Packers: Five observations from Week 1 snap counts

Five observations from the Green Bay Packers’ snap counts in Week 1.

The Green Bay Packers’ Week 1 victory over the Chicago Bears taught us a lot about the 2019 iteration of this team. One of the simplest pieces of useful information is the snap counts.

You can see the full snap counts here in an article by Acme Packing Company.

Here are five numbers that stood out to me. For context, the Packers had 64 plays on offense and 73 on defense.

Danny Vitale not featured

Danny Vitale was one of the biggest stories of training camp and the preseason. The ultra-athletic fullback made plays in what seemed like every practice, and reports were that he would be a staple of Matt LaFleur’s offense.

But Vitale played just 11 snaps on Thursday night. Aaron Rodgers never targeted him in the passing game, and he did not have a single rushing attempt.

Rodgers and LaFleur ran 35 passing plays and just 22 runs, so that may have contributed to Vitale’s scant usage. But Vitale was projected to be valuable in the passing game as well as the running game. We’ll see if this “superback” becomes a more major part of the offense in the coming weeks.

Marcedes Lewis’ role expands

Packers fans were excited about Marcedes Lewis’ blocking ability and reliable hands when the team signed him before the 2018 season. But he was an afterthought in Mike McCarthy’s (and Joe Philbin’s) offense. Lewis averaged just 16.5 snaps per game total, played just 17.9 percent of offensive snaps, and hauled in just three passes.

On Thursday night, Lewis played 34 snaps, just one less than Jimmy Graham. That’s more than he played in any single game last year. And, he had caught two passes on three targets.

Interestingly, these snaps may have come somewhat at the expense of Vitale, as both are blocking specialists.

Regardless, LaFleur’s offense clearly has more use for Lewis than McCarthy’s did. Hopefully, his blocking will eventually help contribute to an effective run game.

Also of note, Robert Tonyan played 20 snaps, more than he did in any single game last season.

Heavy dose of Smiths; Not so for Gary

Preston Smith played 72 snaps, and Za’Darius played 67. Rashan Gary played just six.

The Smiths were disruptive all night long against both the pass and the run. But, this ultra-heavy usage isn’t sustainable for a full season. I’d like to see Gary, unpolished though he is, play much more to help the Smiths stay fresh for the end of games.

Gary made a definite impact in Thursday’s game despite the shortage of opportunity. At the very least, he should soon equal or overtake Kyler Fackrell in snaps (Fackrell played 23 snaps on Thursday).

Trevor Davis surpasses Jake Kumerow

As we approached final roster cuts, Jake Kumerow seemed to have firmly cemented himself behind Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Geronimo Allison as the team’s fourth receiver. Trevor Davis, meanwhile, needed to shine in preseason to secure his spot on the team.

But against the Bears, Davis played 19 snaps, and Kumerow played one. Davis was also the receiver who subbed in for Adams briefly and made a clutch 28-yard reception early in the fourth quarter. He seems to be solidly above Kumerow in the pecking order for now.

Raven Greene serves as inside linebacker

The inside linebacker position next to Blake Martinez has been a concern for Packers fans since Oren Burks went down in the preseason. The current depth chart has seventh-round rookie Ty Summers and recently acquired B.J. Goodson as the only healthy non-Martinez options at inside linebacker.

As we probably could have predicted, Raven Greene played next to Martinez for the majority of the game, a total of 56 snaps. Neither Summers nor Goodson played a single snap against the Bears. Will this trend continue moving forward?

Summers and Goodson are relatively new to Mike Pettine’s defense, and neither are close to as good in coverage as Greene. So it made sense to sit them in a Week 1 game featuring receiving threats such as Tarik Cohen and Trey Burton. But as the season moves on, and pending Burks’ return, my guess is that one or both will begin to see some snaps in obvious running situations.