isaiah Rodgers played his first NFL regular-season snaps since December 2022. He was active in Week 2 but did not play at all. He had a minor role on special teams in that game.
• Two snaps is the second-lowest total of Jake Elliott's career (not including a game he missed in 2022). He played just one snap in the Eagles' final regular season game in 2017.

NOT PLAYED

INACTIVE: AJ Brown, Devin White, Tanner McKee, Darian Kinnard, Trevor Keegan, Byron Young, Eli Ricks

ACTIVE: Kenny Pickett

• Brown missed his second straight game. It is unclear if he will be able to return in Week 4. It looks like he will be back by Week 6 at the latest (after the Week 5 bye).
• White was ruled out for the second straight game due to health concerns, and it appears he will not be able to play when he returns to Tampa in Week 4.
• McKee, Kinnard, Keegan and Young have been inactive this season. Depending on how injuries to Becton and Lane Johnson develop, we could see Kinnard and/or Keegan active soon.
• Ricks has only played one snap this season, and that was on special teams.