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I wanted to see how our DTs were ranked by PFF. Well, I don't have a subscription, so all I could find was that they ranked him "above average" (72.2.)... and listed him as the 51st ranked DT (which doesn't seem like "above average" to me... but what do I know?). Football Outsiders had a little bit more to say about our DL. They had our DL (overall) as 24th. One of our DEs was ranked 6th... the other was 18th. The DTs were 24-27th.
I don't know... but it sure did seem to me that our interior DL was a weakness. And my eyes (which may not be reliable- especially since I've had a bias against Richardson for awhile now) told me that Richardson was the biggest culprit.
I know that we need to fix the OL. But I don't think we should forget about the DTs. Linval may bounce back... but we're weak there.
I expect Linval returns to form next year. After his knee injury, he didn't anchor very well. And I will agree that we can move on from the Richardson experiment. Too much money for too little impact.
I would like to see a true NT backup and draft a top flight 3 Tech since all the indicators point to a banner year for DL.
Pumpf, I've been ripping our OL for months now, but your point about our D line...especially the tackles...is well founded. Our D is still pretty solid in passing situations but getting gashed by RB's is troubling since we were a noted run-stopping team not that long ago.
Richardson was a disappointment to be sure. Hopefully our D picks this draft won't be confined to the secondary.
And yet I was repeatedly told by many on here that our Rush Defense was just fine.
Vikings sure have struggled to solve the 3T position, which is allegedly a key to Zimmer's defense. Sharrif Floyd was up-and-down even before injury, Datone Jones was lauded as going to revive his career with our great coaching, Sheldon Richardson was supposed to be dominant. And what was the point of picking Jaleel Johnson and Jalyn Holmes if it's a need again?
Hmmm, maybe we should just give up on 3T, switch to a 3-4 with Barr and Harris as rush LBs... 
Quote: @FSUVike said:
And yet I was repeatedly told by many on here that our Rush Defense was just fine.
You and me both. I think those who thought it was fine were basing it off of stats. Which is OK; that's a valid way to argue your point of view. For me, I really don't know what our stats were. I just know what my eyes told me: which is that- if teams wanted to- they could run all day against us (assuming that they had a lead).
Quote: @FSUVike said:
And yet I was repeatedly told by many on here that our Rush Defense was just fine.
Last season, our rush defense was very good by an metrics (straight stats or analytics). It seems that Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen collectively were better in 2017 than Richardson was in 2018. To be fair, those two had a couple years to learn Zimmer's defense and had time to get on the same page with the rest of the players.
The big question is do they try to bring back Sheldon and expect him to be better in Year 2 with a year under his belt in this scheme? Or is Jaleel Johnson ready to take over a starting role? He's a talented guy that flashed a bit in his 2nd season and would be much cheaper... otherwise there are some talented DTs in the draft, but I don't know that you want to rely on a rookie to solve this issue.
It'll be interesting to see how the team addresses this problem. It was the Achilles heel of the defense this year.
I sure wish we would have gotten Aaron Donald instead of Barr. Hindsight...
Quote: @Wetlander said:
@ FSUVike said:
And yet I was repeatedly told by many on here that our Rush Defense was just fine.
Last season, our rush defense was very good by an metrics (straight stats or analytics). It seems that Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen collectively were better in 2017 than Richardson was in 2018. To be fair, those two had a couple years to learn Zimmer's defense and had time to get on the same page with the rest of the players.
The big question is do they try to bring back Sheldon and expect him to be better in Year 2 with a year under his belt in this scheme? Or is Jaleel Johnson ready to take over a starting role? He's a talented guy that flashed a bit in his 2nd season and would be much cheaper... otherwise there are some talented DTs in the draft, but I don't know that you want to rely on a rookie to solve this issue.
It'll be interesting to see how the team addresses this problem. It was the Achilles heel of the defense this year.
I honestly don't think that Richardson can get better at rush defense. He (usually) just flies up the field, trying to pressure the QB. Therefore, it's pretty easy for OL to wash him out of the hole. I don't know anything about Richardson personally, but I get the feeling that he's chasing stats more than trying to conform to a sound defensive scheme.
Quote: @pumpf said:
@ Wetlander said:
@ FSUVike said:
And yet I was repeatedly told by many on here that our Rush Defense was just fine.
Last season, our rush defense was very good by an metrics (straight stats or analytics). It seems that Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen collectively were better in 2017 than Richardson was in 2018. To be fair, those two had a couple years to learn Zimmer's defense and had time to get on the same page with the rest of the players.
The big question is do they try to bring back Sheldon and expect him to be better in Year 2 with a year under his belt in this scheme? Or is Jaleel Johnson ready to take over a starting role? He's a talented guy that flashed a bit in his 2nd season and would be much cheaper... otherwise there are some talented DTs in the draft, but I don't know that you want to rely on a rookie to solve this issue.
It'll be interesting to see how the team addresses this problem. It was the Achilles heel of the defense this year.
I honestly don't think that Richardson can get better at rush defense. He (usually) just flies up the field, trying to pressure the QB. Therefore, it's pretty easy for OL to wash him out of the hole. I don't know anything about Richardson personally, but I get the feeling that he's chasing stats more than trying to conform to a sound defensive scheme.
I think it will be telling whether we pursue him this offseason.
Zimmer praised him saying he does many things that most don't see. Not sure if that was actual praise or coach speak trying to encourage him to buy in. After a certain number of years in the league, you are who you are, and he hasn't shown to be a valuable team member.
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