Wadsworth
Footballguy
I said two weeks ago after the Mike Peterson injury that the shark move may be to try and sell high on the Jags D after the Jets shut out. After sundays fiasco in Houston it might be too late, but the warning flags are still there and if you can get something in trade I'd still be looking to unload them.
Most everyone knows that Mike Peterson and Reggie Hayward are on IR. That's the teams leading tackler and defensive leader in Peterson and easily the top pass rusher in Hayward. Hayward's value to the team goes well beyond the 8.5 sacks he had last season. He had a huge number of QB pressures that lead to sacks for other Jags and generally disrupted play. They are sorely missed but the injuries go well beyond these two players.
Marcus Stroud, 3 time Pro Bowler has been injured all season. He tried to play through it in the first few games but was not close to normal form. So they sat him down the Jets game, had the bye week and then the Houston game. That's 3 weeks rest and he's still not healthy. He's the type of guy that might again try to play through injury for the good of the team, but who knows how long this injury will linger.
Pat Thomas LB is on IR. He was competing for a starting job in preseason and might well have been a starter now with Peterson out. Marcellus Wiley has been injured for multiple games and would likely be starting at DE if healthy. Terry Cousin(nickleback) missed the Houston game and his injury status is unknown this week.
You can also add in some off field trouble. Brian Williams was charged with DUI in september (LINK) and just a couple days ago now starting DE Bobby McCray was arrested (LINK). It doesn't look like either player will lose time, but these things don't tend to help.
Currently the Jags have rookie Clint Ingram starting at OLB, a guy that many said would have been cut in preseason if he wasn't a 3rd round pick(and 4th with the trade up). A practice squad pick up from the Rams, Montavious Stanely getting playing time as well as undrafted free agent rookies Brian Iwuh and Tony McDaniels.
So this is a banged up defense that could only manage 1 sacks and 0 turnovers against Houston while allowing 27 points. Like I said, it might be too late to move them now. But currently this is at best an average NFL defense.
Most everyone knows that Mike Peterson and Reggie Hayward are on IR. That's the teams leading tackler and defensive leader in Peterson and easily the top pass rusher in Hayward. Hayward's value to the team goes well beyond the 8.5 sacks he had last season. He had a huge number of QB pressures that lead to sacks for other Jags and generally disrupted play. They are sorely missed but the injuries go well beyond these two players.
Marcus Stroud, 3 time Pro Bowler has been injured all season. He tried to play through it in the first few games but was not close to normal form. So they sat him down the Jets game, had the bye week and then the Houston game. That's 3 weeks rest and he's still not healthy. He's the type of guy that might again try to play through injury for the good of the team, but who knows how long this injury will linger.
Pat Thomas LB is on IR. He was competing for a starting job in preseason and might well have been a starter now with Peterson out. Marcellus Wiley has been injured for multiple games and would likely be starting at DE if healthy. Terry Cousin(nickleback) missed the Houston game and his injury status is unknown this week.
You can also add in some off field trouble. Brian Williams was charged with DUI in september (LINK) and just a couple days ago now starting DE Bobby McCray was arrested (LINK). It doesn't look like either player will lose time, but these things don't tend to help.
Currently the Jags have rookie Clint Ingram starting at OLB, a guy that many said would have been cut in preseason if he wasn't a 3rd round pick(and 4th with the trade up). A practice squad pick up from the Rams, Montavious Stanely getting playing time as well as undrafted free agent rookies Brian Iwuh and Tony McDaniels.
So this is a banged up defense that could only manage 1 sacks and 0 turnovers against Houston while allowing 27 points. Like I said, it might be too late to move them now. But currently this is at best an average NFL defense.
Now Darius is out for the remainder of the season. Sensabaugh is a solid replacement (as he was last year), but all these injuries have got start weighing pretty heavy on the defense.
