More Ammo For Keeping OV

[So Be]

PFF gave it's Reggie White award for the NFL's top pass rusher. Aaron Donald won but he is a DT. Here's the top three after him.

First runner-up

J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans
At this point we are completely out of superlatives for Watt, who was only slowed as a pass-rusher this season by playing through a broken hand for two weeks. In any other season, Watt would again have been unrivaled as the league’s premier pass-rusher, but a huge step forward from two other players left Watt in a crowd atop this award list. Watt’s 91 pressures this season — he fared well not just from the interior but out on the edge, where he played more — takes his total over the last four seasons to 378. That is a remarkable tally and a gold standard for consistency among NFL pass-rushers.
Second runner-up

Khalil Mack, OLB, Oakland Raiders
Mack’s performance against the Broncos in Week 14 will live long in the memory of Raiders fans, and rightfully so. His five-sack, nine-pressure display earned the second-highest single game grade an edge defender has earned in nine seasons here at PFF, but that was simply the high point of a remarkably consistent season. Mack took the step from being a consistently productive pass-rusher to being a consistently destructive one in his second NFL season.
Third runner-up

Olivier Vernon, DE, Miami Dolphins
Entering the season as the third-best pass-rusher on his own defensive line, Vernon finished it as the highest-graded pass-rusher in the NFL over the second half of the season. After Cameron Wake was lost to a season-ending injury in Week 8, Vernon racked up 57 pressures (eight sacks, 24 hits, 25 hurries) in his final eight games — a mark that only 10 4-3 defensive ends managed in 16 games.

[So Be]

Interesting question for me is why he got better when Wake went down. I heard he was hurting early but no fact to point to.

[cuchulainn]

He didn't... you have to look at who he was facing.

[Driven_Phinsane!]

Interesting question for me is why he got better when Wake went down. I heard he was hurting early but no fact to point to.

Maybe his agent reminded him it was a 'money' year...As i've stated before, OV scares me and i'd be a bit queasy to see him get a huge contract..but we may not have much of a choice..He definitely balled in the latter half of the season...

[cuchulainn]

Ah... thought you were announcing he had a labotomy scheduled... lol...

Loved it when we took OV out of The U, but he's been a disappointment to me since then.

OV disappears against premium talent. He's made his bones off 2nd tier or backups. In 2015, he basically disappeared the last 4 games of the season and his best game was against the Ravens where he faced an undrafted tackle, James Hurst, who was subbing for an injured Eugene Monroe, and who was protecting washed up Matt Schaub.

2.5 of OV's 7.5 sacks came in this game. He racked up a total of 1 more sack on the season over the last 4 games. He basically cost us the Jax game with a stupid personal foul and he didn't get a sack at the start of the season until the 5th game, where we were facing TN and rookie Mariotta, where he also drew penalties and got a ''dirty player'' rep for his hits on Mariotta. Out of 16 games, he did nothing of significance to start the season, disappeared for a 3 game stretch mid-season, then managed a total of 1 sack over the last 4 games.

No thanks. Done with him and his penalties and other mental mistakes.

[AquaXI]

I'd hate to lose both our DE cause Wake to me with his injury and age will also be not worth it. But I'm willing to go DE ad hopefully DJordan gets reinstated for this year.

[cuchulainn]

I see Shelby as more of a priority IMO... Fede is also a guy who could come on strong this season. We still need to draft for the position, but I'm not breaking the bank for OV. Wake and Coples should both be restructured and return as well. Wake will likely be relegated to on specific passing downs - if he can still play with leverage and power as I think his explosion will be gone.

[So Be]

Ah... thought you were announcing he had a labotomy scheduled... lol...

Loved it when we took OV out of The U, but he's been a disappointment to me since then.

OV disappears against premium talent. He's made his bones off 2nd tier or backups. In 2015, he basically disappeared the last 4 games of the season and his best game was against the Ravens where he faced an undrafted tackle, James Hurst, who was subbing for an injured Eugene Monroe, and who was protecting washed up Matt Schaub.

2.5 of OV's 7.5 sacks came in this game. He racked up a total of 1 more sack on the season over the last 4 games. He basically cost us the Jax game with a stupid personal foul and he didn't get a sack at the start of the season until the 5th game, where we were facing TN and rookie Mariotta, where he also drew penalties and got a ''dirty player'' rep for his hits on Mariotta. Out of 16 games, he did nothing of significance to start the season, disappeared for a 3 game stretch mid-season, then managed a total of 1 sack over the last 4 games.

No thanks. Done with him and his penalties and other mental mistakes.

Have to look deeper than just sacks, 80 total QB pressures is impressive. Hell, Watt only had 91.However, guess we can hope Wake fully recovers from serious injury, restructures, and stays healthy, restructure Coples, re-sign Shelby, and we still have Jordan and Fede. That'll scare a lot of QB's.

[cuchulainn]

I agree on the pressures, but again you have to consider when, where, and the level of competition, then weigh those against his negative plays or even the plays he should have made and didn't.

We had a team historically bad pass defense this season. A portion of that was because of self-inflicted penalties and not being able to get off the field on key downs. I let him walk and focus on FA and the draft, but maybe that's just me...

[So Be]

Give me a better option for a pass rusher? Hell, just give me any option?

[cuchulainn]

We still have Fede who has been developing. We have Coples now., and we're looking at drafting a guy to come off the edge. Sucks that Wake tore his heel. Really didn't want to have to prioritize a DE in the draft. IF we re-sign OV, I hope it's not a mistake and he has matured and plays smarter than the last 2 seasons.

[So Be]

Vernon sprained his ankle after getting leg-whipped in the season opener. And although he didn’t miss a game, Vernon’s game was not the same.

He had just one sack in the season’s first six games — certainly not the start any player wants to have in a contract season.

But in the six games since, he has been as good as anyone in football.

Sure, the Dolphins have changed the way in which they have used the fourth-year pass rusher. But the reason for his improvement isn’t that complicated.

If you can’t run, you can’t sack.

“Football’s football,” Vernon said. “You’re always going to be hurting. Unfortunately, I went down the first game of the season. It’s just about getting back. I like being out there with my teammates. I don’t like missing games, and I ain’t going to miss no games. It’s just fighting through it.”

When asked exactly how injured he was earlier in the year, Vernon responded: “All I know is I wasn’t feeling right. I was not feeling right. But now I’m back to normal.” http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nf...e49473800.html

GIF of Vernon getting leg whipped.

https://giant.gfycat.com/PleasedTightHornedviper.gif

[cuchulainn]

I remember the leg whip, but thought he dismissed that from being a serious injury during the season. That might explain the lack of production to start the season, not the end of season. I'm just skeptical of the guy at this point.