The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their first game of the 2016 regular season, and that means we get the first snap count. The team issues an unofficial depth chart each week, and since it includes limited input from the coaches, the snap count and what we see during the game gives us a real idea of the team’s depth chart.
The starters were about what we would expect. On the defensive side of the ball, Quinton Dial, Mike Purcell, and DeForest Buckner started in the base defense. Arik Armstead ended up with more snaps than Dial, although both seemed to be on a limited workload due to their recent injuries (shoulder and knee, respectively). Buckner led the defensive line in snaps, and we saw a fairly extensive rotation. Ronald Blair and Tony Jerod-Eddie did not get a ton of work, but they got into the mix a bit.
Tramaine Brock and Jimmie Ward played every snap on defense, with 61 total snaps. Rashard Robinson had 25 snaps (40 percent), and Dontae Johnson had nine snaps (15 percent), following the deactivation of both Chris Davis and Keith Reaser. Jaquiski Tartt got 16 defensive snaps, as the team went with a three safety look quite a bit.
On offense, the team got some reserves in late in the game, with Colin Kaepernick, Anthony Davis, and Marcus Martin all getting three snaps at the end of the game. Martin got four more earlier when Andrew Tiller suffered an injury. Tiller eventually returned.
Vance McDonald and Garrett Celek ended up getting the bulk of the work at tight end, with 51 and 46 snaps, respectively. Blake Bell got nine snaps, but we won’t be seeing a whole lot of heavy sets from the 49ers.
Here’s the full snap count (gamebook PDF):
| Player | Offense | Defense | ST |
| Zane Beadles | 81 | 4 | |
| Trent Brown | 81 | 4 | |
| Joe Staley | 78 | 4 | |
| Blaine Gabbert | 78 | ||
| Torrey Smith | 78 | ||
| Daniel Kilgore | 78 | ||
| Andrew Tiller | 77 | 4 | |
| Quinton Patton | 71 | 13 | |
| Carlos Hyde | 57 | 11 | |
| Jeremy Kerley | 54 | ||
| Vance McDonald | 51 | 7 | |
| Garrett Celek | 46 | 5 | |
| Shaun Draughn | 21 | 16 | |
| Rod Streater | 10 | 1 | |
| Blake Bell | 9 | 1 | |
| Marcus Martin | 7 | ||
| Aaron Burbridge | 3 | 7 | |
| Anthony Davis | 3 | 4 | |
| Colin Kaepernick | 3 | ||
| Mike Davis | 3 | ||
| Chris Harper | 2 | ||
| Jimmie Ward | 61 | 15 | |
| Eric Reid | 61 | 4 | |
| Tramaine Brock | 61 | 1 | |
| NaVorro Bowman | 61 | 1 | |
| Antoine Bethea | 61 | ||
| DeForest Buckner | 51 | 5 | |
| Ray-Ray Armstrong | 42 | 8 | |
| Ahmad Brooks | 40 | 1 | |
| Eli Harold | 35 | 1 | |
| Arik Armstead | 35 | ||
| Mike Purcell | 33 | 6 | |
| Rashard Robinson | 25 | 12 | |
| Quinton Dial | 25 | 5 | |
| Tank Carradine | 23 | ||
| Gerald Hodges | 19 | 15 | |
| Jaquiski Tartt | 16 | 22 | |
| Dontae Johnson | 9 | 22 | |
| Ronald Blair | 7 | ||
| Tony Jerod-Eddie | 6 | 1 | |
| Marcus Cromartie | 22 | ||
| Nick Bellore | 22 | ||
| Michael Wilhoite | 22 | ||
| Bradley Pinion | 16 | ||
| Kyle Nelson | 11 | ||
| Phil Dawson | 4 |