Dolphins 2025 Week 6 Snap Count Observations

What stood out regarding play counts in the Miami Dolphins' 29-27 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday:

We'll start with the list of inactives, where the biggest news involved center Aaron Brewer not being on it after being listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week because of a pectoral injury. The other players made inactive because of injuries were LB Tyrel Dodson (concussion), DB Elijah Campbell (quad) and CB Storm Duck (ankle). Running back Jaylen Wright was a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game, while rookie seventh-round pick Zeek Biggers is inactive for a fifth time in six games.

Every player who was active played in the game except for backup quarterback Zach Wilson and second-year wide receiver Tahj Washington.

Eight players saw action only on special teams: Cameron Goode, Daniel Brunskill, Kendall Lamm, Kion Smith, Jordan Colbert, Willie Gay Jr., Quinton Bell and Isaiah Johnson. The last were elevated from the practice squad for the game. Gay being among that group will be a big surprise (and disappointment) to those who were hoping to see him build off his strong training camp and preseason performance.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE OBSERVATIONS

The play count was a lot more balanced than it was against Carolina, though the Dolphins still had fewer offensive snaps than the Chargers (64-59).

De'Von Achane, who is running away with team MVP honors right now, not surprisingly again got a lot of work. He tied his season with 53 snaps, which amounted to 90 percent of the plays.

Maybe the most interesting note on offense was not only Nick Westbrook-Ikhine getting the second-most snaps at wide receiver behind Jaylen Waddle with 37, but not playing special teams at all after being one of the most active offensive players in that department over the first five games. This might signal the Dolphins wanting him to get more involved, though he was targeted only one after being shut out in the target department against Carolina.

As expected, Darren Waller's snap count at tight end continued to grow, with him getting 41 snaps, up from 16 and 32 for his first two games. But the Dolphins used two tight ends quite a bit in this game, with Julian Hill logging 38 snaps.

While he's done good things with the ball, Malik Washington continues to remain a bit underused. He played less than 50 percent of the offensive snaps.

Rookie running back Ollie Gordon II maintained his usual snap count, with 14 against the Chargers, the same 14 against Carolina and 15 each of the previous two games. It remains pretty clear there's not much of a rotation at running back and Gordon is just there to give Achane an occasional breather.

DOLPHINS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS

There were three players on the field for all 64 defensive snaps, and it probably was surprising that one of them was safety Ashtyn Davis, and that's because he had been used in a rotation prior to that.

Jordyn Brooks and Minkah Fitzpatrick were the other two players on the field for every defensive snap, with Rasul Douglas and KJ Britt almost joining them.

After opening against the Jets with only three defensive backs, the Dolphins started off in the nickel with rookie fifth-round pick Dante Trader Jr. making his first NFL start. Trader ended up playing 34 snaps, while free agent acquisition Ifeatu Melifonwu was an afterthought on defense with only two snaps.

It's now been two weeks since defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said the main reason for the big disparity in playing time among the four notable edge defenders was acting outside linebackers coach Sean Ryan needing to get a feel for his rotation, it was again more of the same against the Chargers. In this one, Phillips and Chubb had 48 and 47 snaps, compared to 22 for Robinson and 17 for Judon.

On the defensive line, Weaver followed through on his word that Benito Jones was going to get more snaps because of how he played against Carolina and he ended up with the most playing time behind Zach Sieler. Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips had 27 and 26 snaps, with Matthew Butler far behind with only 13 snaps.

Weaver also gave some young cornerbacks a chance in this game, with Ethan Bonner playing 16 snaps and JuJu Brents playing his first three snaps on defense for the Dolphins.

We close with special teams, where with Campbell inactive it was Trader who led the way with 22 snaps, followed by 17 for Goode and tight end Tanner Conner, and 16 for Colbert. And because it's now a topic of conversation, Zach Sieler and Minkah Fitzpatrick played 14 and nine snaps, respectively, in the kicking game.

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