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The NFC South might not have a true standout safety, but it has plenty of durable ones.

Five division safeties participated in more than 90 percent of their team’s defensive plays in 2011. We’ll wrap up our series, which started last week, of playing time at every position with the safeties. Special thanks to NFC South Blog unofficial (and unpaid) intern Chris Walker from Saint Leo University for helping tabulate the results.

Carolina’s Sherrod Martin led all division safeties by participating in 96.8 percent of the defensive snaps. That percentage ranked No. 18 in the NFL as Martin was on the field for 990 of Carolina’s 1,023 defensive snaps.

Atlanta’s Thomas DeCoud (94.9 percent), Tampa Bay’s Sean Jones (93.8), New Orleans’ Roman Harper (93.2) and New Orleans’ Malcolm Jenkins (91.3) also were among the league leaders. Carolina’s Charles Godfrey wasn’t far behind them at 83.7 percent.

Here’s a look at some other NFC South safeties who got at least moderate playing time:

• William Moore, Falcons, 59.5
• Tanard Jackson, Buccaneers, 49.9
• James Sanders, Falcons, 45.2
• Corey Lynch, Buccaneers, 26
• Jordan Pugh, Panthers, 23.8
• Cody Grimm, Buccaneers, 16.7

As we wait for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to hire assistant coaches, get blocked from interviewing potential assistants or anything else of note to happen during a very quiet time in the NFC South, let’s look at some more playing-time figures from the 2011 season.

We showed you the numbers on linebackers earlier Tuesday and I’ve been trying to roll out one position group a day since last week. But we’re going to go ahead and go with two in a day. We’re going to show you the playing time for the NFC South cornerbacks.

Lots of people like to criticize Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson. That’s understandable to some degree because Robinson signed a huge free-agent contract prior to the 2010 season, but has produced only three interceptions since joining the Falcons.

But I haven’t seen Robinson giving up a lot of big plays. In fact, I think he’s done a nice job overall in coverage. Apparently, Atlanta’s coaching staff agrees.

Robinson was on the field for 967 of Atlanta’s 996 defensive plays (97.1 percent). That percentage ranked Robinson tops in the NFC South and No. 11 in the NFL. Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan was the NFL’s only cornerback to play 100 percent of his team’s defensive snaps.

New Orleans’ Jabari Greer, who I think is easily the division’s best cornerback, was next on the list. Greer was on the field for 93.3 percent of New Orleans’ defensive plays and ranked No. 19 in the NFL.

The other NFC South cornerback of note high on the list was Tampa Bay’s Ronde Barber. His durability never has been a question. Even at age 36, Barber took part in 92.3 percent of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps to rank No. 21 in the league.

Carolina’s Chris Gamble (89.3 percent) was the only other NFC South cornerback to play more than 80 percent of his team’s defensive snaps.

Here’s a look at how much playing time some other NFC South cornerbacks had in 2011:

• Captain Munnerlyn, Panthers, 79.8
• Brent Grimes, Falcons, 69.5
• Patrick Robinson, Saints, 69.4
• Aqib Talib, Buccaneers, 65.1
• Tracy Porter, Saints, 64.6
• E.J. Biggers, Buccaneers, 62.9
• Darius Butler, Panthers, 40.1
• Dominique Franks, Falcons, 33.7
• Christopher Owens, Falcons, 30.3
• Elbert Mack, Buccaneers, 27.2

The NFC South is a division without a dominant defensive tackle.

But I think it’s fair to say Atlanta’s Corey Peters and Jonathan Babineaux, New Orleans’ Sedrick Ellis and Tampa Bay’s Brian Price were the best the NFC South had to offer in 2011. Apparently, their coaches agreed.

According to playing-time numbers obtained by ESPN.com, Ellis led all NFC South tackles by taking part in 66.3 percent of New Orleans’ 1,061 defensive plays. That percentage ranked Ellis No. 16 in the NFL and he was the only NFC South player in the top 20.

Peters was next at 60.4 percent, which ranked No. 23 in the league. Babineaux was No. 30 at 54.1 percent. Price, who was somewhat limited by injuries and was sent home early from one game by former coach Raheem Morris, took part in 47.1 percent of Tampa Bay’s defensive plays. That tied him at No. 37 in the league with teammate Roy Miller.

Carolina rookie Terrell McClain was one spot behind them, taking part in 46 percent of his team’s defensive plays. After that, there was a big drop off among the rest of the division’s tackles and we should note that Tampa Bay’s Gerald McCoy probably would have finished in the top four or five in the NFC South if he hadn’t suffered a season-ending injury.

Let’s take a look at the percentage of playing time for the rest of the NFC South defensive tackles:

• Sione Fua, Panthers, 39.7
• Vance Walker, Falcons, 36.85
• Andre Neblett, Panthers, 36.2
• Albert Haynesworth, Buccaneers, 35.8 (included time with Patriots)
• Peria Jerry, Falcons, 35.6
• Tom Johnson, Saints, 30.1
• Shaun Rogers, Saints, 29.7
• Frank Okam, Buccaneers, 28.2
• Aubrayo Franklin, Saints, 27.3
• Gerald McCoy, Buccaneers, 20.8
• Frank Kearse, Panthers, 16.5
• Ogemdi Nwagbuo, Panthers, 15.6
• Ronald Fields, Panthers, 13.9
• Mitch King, Saints, 4.8
• Carlton Powell, Falcons, 3.8
• DeMario Pressley, Panthers, 3.8
• Jovan Haye, Buccaneers, 2.8

Carolina’s Greg Hardy and Tampa Bay rookie Adrian Clayborn weren’t among the NFL’s sack leaders in 2011, but you can make the argument they’re among the best all-around defensive ends in the game.

Hardy and Clayborn showed some pass-rush skills, but they also played the run very well. That combination of skills was why they were on the field more than the rest of the NFC South defensive ends last season.

Hardy led division ends by participating in 891 of Carolina’s 1,023 defensive plays. That 87.1 percentage ranked Hardy No. 6 among defensive ends. Minnesota’s Jared Allen led the league at 94.3 percent.

Clayborn wasn’t far behind Hardy. Clayborn came in at 80.9 percent, which put him No. 15 in the NFL. Carolina’s Charles Johnson and New Orleans’ Will Smith also ranked in the top 20.

Johnson was on the field for 77.5 percent (No. 16 in the NFL) of Carolina’s defensive plays and Smith took part in 75.8 of New Orleans’ defensive plays (19th in the league).

Ray Edwards led Atlanta’s defensive ends by taking part in 69 percent of the plays. Although he was on a play count and used mostly in pass-rushing situations, veteran John Abraham took part in 61.8 percent of Atlanta’s defensive plays.

Here’s a look at playing-time percentages for most of the rest of the NFC South defensive ends:

• Michael Bennett, Buccaneers, 58.2

• Cameron Jordan, Saints, 54.3

• Kroy Biermann, Falcons, 52.3

• Da’Quan Bowers, Buccaneers, 47.4

• Junior Galette, Saints, 33.7

• Lawrence Sidbury, Falcons, 21

• Jeff Charleston, Saints, 20.2

• Turk McBride, Saints, 19.3

• Tim Crowder, Buccaneers, 17.5

Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the New Orleans Saints, you might not even know who Jed Collins is.

That’s understandable because a season in which you compile four carries for four yards and two touchdowns and catch 11 passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns isn’t going to catch the eyes of casual observers.

But die-hard fans and casual observers alike might want to take a closer look at how much Collins meant to the Saints this past season. He had bounced around the NFL since 2008, but had never appeared in a regular-season game. But the Saints brought in Collins and he wound up replacing Heath Evans quite nicely.

In a season in which New Orleans set all sorts of records, Collins quietly played a very big role. He was responsible for protecting Drew Brees and opening holes for Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Chris Ivory.

Collins obviously had to be doing something right because the coaching staff used him extensively. According to playing time numbers from the 2011 season obtained by ESPN.com, Collins was on the field for 42.5 percent of New Orleans’ offensive plays. That’s the second-highest percentage of any fullback in the NFL.

Only Baltimore’s Vonta Leach (52.8 percent) was active in a higher rate of his team’s offensive snaps. Collins was on the field for 489 of New Orleans’ 1,152 offensive plays. He also contributed heavily on special teams. Collins took part in 32 percent of New Orleans’ special-teams plays.

Collins easily got more offensive playing time than any other NFC South fullback. Tampa Bay’s Erik Lorig was next at 23.6 percent. Lorig also got considerable time on special teams, participating in 66.8 percent of the Bucs’ special-teams plays. Tampa Bay’s Earnest Graham suffered a season-ending injury. But, prior to that, he got in on 18.8 percent of the offensive plays as a fullback and also was used at tailback.

Carolina’s Jerome Felton was next at 15.3 percent. Atlanta’s Ovie Mughelli also suffered a season-ending injury, but got in for 13.1 percent of the team’s offensive plays. Replacement Mike Cox was on the field for 11.9 percent of the Falcons’ offensive plays.

In recent days, I’ve been sharing some details on 2011 playing time at various positions. We’ll continue to do that going forward and still have to touch on NFC South fullbacks and all the defensive positions.

But this is Iron Man Day, so we’re going to talk about offensive linemen. As a general rule, offensive linemen get a greater percentage of playing time than players at all the other positions. That’s part of the nature of the position -- teams want continuity.

In 2011, 42 NFL players took part in 100 percent of their teams offensive and defensive snaps. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Cleveland linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, St. Louis linebacker James Laurinitis, Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs, Washington linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan all deserve special mention for taking part in 100 percent of their team’s snaps at positions where that’s pretty rare.

Aside from those six players, 36 others took part in all of their team’s offensive plays. All of them were offensive linemen and seven of them were from the NFC South.

Carolina guard Geoff Hangartner, Atlanta guard Justin Blalock, New Orleans guard Carl Nicks, Tampa Bay guard Davin Joseph, Atlanta tackle Tyson Clabo, New Orleans tackle Jermon Bushrod and Tampa Bay tackle Donald Penn each took part in every one of their team’s offensive snaps.

Several other NFC South offensive linemen also came close to achieving that honor. Here’s a look at the other NFC South linemen that played more than 90 percent of their team’s offensive snaps.

• Carolina center Ryan Kalil, 99.3.

• New Orleans guard Jahri Evans, 96.8.

• Carolina guard Travelle Wharton, 95.6.

• Carolina tackle Jordan Gross, 92.5.

• Tampa Bay tackle Jeremy Trueblood, 92.1.

• Tampa Bay center Jeff Faine, 90.5.

Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez might be the oldest tight end in the NFC South, but he also got way more playing time than anyone else at the position in 2011.

Gonzalez, who will turn 36 in February, played more snaps than all of the younger tight ends in a division that suddenly has become known for its tight ends.

Gonzalez was on the field for 952 of Atlanta’s 1,157 offensive snaps. That’s 84.5 percent and it was good enough to rank Gonzalez No. 10 among all NFL tight ends. Dallas’ Jason Witten took part in a league-high 99.2 percent of his team’s offensive snaps, but New England’s Rob Gronkowski led in total plays on the field (1,092) because the Patriots had more offensive plays than the Cowboys.

Gonzalez finished the season with 80 catches for 875 yards and seven touchdowns. Shortly before the season ended, Gonzalez assured he will play at least one more season by agreeing to a one-year contract extension worth about $7 million.

In Sunday’s Pro Bowl, Gonzalez made a game-high seven catches for 114 yards. His receiving yards were the most for any tight end in the game.

Carolina’s Greg Olsen was the division’s second-most-used tight end during the regular season. Olsen was on the field for 866 of the Panthers’ 1,046 offensive snaps (82.8 percent and No. 12 in the NFL).

Tampa Bay’s Kellen Winslow participated in 822 of the Buccaneers’ 1,021 offensive snaps. That’s 80.5 percent and ranked No. 14 in the NFL.

Of the NFC South’s four regular starting tight ends, New Orleans’ Jimmy Graham took part in the fewest number of plays. Graham led all division tight ends with 99 catches for 1,310 yards and 11 touchdowns and was selected as the NFC’s starter in the Pro Bowl.

But the Saints use such a variety of offensive personnel that Graham’s time on the field was relatively limited. He took part in 798 of 1,152 offensive plays (69.3 percent and No. 24 in the NFL).

The Panthers used a combination of Olsen and Jeremy Shockey, who ended up taking part in 51.1 percent of Carolina’s plays.

Here’s a list of other NFC South backup tight ends and the percentage of playing time they got in 2011:

• Luke Stocker, Buccaneers, 34.1.
• John Gilmore, Saints, 28.6.
• Michael Palmer, Falcons, 23.6.
• Reggie Kelly, Falcons, 19.7.
• David Thomas, Saints, 12.6.
• Richie Brockel, Panthers, 11.8.
• Ben Hartsock, Panthers, 7.1.
• Zack Pianalto, Buccaneers, 6.3.
• Mike Higgins, Saints, 2.3.
• Collin Franklin, Buccaneers, 1.6.

Only two NFC South running backs were on the field for more than 50 percent of their team’s offensive plays.

Carolina’s Jonathan Stewart led the division at 55.2 percent. Stewart was on the field for 577 of Carolina’s 1,046 offensive plays. Atlanta’s Michael Turner took part in 52.2 percent of his offense’s plays. Turner was on the field for 588 of 1,127 snaps.

Neither player was in the top 10 among the league’s running backs. Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy led the league as he played on 81.1 percent of his team’s snaps.

There were a few other items of interest when it came to playing time for NFC South running backs. While Stewart led the division, his teammate, DeAngelo Williams, was third in the NFC South at 42.73 percent, just ahead of New Orleans’ Darren Sproles 42.71 percent.

Tampa Bay was the only team without a single running back to play at least 40 percent of his team’s snaps. Starter LeGarrette Blount participated in 38.4 of the Bucs’ snaps, which was a problem. The Bucs were hesitant to use Blount as a pass blocker or receiver, so their offense was predictable because Tampa Bay generally was running when Blount was on the field.

Blount’s backup, Kregg Lumpkin, was on the field for 35.9 percent of Tampa Bay’s snaps. Earnest Graham also split time at fullback and tailback for the Bucs before suffering a season-ending injury. Graham took part in 18.8 percent of Tampa Bay's offensive plays.

Here’s the rundown on the percentage of plays the rest of the NFC South running backs took part in:

Pierre Thomas, Saints, 33.8.

Jacquizz Rodgers, Falcons, 28.

Jason Snelling, Falcons, 27.9.

Mark Ingram, Saints, 18.6.

Chris Ivory, Saints, 10.4.

Mossis Madu, Buccaneers, 5.9.

Josh Vaughn, Panthers, 1.1.

Mike Goodson, Panthers, 0.4.

Antone Smith, Falcons 0.2

His 2011 season wasn’t as spectacular as his 2010 rookie campaign, but Tampa Bay’s Mike Williams still was on the field more frequently than any other NFC South wide receiver.

Williams took part in 94.5 percent of Tampa Bay’s offensive snaps. He was on the field for 965 of Tampa Bay’s 1,021 offensive plays.

Carolina’s Steve Smith and Atlanta’s Roddy White each played more snaps, but came up short of the percentage of plays Williams was in for. Williams’ percentage of playing time ranked No. 4 in the NFL.

Smith ranked No. 7 in the NFL, taking part in 91.4 percent of Carolina’s snaps. He was on the field for 956 of Carolina’s 1,046 plays. White was involved in 90.5 percent of Atlanta’s offensive plays. He was on the field for 1,020 of Atlanta’s 1,227 offensive snaps.

Let’s take a look at some other NFC South receivers and the playing time they got in 2011:

• Legedu Naanee, Panthers: 70.8 percent.

• Brandon LaFell, Panthers, 65.9 percent.

• Robert Meachem, Saints, 64.4 percent.

• Devery Henderson, Saints, 62.8 percent.

• Julio Jones, Falcons, 62.6 percent.

• Marques Colston, Saints, 57.2 percent.

• Harry Douglas, Falcons, 55.4 percent.

• Arrelious Benn, Buccaneers, 49.2 percent.

• Dezmon Briscoe, Buccaneers, 46.6 percent.

• Preston Parker, Buccaneers, 45.6 percent.

• Lance Moore, Saints, 36 percent.

• Eric Weems, Falcons, 24.1 percent.

• Sammie Stroughter, Buccaneers, 6.66 percent.

• Micheal Spurlock, Buccaneers, 4.7 percent.

• Seyi Ajirotutu, Panthers, 4.59 percent.

• Adrian Arrington, Saints, 4.51 percent.

• Kerry Meier, Falcons, 3.02 percent.

• Armanti Edwards, Panthers. 2.39 percent.

• Kealoha Pilares, Panthers, 2.01 percent.

Carolina rookie quarterback Cam Newton was on the field for a higher percentage of his team’s offensive plays than all but three NFL quarterbacks in the 2011 season.

Newton was on the field for 98.95 percent of Carolina’s 1,046 offensive snaps. He was out for only 11 plays. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning led the league in this category, playing in all 1,075 of his team’s offensive plays.

New Orleans’ Drew Brees ranked No. 10 in the league, taking part in 96.35 percent of the Saints’ snaps. Brees was pulled from a few games when the Saints were blowing teams out, although his departure might have come a bit later than the Atlanta Falcons would have liked in the game where Brees broke Dan Marino’s record for passing yardage in a season.

Atlanta’s Matt Ryan participated in 94.23 percent of the Falcons’ 1,127 offensive plays. Ryan’s percentage was No. 12 in the league.

Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman was No. 14 at 92.26. Freeman was on the field for 942 of Tampa Bay’s 1,021 offensive plays. Freeman missed one game with an injury and also was yanked at times when the Bucs inserted Josh Johnson in their Wildcat package, which, hopefully is something new coach Greg Schiano does away with.

I’ve got playing time details for every player in the league in 2011. I’m breaking them down with Saint Leo University student Chris Walker, who is acting as the unofficial (and unpaid) NFC South Blog intern. Over the coming days, we’ll take individual looks at playing time for NFC South players at all the different position groups.

Seven NFC South players were in a pretty exclusive club in 2010. Carolina’s Ryan Kalil and Geoff Schwartz, Atlanta’s Justin Blalock, Sam Baker and Harvey Dahl and New Orleans’ Jahri Evans and Carl Nick played every one of their team’s offensive snaps.

According to league-wide play counts from last year that are used for calculating incentives in contracts and performance-pool pay, those players were among a group of 37 around the league to play 100 percent of their team’s offensive or defensive plays.

Safety Eric Berry was the only defensive player to take part in all of his team’s plays. Quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Sam Bradford and Joe Flacco also were on the field for all their team’s plays. Aside from those four, the other 33 to play 100 percent of the plays were all offensive linemen.

Carolina tackle Jordan Gross just missed joining the club. He came in at 99.99 percent. He sat out one of Carolina’s 989 offensive plays. Same for former Tampa Bay linebacker Barrett Ruud who took part in 1,024 of 1,025 defensive snaps.

Here’s a look at some other NFC South players who were among league leaders at their positions in 2010:

• Atlanta center Todd McClure -- 98.44 percent
• Atlanta cornerback Brent Grimes -- 98.77 percent
• Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber -- 96.29 percent
• Carolina defensive end Charles Johnson -- 79.6 percent
• New Orleans defensive end Will Smith -- 79.31 percent
• Atlanta defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux -- 75.95 percent
• New Orleans defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis -- 77.08 percent
• Carolina linebacker Jon Beason -- 99.73 percent
• Atlanta linebacker Curtis Lofton -- 95.5 percent
• New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma -- 96.86 percent
• Carolina linebacker James Anderson -- 96.57 percent
• Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan -- 98.44 percent
• New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees -- 98.73 percent
• Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman -- 96.77 percent
• Carolina safety Charles Godfrey -- 99.46 percent
• New Orleans tackle Jermon Bushrod -- 99.37 percent
• Tampa Bay tackle Donald Penn -- 99.39 percent
• Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Williams -- 99.55

When you think of iron men in the NFC South, think of Jon Beason, Tyson Clabo, Justin Blalock, Ryan Kalil, Keydrick Vincent, Travelle Wharton and Davin Joseph.

Those seven guys were the only players in the division to be on the field for every one of their team’s offensive or defensive snaps in 2009. The number of snaps varies by team, but in general terms, each team had somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000 offensive snaps – and the numbers are roughly the same for the defense.

Beason was the division’s only defensive player to be on the field for every snap, but Tampa Bay linebacker Barrett Ruud was very close. He sat out four plays and was on the field for 99.6 percent of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps.

Before I give you some other numbers, let me point out the numbers for the Saints are a little skewed because they had some blowouts and some games at the end of last season where they rested key players. These are the same numbers that are used by teams and the players’ union to calculate playing-time incentives.

Aside from the six offensive linemen who played 100-percent of the snaps, Beason and Ruud, here’s a team-by-team accounting of guys who played at least 95 percent of the plays on offense or defense.

Atlanta: Erik Coleman (99.2), Thomas DeCoud (97.5), Todd McClure (96.9), Curtis Lofton (95.4) and Mike Peterson (97.2).

Carolina: Chris Gamble (97.6) and Richard Marshall (97.6).

New Orleans: Jahri Evans (95.4), Jonathan Goodwin (95), Carl Nicks (99.7) and Jon Stinchcomb (95.9).

Tampa Bay: Ronde Barber (97.9), Donald Penn (99.1), Sabby Piscitelli (96.2), Jeremy Trueblood (98.5) and Jeremy Zuttah (98.9).