The offseason: Defensive ends

http://www.jaguars.com/news/article-Jagu...c631d7cd30


Senior writer John Oehser and senior correspondent Brian Sexton examine the Jaguars’ defensive end position in this look at the ’18 offseason

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My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

Sexton is   su·per·ca·li·HOM·ER·IS·TIC·ex·pi·a·li·do·cious

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My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

Sexton is   su·per·ca·li·HOM·ER·IS·TIC·ex·pi·a·li·do·cio[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]·douche[font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]·[/font]us[/font]

Threw a helpful little edit in there for ya.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

They both talked up Smoot, but they never mentioned anything he did to support their claim and I haven't seen anything from watching him play to say that he was any more than just a guy. I think the Jags could upgrade his roster slot. 

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

Agreed. Smoot to me had a couple decent flashes, but largely was "just a rotational guy". He's young and has developmental upside, but he would not be difficult to upgrade if they decided to do so. However, I don't see them targeting an upgrade there, as the cheap rotational guys are needed in your roster.

---

My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

They both talked up Smoot, but they never mentioned anything he did to support their claim and I haven't seen anything from watching him play to say that he was any more than just a guy. I think the Jags could upgrade his roster slot. 

The position he plays traditionally takes 2-3 years for players to develop into productive starters.  There are exceptions to the rule - but you can look at the stat lines for many of the good DEs league-wide and see an uptick in pressures, sacks, tackles for loss etc in year three of their careers. 

I'd not write him off so soon. 

I thought he looked good vs the run in 2017. It was mostly flashes here and there - but he was only on the field for 24% of the defensive snaps.  I saw a few nice plays at the L.O.S. by Smoot in run defense that gave me hope for his future on base downs.  This is coming from a guy who wanted a TE or Guard to be chosen with his draft pick. 

He's here now. He's on his rookie deal. Let's see what he can do for a while.

---

My dislike for Sexton grows. His comment at the end of the article just reinforced this.

"...You wouldn’t bother taking an end in the draft unless something entirely unexpected happened; he couldn’t make your roster … this group is absolutely set for 2018."

No position is ever so set that someone couldn't come in and challenge the roster and to think so is elitism at its absolute worst.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to watching the position for the next few seasons.

Agreed. If I had Bruce Smith and Reggie White playing on my team and there was a guy sitting there at 29 that shouldn't have probably fell that far and he's a JJ Watt, Julius Peppers or Michael Strahan type of defensive end that you rated highly. I am taking him anyway. Well coached teams find ways to maximize their personnel. They find ways to scheme their best overall pass rushing unit out on the field during obvious passing situations. 

And if Coughlin has a hand in it you know he'll be looking at every position. This is a guy who had Strahan and Umenyiora at DE and still drafted guys like Tuck, Kiwanuka and eventually Pierre-Paul to keep the pass rush consistent.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

They both talked up Smoot, but they never mentioned anything he did to support their claim and I haven't seen anything from watching him play to say that he was any more than just a guy. I think the Jags could upgrade his roster slot. 

The position he plays traditionally takes 2-3 years for players to develop into productive starters.  There are exceptions to the rule - but you can look at the stat lines for many of the good DEs league-wide and see an uptick in pressures, sacks, tackles for loss etc in year three of their careers. 

I'd not write him off so soon. 

I thought he looked good vs the run in 2017. It was mostly flashes here and there - but he was only on the field for 24% of the defensive snaps.  I saw a few nice plays at the L.O.S. by Smoot in run defense that gave me hope for his future on base downs.  This is coming from a guy who wanted a TE or Guard to be chosen with his draft pick. 

He's here now. He's on his rookie deal. Let's see what he can do for a while.

I don't disagree with any of that. I'm sure that he's viewed as a good developmental DE by the Jags.

The point was that Oehser and Sexton both wrote as if Smoot was a great player. He hasn't shown much in the way of a pass rush, which is what you want from the DE position, and he's not the size of a run stuffing "big end." He will probably get better, most DEs do, but he's far below the level of the Jags other three DEs and would need to take a big leap in production to get close to that level.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

They both talked up Smoot, but they never mentioned anything he did to support their claim and I haven't seen anything from watching him play to say that he was any more than just a guy. I think the Jags could upgrade his roster slot. 

The position he plays traditionally takes 2-3 years for players to develop into productive starters.  There are exceptions to the rule - but you can look at the stat lines for many of the good DEs league-wide and see an uptick in pressures, sacks, tackles for loss etc in year three of their careers. 

I'd not write him off so soon. 

I thought he looked good vs the run in 2017. It was mostly flashes here and there - but he was only on the field for 24% of the defensive snaps.  I saw a few nice plays at the L.O.S. by Smoot in run defense that gave me hope for his future on base downs.  This is coming from a guy who wanted a TE or Guard to be chosen with his draft pick. 

He's here now. He's on his rookie deal. Let's see what he can do for a while.

Same here, I wanted Pat Elflein or Dan Feeney but Smoot showed flashes and played better than expected.  Doesnt really mean anything but i looked at pff ratings and Smoot has a better rating than Elflein or Feeney.  Kind of glad we waited for this year on interior oline, i think we will get a better player.  Hopefully we can get a better TE too

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He did say unless something unexpected happened so I would guess that he would agree with taking a freak talent that had an odd drop on draft night. I think what he is saying is that the position isn't exactly highest on the need board atm and unless something unexpected happens.. don't expect a DE to be drafted.

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I like Phillips and Dimick also and think they could produce if an injury happened. Its cool that Smoot gets to play with Wildman on the Jags too.

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The position he plays traditionally takes 2-3 years for players to develop into productive starters.  There are exceptions to the rule - but you can look at the stat lines for many of the good DEs league-wide and see an uptick in pressures, sacks, tackles for loss etc in year three of their careers. 

I'd not write him off so soon. 

I thought he looked good vs the run in 2017. It was mostly flashes here and there - but he was only on the field for 24% of the defensive snaps.  I saw a few nice plays at the L.O.S. by Smoot in run defense that gave me hope for his future on base downs.  This is coming from a guy who wanted a TE or Guard to be chosen with his draft pick. 

He's here now. He's on his rookie deal. Let's see what he can do for a while.

I don't disagree with any of that. I'm sure that he's viewed as a good developmental DE by the Jags.

The point was that Oehser and Sexton both wrote as if Smoot was a great player. He hasn't shown much in the way of a pass rush, which is what you want from the DE position, and he's not the size of a run stuffing "big end." He will probably get better, most DEs do, but he's far below the level of the Jags other three DEs and would need to take a big leap in production to get close to that level.

Nonsense. Oesher said "The team has reason to be optimistic about Smoot, who as a rookie quietly played 16 solid games and has the look of a long-time contributor and possible future starter" and Sexton said "[font=Montserrat-Light]Mix in Smoot, who provided quality depth in all 16 regular-season games". At no point do they say he is a great player.[/font]

[font=Montserrat-Light]Smoot is obviously below the level of our other DEs because, frankly, Campbell and Ngakoue are two of the best DEs in the league and Fowler was the 3rd pick in the draft with enormous pedigree and talent. You clearly just read what you want to read.[/font]

[font=Montserrat-Light]That said, Sexton is definitely a homer.[/font]

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I don't disagree with any of that. I'm sure that he's viewed as a good developmental DE by the Jags.

The point was that Oehser and Sexton both wrote as if Smoot was a great player. He hasn't shown much in the way of a pass rush, which is what you want from the DE position, and he's not the size of a run stuffing "big end." He will probably get better, most DEs do, but he's far below the level of the Jags other three DEs and would need to take a big leap in production to get close to that level.

Nonsense. Oesher said "The team has reason to be optimistic about Smoot, who as a rookie quietly played 16 solid games and has the look of a long-time contributor and possible future starter" and Sexton said "[font=Montserrat-Light]Mix in Smoot, who provided quality depth in all 16 regular-season games". At no point do they say he is a great player.[/font]

[font=Montserrat-Light]Smoot is obviously below the level of our other DEs because, frankly, Campbell and Ngakoue are two of the best DEs in the league and Fowler was the 3rd pick in the draft with enormous pedigree and talent. You clearly just read what you want to read.[/font]

[font=Montserrat-Light]That said, Sexton is definitely a homer.[/font]

OK, so "great" was a bit of hyperbole. 

Still, "16 solid games" and "quality depth" is a bit over the top for a DE with ZERO POINT ZERO sacks. He's right up there with Vernon Gholston. I remember Derrick Harvey being solid against the run too.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"