The problem there is that Patterson was the guy with the fast 40 time, smallish hands, and was a body catcher.....just like Will Fuller. Instead we picked the guy with the slower 40 time, huge hands, that was a natural pass catcher. Basically we picked the Patterson this time around.
Yeah, but there's hope for Mercilus being that 3rd pass rusher to go with Clowney and Watt. I'm not sure he'll pull it off, but he did get a decent sack total last season.
They weren't luck, they were him being the guy that opposing defenses weren't worried about. Maybe they pay more attention to him this season and we'll see if that changes his sack total.
Mercilus' problem was that he had about 8 of those sacks when Clowney wasn't in the game and Clowney played well more than half the games. Mercilus' sack production goes in the toilet when he has to share the field with Clowney. With Clowney playing, Mercilus had 1 sack 12/13 againt New Orleans, 1 on 12/20 at Indy, and honestly I think that's it. He might have had one against the Titans on 11/1 before Clowney left the game. He had 3 multiple sack games - 2x 3.5 sacks and 1x 2 sacks. All when Clowney wasn't playing.
And so the Viking picked their Nuke in Treadwell, that's the nfl draft comparison. Vikings and Texans mirroring each other in Patterson/Treadwell and Nuke/Fuller. I keep wondering if the Redskins would have really drafted Fuller rather than Doctson or did the Redskins GM bluff Rick into giving him a pick. They already have Desean.
Its the difference between playing Sam and Will. It isn't a random corelation. Without Clowney he moves over to Will and tears it up.
I don't think the worry was that the Redskins would pick him, more that they might have traded the pick to someone else who might have picked him.
The suggestion that he's better at playing Will than Clowney is kind of funny though, and that's what you were trying to get at. 9 of those sacks came in just 3 games against the Titans and Jags and were partly due to the fact that teams don't fear Mercilus as a pass rusher so they pay less attention to him so it led to some opportunities against the worst teams in the league. Teams will see that overall number and so maybe they pay more attention to him, which will be good because it'll take attention away from better players.
I know you're hypersensitive in your Clowney worship, but that isn't what I was getting at at all. Clowney's numbers speak for themselves. Piling on is bad form. All I was saying is that Mercilus isn't a "quality productive pass rusher" unless he comes from the weak side. Hell, Clowney might become hyper productive as a Sam for all I know. But if you keep pushing Mercilus to Sam he isn't going to produce. My guess is you need to get rid of him and get a more natural Sam if you want to keep rolling with Clowney indefinitely. Or maybe run overloads where both Mercilus and Clowney come from the same side.
I just get tired of false narratives being pushed and that one was pushed quite a lot last season. I have a problem with those who think that Mercilus is better at playing the Will than Clowney or that his production was more than a fluke against the worst teams in the league that is unsustainable.
nevermind. I would like to see Clowney given a try at Sam. I know there were some scouts at the combine who thought that would be his best position pre-draft. His size and pursuit ability would be beneficial there. In Pittsburg over the years they've had plenty of Sam backers rack up sack numbers equal or better than the Will, so it's not like it would be a "lesser" position. I was kind of hoping they'd get someone like Jordan Jenkins in the draft so they could rotate guys around between the Will and Sam a bit more.
I don't want to take Bobbys side in one of his frustrating crusades, but I agree with him. Mercilus never demonstrates any explosive pass rush that I've seen. He plays the run really well now which is s surprising improvement though.
I'm not calling it a "lesser" position, I'm saying that you generally want your better pass rusher and generally faster player on the weak side and that's Clowney. You also want the stronger of the 2 playing SAM and that's Mercilus. Clowney is the quicker, more athletic LB, Mercilus is the stronger of the 2.
Working out in Houston already with Jaelen. Kid seems dedicated. I likes dat. https://www.instagram.com/footwork_king/?hl=en <blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BE3woliTKID/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Session #2 in the books my athlete @will7fuller , Wide Receiver for the @houstontexans . Y'all thought he was playing when he said as soon as he gets to Houston, Tx he's working hard straight until rookie camp. I Worked specifically on Various Press/Release techniques with Will today! #Grindingā</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A video posted by RISCHAD WHITFIELD (@footwork_king) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-05-01T16:25:01+00:00">May 1, 2016 at 9:25am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
