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“It’s time to stop talking about 1-6 and 2-5 teams and instead start talking about 5-2 teams.”
I heard ESPN football analyst Jon Gruden say this right before halftime of tonight’s Texans-Colts game and I couldn’t agree mor…
Aaron Schatz of ESPN Insider and David Gardner of ESPN Football Outsiders took a look at players who had the most missed/broken tackles during the 2009 NFL season. The Football Outsiders staff reviewed every game from last season to come up with this alarming stat.
The Insider and Outsiders classified broken tackles as “one of several events: ‘Plays with Broken Tackle’ is the number of plays with at least one broken tackle. Either the ball carrier escapes from the grasp of the defender, or the defender is in good position for a tackle but the ball carrier jukes him out of his shoes. If the ball carrier sped by a slow defender who dived and missed, that did not count as a broken tackle.’’ They also point out that it was also possible for there to be multiple broken tackles on one play.
With a 3-13 record, three members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were among the worst tacklers in the NFL last year. Under the broken tackle definition, Tampa Bay safety Sabby Piscitelli led the league in broken tackles with 19. Teammate Ronde Barber finished second with 16. Tampa Bay safety Tanard Jackson, who missed the first four games of the 2009 NFL season wasn’t too far behind with 10.
The Buccaneer defense, as a whole, finished second in the league with 94 broken tackles finishing ahead of the Detroit Lions who had 105 and behind the Indianapolis Colts who whiffed 91 times.
On the offensive side, the Buccaneers only made opponents missed a grand total of 41 times. That number was worst in the league, trailing the Green Bay Packers with 44 and the Lions with 48. Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers’ offense lead the league with 117!
When the Buccaneer secondary wasn’t too busy missing tackles, the safeties, Piscitelli, Jermaine Phillips and Jackson were often trying to trying to cover up the play of cornerbacks Elbert Mack and Barber.
With the addition of Sean Jones, third round pick Myron Lewis of Vanderbilt, and the return of E.J. Biggers from the IR, Piscitelli will likely lose his job to Jones, while the undersized Mack will be fighting for a roster spot. Barber, meanwhile, is heading into the final year of his contract.
Piscitelli is a former second round pick left over from the Jon Gruden era. However, Raheem Morris and staff do not have a vested interest in him, just like they did not have an interest in wide receiver Dexter Jackson, another former second round pick who was released after one season. Nevertheless, I believe the Bucs will hang on to Sabby for at least one more season to see if he has progressed.
If Barber and Piscitelli can rotate in and play nickel, that would take some of the pressure off the safeties and also keep Mack off the field. With the addition of Jones, Lewis, Biggers, Jackson and Talib, the pieces seem to be falling in place to have a young, aggressive, talented, ball-hawking, and sure-tackling secondary in Tampa for years to come.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Forget about 40-yard dash times, brute strength and football fundamentals, it appears “intangibles, work ethic, leadership ability and character” is the new black.
Those have been the characteristics used ad nauseum during NFL Draft coverage this week to describe pro prospects.
If those descriptors were used on ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper’s “Best Available” list, the draft would have ended Day One.
No other player in this draft has been at the center of this trait discussion more than Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow.
It was hard to turn on a TV, read a newspaper or log on to Internet site and not find someone mention character, work ethic, leadership or intangibles in relationship to the former Florida Heisman winner.
“It’s not just about playing quarterback, it’s about adding him to your football team,” former Tampa Bay Bucs coach and ESPN NFL analyst Jon Gruden told USA Today. “Who knows when he’s going to play, what he’s going to play, how he’s going to play? But you are adding one big-time human being on your football team. This is what Josh McDaniels is all about—character, work ethic dependability, leadership.”
Ironically, similar words were thrown in the direction of Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour.
Super Bowl champion quarterback Trent Dilfer said during Saturday’s draft coverage, “No one will work harder than LeFevour to get better. There was a player taken in the first-round because of intangibles. LeFevour has similar intangibles. Teams should take a chance on him.”
This is so confusing.
If LeFevour had similar intangibles to Tebow, why is he a sixth-round pick? And if Tebow trumps every other prospect in many of these categories, why did the St. Louis Rams make Sam Bradford the No.1 pick instead of him?
Florida State safety Myron Rolle has been described as a super student-athlete who wants to one day become a doctor once his NFL career is over. You would think that Rolle fits perfectly into the work ethic, character and intangible category, considering it takes those attributes and a little more to be a Rhodes Scholar and start at safety at a major college program that has a history of producing pro players.
Dr. Cornell West told Rolle he is the future of black America.
But Rolle was destined to be a late round selection.
So how important are these measurables to begin with?
I’m pretty sure every single athlete who were on draft boards this weekend shared similar characteristics. One could say Bradford has displayed more work ethic than Tebow after separating his shoulder twice, only to bounce back and become a franchise quarterback. An argument could be made that Eric Berry has more discipline than any player in the draft. He only committed one penalty in his college tenure at Tennessee.
Heck, football guru Todd McShay graduated from Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership.
It is hard to fairly determine which athlete will work harder, display more character or is a better leader than the next guy unless we all have spent time with all 255 draftees.
Quite frankly it is tiresome that these labels are overvalued. It goes without saying that a NFL player needs to have a good work ethic, good character and desire to be successful in the NFL.
At the end of the day, production on the field will be the measure of success for these athletes. And that is the way it should be.
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New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft went on WEEI sports radio today and didn’t give many answers regarding the Patriots offseason. The big question in New England remains: “What’s the plan?”
After being blown out by the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, the Patriots had obvious issues going into the offseason. So far, it appears not many of those issues have been addressed. Re-signing Vince Wilfork and Tully Banta-Cain is a start. However, watching Julius Peppers, Anquan Boldin, and Antonio Cromartie sign to other teams leaves many wondering how the Patriots plan to improve for next year.
Kraft reassured the public on WEEI radio that, “(The Patriots) are never going to sell our soul for one season and say ‘this is the year’.” He also mentioned the New England Patriots have won more games than any other team since the Krafts’ bought them 16 years ago, which is a great statistic, however, it does not solve the current problems on the depth chart.
ESPN football analyst Tedy Bruschi has called out his former team more than once, saying he believes the Patriots need to take advantage of free agency and sign some veteran talent. The AFC East is no longer a cake walk for New England; the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins have improved themselves with valuable offseason additions, and the Patriots seem uninterested in making any move outside of re-signing their current players.
Brian Westbrook is still available, and pending he doesn’t retire, the 30-year-old running back could greatly improve the passing game out of the backfield, and provide veteran leadership in the locker room.
This aspect of the Patriots offense is currently being covered by the 33-year-old Kevin Faulk, arguably our best receiving back. “Fragile” Fred Taylor remains a question mark, and Laurence Maroney’s game remains inconsistent.
Re-signing Leigh Bodden is a good first step in repairing the New England secondary. The unit has talent and needs to look for additional help from the draft. A returning Tully Banta-Cain and his pass rush will help the secondary. However, New England needs to do a better job of getting to the quarterback in 2010.
David Patten is a familiar face and has been productive in the Patriot system in the past. Depending on Welker’s recovery, he has a good chance of seeing the field in 2010. Julian Edelman had a solid rookie year and stepped up when Wes Welker went down.
There is still room for improvement, as Welker will be coming off major knee surgery and may not be able to put up the numbers he has in the past. David Patten will be 36 at the start of the season, and Randy Moss isn’t getting any younger. Don’t be surprised if New England looks to find Brady another target before the 2010 season kicks off.
The Patriots have some personnel issues to address before the 2010 season. Many of the big-name free agents have come and gone, and New England appears to be confident in their abundance of 2010 draft picks as a means for improvement.
It’s hard not to trust a team that has performed so well in the past decade.
True to Patriot fashion, Mr. Kraft did not provide listeners with many offseason answers during his WEEI interview, and instead echoed the outlook of the Patriots organization: “We’re concerned with how many football games we win at the end of the year.” With the way they performed in last season’s playoffs, there is only room to improve.
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