The 49ers' iron man for the 2011 regular season? It's a tie between two offensive linemen. Center Jonathan Goodwin and left guard Mike Iupati played all but four of the 49ers' 1,026 offensive snaps during the season, according to information obtained through the NFL. Both men also played 90 snaps on special teams.
On the defensive side, cornerback Tarell Brown was a regular starter for the first time in his career and ended up playing 1,007 of the team's 1,014 defensive snaps. He was followed by fellow cornerback Carlos Rogers and linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who also played 99 snaps on special teams coverage units. The special teams iron man was C.J. Spillman, who will become a restricted free agent next month unless he and the 49ers agree on a long-term deal.
Offense, 1026 snaps
The team's five starting offensive linemen all finished in the Top 7 for playing time, which speaks to the health of the group. Chilo Rachal started the first three games of the season at right guard before Adam Snyder took over the position. Both are pending free agents.
The numbers also show the 49ers' penchant for rotating their wide receivers in and out of game and their lack of a steady No. 2 receiver. Michael Crabtree took 65 percent of the offensive snaps followed by Ted Ginn (34 percent), Kyle Williams (27 percent), Joshua Morgan (23 percent), Braylon Edwards (22 percent), Brett Swain (6 percent) and Joe Hastings (2 percent). Morgan had more snaps than any receiver before breaking his leg Oct. 9. He also will be a free agent on March 13.
Despite myriad injuries at midseason, Frank Gore still was in on 70 percent of the team's snaps. Rookie Kendall Hunter was in on 28 percent and Anthony Dixon five percent. Look for the 49ers to add another running back in the draft this season.
C Jonathan Goodwin, 1022 (99.61 percent) G Mike Iupati, 1022 QB Alex Smith, 1005 T Anthony Davis, 995 TE Vernon Davis, 986 T Joe Staley, 949 G Adam Snyder, 836 RB Frank Gore, 687 WR Michael Crabtree 668 TE Delanie Walker, 535 WR Ted Ginn, 351 FB Bruce Miller, 324 WR Kendall Hunter, 288 WR Kyle Williams, 278 WR Josh Morgan, 237 G Chilo Rachal, 231 WR Braylon Edwards, 229 TE Justin Peele, 173 T Alex Boone, 172 FB Moran Norris, 103 WR Brett Swain, 61 RB Anthony Dixon, 52 NT Isaac Sopoaga, 42 QB Colin Kaepernick, 20 WR Joe Hastings, 18 G Daniel Kilgore, 1 S Colin Jones, 1
Defense, 1014 snaps
The numbers here show just how dominant the 49ers were against the run and how often opponents tried to throw against them. Nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, who leaves the game when offenses trot out multiple wide receivers, played just 416 (41 percent) of the team's defensive snaps, fewer than half of what every-down linemen Justin Smith and Ray McDonald logged.
In fact, rookie Aldon Smith, who entered on passing plays, was in on 73 more snaps than Sopoaga. (Sopoaga did play 42 snaps at fullback during the regular season). Meanwhile, three of seven most utilized players on defense this year - Rogers, Ahmad Brooks and Dashon Goldson - are pending free agents.
The numbers here also speak to the 49ers' health. The starting cornerbacks played nearly every snap this season. The only defensive starter to miss a significant amount of time was linebacker Patrick Willis, and he missed only three starts.
CB Tarell Brown, 1007 (99.31 percent) CB Carlos Rogers, 1001 ILB NaVorro Bowman, 989 OLB Ahmad Brooks, 944 DE Justin Smith, 924 S Donte Whitner, 876 DE Ray McDonald, 847 S Dashon Goldson, 846 ILB Patrick Willis, 765 OLB Parys Haralson, 505 DE Aldon Smith 489 NT Isaac Sopoaga, 416 CB Chris Culliver, 415 DE Ricky Jean Francois, 271 S Reggie Smith, 239 ILB Larry Grant, 226 S Madieu Williams, 139 CB Tramaine Brock, 88 CB Shawntae Spencer, 84 DE Demarcus Dobbs, 34 S C.J. Spillman, 16 DE Will Tukuafu, 14 ILB Tavares Gooden, 13 NT Ian Williams, 7
Special teams, 463 snaps
Spillman logged the most snaps, and for the second straight season he was the team's most talented tackler on coverage units. He, along with Blake Costanzo and Tavares Gooden, compose the core of the special teams. All three are scheduled to become free agents - Costanzo and Gooden unrestricted free agents.
By the end of the season, everyone knew those three were the leaders of the specials teams. What's surprising is that Dixon received almost as many snaps. That is, he had little value on offense but quite a bit on special teams. Most of the players who were active during the season found themselves on special teams at some point. The exceptions were the two quarterbacks, Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, Gore, Rogers, Morgan and Edwards. (Oh, and I have no idea why Andy Lee has one more play than Brian Jennings).
S C.J. Spillman, 318 (68.68 percent) LB Tavares Gooden, 310 LB Blake Costanzo, 309 RB Anthony Dixon, 299 FB Bruce Miller, 244 LB Larry Grant, 238 S Colin Jones, 203 CB Chris Culliver, 202 K David Akers, 184 P Andy Lee, 173 LS Brian Jennings, 172 S Reggie Smith, 163 CB Tramaine Brock, 154 S Madieu Williams, 146 WR Ted Ginn, 121 TE Justin Peele, 113 G Chilo Rachal, 106 LB NaVorro Bowman, 99 G Adam Snyder, 98 S Dashon Goldson, 95 T Alex Boone, 90 C Jonathan Goodwin, 90 G Mike Iupati, 90 T Anthony Davis 89 DE Demarcus Dobbs 87 CB Tarell Brown, 84 TE Delanie Walker T Joe Staley LB Parys Haralson, 71 DE Ricky Jean Francois, 69 RB Kendall Hunter, 67 OLB Ahmad Brooks, 61 NT Isaac Sopoaga, 61 DE Ray McDonald, 58 DE Aldon Smith, 58 LB Patrick Willis, 50 DE Justin Smith, 46 CB Shawntae Spencer, 38 WR Brett Swain, 18 WR Kyle Williams, 15 DE Will Tukuafu, 13 FB Moran Norris, 10 WR Michael Crabtree, 3 TE Vernon Davis S Donte Whitner, 1 NT Ian Williams, 1
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