After the injury, it was noticeable he was not the same player. As injured as he was, was he significantly outperforming the backups during practice to not rotate more throughout the game? Especially during the playoffs.
Were the opposing offenses taking advantage of his injury and leaving the defense at a disadvantage? Was there stuff going on politically, or behind the scenes, to ensure he would play most of the game, while hampered by this injury? I just don't understand why the team didn't adjust or rotate more, or let him rest during the tail end of the season and play him more during the playoffs.
If I remember correctly, he got hurt on a meaningless play at the end of the Browns game. There was no reason for him to be out on the field, other than chasing stats, and he got hurt. That does help to explain why the pass rush fell off. Adding Sheldon Richardson should help, but I'd still like to add a developmental DE. Would be nice if we could trade down in the 1st and pick up some extra mid round picks to address depth issues like DE.
Quote: @Tyr said:
If I remember correctly, he got hurt on a meaningless play at the end of the Browns game. There was no reason for him to be out on the field, other than chasing stats, and he got hurt. That does help to explain why the pass rush fell off. Adding Sheldon Richardson should help, but I'd still like to add a developmental DE. Would be nice if we could trade down in the 1st and pick up some extra mid round picks to address depth issues like DE.
This isn't like a ton acl, it doesn't just hapoen, odds are he had been battling this ailment and it finally became a real problem...but yes Zim has to do a better job of rotating out his studs when the games are in hand, but when guys get bonuses for snaps played and other personal achievements it's hard to take them out of a game.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ Tyr said:
If I remember correctly, he got hurt on a meaningless play at the end of the Browns game. There was no reason for him to be out on the field, other than chasing stats, and he got hurt. That does help to explain why the pass rush fell off. Adding Sheldon Richardson should help, but I'd still like to add a developmental DE. Would be nice if we could trade down in the 1st and pick up some extra mid round picks to address depth issues like DE.
This isn't like a ton acl, it doesn't just hapoen, odds are he had been battling this ailment and it finally became a real problem...but yes Zim has to do a better job of rotating out his studs when the games are in hand, but when guys get bonuses for snaps played and other personal achievements it's hard to take them out of a game.
Very true. Plantar fascia tears are often wear injuries, so it was likely when and not if Griffen was going to fully tear his plantar fascia. I also agree that bonuses tied to individual performance or even just things like Griffen trying to keep his sack streak going could certainly influence coaches to keep players on the field longer than they should. Griffen was also pursuing a sack streak at the time, which he extended a few plays before he finished off his plantar fascia.
It would be an interesting to thing to do an analysis on what percentage of snaps Zimmer played his DL starters last season compared to what he did in Cincinnati or what Philadelphia did last season. Here's a quick breakdown of our DL snaps from last season:
DE Everson Griffen - 79.4% of snaps (missed 1 game)
DE Danielle Hunter - 77.59% of snaps
DT Tom Johnson - 67.64% of snaps
NT Linval Joseph - 66.63% of snaps
DL Brian Robison - 56.48% of snaps (played as DE, DT, & technically LB)
NT Shamar Stephen - 38.59% of snaps
DE Stephen Weatherly - 9.05% of snaps
DT Jaleel Johnson - 4.12% of snaps
DE Tashawn Bower - 1.01% of snaps
Zimmer was really only rotating in Robison and Stephen, with a lot of those snaps coming at DT. For comparison, the highest percentage of snaps for any Philly DL was Brandon Graham at 64.37% and their next highest was Fletcher Cox at 58.93%. Philly is an extreme example and other factors like blowouts or resting starters in week 17 can skew these numbers, but I think a case can be made that Zimmer needs to reduce the percentage of snaps for his starters and have more than two reserves get significant playing time. Guys like Weatherly, J. Johnson, and Bower either need to step up into bigger roles this year or depth needs to be added in the draft. We don't need to be as deep as Philly, but I think there's room for another pass rusher.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/t...counts.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/t...counts.htm
Quote: @Tyr said:
DE Stephen Weatherly - 9.05% of snaps
DE Tashawn Bower - 1.01% of snaps
That is crazy low for the 4th and 5th DE (and really the 3rd and 4th considering BRob plays inside so much.)
Quote: @greediron said:
@ Tyr said:
DE Stephen Weatherly - 9.05% of snaps
DE Tashawn Bower - 1.01% of snaps
That is crazy low for the 4th and 5th DE (and really the 3rd and 4th considering BRob plays inside so much.)
Yeah, it's a major concern and a big part of why the pass rush sputtered out as the season wore on. The Vikings would be wise to draft an edge rusher this year and reduce Hunter and Griffen's snap counts, so that they can keep their pass rushers fresh through out a long season. Zimmer doesn't need to be Thibodeau and run his starters into the ground.
Edit: Not sure how bad Harold Landry's ankle is, but I would have vastly preferred adding another pass rusher over Hughes. We needed CB depth, but it didn't need to be a 1st round pick and the edge rusher class is not deep, so we may not be able to add someone worthwhile in the 3rd or 5th rounds.
|
