ALLoverCANE
Recruit
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 1,402
A lot of people have been saying “he went from 5.5 sacks to 5 sacks. It’s not a huge deal” but the rest of his numbers show the whole story. Lack of effort has been cited along with the combine scout who mentioned his unwillingness to be coachable. It’s a shame because he’s talented.
The rest of his numbers aren't consistent with a low-effort player. He graded out very well with PFF. Part of the reason his production wasn't higher was scheme, double teams prior to Rousseau's emergence, and coming up a half-second short on a lot of plays - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you force a rushed throw, even if you don't bring the QB down, that's a successful play for a DE. Not much you can do as a DE if a QB throws the ball away. But of course, that half second could've also been attributable to a lack of effort.
I'm not saying I disagree with the idea that he could've played harder. But I dispute the notion that the rest of his numbers were consistently down. He was a good player last year, just not a great one.