AsylumGuido

Too many people are fixated upon numbers. Numbers do not tell the whole story. Look at Scott Shanle. He was voted by teammates the Saints defensive MVP in 2008 with only 87 total tackles, two sacks and five passes defended. His job was to channel to the inside and he excelled at that.

It's how well you do your job that is important. Rankins job for most of the season was to occupy two blockers and he did that quite well.

spkb25

Okay and if that is true than someone should have broke out. Point to the player along the front that recorded extra sacks based off of his production. That's why I am looking at numbers because no one else has them either

jeanpierre

So he's a two gap nose tackle? That's not what I remember reading when we drafted him...

Look I think it's way too soon to cut bait with him, but he's not splitting double teams as advertised...

AsylumGuido

It's not what WE thought he is or was supposed to be that's important. It's whether he is what the team feels he is that's important.

Check out this article. It points out his importance.

Sheldon Rankins is 'Chris Paul' of Saints defense

“It definitely pisses me off sometimes in a competitive way, just because I want to be able to make a lot of plays," Rankins told NOLA.com.

But Rankins said he “definitely” takes pride in the job he has been doing this year, which includes switching positions to defensive end when needed and taking on double-teams to help set up teammates such as Pro Bowl DE Cameron Jordan, who has 12 sacks this year.

“Oh, he knows he owes me so much. So much. And I won’t ever let him forget it,” Rankins said. “I definitely take pride in being able to set my teammates up to make plays for this defense and put us in position to be where we are now, competing for a division championship. But at the end of the day, I definitely want to make those plays as well.”

.....

And he has been a disruptive pass-rusher, even though it hasn't amounted to many sacks. Rankins is tied for second on the team, with nine quarterback hits. Rankins has been credited with between 32-40 pressures this season, according to various analysts.

.....

Teammates and coaches have also praised Rankins for being a cerebral leader who gets guys lined up and makes adjustments before the snap. Add all of that together, and he has been a successful first-round pick so far, adding to the spectacular run the Saints have had in the draft for two years with guys such as Rankins, Michael Thomas and Vonn Bell last year and Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk and Marcus Williams this year, among others.

“He’s having a great year for us,” Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of Rankins. “He’s been very disruptive inside. You don’t always receive credit when you create disruption, which allows other people to make plays.

“His versatility of being able to play inside and play outside, intelligence of knowing exactly what to expect, helping us to get things set up on the defensive line, as far as some different things that we’re trying to do up front, has been really good for us.”

Saints linebacker Manti Te’o explained that Rankins “plays horizontal well” -- not just vertical -- which opens some gaps for the guys behind him.

“And he can hold double-teams,” Te’o said. “He has a strong anchor where he can hold double-teams and hold 'em at that point and not get blown back.”

Saints coach Sean Payton said Rankins is a good example of a team-first guy.

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