Notes From Your Clips: 1) I learn nothing about his pass rush when he is unblocked. At least he played his positioning and read the play well. But his ability to play the run when unblocked has never been my concern with him 2) I see a guy who can 'almost get there'... a la Vernon, a la Odrick. I want sacks on the board, my friend. Is it good that he moved the tackle back? Sure. But good is not the same as impressed. Not the same as "I have to have him at #12 overall". 3) Okay, another play unblocked, and he attacks the QB. Again, this is not what I think we need as a priority at DE right now. Sure it's a skillset you want the DE to have, but does this play ELEVATE him above other DE prospects? No. 4) And he impacts this play. Why? He rushed inside. This guy is great hitting gaps. You're right that it'll happen less in the NFL, but know what, he did this against Alabama, whose O-line looked beastly other than Richardson REPEATEDLY penetrating that B gap on them. And if he can do it on Bama, consistently, I doubt it disappears from his game in the NFL. 5) Stonewalled. 6) Gets some inside leverage (again interior gap), but there is no way I'd call this a hurry. In fact, the blitzer who HIT the QB was the one who affected the play. Though, with blitzers from both sides of Griffin it's nice design to have Richardson penetrat inside to destroy the top of the pocket and leave nowhere for RGIII to step up. Truth is, Richardson helped create that sack by playing his role well, which the coaches designed to play to his strength, which was an inside move through the gap. I don't want an end who never makes an impact on the outside unless he's coming later in the draft. I'd rather have him at DT... what a great nickel DT he would be. Problem is, that's not a huge hole for us like rush end is. 7) Inside move on the guard gets him to Griffin. Terrific... but as a 3-4 end, with a guy rushing OUTSIDE him, Chris. this isn't happenin in our defense if he's at end. He'd be further outside, and the RT would be on him with help from the RG. I don't see him doing much if that were the case. Now as a 3-4 End, I'd be VERY excited about Sheldon Richardson. But we don;t run 3-4 on passing downs. 8) again penetrates interior gap... but AGAIN there is a guy coming on the blitz outside of him. I just don;t see him acting as the outside rusher. If you are willing to rush the LB next to Richardson a whole lot, then yes, I think it opens up his ability to get inside productively fom and End spot. But there are all 3-4 snaps where he ends up with another guy rushing from outside him... 3-4 end rushing is really havlfway between a 4-3 nickel rush DT position and a 4-3 DE rush position... and it's only working where I see him being the 'inside' guy. just don;t see the fit for us. Sorry, man. I know you like him. Maybe the next few plays will convince me (and to be fair, I have NEVER seen footage of him rushing from end in a 4 front). 9) Nada. If RGIII stays in the pocket this is a non factor play. with the rollout, if Richardson isn't held, maybe he impacts the play. Still, did he beat the tackle on a rush? Not really. 10) Great run defense from End, scraping inside through gap to get to ballcarrier. Heck, if we played a 3-4 I'd be all over this guy. 11) On this one, it bothers me that I think Richardson FAVORS rushing inside because I think he KNOWS he doesn;t get anywhere outside... so rather than attacking his blocker straight up, then playing off it left or right, he just immediately commits to crossing his face inside. Now, maybe he was making a guess that it was an interior run... could be that. Or he could be a guy who tries to play to his strengths, which may mean he favors going inside TOO much, even when maybe he shouldn't. That allows outside runs on him. either way, his run defense isn't what I care most about... I'm scouting for pass rushers and he simply isn't impressing me as one from the end position. I appreciate you marking those, though. It's great to have a common base of discussion where our eyes are seeing the same things, then seeing how we each interpret it (this is what I hope Philbin and Ireland will be doing). I think you have to consider that his rush success is always inside, and that there is almost always someone rushing OUTSIDE of him for that to happen. Will we be blitzing on all passing downs? Doubt it. In fact, he'll be positioned even wider as a 4-3 end than as a 3-4 end, making it even harder for him to use his inside gap move. I think you neuter him out there. Turn him into a run defender who makes the occasional play on a QB. Not an impact guy. In my notes (OP in thread) I also had concerns about hiis strength and ability to anchor vs Alabama. I paidd close attention at goalline and in short yardage and he was okay, but surely not impressive. Got turned out of the hole a few times. And never really got push on the Oline. This is not a bpower player. More of a quickness, gap penetrating guy. he'll do well against the spread passing attacks that the NFL is using more and more of. Honestly, I think you need to assess how the DT position will be evolving as offenses evolve in the NFL. I think that serves you well as an interior nickel rush DT, maybe as a 3-4 end. NOT as a 4-3 pass riush end... and I'll be damned if we need to draft Richardson to basically be another Odrick, and STILL need to draft a rush end. Great player. Not worth a #12 in this scheme. At all.
In my opinion you're a little too focused on WHAT the guy did on a play and not HOW he did it. You say for instance that you can't see anything on a guy when he's unblocked. That's your opinion. I strongly disagree. By the way, moving the offensive tackle backward, putting him on skates, giving him a hard time, is exactly what Olivier Vernon does not do. That's what has stood out to me from preseason through every game this season. Absolutely, watching the interaction and body language between defensive and offensive linemen during their battles is very revealing and important in figuring out who is going to get your coveted results. As for rushing the gaps, you don't see a difference in potential effectiveness between rushing the B gap from the end position as opposed to the tackle position? Again, disagree. He's lined up in a 5 technique in pretty much all of those plays. He'd be doing that a fair amount in Miami as well, as does Jared Odrick. Think you're kind of losing the forest for the trees when you find yourself tearing the layers off the onion to the extent you're doing. On 6 pass plays he nailed the QB twice including once that probably should've been inentional grounding, and he pressured the quarterback AT LEAST one more time (not arguable), I say two more times. On 5 run plays he tackles the runner 3 times for a minimal gain. My goodness, how much nitpickery and rationalization do we have to engage in to see that kind of work as being inadequate?
You make good points. True that Vernon doesn't overpower tackles. He's basically a very active dance partner out there. And yeah, there's a difference in rushing the B gap from End versus DT.. I think from a 4-front end postiion we would see him being less effective at penetrating that gap.. maybe not as a percentage of how often he attmepts it, but the number of times he attempts it would have to decrease with his outside responsibilities, no? Maybe that's my issue. I want him to focus solely on what he seems best at. Admittedly, he won't see the same level of success against stronger, quicker, more tightly spaced OL's in the NFL... but I saw him do it against Alabama and that's a great line there. It's true that I still mostly see the result of the play, but I'm working on seeing the skill sets displayed, regardless of the outcome of a play. Can't really assess myself in that regard, so I have to take your comment at face value. lol. Again, I feel like we are seeing him rush from a position at 3-4 end that is more favorable than 4-3 end. with no one outside him trheatening the edge, the LT and LG will focus entirely on him.. in fact, the LT can give him the edge a bit. I would, as I don't think he can run an arc. So it comes down to what he does versus the run. I think he's great versus the run at end.. I agree. Better than he is inside against the run. So if you give me a choice between playing him inside and being so-so versus the run but great at pass pressure, or playing him outside where he can be great versus the run and so-so at pass pressure, I ask myself why I am tageting this guy at #12 when I already have this person in Jared Odrick? Or let me put it this way, what do you see him doing in this defense that Odrick cannot already do? Or that Starks could not do (when asked to play lighter, not heavier weight). If we spend a pick on Sheldon, we don't gain anything but more of what we have.. well, okay, I'm lying a bit there... I think he pursues ballcarriers much better than Starks or Odrick. I like how he runs in pursuit. And he is better at penetrating gaps than Odrick, but not better than Starks. So we spend a pick... why? We still need an edge rusher afterwards? Are you sure you just aren;t so impressed with his skill set that you want to find a way to make him a fit for this team? I mean, I agree he is great, but he has to be down the list of priorities.
Specifically rushing the passer is something I see him doing better than Odrick. He's more mobile, quicker off the ball, more agile, shows better all around mobility. Odrick doesn't have a true defensive end's mobility. I see this guy as having that. But you are right in one question. If taking this guy means having to transition him to a new position and hoping for the best, is he really worth the squeeze at #12 overall, or is he fool's gold? Don't know the answer to that yet. I think "running the arc" especially as it pertains to base downs is kind of overrated. It happens in the NFL. Not all that often to be honest. You want that ability from your guys rushing from the end on pass downs. But if we're looking at a guy that moves inside on pass downs then why are we worried about running the arc? As for the B gap angle thing, just think about it logistically. Draw it on paper if you need to. It's instructive. To pass rush the B gap from a 3-technique you've got to go outside before you can come inside. You've got to beat your man vertically so bad that you can wrap back around the other side of him before you get ridden so behind where the QB is setting up that you have no hope of being able to bend and cut back upfield to the quarterback before he gets the ball off. It's a pretty tough task unless you're playing Madden 2007 with Tommie Harris. On the other hand if you're lined up as a 5 technique and rushing the B gap, you're bending a little bit of an arc but a much less acute one. In a zone protection scheme you might run afoul of a double team but then that's what your other linemates are there for. Really if Sheldon is a 3-technique then his work in the B gap is more about playing the run than it is rushing the passer.
Angle to the QB is an interesting way to look at it. This is becoming a lot of thought, which is a warning sign to me that a player will take some square-peg-into-round-holing by the coaching staff. I love guys who's skillset screams "I am perfect for what you lack"... which mainly is a presence as a pass rush end that can still hold up against the run. That's the real ansah. p.s. - you haven't sold me, but I am no longer 'sure' Sheldon's useless as a 4-3 end. lol. I guess that's progress.
