Vikings Snap Counts for Week 4 at Carolina
The Vikings captured their first win of the season in Week 4, largely behind a strong defensive effort in the second half.
Minnesota allowed no points over the final 30 minutes of the game, and their offense did just enough for the team to take home a 21-13 victory. It was a game that the Vikings desperately needed to win in order to keep some hope alive for the playoffs.
With the game now behind us, here is a look at the Vikings snap counts from Week 4 at Carolina. Per usual these snap counts are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Offense
- LT Christian Darrisaw (48)
- RG Ed Ingram (48)
- RT Brian O’Neill (48)
- LG Ezra Cleveland (48)
- C Austin Schlottmann (48)
- QB Kirk Cousins (48)
- WR Justin Jefferson (47)
- TE T.J. Hockenson (42)
- WR K.J. Osborn (40)
- RB Alexander Mattison (33)
- WR Jordan Addison (28)
- TE Josh Oliver (22)
- RB Cam Akers (14)
- TE Johnny Mundt (8)
- FB C.J. Ham (5)
- WR Brandon Powell (1)
There were a few notable turns of events from Sunday on the Vikings offense. Firstly, it was great to see Cam Akers get a handful of snaps at the running back spot, taking some pressure off of Alexander Mattison in the backfield. The newest Vikings running back got five carries for 40 yards and added a pair of catches as well.
Meanwhile, the Vikings went back to running their heavy personnel more often than they had in the previous two weeks. C.J. Ham saw only five snaps with the offense, but Josh Oliver was on the field for more than 40% of the offensive snaps for the first time since Week 1.
We are yet to see Dalton Risner get any snaps with the offense, either. That will be something to keep an eye on as the week goes on. Risner has faced off against the Chiefs twice a year in each of the first four years of his career, so his knowledge of their defense could be important heading into Week 5.
Defense
- S Camryn Bynum (72)
- S Harrison Smith (72)
- CB Akayleb Evans (71)
- LB Jordan Hicks (69)
- S Josh Metellus (68)
- CB Byron Murphy (68)
- OLB Danielle Hunter (56)
- DT Harrison Phillips (49)
- OLB Marcus Davenport (45)
- OLB D.J. Wonnum (45)
- OLB Pat Jones (38)
- LB Ivan Pace (37)
- DT Jonathan Bullard (31)
- DT Dean Lowry (22)
- CB Mekhi Blackmon (21)
- NT Jaquelin Roy (17)
- S Theo Jackson (5)
- OLB Andre Carter (3)
- LB Brian Asamoah (2)
The iron men for the Vikings in Week 4 were Camryn Bynum and Harrison Smith, who were both on the field for all 72 defensive snaps for the Vikings this weekend. Smith had an incredible day, totaling 14 tackles, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble.
The biggest change on defense was the fact that Marcus Davenport finally got a consistent share of the snaps in Week 4. He didn’t start the game, but the outside linebacker was on the field for 45 snaps and recorded his first sack in a Vikings uniform.
Davenport’s presence meant less of a snap-share for rookie UDFA Ivan Pace, who had a season-low 37 snaps on the day and just narrowly squeaked over the 50% mark. It didn’t do much to D.J. Wonnum’s role, though, who still played 45 snaps as well and had the fumble recovery TD that turned momentum back in the Vikings favor.
Special Teams
- LB Troy Dye (19)
- S Theo Jackson (19)
- LB Brian Asamoah (14)
- S Jay Ward (14)
- TE Johnny Mundt (13)
- CB NaJee Thompson (13)
- LB Ivan Pace (12)
- FB C.J. Ham (11)
- CB Andrew Booth (10)
- OLB Andre Carter (10)
- OLB Pat Jones (9)
- S Josh Metellus (8)
- LS Andrew DePaola (7)
- K Greg Joseph (7)
- OLB D.J. Wonnum (7)
- P Ryan Wright (7)
- RB Ty Chandler (6)
- WR N’Keal Harry (6)
- TE Josh Oliver (6)
- NT Jaquelin Roy (5)
- WR Brandon Powell (5)
- DT Dean Lowry (5)
- LT Christian Darrisaw (3)
- RG Ed Ingram (3)
- IOL Dalton Risner (3)
- OL Blake Brandel (3)
- CB Byron Murphy (3)
- LG Ezra Cleveland (3)
- S Camryn Bynum (3)
- DT Jonathan Bullard (3)
- OT David Quessenberry (3)
- LB Jordan Hicks (2)
Troy Dye and Theo Jackson paced the Vikings special teams unit on Sunday, which meant a bit of a decreased workload for both Josh Metellus and Ivan Pace. Especially for Metellus, this makes sense as he continues to work through his shoulder injury that has ailed him for the past couple weeks.
Risner was able to play a few snaps on special teams as well, indicating that he is healthy enough to play. Again, we’ll see if his first chances with the offense finally come during Week 5 against an old divisional foe going back to his days in Denver.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.