Let's talk Earl Mitchell

[Steve]

I'd be happy to have Mitchell as a backup NT/DE. You can't have too many rotational d-lineman. I'd have concerns about him as a full time NT at only 300 pounds.

He's listed at 300lbs, but many teams don't update their listed weights very often. Jamal Williams was listed at 305lbs until people started to complain that he was too small, then they changed it to 340lbs.

Since Wade didn't care about size, I am curious why you think it is that important?

[oneinchpunch]

[IMG][/IMG]

[TTK]

Not sure where you have been living, but I said our moves would make our 2013 defense worse than our 2012 defense due to lack of quality depth and key losses. I am pretty sure that that is exactly what happened.

I said that Phillips was not done and would be better than Freeney. He was better than Freeney, a lot better than Freeney. We lacked the run stopping presence that I was concerned would be lost without us having Franklin. That's exactly what happened as we went from 5th to 27th in YPC against.

Our offense turned out to be great and that and some great smoke and mirrors by Pagano somehow hid our glaring defensive weaknesses that were all over the place just enough for us to get by.

But now, a year later, could we please actually fix the defense and stop pussy footing around with the likes of Mitchell?!

No offense, but you've been wrong far many times than you've been right so far.

It was a joke anyway, hence the smiley.

[Formula 21]

He's listed at 300lbs, but many teams don't update their listed weights very often. Jamal Williams was listed at 305lbs until people started to complain that he was too small, then they changed it to 340lbs.

Since Wade didn't care about size, I am curious why you think it is that important?

Because I think a 305# center and a 325# G pounding on a 300# NT all game will wear the NT down.

How do you know Wade wasn't concerned? He may have been doing the best he could with what he had available.

[Steve]

Again, you are obsessed with a meaningless statistic. Yes, it could be something in conjunction with other stats (passing especially), but those other stats are more important.

YPC is a great stat for comparing two different units. If you want to know who is the best run D, then YPC is the stat to go to. If we wanted to know who the best run D was among the AFC west, then it is the go to thing. But since that ranks right up there with the other meaningless stuff, why shoudl we give a crap.

But YPC doesn't mean anything by itself. Proof: By YOUR OWN ADMISSION -> we gave up the same # of points last year as this year (more or less). Now POINTS ALLOWED is the GOAL of DEFENSE, how is it that we should give a crap about YPC?

You have just proven you are wrong using your own evidence.

[Steve]

Because I think a 305# center and a 325# G pounding on a 300# NT all game will wear the NT down.

How do you know Wade wasn't concerned? He may have been doing the best he could with what he had available.

There are a lot of all things being equal in there you are forgetting about. A guy who is overweight, for example, has a hard time getting lower and firing out quicker. Low man always wins (leverage) and quicker guy wins (hit before you get hit).

The last 3 NT that Wade has had were all smaller guys. Ratlieff for the Cowboys, Shaun Cody and Mitchell for the Texans were all in the low 300's. I also heard him say in an interview once that he thinks it is overrated. It is interesting to note, that the only 2 big NT he ever had as a coach, were Ted Washington and Jamal Williams, both players he inhereted.

I'm not against having a big NT, or aginst getting power players to play DL in the 34. In fact, I prefer it. But you have to remember, if that is an absolute, then we need to switch D right now, because the huge monster guys who are as big, mobile, and quick (like Jamal, Poe, Ngata....) are very few and far between. And those guys excel in the 43, and take less of a beating, so they last longer.

[oneinchpunch]

Arthur Jones breaking the bank

[richpjr]

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet 1m
Set to visit the #Dolphins as soon as tonight is former #Texans DT Earl Mitchell. They don’t plan to let him leave the facility.

[oneinchpunch]

Former Texans defensive tackle Earl Mitchell is expected to land a 4-yr, $16M deal that includes $9M GTD with Dolphins.

[Yubaking]

Former Texans defensive tackle Earl Mitchell is expected to land a 4-yr, $16M deal that includes $9M GTD with Dolphins.

Best news of the day so far.

[Yubaking]

(sigh) But my, you are stubborn!

In a 3-4, 3 down linemen play. In a nickel (2-5), 2 down linemen play. Teams play nickel somewhere between 70% and 80% of the time. Therefore, of the three down linemen who play in the 3-4, the one who is the least pass rusher comes of the field for 70% to 80% of the plays.

A good NT can be an all-world run stuffer but perhaps not be as good a pass rusher as the DEs, so he would not be in the nickel. Soliai is not a pass rusher. He would not play in our nickel even if he becomes the greatest run stuffer of all time. My understanding is that Nix is more of a run stuffer than pass rusher, so the same would apply to him.

So, yes, a good NT often only plays 20% to 30% of the defensive plays. The NTs you like to cite as playing more happen to be good pass rushers, or at least better pass rushers than their colleagues on the DL. But there are plenty of great NTs who are not pass rushers and, therefore, do not see a majority of defensive snaps.

It's really a simple concept, and it's been explained on here numerous times. I don't understand why you have such difficulty with it.

I am not sure why you are incapable of grasping that good NTs play much more than 20%-30% of their team's defensive snaps regardless of defensive formation. Poe played something like 93% of his team's defensive snaps last year. In recent years, Ngata and Raji have played well over 70% of their team's defensive snaps. Jamal played somewhere around two-thirds of our defensive snaps when we had him in the 3-4.

I have been discussing getting a good NT, not a NT that sucks. In FA, that means Soliai, who would play about 50-55% of our snaps. In the draft, that means Nix, who would get a large percentage of snaps this year and even more in the few years following that.

Now maybe you can just admit that you are wrong or you could try to argue that KC only played nickel about 7% of the time.

[Guest]

Best news of the day so far.

I disagree. I just ran across this: