Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

THIS^^^ Its simply another tool to evaluate performance, definitely not the final say.

A weak D-line can make a secondary look awful stat wise.

Conversely a great D-line can make a mediocre secondary look top notch.

For years people blamed our safeties much more than they should because our pass rush was woefully pathetic (the Will Smith years) and our CB's weren't all that great either. But they needed a scapegoat and Jenkins / Harper satisfied their anger.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton has been on the field for more defensive snaps than any player we have over the past 3 seasons...by a wide margin.
He has led in tackles all 3 years, and this year it isn't even close (R.Bush is 2nd BTW)
He's slow, can't cover, blah, blah, blah.
Good thread- I wish everyone would get off this guy's back

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

If this is true,which I believe it is, then at least 50% of our cap money spent on defense should be invested in D linemen.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Agreed 100%. DC scheme can also make a secondary, LBer's, and D-Line look truly pathetic. The Spags 2012 year is a perfect example.

With safeties & linebackers, you can't just use stats to truly sum up their performance. Especially so with safeties...how long did the QB have to scan the entire field? Which linebacker or corner blew a coverage? Which or how many D-linemen or LBers lost gap discipline or lost contain creating bad tackling angles for safeties already pre-positioned? Did the offense exploit mismatches created against a stoopid scheme (see Spags 2012)?

"Safety" is the most perfectly named position on the field...just in case a D-lineman, a linebacker, or a corner craps themselves on a play, a safety is there to clean it up. Sometimes, you just can't continually clean up all the crap that is being dumped on them by the Front 7 and the corners. Or a DC that has them mismatched in coverage or out of position constantly (see Spags 2012).

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

I liked Harper but Jenkins was just plain bad at FS. I agree with the D-line being bad.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Lofton tackles great plays hard but lacks cover skills, what would help Lofton is a cover ILB to compliment him on the inside.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Spot-on & awesome.

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

When Lofton was in Atlanta, he was not good in coverage. He is much better now, and nowhere near the liability everyone claims he is.

We play a ton of nickel and dime, and he out there in both sets.
Teams throw against us 60% of the time or more, and Lofton is out there for 98.3% of the snaps. What do they 'experts' know that Ryan doesn't?

Logic question: if Lofton is bad in coverage, but is used in every passing situation, does that mean Ryan is an idiot, or that every LB we have sucks in coverage also?

Re: Curtis Lofton appreciation thread
 

Vilma was a THREAT in coverage...Lofton is better at stopping the run. Both are very good backers but I'd still say advantage Vilma