C.J. Gardner-Johnson joined the Saints 1,000 snaps club in 2020
Who was on the field for the New Orleans Saints most often in 2020? Just five players cleared the 1,000 snaps benchmark out of the 69 members of the team who played in the regular season, and of those five only two also went the distance in 2019. Here’s who cleared the hurdle by playing more than 1,000 combined snaps on offense, defense, and special teams, per Pro Football Reference:
DB #22 C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 1,007 snaps
AP Photo/Mark LoMoglio
The second-year safety spends most of his time covering the slot in the Saints nickel defense, which they run more often than any other personnel package. But he's also an active player in the kicking game, totaling 146 snaps on special teams. That ranks him fifth in the group when combined with his 861 defensive snaps.
LB #56 Demario Davis: 1,038 snaps
AP Photo/Jason Behnken
It makes sense for Davis to rank so highly: he almost never leaves the field as one of the defensive captains and the team's best linebacker (having logged 1,032 snaps with the defense). He's one of their best players, period, which is also why he isn't often exposed to danger covering punts or kickoffs (just 6 snaps on special teams).
C #78 Erik McCoy: 1,105 snaps
Chuck Cook -USA TODAY Sports
Of course McCoy is going to be one of the leaders in snaps played; he's literally often the guy snapping the ball, doing so 1,074 times in 2020 (plus 31 plays on special teams with the blocking units). He's also one of the only two players to log more than 1,000 snaps in each of the last two seasons, which happen to be his first two seasons in the NFL.
SS #27 Malcolm Jenkins: 1,108 snaps
AP Photo/Butch Dill
Jenkins is one of the other defensive captains and the unquestioned leader in the secondary. He's a critical part of every personnel package the Saints run on the back end, ranging from nickel and dime units to the heavier base and short-yardage looks. But he's also mixed it up often on special teams (72 snaps) in addition to his team-leading 1,036 snaps on defense.
RT #71 Ryan Ramczyk: 1,126 snaps
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Ramczyk wins this year's Iron Man Award as the team leader in total snaps played, boasting 1,039 on offense plus 87 appearances in the kicking game as a blocker. He's also the only player on the team to pass the 1,000 snaps milestone in each of the last four years, doing so every season he's played in the NFL.
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