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Sheldon Rankins has chance to be more effective than Nick Fairley

by Ty Anania7 hours agoFollow @AnaniaT

As news of Nick Fairley’s heart condition broke, the tentatively high hopes for the New Orleans Saints defensive line fell apart at the seams. But Sheldon Rankins has the potential to put the pieces back together.

The New Orleans Saints offseason took a major hit when news broke that Nick Fairley would miss the season. But, as is the case with the injury to Terron Armstead, the Saints are well-stocked to handle the loss.

Sheldon Rankins has the potential to be a better player — even in 2017 — than Nick Fairley. Yes, Fairley was a force against the pass last year. But he was a very hot/cold player, as Sean Payton admitted. At times he was a major force, especially against the pass. At others, he failed to win his one-on-one battles. I don’t mean this as a bash on Fairley as a player. It will take some serious development from Sheldon Rankins to match what Fairley brought to the defense. But he has the potential to be a more complete player, a more difficult matchup to gameplan against.

In an unfortunate echo of Junior Galette, Fairley had a tendency to sell out against the pass. At times he would abandon his gap responsibility and force the rest of the defense to patch up behind him. Look over his 2016 tape and you’ll see much of what you saw in Galette: consistent flashes of awesome pass rush talent, but an upsetting tendency to run themselves out of the action. Fairley was no Cam Jordan, who does his job first and gets after the quarterback second.

Against the run, Fairley left too much on the field. A damning trait for a defensive tackle. He was a willing run defender, sure. He put his head down and fought, and that’s why we all loved him. Galette never cared about the big picture. He was a sack chaser. With Fairley, I see a much more forgivable but no less damaging problem: too often he went for the homerun play. If he saw a glimmer of light, he jumped. Canny linemen used that to move him out of his gap.

Rankins, on the other hand, has all the traits that you want in a defensive tackle. He’s sound in his technique and reads and reacts with greater consistency than Fairley ever did. The tempting comparison is Aaron Donald, and with good reason. Both players are cerebral, undersized but technique-dominant tackles. Rankins doesn’t have the girth to allow him to take plays off or to coast on size. He needs to attack and conduct the trench battle on his terms. He doesn’t yet do that as well as he can, and his development very much hinges on him developing that ability. But if Rankins can provide even a fraction of what Donald provides, he has the potential to be a much bigger asset than was Nick Fairley.

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“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill