5/30/8 run defense article

[VikingOracle]

One major point:  Shamar Stephens is the Dakota Dozier of DTs:  "At the other end of the spectrum are the Minnesota Vikings, sitting almost 200 RSWOE behind the Jets. Shamar Stephen (-50.7) and Jaleel Johnson (-28.5) led the way in defensive-run futility for Minnesota, with Stephen’s incredible 50.7 run wins under expected ranking as the worst in an NFL season since 2017. Indeed, Stephen’s poor play against the run has been remarkable in its consistency: Stephen owns three of the 16 worst player seasons of the past four years (according to RSWOE), making him by far the league’s biggest liability against the run among interior linemen."


https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-best-interior-run-defenders-probably-wont-make-your-defense-better/

[Guest]

uhm... it should be pointed out that neither of them play for the Vikings anymore,( so we got that going for us)   however.... Shamar kind of made our OL his bitch a couple weeks ago IIRC.

[Guest]

I'm not sure how valuable the run stop win rate is to evaluate Stephens ability to be an effective run stopper...  especially if he's being graded in our scheme.

Here's what Andre Patterson has to say...

Vikings defensive tackle Shamar Stephen is an easy target of criticism for Vikings fans and writers alike. A look at the stats shows that the veteran was one of the least productive three-technique tackles in the NFL last season, recording just six pressures and one sack in over 300 pass-rushing snaps. Pro Football Focus backs that up, giving Stephen the 93rd-best grade out of 118 qualified DTs for his play in 2019.
While the thought of Stephen remaining a starter might not be an attractive one for many Vikings fans, co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson wants it to be known that he thinks the criticism of the UConn product is misguided. 

"They're doing what we coach them to do," he said. "Some people take that three technique role, and that guy's a penetrating guy. He's trying to get in the backfield and get tackles for loss and is better on his pass rush because he's moving forward, but we don't ask our guy to do that. We ask our guy to keep Eric Kendricks free. We want to flatten out the line of scrimmage. Don't let any linemen leave the line of scrimmage, the inside guys, and let Eric free. So those guys are just going out there and executing what I coach them to do, and that's why that position is so important because we want to keep those linebackers free, and Eric and Anthony Barr are able to make plays because of the way those two D-tackles play."

[Guest]

@Wetlander said:
I'm not sure how valuable the run stop win rate is to evaluate Stephens ability to be an effective run stopper...  especially if he's being graded in our scheme.

Here's what Andre Patterson has to say...

Vikings defensive tackle Shamar Stephen is an easy target of criticism for Vikings fans and writers alike. A look at the stats shows that the veteran was one of the least productive three-technique tackles in the NFL last season, recording just six pressures and one sack in over 300 pass-rushing snaps. Pro Football Focus backs that up, giving Stephen the 93rd-best grade out of 118 qualified DTs for his play in 2019.

While the thought of Stephen remaining a starter might not be an attractive one for many Vikings fans, co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson wants it to be known that he thinks the criticism of the UConn product is misguided. 

"They're doing what we coach them to do," he said. "Some people take that three technique role, and that guy's a penetrating guy. He's trying to get in the backfield and get tackles for loss and is better on his pass rush because he's moving forward, but we don't ask our guy to do that. We ask our guy to keep Eric Kendricks free. We want to flatten out the line of scrimmage. Don't let any linemen leave the line of scrimmage, the inside guys, and let Eric free. So those guys are just going out there and executing what I coach them to do, and that's why that position is so important because we want to keep those linebackers free, and Eric and Anthony Barr are able to make plays because of the way those two D-tackles play."

And I would add that last year was not a fair sample either as we didn't have the true NT to take that double team.  Stephen obviously has value cuz they brought him back last year.  But he isn't the guy that is gonna step the tone and be the immovable object.

And it makes sense as to why they signed Tomlinson if that is their focus.