JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- With the Jacksonville Jaguars facing their fair of injuries both before and during Sunday's Week 5 win, this week's snap count report looks quite a bit different.
The Jaguars had several players play their largest roles of the season in Week 5's win over the Philadelphia Eagles, but what do this week's snaps really tell us about how the Jaguars approached their latest win? We break it down below.
The Jaguars' Staff Needs a Change at Safety
The Jaguars had rookie safety Jalen Huskey active for the first time in his rookie season on Sunday, but it did not result in him seeing the field very much. Huskey ended up playing zero offensive snaps and just three special teams snaps, making it clear that the Jaguars see him way down the pecking order at safety. While that even may be a fair argument for them to make since they know him best and see him practice every day, it is hard to imagine the Jaguars should let him continue to watch at safety if Eric Murray misses any more time.
The Jaguars had Rayuan Lane play 100% of the snaps and practice squad safety Kaevon Merriweather serve as the No. 3 safety with 34% of the defensive snaps. The Jaguars did not get great production out of the safety room outside of Antonio Johnson, however, and the Jaguars should consider a shift to Huskey as at least the No. 3 safety if Murray continues to miss time. Lane fills his depth role well, but he just looked a bit out of his element as a starter on Sunday.
Bhayshul Tuten is Becoming More of a RB1 With Each Game
If the Jaguars had not already made it clear, there is a lead back in Duval: Bhayshul Tuten, who had one of his highest rates of usage in his career. Tuten played a career high in snaps with 49 (68.1%), while his 22 carries were also an easy career high. When the Jaguars needed an important play on the ground, it was Tuten who they leaned into. The Tuten usage has never been higher, but that does mean it has to go backward for someone else.
That player is clearly Chris Rodriguez Jr., who has seen his role diminish significantly since even Week 1. Rodriguez played a season-low snaps with nine (12.5%) and only had two carries, making it clear that he is, above all else, Tuten's backup. He did get red-zone short-yardage work, but he is clearly just a role player right now, as opposed to Tuten being the Jaguars' clear No. 1 running back by really every single definition.
Tuten has seen his role take a massive leap, first compared to a year ago and now compared to Week 1. It feels like by the end of the season we will start to see Tuten get 20+ carries almost weekly considering how balanced the Jaguars' offense is.
Rookies Continue to Make An Impact
The Jaguars' pair of rookie skill players combined for five catches on six targets for 63 yards (12.6 yards per catch). Josh Cameron caught three passes for 43 yards and Nate Boerkircher caught two passes for 20 yards, while playing nearly 50% of the snaps in a 12-personnel happy game plan against the Eagles. As a whole, the duo combined for 63 yards on 29 routes, which comes out to 2.17 yards per route run. For context, that would rank top-25 amongst all NFL wide recievers in yards per route run.
Boerkircher got plenty of run with 35 snaps (49%), while Cameron played 22 snaps (31%), with each player having a significant impact despite not playing full-time snaps. The Jaguars are getting instant production from each non-first round draft pick, which is an ideal outcome for any team like the Jaguars coming off a playoff season. The Jaguars' offensive rookies have already become true hits.
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