Minnesota Vikings Snap Counts for Week 8 vs. Los Angeles Rams

For the second time in five days, the Minnesota Vikings lost a game following their 5-0 start to the season.

Minnesota lost to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Kevin O’Connell’s first game against his former team where he served as offensive coordinator before taking the Vikings’ head coaching gig. With the game now in the rearview, here are the Vikings’ snap counts from their Week 8 loss.

Offense

1. WR Justin Jefferson (50)
2. QB Sam Darnold (50)
3. LG Blake Brandel (50)
4. C Garrett Bradbury (50)
5. RG Ed Ingram (50)
6. RT Brian O’Neill (50)
7. WR Jordan Addison (46)
8. RB Aaron Jones (46)
9. TE Josh Oliver (35)
10. TE Johnny Mundt (31)
11. LT Christian Darrisaw (25)
12. LT David Quessenberry (25)
13. WR Jalen Nailor (21)
14. FB C.J. Ham (8)
15. WR Brandon Powell (6)
16. WR Trent Sherfield (3)
17. RB Ty Chandler (2)
18. TE Robert Tonyan (2)

The big storyline on the offensive side of the ball for the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night was the injury to Christian Darrisaw. The star left tackle will miss the remainder of the 2024 season because of a knee injury, and it appears that David Quessenberry will take his place the rest of the way if Blake Brandel doesn’t kick back out to his original position of offensive tackle.

The Aaron Jones dominance in the backfield continues to be showcased in the Vikings’ offense as well. Jones played 46 of a possible 50 offensive snaps while Ty Chandler was on the field just twice.

Defense

1. LB Ivan Pace (71)
2. CB Byron Murphy (71)
3. OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (71)
4. S Harrison Smith (71)
5. CB Stephon Gilmore (66)
6. OLB Jonathan Greenard (65)
7. S Josh Metellus (60)
8. S Camryn Bynum (59)
9. DT Harrison Phillips (58)
10. DT Jonathan Bullard (50)
11. OLB Pat Jones (43)
12. DT Jerry Tillery (26)
13. CB Shaq Griffin (25)
14. DT Jalen Redmond (16)
15. DT Jihad Ward (11)
16. DT Taki Taimani (8)
17. LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (6)
18. OLB Dallas Turner (3)

Ivan Pace continued to hold things down at the middle linebacker spot almost entirely by himself with Blake Cashman missing another game due to injury. Meanwhile, Dallas Turner’s utilization remains very low behind Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Pat Jones at the outside linebacker spot.

Special Teams

1. S Jay Ward (21)
2. LB Brian Asamoah (21)
3. S Theo Jackson (21)
4. LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (21)
5. OLB Bo Richter (17)
6. FB C.J. Ham (17)
7. WR Trent Sherfield (16)
8. OLB Dallas Turner (12)
9. S Josh Metellus (12)
10. K Will Reichard (9)
11. TE Johnny Mundt (9)
12. P Ryan Wright (8)
13. RB Ty Chandler (8)
14. WR Brandon Powell (8)
15. LS Andrew DePaola (7)
16. DT Taki Taimani (6)
17. TE Josh Oliver (5)
18. DT Jihad Ward (5)
19. DT Jalen Redmond (4)
20. RG Ed Ingram (4)
21. LB Ivan Pace (4)
22. DT Jerry Tillery (4)
23. RT Brian O’Neill (4)
24. LG Blake Brandel (4)
25. OLB Pat Jones (4)
26. TE Robert Tonyan (4)
27. IOL Dan Feeney (4)
28. LT David Quessenberry (4)
29. LT Christian Darrisaw (2)
30. RB Cam Akers (1)

Not too many changes on special teams for the Vikings this week as Brian Asamoah, Theo Jackson, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and Jay Ward continue to take the lead in snaps. Undrafted rookie Bo Richter also saw 17+ snaps with the unit for the fourth consecutive game.

Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus.