Trent Cole (1 Viewer)

[Dave the Addict]

What has been Trent Cole's problem this year? He's gone from being one of the elite six DL to a less than mediocre producer.

I have the opportunity to trade for him (for LB DOnald Butler - since I'm loaded at LB, he doesn't start), but haven't really followed why the dropoff.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

calf injury earlier.

in his last four games I guess he only has 2 sacks, if that's what you mean, but I'm not sure if we're supposed to expect a sack every single game.

last year he had 10 games without a sack.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

It is probably a combination of a variety of reasons- first of which he was hurt for a number of games in which he did not play or played at far less than 100%. Another reason is the Eagles went to a new defensive scheme, under a first year DC (Juan Castillo who was their OL coach for 10+ years), and they had to shuffle up personnel and packages to tinker with the wide 9 formation. Babin was more accustomed to this formation from his days with the Titans, but most of the other players were not. Since many teams recognized that the Eagles were very soft against the run- especially up the middle- it more than likely led to less sack (and outside run) tackle opportunities for Cole.

I don't have any hard stats to back up the above, but just more of an observation from watching Eagles games this year.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

if that's the case then why was he more productive early in the year and less lately?

his old dc had him dropping into coverage more often, so the dc switch helps him.

the guy just had a couple random games without a sack -- give him a break.

 

[Dave the Addict]

It hasn't so much been the sacks but the tackles that have been off this year. (Last weekend he had no tackles at all. A shutout in points.) Over the past five years, he'd averaged 4.1 tackles per game. THis year, it's only 2.8. In leagues that emphasize tackles like mine, that's pretty significant. So I was just trying to figure out if it was scheme changes, diminishing skills, or just one of those things. I'm most concerned with future years going forward rather than this year so if he's not 100% due to the calf injury but he'd be likely to get back to his old self next year, that would be great for me.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[Warhogs]

I don't follow the Eagles closely but I remember seeing a game before the injury and them talking about he had been an absolute beast all year. It is probably a combinations of the injury and the whole team in a downfall. I am not making too many judgements on any Eagles this year.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

if that's the case then why was he more productive early in the year and less lately?his old dc had him dropping into coverage more often, so the dc switch helps him.the guy just had a couple random games without a sack -- give him a break.

Because once teams figured out they could run up the middle on the Eagles, they did not have to pass as often- limiting his opps. Jason Babin probably also cut into his numbers as well. DE is also a volatile position- so you are bound to have up/down games. All in all- Trent Cole is still putting up respectible numbers and even last year he had some games where his stat line disappeard. Just think all of the contributing factors have bumped him down a little.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

It hasn't so much been the sacks but the tackles that have been off this year. (Last weekend he had no tackles at all. A shutout in points.) Over the past five years, he'd averaged 4.1 tackles per game. THis year, it's only 2.8. In leagues that emphasize tackles like mine, that's pretty significant. So I was just trying to figure out if it was scheme changes, diminishing skills, or just one of those things. I'm most concerned with future years going forward rather than this year so if he's not 100% due to the calf injury but he'd be likely to get back to his old self next year, that would be great for me.Thanks for the input so far.

if you're talking about a few less tackles then I can definitely see how that might be scheme related, although it's still a small sample size, and he started out the year pretty typical.if you're concerned about dynasty then I think I'd hold on talent, since that dc position doesn't seem tremendously rock solid right now, but it all depends on your alternatives etc.I actually cut him twice in redraft already this year, but that's mostly because we only play 2x12 dl and I figured I had guys with better match ups down the stretch.http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/11/30/pass-rushing-productivity-the-story-so-far/