Rush Defense...what you got? (1 Viewer)

[Ministry of Pain]

So in order to really put together a blockbuster preseason RB thread later this summer, rather than just inject my opinion, I have tried to start a couple threads that relate heavily to my rankings. As many of you know I do not typically like to post projections...I will put them up in Jason Wood's player profiles, but I stay away from a list of personal projections...just never works out how we want it to so i try to look at things like Opps/Touches, Offensive Philosophy, OL(very important), surrounding talent at the skill positions and also the defense that takes the field, and I also like to gaze into the crystal ball and take a look at the strength of schedule which tranlates to rush defenses that an RB will face.

We had some great stuff for the OL thread...do a search, we really are ahead of it this year. I think the rush defenses need to be explored...off season acquisitions and players that have left. I'll start by posting the rush defenses at the top and bottom over the past 3 seasons...pretty good gauge.

Top 10 in 2005...

1. SD

2. Denver

3. Pitt

4. Carolina

5. Seattle

6. TB

7. KC

8. NE

9. Baltimore

10. AZ

Top 10 in 2006...

1. Minnesota

2. Baltimore

3. Pitt

4. JAX

5. NE

6. Chicago

7. SD

8. Miami

9. Atlanta

10. Dallas

Top 10 in 2007...

1. Minnesota

2. Baltimore

3. Pitt...this top3 sure looks like 2006 again.

4. Washington...I was surprised by this(ducks)

5. Tennessee

6. Dallas

7. Philly

8. NY Giants

9. AZ

10. NE

You can see some real consistency here. Pitt is #3...3 years in a row and if I kept going I would find that they were in the top10 most of the time under Cowher. New coach last season and they were still pretty tough. Minn and Balt also were repeats at #1 and #2...I can' find a reason to think they will not be top10 again this year unless the lack of offense just kills the Ravens defense or Ray Lewis gets old quickly. 4 teams from the NFC East were in the top8...again I haven't seen a lot of terrible movement for these teams so i ahve to think they will likely be tough again. The divisions that have to go against them are going to be at a disadvantage.

Let's look at the bottom 10 over the past 10 years. I'll start with the 10th worst and work my way down/up to the worst.

Bottom 10 in 2005...

10. GB

9. Detroit

8. Oakland

7. Atlanta

6. New Orleans

5. St Louis

4. NY Jets

3. Cleveland

2. Buffalo

1. Houston

Bottom 10 in 2006...

10. New Orleans

9. NY Jets

8. Oakland

7. Philly

6. Washington

5. Buffalo

4. Cleveland

3. Tennessee

2. St Louis

1. Indy...and they won a SB!!!

Bottom 10 in 2007...

10. Detroit...and they lost Shaun Rodgers at DT

9. Chicago

8. Buffalo

7. Atlanta

6. Cleveland

5. KC

4. NY Jets

3. Denver

2. Oakland

1. Miami

Good DT are so important in stopping the run...Miami, Oakland, Atlanta, and the NY Jets all had picks higher than KC and passed on what many believe could be a Warren Sapp type DT in Dorsey...I'm just saying.

Some of these teams are always in the bottom against the run.

Do you have a top10? How about a bottom 10? Who is going to get leaps and bounds better? WHo is going to see their 2007 effort go away in 2008?

 

[CharrdWood]

Taking the last two seasons into account, the Titans really turned around their run defense (Titans homer here) last season. The entire unit made noise before the 2007 season that they'd tighten things up (no pun!), and to their credit they did. How much was down to Haynesworth? Going on what I saw last year, a helluva lot. I think he's the real wildcard among the top-5 run defenses from 2007. If he'd stayed healthy the whole season (a big if, agreed), maybe the Titans would've cracked the top-3 (though I'm sure there's a statto that can "prove" me wrong).

In any event, everything seems to hinge on Big Al's ability to stay healthy. And motivated. If he pulls off the double-act, I see no reason why Tennessee shouldn't have one of the most formidable run defenses in the League again. The team didn't lose any great run stoppers, and could still add some beef before the season starts, in addition to perhaps even improving at the DT spot (against the run) opposite Fat Albert. That said, I still believe the team could do with a better caliber MLB than Fowler. But I think they'll stick in that top-10 list, especially if Hope is all the way back, and with Griffin having a full season under his belt.

 

[awesomeness]

Top 10 (no particular order):

Minnesota

Baltimore

Pittsburgh

Tennessee

Philadelphia

New York Giants

Seattle

Green Bay

Indianapolis

Redskins

Bottom 10 (no particular order):

Detroit

Atlanta

Carolina

Cincinnati

Denver

Miami

San Francisco

Oakland

Chicago

Cleveland

 

[Tanner9919]

Top 10 (no particular order):MinnesotaBaltimorePittsburghTennesseePhiladelphiaNew York GiantsSeattleGreen BayIndianapolisRedskinsBottom 10 (no particular order)etroitAtlantaCarolinaCincinnatiDenverMiamiSan FranciscoOaklandChicagoCleveland

good list, but would you agree Baltimore and NE are rapidly aging and are due a drop off at some point?

 

[awesomeness]

Top 10 (no particular order):MinnesotaBaltimorePittsburghTennesseePhiladelphiaNew York GiantsSeattleGreen BayIndianapolisWashingtonBottom 10 (no particular order)etroitAtlantaCarolinaCincinnatiDenverMiamiSan FranciscoOaklandChicagoCleveland

good list, but would you agree Baltimore and NE are rapidly aging and are due a drop off at some point?

Agreed, that was one of the reasons why i left New England off my top 10, not only do they have a lot of old players on defense but they also get injured often. As for Baltimore, i don't think they are that old in comparison to other teams, and those players who are old seem to have stuff left in the tank. Plus i REALLY like there DT's with Ngata, who i think is one of the best, and Gregg.

 

[brednbuddah]

nice thread MOP...

Indy won a superbowl with the worst run D? that's gotta be some kind of record...

I'm shocked maroney didn't do better with 6 games in his division against bottom 10 run D's

I'll take a stab at this...

top 10

1. purple people eaters

2. Jax - I really like this D, if they get Taylor - forget about it

3. SD

4. Pitt

5. Dallas

6. Tenn

7. GB

8. NYG - pumped in a tough NFC east

9. Balt - old

10. NE - old, super bowl hangover could throw 'em out entirely

bottom 10

10. Houston

9. KC

8. Cle

7. SF

6. Den

5. Atl

4. Cinn

3. Det

2. Stl

1. Mia

 

[The Jacket]

I suspect KC will be a heck of a lot better this season. Tamba Hali replaces pass-rusher Jared Allen at RDE, they're moving DT Alfonso Boone to LDE, and Glenn Dorsey alongside 330lb'er Ron Edwards inside should be solid. Brandon Flowers is nails against the run and DaJuan Morgan should be better than cover guy Jarrad Page when he gets in the game.

I have a hard time seeing Denver and Detroit not battling it out for the worst run defense in '08. The Lions lost Shaun Rogers and really do have a horrible front seven, while the Broncos are pegging some dude named Niko Koutovides (almost certainly spelled differently) to start at MLB with a simply awful collection of DTs. 260lb. midget RDE Elvis Dumervil is nothing against the run, and Jarvis Moss is a pass-rusher.