Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Good stuff, VO.
I think you're being a little hard on Pace. Even veteran LBs pick the wrong gap a half dozen times a game. Still....87.2 PFF grade, 90.8 pass rush grade, 9 tackles, 3 pressures says a lot. Does he have things to work on? Of course. But his pass rush grade is the highest in the NFL. Not among UDFAs, not among rookies, but the highest in the NFL.
I think you're exactly right on Harrison Smith. I think the edge of his cliff showed up in frame the 2nd half of last season. It's a damn shame too. Vikings finally get a DC who can take advantage of what Smith is good at, only to find that he's no longer good at it.
Pace was awesome at Cinci, just a human missile. How could everyone be so wrong on him translating? I figured he was too small as well, he is disruptive in pass rush and fun to watch.
Quote: @Bullazin said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Good stuff, VO.
I think you're being a little hard on Pace. Even veteran LBs pick the wrong gap a half dozen times a game. Still....87.2 PFF grade, 90.8 pass rush grade, 9 tackles, 3 pressures says a lot. Does he have things to work on? Of course. But his pass rush grade is the highest in the NFL. Not among UDFAs, not among rookies, but the highest in the NFL.
I think you're exactly right on Harrison Smith. I think the edge of his cliff showed up in frame the 2nd half of last season. It's a damn shame too. Vikings finally get a DC who can take advantage of what Smith is good at, only to find that he's no longer good at it.
Pace was awesome at Cinci, just a human missile. How could everyone be so wrong on him translating? I figured he was too small as well, he is disruptive in pass rush and fun to watch.
Like I said at the time, I think many teams took him off their draft boards because he didn't meet their size benchmarks. I took him in the 5th round of my "answer key."
But knowing what we know now (Addison) would I take my draft over the Vikings? No. And I sure as hell regret putting a Trey Lance trade in this. But hey, I guess I got the comp right.
Quote: @VikingOracle said:
@ savannahskol said:
@ VikingOracle said:
According to SavannahSkol, my football posts are "lame football observations," but I am not going to let him bully me from posting my miscellaneous thoughts every week. So, enjoy or ignore:
- Adjustments: One of the things that confused me was that as the Vikings cycled through left tackles, every time I paid attention to it, it seemed that Oliver was lined up next to O'Neill. I would have thought that the Vikings would have adjusted to Darrisaw's and then Udoh's absence by having Oliver line up next to the LT. In a way, I have the same complaint I had about Zimmer and his defense -- the belief that the players can fulfill the requirements of the scheme and that the scheme doesn't need to adjust to the player's limitations.
- Devonta Smith's TD: Correct me if you think otherwise, but it looked like a coverage breakdown and not Evan's fault. If you watch, it looks like Evans expected the safety (H. Smith) to pick-up D. Smith -- you can see Evan's reacting to the this both during the route and then after the touchdown. Also, compare it to D. Smith's other long catch when Murphy handed off D. Smith to Theo. To me, looks like the same route combination just on the different side. Also, does Harrison Smith kind of disappear in this defense? I kind of expected the "Swiss Army knife" to have a much bigger role and more splash plays this year -- are we seeing the end of the Harry dynasty. Also, it appears that Theo Jackson has moved Cine down to safety #5.
- Pace: Ivan Pace had 61 snaps, Asamoah had 14. Clearly Pace has displaced Asamoah as the starter. That being said, the Eagles clearly exploited Pace's run defense deficiencies last night. Pace picked a lot of wrong gaps last night and got handled by Kelce a lot. I think the front 3 did a disservice to Pace by not keeping him clean. That being said, he picked a lot of wrong gaps (IMHO). Hopefully, with time, Pace will fix this problem. Likewise, I hope Flores can fix the run defense -- though I am not certain that with this personnel it can be adequately corrected.
- Drops: Numerous drops last night and I have to wonder this is because the players think they have to play hero ball to win games such as this. They are just trying to do too much. Now Osborn may be trying too hard simply because he is in a contract year and being surpassed by Addison.
- Running Game: Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the only decent running play the one time the Vikes ran outside the tackles?
Thanks for reading my lame football observations!!
Re-read the thread, I wasnt referencing you.
My apologies to Savannah, he was undeserving of that brush stroke -- though I do like the name of the thread and will use it going forward. He is correct that he was not referencing me.
Please correct your errant claim in your intro paragraph. It is be the right thing, the honest thing, and a classy thing to do!
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