Curtis Lofton appreciation thread

[jeanpierre]

Originally Posted by Roll Tide

Most tackles does not mean best tackler

Example: Roman Harper...

[Danno]

Originally Posted by brees84

Couldn't care less about PFF. After posting some of their stuff I realized that it's not that simple to evaluate a player based only on PFF stats.

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.

[ScottF]

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

[Mr.Riaton]

Originally Posted by Danno

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.

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.

[Barry from MS]

Originally Posted by Danno

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.

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).

[halloween 65]

Originally Posted by Danno

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.

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

[halloween 65]

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

[Barry from MS]

Originally Posted by halloween 65

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

Spot-on & awesome.

[ScottF]

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?

[DrewDat]

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