The Tennessee Titans’ 2022 season ending on Saturday night was no doubt a bittersweet moment for fans, who went through a lot this year.
Sure, it was a heartbreaking loss that came at the hands of a division rival and completed an embarrassing collapse, but now the Titans get a better draft pick than they otherwise would have, which will help the coming revamp.
Also on the bright side, we’ve likely seen the last of offensive coordinator Todd Downing (he MUST be fired), and we’ve definitely seen the last of Dennis Daley and this offensive line as a whole.
Speaking of Downing, one of the many issues he’s had is terrible personnel decisions, something we saw once again on Saturday night. However, there was also one good takeaway from the snap counts, as well as an interesting one.
First we’ll show you the snap counts on both sides of the ball, then underneath that are the biggest takeaways from them.
Snap counts: Offense
Snap counts: Defense
Geoff Swaim out-snaps Chig Okonkwo, Austin Hooper
Swaim had started taking a backseat to Chig and Hooper as the season went along, but not on Saturday night, when the veteran out-snapped the two best tight ends on Tennessee’s roster in the most important game of 2022.
Swaim tallied 41 snaps, while Chig and Hooper had 32 and 34, respectively.
Hooper, and especially Chig, have been two of the better playmakers in the passing game this season, which makes this situation even more frustrating.
Swaim is a good No. 3 tight end, but nothing more, and he even struggled at what is supposed to be his strength, which is blocking, something head coach Mike Vrabel used as a reason for Swaim getting so many snaps this year.
The Titans must do a better job of getting their best players on the field as much as possible in 2023, something they didn’t do nearly enough of in 2022.
Treylon Burks second among WRs
While Burks took a backseat to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in terms of snaps for much of the season when he was healthy, the rookie actually finished the season with more snaps in each of his last three games than NWI.
In Week 18, Burks out-snapped NWI, 56-43, with only Robert Woods (64) seeing more action at the wide receiver position.
The Titans have given Burks more and more as the season has progressed, but even still it took too long to get here.
Looking ahead to 2023, he should lead Titans receivers in snaps each and every week, as he’s clearly the best player at his position on the team by a wide margin.
Amani Hooker, Kristian Fulton play every snap in returns
In what was their first game back after missing multiple weeks, Hooker and Fulton jumped right back into the fray, with both playing every single snap on defense.
The only other defenders to play 100 percent of the plays were Kevin Byard and Roger McCreary.
Dr. Gibby starts over Dylan Cole, out-snaps Monty Rice
With Zach Cunningham and David Long sidelined for large periods of time this season, Dylan Cole was usually given the nod to start when one or both have been out.
However, Cole was replaced in Week 18 by 2022 UDFA Jack Gibbens, who was pretty impressive over his two starts to close out the season. Dr. Gibby also out-snapped Monty Rice, the other starter, by 20.
Gibbens’ strong push near the end of the season is a great head of steam for the rookie going into the 2023 offseason. It’s also a positive development for a Titans team that has some questions to answer at the position.
On the flip side, it isn’t a good look for a fellow rookie like Gibbens to out-snap a 2021 fourth-round pick like Rice in such an important game. That drives home the point that he’s far from certain to start next season.
The jury is still very much out on Gibbens, also, and the deck is certainly stacked against him ever becoming a full-time starter, but he took a step in the right direction to close out the season.
