(02-20-2020, 10:04 PM)iHaunting Raven Wrote:

(02-20-2020, 09:43 AM)Bullseye Wrote: Even taking your comparative assessment of the abilities of Yan and Allen at face value, Allen becomes less effective if he is the only pass rushing threat the team offers.  If the Jaguars allow Yan to walk and don't adequately replace him, Allen will face far more attention from opposing offenses.  He will get more double teams and teams will be able to scheme to reduce his impact.

History shows the best times in Jaguars history-and the best performers in the history of the league-happened when teams have multiple threats at a position.

in Jaguars history, in the early TC years, our passing game was great because we had two stud Ts in Boselli and Searcy (and a good swing T in Ben Coleman) and two stud WRs in Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell.  We had our strongest run defense during the JDR era when we had two stud DTs in Stroud and Henderson.  We had our strongest rushing attack when we had two stud RBs in FT and MJD.  In most of those cases, when one of each of those pairs left, the productivity fell off.

The same holds true for teams around the league.  Tom Brady's best statistical season was when he had two good WRs at his disposal in Randy Moss and Wes Welker.  Their DL was the best when they had studs along their front three in Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork.  The Chiefs won it all this year because they had four blazing fast WRs and another threat at TE.  The Ravens won their first Super Bowl by having two stud run stuffing DTs in Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa, who enabled Ray Lewis to roam freely at MLB.  That defense also offered three good pass rushers in DEs McCrary, Rob Burnett, and OLB Peter Boulware.  The Giants won their first Super Bowl in the Parcells era with two stud OLBs in Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks, and Super Bowls in the Coughlin era with good pass rushers in Jason Pierre Paul and Michael Strahan and later Justin Tuck.  The Raiders won their last Super Bowl with a pair of stud CBs in Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes.  The examples are endless.  Amassing quality talent at a position makes that position a matchup advantage.

Finally, the fact Yan had only eight sacks does not tell the entire story about his ability.  First, he had a hamstring injury that hindered him for 4-5 games, even though he missed only one game.  Secondly, the team's run defense completely collapsed.  If teams decided to simply run the ball for a stretch of five weeks, you won't get too many sacks during that time.  Finally the team did not play with many leads.  The fact is, since he was drafted in 2016, he has been one of the most productive pass rushers in the league.  If you think Smoot is anywhere near Yannick Ngakoue, I'm not sure where else this conversation can go.

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Forgot about him.  Mea culpa.

But where is he now?

Why don't the most productive players want to remain with this team?

xDDD

Yeah, you are right, it's not like Allen is a rookie who will only get better... It's not like he already showed he is way more talented than Yan... It's not like he can get sacks by himself like other players...

Whoa.

My post was not an attack on Allen in ANY way whatsoever.

My post did not deny Allen was a rookie last year. 

My post did not assert he could not get better.

It's numbers and common sense.

A defense with two good pass rushers is typically more effective at rushing the passer than a defense with only one.  A pass rusher or WR or CB with paired with another one at the same position becomes more effective because it changes the way opponents approach the games.  Jimmy Smith got more attention from defenses when Bobby Shaw was on the other side  https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/jax/2002.htm#rushing_and_receiving::14 than when Keenan was on the other side.  https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/jax/2001.htm#rushing_and_receiving::14 When that happened, it was harder for him to get open.  Did it mean he wasn't a great player?  No.  It was just harder for him to do his job.

My "rule of two" argument later in this very post was silent on any comparison between the two players listed in each instance.  Listing Carl Banks as a stud LB in that NY Giants pair does not declare that Banks is equal or better than Lawrence Taylor. 

I DID expressly state that Yan was vastly superior to Smoot in my closing paragraph.

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