Justin Durant (1 Viewer)

[BearsFan]

T=1, A=.5, S=3, I=3, FF/FR=2, PD=1

So, what's been happening with Durant?

Not producing as expected.

I'm sure part of the answer is injuries, but is he really playing all downs in the middle, or has JAX continued to experiment withe the 3-4?

Hoping to get a read on his comparative dynasty value in the scoring system above?

 

[Jene Bramel]

All kinds of things to consider with Justin Durant. I don't agree that he's performed below expectations.

First, the good. There's plenty of noise in this data, but still, consider the following:

***Over a full 16 game season, Durant projects to 104 solo tackles.

***Over a full 16 game season, Durant projects to 193 FBG points (5th best among LBs).

***Durant has had only two games (of 12) with four of fewer solos.

***Durant has five games of 7+ solos, three others with six solos.

That's the profile of a consistent LB1. Not many other players fit the above profile. I was as high on Durant as anyone, but still too chicken to rank him in the top twelve. When healthy, he's produced like he belongs there.

Now, some concerns behind the noise.

***Durant missed three games with multiple injuries, one a concussion severe enough to keep him out two weeks.

***Late in the season, when everyone was healthy, Durant was sitting in the base 3-4.

***There could be a coaching/scheme/philosophy change after the season.

That suggests that Durant may not hold up as an ILB/MLB over a full season. Anything could happen after the current or new coaching staff reviews the 2009 film.

Given the concerns, it's hard to trust Durant as your offseason anchor. Until some of the uncertainly melts away, consider him a LB2 in the 8-20 range.

 

[BearsFan]

Thanks Jene.

I'd just heard some recent buzz that Durant was not playing all passing downs.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Thanks Jene.I'd just heard some recent buzz that Durant was not playing all passing downs.

I haven't watched every down over the past month, but the snaps I've seen and the profootballfocus logs suggest he left the field in the 3-4 packages only. I think that may have been posted in another Durant thread and/or the every-down backer thread a couple of weeks ago by an astute poster. We had it on the podcast and I put it in the RTD around that time as well.

 

[BearsFan]

Why would he leave the field in 3-4 packages?

 

[Jene Bramel]

Why would he leave the field in 3-4 packages?

Most likely, a coaching staff belief that Russell Allen and Daryl Smith hold up better at the point of attack. The three man front has actually been playing pretty well against the run -- Terrence Knighton especially. Whether that was related to concussion or the play of Allen is a little hard to say. I don't remember seeing anything out of the Jaguar local observers or coaching staff about Durant's play.

 

[Young 8]

disturbing news

http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/ja...s_rusher_wanted

LINEBACKER

It’s a telling sign that despite the club having three experienced starters back (Daryl Smith, Justin Durant and Clint Ingram), the general manager considers only one of them (Smith) to have a starting job heading into the 2010 season. Before last season, there were rumblings from inside the organization about the need for Durant and Ingram to improve or risk jeopardizing their futures with the team. Apparently, their performance in 2009 was insufficient, but Durant ranked second in tackles last season (135, according to team statistics) and Ingram contributed 77 stops. Both struggled to consistently make open-field tackles, opening the door for Brian Iwuh and Russell Allen to compete for starting jobs.