Detroit Lions Week 4 snap counts: Kelvin Sheppard’s evolution of LB position

Exploring how and why the Detroit Lions used their personnel in Week 4 vs. the Cleveland Browns.

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What is the story about?

The Detroit Lions (3-1) are rolling now. On a short week, after beating the Ravens in Week 3, the Lions took on the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field and increased their winning streak to three games. After a 34-10 win over the Browns, the Lions have now scored 126 points over the last three weeks, while holding their opponents to just 61 points.

Let’s take a look at this week’s snap counts to see how the Lions adjust their personnel for the Browns game.

Quarterbacks:

Jared Goff: 56 snaps (93%)
Kyle Allen: 4 (7%)

With the game in hand, the Lions once again pulled

their starters at the end of the game, giving Allen one series, where he led the team to a first down, and then kneel downs.

Running backs:

Jahmyr Gibbs: 37 (62%)
David Montgomery: 20 (33%)
Jacob Saylors: 4 (7%) — 19 special teams snaps (61%)
Craig Reynolds: 0 (0%) — 21 (68%)
Sione Vaki: Inactive (Injury)

The Lions running backs’ split continues to be Gibbs-heavy, and after four games of snap distribution examination, it feels safe to say this is what we should expect moving forward. Saylors got his first NFL snaps as a runner—rushing two times for 11 yards—which was a bit surprising considering Reynolds was active and did not see any snaps. Now, this could just be the Lions’ end-of-game personnel, but it’s worth wondering how the depth chart behind the co-starters is actually stacked.

Wide receivers:

Amon-Ra St. Brown: 54 (90%)
Jameson Williams: 51 (85%)
Kalif Raymond: 33 (55%) — 10 (32%)
Isaac TeSlaa: 12 (20%) — 6 (19%)
Jackson Meeks: 4 (7%) — 9 (29%)
Dominic Lovett: 1 (2%) — 6 (19%)

Not much has changed with this group, with the only notable change being that Meeks saw his first NFL game action in the Lions’ end-of-game offense.

Tight ends:

Sam LaPorta: 56 (93%)
Brock Wright: 24 (40%) — 14 (45%)
Ross Dwelley: 4 (7%) — 14 (45%)

LaPorta was on the field for every offensive snap with the starters, which is a bit higher than is typical but certainly within his range. Dwelley only saw game action in the Lions’ end-of-game scenarios.

Offensive line:

Christian Mahogany: 60 (100%) — 6 (19%)
Tate Ratledge: 60 (100%) — 6 (19%)
Penei Sewell: 56 (93%) — 6 (19%)
Taylor Decker: 56 (93%)
Graham Glasgow: 56 (93%)
Kayode Awosika: 4 (7%) — 6 (19%)
Trystan Colon: 4 (7%) — 6 (19%)
Giovanni Manu: 4 (7%)
Kingsley Eguakun: Inactive

Glasgow looks like he is really settling in at center. After a rough Week 1, we’ve seen his performances get slightly better each game, with this being his best of the season. When the Lions pulled their starters, we saw Manu take over at left tackle, Colon snap the ball, and Awosika line up at right tackle, with Mahogany and Ratledge staying in their guard roles.

Defensive end:

Aidan Hutchinson: 63 (94%) — 1 (3%)
Tyler Lacy: 27 (40%)
Al-Quadin Muhammad: 25 (37%) — 4 (13%)
Pat O’Connor: 21 (31%) — 19 (61%)
Tyrus Wheat: 2 (3%) — 13 (42%)

The Lions stayed in their base defense for almost the entire game, which means we saw a lot more snaps at the 4i spot than we have in previous games. With the Lions deploying three (or more) linebackers, the Lions’ approach with their edge rushers was to keep Hutchinson in his traditional EDGE role, then opposite him, rotate Lacy and Connor through the 4i role, with Muhammad splitting his time between the 4i and a traditional defensive end spot. While Muhammad only registered two pressures and no sacks in this game, this was his highest graded game of the season via PFF, as he was consistently taking advantage of the Browns’ interior offensive line.

Defensive tackle:

DJ Reader: 40 (60%) — 1 (3%)
Roy Lopez: 40 (60%) — 3 (10%)
Tyleik Williams: 39 (58%)
Mekhi Wingo: Inactive
Chris Smith: Inactive

With the Lions relying on their edge players to get some work in at the 4i, they deployed a near-even split of snaps between their top three interior players, giving them work at the 1- and 3-technique positions. This trio is a steady interior presence in the middle and has done well to anchor the defensive line against the run.

Linebacker:

Jack Campbell: 67 (100%) — 8 (26%)
Alex Anzalone: 67 (100%) — 1 (3%)
Derrick Barnes: 61 (91%) — 16 (52%)
Trevor Nowaske: 13 (19%) — 24 (77%)
Grant Stuard: 4 (6%) — 24 (77%)
Zach Cunningham: Inactive

We continue to see the evolution of the linebacker role under defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.

With the defensive line stacking the interior defensive line with both defensive tackles and 4i edge rushers, Sheppard leaned on his linebackers to provide the defense with more pass rush. We saw both Campbell and Anzalone blitz from their traditional off-the-ball spots, Barnes’ pass rush and drop into coverage from his SAM role, and, in a new wrinkle, Nowaske was deployed in four-linebacker sets as an additional pass rusher in obvious pass rushing situations.

In the past two games, Nowaske has been used as a spy, an interior pass rusher, and an edge rusher. Over 21 defensive snaps, he’s registered three pressures and a quarterback sack, as well as one defensive run stop, and a fumble recovery.

“I think it just kind of shows my skill set,” Nowaske told Pride of Detroit after the game. “Wherever I can get on the field, that’s my goal. I feel like I’ve got a good skill set where (Sheppard) can use me all over, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be put in good positions these past couple of weeks, and I’ve had some opportunities come my way. Happy to be contributing. Happy to get the job done. Happy to get the win the last two weeks.”

Cornerback:

D.J. Reed: 52 (78%) — 1 (3%)
Amik Robertson: 38 (57%) — 1 (3%)
Terrion Arnold: 32 (48%) — 1 (3%)
Rock Ya-Sin: 8 (12%) — 19 (61%)
Khalil Dorsey: 7 (10%) — 20 (65%)

The plan entering this game was for the Lions to give Robertson more opportunities on the field. With the Lions set to stay in their base defense for nearly the entire game, that meant he would take some outside snaps from Arnold. Unfortunately, injuries to Arnold and Reed threw a wrench into the works, and the Lions had to do some shuffling in their secondary. After Robertson, Dorsey was the next corner to step up and finish a series, but he gave way to Ya-Sin on the next set of downs. When the Lions deployed nickel sets, Robertson would push inside while Ya-Sin and Dorsey stayed outside.

We don’t know the severity of Arnold’s injury just yet, but coach Dan Campbell did note after the game that Reed would probably miss next week’s game against the Bengals. That means, at a minimum, Robertson is in line to start on the outside, with Ya-Sin and Dorsey being next up if Arnold is unable to play.

Safety:

Brian Branch: 67 (100%) — 1 (3%)
Kerby Joseph: 50 (75%) — 1 (3%)
Avonte Maddox: 14 (21%) — 9 (29%)
Thomas Harper: 0 (0%) — 10 (32%)

Joseph was injured at the end of the first half, but after working out with trainers, he was eventually able to return during the third quarter. In his place, Maddox took over at safety, typically playing in Joseph’s deep single-high role.