(05-16-2022, 10:45 AM)flgatorsandjags Wrote:

(05-12-2022, 08:10 PM)Bullseye Wrote: On the other hand, were he the complete liability many here have asserted, team after team wouldn't bother to trade for him.  In 2020, he had a combined 8 sacks for Minnesota and Baltimore, and last year for the raiders, he had ten (10) sacks.  Meanwhile, our leading sacker in 2020 had 5.5 sacks (fewer than Ngakoue's total for the year) , and last year, our leading sacker had 7.5 sacks (again, fewer than Ngakoue's total for the year).  None of these so called humble and quiet players produced anything.

In fact, in the DECADE BEFORE Ngakoue got here, only ONE (1) player matched the ten sacks Ngakoue produced last year:  Bobby McCray in 2006.  There were seasons (note the plural) during that time where NO Jaguars player got more than 4 sacks.

Give me an egomaniac who can rush the passer and create turnovers over a humble guy who can't.  

Edge:  Ngakoue.

All you're doing is looking at a sack number.  Yawn is the worst player in the league at his position against the run and why he gets passed around.  Teams bring him in and realize the few extra sacks isn't worth it when he's the worst in the league at his position at stopping the run and a huge liability in that aspect.  He's a pass rush specialist but you don't pay 20 mil a year to a player that's a huge liability

1.  While not the only measure of an edge rusher, that is the primary measure of Edge rusher effectiveness/impact.

2.  It's a passing league now, and it has been for decades.  It behooves a defense to be able to rush the passer and create turnovers.

3.  To that end, if you look at the seasons where the Jaguars played like  a contending team, they were able to provide a strong pass rushing presence.  The early Coughlin teams featured guys like Tony Brackens, Jeff Lageman, Clyde Simmons, Joel Smeenge, and, when he was actually sent on a blitz they actually practiced, Kevin Hardy.   In 2017 when we reached our 3rd AFC championship, we had Ngakoue, Campbell and Fowler coming off the edge to offer quality edge rushing.  Conversely, when this team was at its absolute worst, we could offer little to nothing from the edges, even though guys like Jared Odrick were better against the run than Ngakoue. 

4.  If you look at the most memorable, most important and most impactful defensive plays in team history, they typically came from the pass rush.  When we had our first home win in team history, the game clinching play was a sack of Neil O'Donnell.  When we had that cathartic win over our expansion rivals and media darlings the Carolina Panthers, it was Tony Brackens and the pass rush from the edge that was the difference, as Brackens had 2 and a half sacks coming off the bench as a rookie.  The 1998 Monday Night win over the Dolphins was sealed with a Tony Brackens sack, and the defensive play that broke open the 1999 Divisional playoff game against Miami was the Brackens sack, forced fumble, recovered fumble and TD. In that 2017 playoff run, one of the main reasons we beat the Steelers was because Ngakoue forced a Big ben fumble that was scooped and scored by Telvin Smith.    Our wins against Buffalo and Indy last year?  Marked by dominant edge rushing by josh Allen.  Nondescript guys like Odrick, Renaldo Wynn, Alualu, etc., offered almost NIL in terms of momentum changing or game clinching plays during their stays here, because they offered next to nothing in terms of pass rush.

There is ample reason why I focused on sack numbers, but I could also focus on forced fumbles to illustrate the point.  Those plays came from the pass rush.

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