Curtis Lofton appreciation thread

[Jack Vegas]

Lofton is playing at a Vilma-in-his-prime level. Controlling the middle of the field. He deserves a ton of credit for his play. Might very well be the most important player on the defense right now.

Anyone disagree?

[SaintLeonard]

I don't. He is pretty much in on every play, he tackles anything and everything he sees, and I don't think he's as bad in coverage as some people around here say he is.

One common thing you will see with great defenses is that all 11 players run towards the ball, no matter what. If we had 11 players that give the same effort as Lofton does on every play, our defense would be sooo much better.

[Danno]

Better than average player, but limited in coverage and can get caught in traffic.

B-player, very good against the run, below average against the pass.

BTW: PFF has him rated our 2nd worst defender so far this season.

[dizzle88]

Originally Posted by Danno

Better than average player, but limited in coverage and can get caught in traffic.

B-player, very good against the run, below average against the pass.

BTW: PFF has him rated our 2nd worst defender so far this season.

Just out of curiosity, who does PFF have rated as our best defender?

[Danno]

Originally Posted by dizzle88

Just out of curiosity, who does PFF have rated as our best defender?

The last report I saw was a few games ago, but it had Parys Haralson 1st, Cam Jordan 2nd and Galette 3rd. Vaccaro was the worst, in fact he was the worst safety in the NFL.

Haralson had a ouple of sub-par games since so he may have slipped. Vaccaro's had a couple of OK games so he may have risen from last.

I'd like to see rankings now after 8 games.

[Barry from MS]

I can appreciate Lofton, but I'm sure he would give his due credit to Cam Jordan (who has been double & triple teamed at times) and those guys in the middle of the D-Line like Hicks.

Just wish he was a step faster, but he is who he is. You have to credit him with helping us be the 10th best rush defense in the NFL.

[K Major]

I have seen flashes of beast mode this season. Only wish he was faster.

[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.

[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.

[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.