https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/07/30/sig-stats-run-stop-percentage-dbs/ For safeties, DJ is the top safety in run stop percentage. There could be two possible explanations (could be a combination of both): 1. DJ has a nose for the ball, and is not afraid to make plays/hit. 2. Wade Phillips played him in the box too much, which gave him more opportunities. However, does this mean that Wade was playing against the run too much, or just trying to hide his weakness in coverage? I tend to lean towards the latter, since the Texans played Nickel/Dime a lot. It is not a singular explanation, but a combination of the two above that I can identify. I think it is important to note that he also missed 8 tackles. This confirms his lack of tackling technique, where he went for the big hit, instead of the solid wrap. I hope he learns that his size proportional to people in the NFL is much smaller than in college, and corrects this. tl;dr - Swearinger is a good run stopper, and can be a dual-combo safety if he improves his pass coverage abilities (it is uncommon to see both abilities at the safety position). I don't know how to embed the chart.
I would ask when those missed tackles occurred. I seem to recall him missing some tackles going for the big hit early in the season, but then realizing he couldn't get away with that like he did in college and then making adjustments as the season progressed.
That's my thinking too...I remember him going for those big time hits and whiffing. The 2nd half of the season, he showed some big improvements. Hope he can build on that and continue to progress.
The safety position is becoming a premium position... Just look at how many were drafted in the 1st 2 rounds this year. If you don't have good to great safety play in today's NFL _ it probably won't matter how good the front 7 is... Very important for these safeties to step it up if the Texans want to have a dominant defense.
Maybe I am wrong assuming, but I think you might be referring to missed tackles after a completed pass, which are easier to notice than in the run game in live viewing. Well, er, that's good :grin: I think it is incredible with all those missed tackles, and as a rookie, he was still the tops in run stop percentage. Brings toughness in the secondary.
He is a good run stopper. Run stopping from a starting safety is a luxury and near the bottom of desired traits for the position. With more and more teams running out of shotgun it's definitely nice to have. But it also means nothing. Nobody is going to pay the guy more because he can plug the run.
The Texans could actually put 3 safeties on the field in certain situations and replace a LB with DJ. But in today's NFL where offenses are putting more receiving options on the field _ to be a truly dominate defense you need two safeties that can both cover and hit. That's what Seattle and San Francisco has.
This could be an issue with the run-stopping abilities of the front seven. I make the assumption that safeties do not provide TFL's or line of scrimmage tackles very often, thus making the run-stopping abilities a good ability in a bad situation.
I could be wrong but I believe 3 safeties is far more common in college. You definitely could put Swearinger in there, I get that, but from what I've heard we're experimenting with Jackson in the slot/nickel on possible running/pass downs to combat teams running out of shotgun. The idea of removing a rush or inside LB for a 212lb guy seems counterintuitive to BoB's philosophy. He says he wants to focus on stopping the run early, then force teams to pass to setup the rush. Swearinger is definitely the flexible, tough kind of player we can use deceptively but I just don't see him doing much from the 2nd level.
You're not wrong at all... But it is said the Big Nickel formation (three-saftey set) is starting to become a trend in the NFL and with teams starting to use multiple TE receiving options, passing the ball to RB's out the back field more, more mobile quarterbacks, pro offenses starting to steal pages out of the college play book, and can't tell if a team is going to pass or run by their offensive formation _ it's understandable. But yea, DJ needs to seriously work on his coverage skills... Hopefully he has.
Pretty sure Quinn used to play defacto LB in many sets. His coverage skills were better than DJ's though. I think that's a big part of what was missing last year. That, and Cush was typically the only true LB on the field in nickle or dime. Very curious to see how they're used this year.
Yeah, a DB on the 2nd level that can defend is useful. A DB on the 2nd level that cant cover well being used for run stopping purposes - doesn't make much sense.
