Stat of the Jay: How Many Preseason Snaps Have the Most Successful QBs Logged the Last 4 Seasons?

CINCINNATI – Since the Cincinnati Bengals made Joe Burrow the No. 1 pick in 2020, there are 179 quarterbacks who have played at least one preseason snap.

Only 10 have played fewer snaps than Burrow’s 15, 12 of which came last year.

Only four are/were regular starters – Lamar Jackson (10), Kyler Murray (9), Aaron Rodgers (9).

Playing starters in the preseason is going to be a topic until the games began in August after the Bengals have mostly avoided doing it but are looking for ways to get out of their annual September funk in which they have gone 1-11 in Weeks 1-2 since Zac Taylor arrived in 2019.

They started 1-3 last year, costing themselves a playoff berth after going 8-5 the rest of the way to finish 9-8.

Ja’Marr Chase weighed in on both sides of the discussion on Tuesday.

Generally speaking, if the quarterback is playing, the rest of the starters are as well.

So let’s look at how much preseason action some of the most successful teams/quarterbacks have seen in the Burrow era (2021-present because there was no preseason in 2020).

These are the preseason snap totals, per TruMedia, for quarterbacks who have led their team to a conference championship game since 2020:

Brock Purdy 158

Patrick Mahomes 134

Josh Allen 74

Jimmy Garoppolo 45

Tom Brady 34

Jared Goff 30

Jayden Daniels 28

Jalen Hurts 17

Joe Burrow 15

Lamar Jackson 10

Aaron Rodgers 9

Matthew Stafford 0

Of course, injuries have played as much of a role as philosophy when it comes to Burrow's low total. He was unable to play in 2023, and in 2022 he was coming off knee surgery while last year he was still fighting through rehab after wrist surgery.

The quarterback on the list that really stands out is Mahomes, who has multiple MVPs and Super Bowl wins and is still near the top.

The NFL leader in quarterback snaps in the last five preseasons is the Bengals’ Logan Woodside, who has logged 535 while playing for the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons in addition to his two stints in Cincinnati.

In case you’re wondering, here are the preseason snap leaders for the Bengals in the Taylor era:

Offense

Trey Hill 444

Jackson Carman 377

Kwamie Lassiter 293

D’Ante Smith 267

Nate Gilliam 258

Jaxson Kirkland 242

Hakeem Adeniji 230

Keaton Sutherland 224

Isaiah Prince 210

Trenton Irwin 207

Defense

Allan George 445

Jalen Davis 374

Trayvon Henderson 356

Tycen Anderson 294

Jeff Gunter 289

Keandre Jones 279

Brandon Wilson 227

Jordan Battle 223

Zach Carter 217