Snap counts: Jason Kelce, Malcolm Jenkins play most snaps in 2016 for Eagles

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Jason Kelce and Malcolm Jenkins are the Eagles' iron men for the 2016 season. 

We'll start with a look at Kelce, who might have had an up-and-down season, but didn't leave the field once. He played all 1,133 offensive snaps in 2016 a year after playing all 1,156 snaps in 2015. 

Kelce hasn't missed an offensive snap since Week 10 of the 2014 season. That’s 39 straight games; it's been at least 2,795 straight snaps for the Eagles' center. 

On the other side of the ball, safety Malcolm Jenkins missed just one snap in 2016 and it came on that silly fake punt from the Browns in the opener. That means he played 1,019 of 1,020 and has missed just eight total snaps in his three years in Philly.

Jenkins didn't lead the league in snaps in 2016 after leading the league in 2014 and 2015. In his three years with the Eagles, he's played 3,407 of 3,415 total defensive snaps. He also plays special teams, which makes it even more impressive.

Here's a look at Eagles snap counts in 2016 by position. 

Quarterbacks
Carson Wentz: 1,127 snaps (99 percent)
Chase Daniel: 6 (1)

The only time Wentz came out of a game this season was against the Giants, when he needed to be evaluated for a concussion. He missed the tail end of one series and that was it. He returned for the next possession. Wentz went from a possible redshirt season to playing 99 percent of the Eagles' offensive snaps in 2016. 

Chase Daniel was in for just six plays. The backup is in Philly on a three-year deal worth $21 million. With each season being worth $7 million on average, that means each snap Daniel played this season was worth $1.167 million. 

Running backs
Darren Sproles: 511 (45)
Ryan Mathews: 287 (25)
Wendell Smallwood: 164 (14)
Kenjon Barner: 99 (9)
Byron Marshall: 75 (7)
Terrell Watson: 12 (1)

At 33 years old, Sproles led the way for the running backs and still played less than 50 percent. He got so many snaps because of his value on third downs as a receiver and pass protector. Sproles played just 393 snaps as a 32-year-old in 2015. 

Mathews was next with 287 after playing 245 snaps a year ago. Of Mathews' 287 snaps, he got the ball on 168 of them (58.5 percent). 

Smallwood got 164 snaps as a rookie and had 77 rushing attempts. His average of 4.1 yards per attempt was third on the team behind Sproles (4.7) and Mathews (4.3), but he became the first Eagles' rookie with an average over 4.0 yards per attempts (minimum of 70 attempts) since Bryce Brown in 2012. 

Receivers 
Nelson Agholor: 883 (78)
Jordan Matthews: 844 (74)
Dorial Green-Beckham: 642 (57)
Paul Turner: 154 (14)
Josh Huff: 134 (12)
Bryce Treggs: 126 (11)

Even with his mental health day against the Packers, Agholor still played more snaps than any other receiver on the roster. He played over 200 more snaps in his second season than his first, largely because of his high ankle sprain as a rookie. 

Matthews led the receivers in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Dorial Green-Beckham arrived during training camp and still played 57 percent of snaps. 

Tight ends
Zach Ertz: 851 (75)
Brent Celek: 439 (39)
Trey Burton: 331 (29)

Ertz ended up being the team's leading receiver in 2016. He led the Eagles in receptions, yards and touchdowns, surpassing Matthews in the final game. Ertz saw his snaps increase to 851 from 788 in 2015, but Celek's dropped. The veteran played 601 snaps in 2015, but just 439 in 2016. 

And Burton went from just 63 snaps in Chip Kelly's system last season to 331 this year. The Eagles used a lot of three-tight end sets. 

Offensive line
Jason Kelce: 1,133 (100)
Jason Peters: 1,100 (97)
Brandon Brooks: 991 (87)
Allen Barbre: 619 (55)
Stefen Wisniewski: 607 (54)
Halapoulivaati Vaitai: 423 (37)
Lane Johnson: 407 (36)
Isaac Seumalo: 335 (30)
Matt Tobin: 100 (9)
Dillon Goron: 2 
Josh Andrews: 1

We already got into Kelce, but it's probably even more important to realize that Peters played 1,100 snaps this season. He was back to 97 percent of the Eagles' snaps like he was in 2014. In 2015, he seemed to be constantly injured and played just 65.8 percent. Doug Pederson did a masterful job of managing Peters this season.

Even with his two last-minute absences because of his battle with anxiety, Brooks managed to play 991 snaps (87 percent) and seemed to be a pretty good free-agent acquisition. So did veteran Wisniewski, who played 54 percent of the team's total offensive snaps after being signed on a one-year deal. 

Rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Isaac Seumalo got plenty of experience in 2016 (see story).  

Defensive line
Fletcher Cox: 773 snaps (76 percent)
Brandon Graham: 764 (75)
Connor Barwin: 713 (70)
Bennie Logan: 467 (46)
Vinny Curry: 435 (43)
Beau Allen: 412 (40)
Destiny Vaeao: 268 (26)
Marcus Smith: 218 (21)
Steven Means: 36 (4)
Bryan Braman: 3
Taylor Hart: 0

No surprise here, but Cox led the way for the defense, even with a rotation. Brandon Graham, who wasn't even expected to be a starter at the beginning of the spring, ended up leading the Eagles' defensive ends, ahead of Connor Barwin.

Vinny Curry, who signed a five-year, $46 million extension this past offseason, played just 43 percent of the team's defensive snaps.

Solid playing time for undrafted rookie Vaeao out of Washington State. He played a significant role, while Taylor Hart was brought back by the Eagles but never made it onto the field. 

At defensive end, Marcus Smith played 218 snaps as opposed to 127 in 2015. 

Linebackers
Nigel Bradham: 990 (97)
Jordan Hicks: 971 (95)
Mychal Kendricks: 273 (27)
Stephen Tulloch: 69 (7)
Najee Goode: 2
Kamu Grugier-Hill: 1

Big numbers for Bradham and Hicks, who spent most of the season on the field together in the nickel package. They rarely left the field. Bradham has just one year left on his contract but hopes to be around Hicks for a long time.

Kendricks was relegated to being the team's WILL in the base package, which meant just 273 snaps. He was clearly frustrated by this, especially after he was already frustrated by playing 628 snaps in 2015. 

Defensive backs
Malcolm Jenkins: 1,019 (100 percent)
Rodney McLeod: 1,014 (99)
Nolan Carroll: 910 (89)
Jalen Mills: 661 (65)
Leodis McKelvin: 587 (58)
Jaylen Watkins: 388 (38)
Ron Brooks: 235 (23)
Terrence Brooks: 3
Chris Maragos: 1
C.J. Smith: 1
Aaron Grymes: 0
Dwayne Gratz: 0

We know Jenkins doesn't leave the field, but for the second straight year, his safety partner was right there with him. Walter Thurmond played 99 percent of snaps last year and free-agent pickup McLeod did it this year. 

Carroll led the way for the corners with 910 snaps. He's now a free agent. Mills played 661 snaps as a rookie and veteran McKelvin battled through a hamstring injury to eventually play 587. 

Brooks played 23 percent of the team's total snaps, but it would have been much, much higher had he not gotten injured in the Vikings' game. Even though the torn quad cut his year short, his 235 defensive snaps were a career high. His previous high was 162 as a rookie in 2012. 

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