I watched a lot of Houston last year; I have them on one of my tv’s every week. I just don’t recall the play of Fred Bennett jumping out there, though I’m usually not paying much attention to the Texan DB’s. I went back and looked at his numbers, and with out a doubt he had a 3 game stretch, (weeks 14-16) with some impressive tackle stats.
Week 14 (7-1-0)
Week 15 (8-0-0)
Week 16 (11-0-0)
A total of 26 tackles, almost half of his season total.
This really stirred my curiosity and had me asking … How in the world did this not stand out?
So I went to gamebook to look through the play by play and such for those 3 weeks (Tampa Bay, Denver and Indy).
Here’s the breakdown:
Bennett had 3 PD’s and a forced fumble, 2 of his 3 PD’s were on 3rd down, as well as his FF.
Of Bennett’s 26 solo tackles, 22 were pass plays.
2 were 20+ yards
6 were 10+ yards and 10 were passes in the 5-9 yard range.
6 of the 22 went for 1st downs
12 were on 1st down … 7 on 2nd down … and only 3 on 3rd.
Houston allowed 41 1st downs thru the air.
Of the 4 running plays, 2 were up the middle of 5 and 9 yards; a healthy DeMeco Ryans, more times then not, makes those plays.
Speaking of DeMeco, take note … Bennett’s tackle surge is at the time of Ryans (injury) tackle plunge. Ryans tackle numbers in weeks 14-16 were 8-6-0 … that’s right … 14 total tackles in 3 weeks. DeMeco tallied 26-9-0 the previous 3 weeks (11-13).
The Texans faced 195 total plays (average of 65+ per game) during Bennett’s 3 week run, just a little over 2 plays of the NFL average. 127 were pass plays just a tad over 65%.
What’s all this mean … I dunno know?
I was impressed with his 3rd down numbers. Curious, how many … if any, TD’s he may have been responsible for during that stretch. Houston as a team surrendered 4, it should be noted 3 were by Peyton Manning.
I would have to say, his tackle numbers were most likely inflated due to DeMeco being hobbled. It appears he played fairly well in pass coverage. The ratio of 12 1st down tackles to only three 3rd down is interesting. It appears he was targeted alot more on 1st down then 3rd.
I think he could be a fine NFL player, just not sure about him in terms of fantasy IDP. Obviously he would have more value in leagues who separate CB's from safety's.
BTW guys, nice podcasts
