Raiders week two snap counts vs Broncos: Lack of depth on newly rebuilt defensive line proves costly

The Jon Gruden 2.0 era is not off to an ideal start in 2018. This is the first time a Raiders team led by Jon Gruden started the season 0-2. The Raiders have been competitive at times but have dug themselves into a hole that they must now get out off.

With the injuries to Justin Ellis and PJ Hall, the Raiders bolstered the defensive line with the additions of free agents Johnathan Hankins and Clinton McDonald. Both were forced into action after spending less than a week with the team along with last week’s waiver wire pickup, Brian Price.

Clinton McDonald led all defensive tackles in snaps played with 52 (79%). Hankins and Price also saw their share of the action with 18 and 17 snaps.

The lack of depth along the defensive line was no more apparent than in the Broncos game winning drive in the fourth quarter. Leading 19-17, with 1:52 left in the game the Raiders defense allowed the Broncos to move the ball 62 yards on 10 plays, setting up the go-ahead 36-yard field goal.

The high altitude of mile high took a toll on the Raiders pass rushers. Case Keenum had all kinds of time to find open receivers on their final drive.

The biggest change we saw on the offensive side of the ball was the addition of Martavis Bryant who played in 38% of offensive snaps, catching all four of his targets for 30 yards.

One other change that stood out on offense was the increased role for Doug Martin and the lack of for Jalen Richard. Last week, Richard was a very big part of the game plan getting a healthy 53% of the snaps. Game flow obviously had something to do with that but this week, Richard only saw eight snaps.

Doug Martin saw his snaps increase from nine to 17 in week two. Neither Richard nor Martin were a factor in the game.

Let’s take a detailed look at the week two snap counts.