49ers snap count through the first half of 2012

The 49ers enter their bye week sitting exactly halfway through their 16-game schedule. This makes it quite convenient to do some midseason review content. We'll be breaking down each of the specific positional units, but in the meantime, I decided to put together a comprehensive snap count for the first eight games of the season. I have been writing up game-by-game snap counts, but upon further review of my resource, the NFL appears to go back and double-check with updates.

Below is the rundown of snap counts for the 49ers offense, defense and special teams. The only players with no snaps this season are Brandon Jacobs, LaMichael James, A.J. Jenkins, Joe Looney and Scott Tolzien. Garrett Celek leads rookies with 36 snaps, while Trenton Robinson has 25 snaps. You can check out the weekly and cumulative numbers at this Google spreadsheet.

Alex Boone and Anthony Davis are the only two players with 100% play on their respective unit. The right side of the 49ers offensive line has shown considerable improvement this year, and given that they are two of the younger players on the team, handling all the snaps is not the end of the world.

At wide receiver, Michael Crabtree has been the clear number one, with 326 offensive snaps. Mario Manningham has 226 snaps, Kyle Williams has 184 snaps and Randy Moss has 159 snaps. The 49ers continue to roll with their two tight end sets quite frequently, with Delanie Walker sitting at 267 snaps (54% of total offense), behind Vernon Davis at 466 (94%).

On the defensive side of the ball, Donte Whitner leads the way with 490 snaps (98%). Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers are right behind him with 487 apiece. The most interesting defensive numbers were at nose tackle. Isaac Sopoaga has 136 defensive snaps, while Ricky Jean Francois has 82. Ian Williams also worked in three snaps in Week 4 when Isaac Sopoaga missed the game and the 49ers blew out the Jets.

There was an interesting discussion on Twitter about whether or not the 49ers are phasing out Isaac Sopoaga with his free agency coming up. This past week, Ice had 20 snaps, while Ricky Jean Francois had 15 snaps. I don't think that was a specific enough example because RJF was mixed in to some nickel as well when the defense was getting a bit haggard.

However, the 49ers do have some free agency issues to consider after this season. Isaac Sopoaga likely could be had back in 2013 at a fairly reasonable deal, but the 49ers also have Ricky Jean Francois and Ian Williams. At some point Williams needs to get some kind of opportunity, and RJF has shown a solid ability to fill in at nose tackle from time-to-time. I don't know if it's enough to be the every-down guy, but the opportunities are there.

Offense has had 498 total plays.

Defense has had 499 total plays.

Special teams have had 210 total plays