yesterday was an example of that on defense:
I dont think anyone is calling Boye Mafe or Darrell Taylor elite players. They are competent rushers on a defense with a good secondary
Yeah but we also suck, so it's really hard to evaluate the quality of the competition. Those near-hits against Washington and New York don't look all that appetizing now.
This assumes we know how to identify a group of really good pass rushers.
This off-season, they decided Myjai Sanders, Cam Thomas, BJ Oujulari Barbarian, and Collins could be that group. Cam Thomas is a ghost, BJ looks like a total stiff so far, Sanders got cut, Collins does a good job of jumping on a sack once it’s already in progress. Barbarian is the only solid rotation piece amongst the 5.
It’s tough enough to get one dynamic pass rusher. That usually comes at the top of the draft. But to find four or five guys who are solid doing so is even tougher, IMO.
Yeah but we suck! We don't have a ton of opportunities to pin our ears back and rush the passer, because we don't force a lot of 3rd and longs and we NEVER have a lead to protect.
All that said, we're still 14th in the NFL in sack percentage (according to Pro Football Reference). Better than the Jets, 49ers, Jags, etc. Gardeck, Collins, and Dimukeje are all on pace for 8.5 sacks or more.
Here are last year's top pass rushers, and when they were selected (and acquired by their current team):
Nick Bosa, 2nd overall
Myles Garrett, 1st overall
Haason Reddick, 13th overall (Free Agent)
Matt Judon, 146th overall (Free Agent)
Chris Jones, 37th overall
Alex Highsmith, 102nd overall
Micah Parsons, 12th overall
Maxx Crosby, 106th overall
Brian Burns, 16th overall
J.J. Watt, 11th overall (Free Agent)
A bunch of those guys' teams missed the playoffs last year! Some of them really sucked balls, too!