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Rob Ryan Pops a Cowboys Meme on the Nose, Part II
Posted by Rafael at Sunday, February 20, 2011
Part II of the series on Dallas' nose tackles considers the rarity of a rush nose tackle, and how Jay Ratliff has regain the dominant rush form he showed in '08 and '09.
Jay Ratliff has 20 sacks in four full seasons as a starter, a clean, even 5.0 per campaign. He had a 7.5 sack season in '08 and a 6.0 season in '08. How does that rank historically among his nose tackles? The NFL has only kept official sack stats since 1982, so some of the earlier greats like the Dolphin's Manny Fernandez and Oilers' Curley Culp have only unofficial numbers behind them. A good portion of the Broncos' Rubin Carter's, the Dolphins' Bob Baumhower's. and New England's Sugar Bear Hamilton's stats don't exist.
Still, the 3-4's history is young. The first teams to use the 3-4 as a base front were the Bills, Patriots and Oilers, around '73 and '74. The scheme grew in popularity though the decade and by the mid-80s, it was the dominant front in football. The 4-3 returned to vogue in the '90s, but the 3-4 has been on a comeback lately, with the growth of Steelers and Packers-style zone-blitz schemes.
I've looked at every top nose tackle from '82 to the present to find their production as pass rushers. The Tim Krumries, Baumhowers, Fred Smerlases, Ted Washingtons, Vince Wilforks, and Casey Hamptons had their stats run, among others. I set the bar at a modest level. How many other nose tackles in the last 29 seasons have had, like Ratliff, at least five sacks in two or more seasons?
I found only two others in that span. The 49ers Michael Carter, an SMU product and an Olympic shot putter, anchored three Super Bowl teams. He had a 7.0 sack campaign in '85 and a 6.5 sack season in '88. As impressive as Ratliff has been, the nose tackle sack crown belongs to the Chiefs' Bill Maas, who had four consecutive 5+ sack seasons between '84 and '87.
It's interesting to note that many of the best nose tackles in the '70s, '80s and early '90s were, like Ratliff, considered undersized for their position. Fred Smerlas was 277. Bob Baumhauer was 261. Tim Krumrie was 270 , Reggie Kinlaw was only 245. Maas played 271. Carter was the giant of the bunch, and he weighed only 285 lbs. Like Ratliff, they all relied on power, quickness and superior technique to succeed.
The monster-masher, the Ted Washington, Jamaal Williams, Vince Wilfork-type, the 340 lb. space eater, is a product of the last decade. And it's not simply the size that makes guys like this successful, but their ability to stack runs directly at them and chase down plays to the edges of the line of scrimmage. The massive Terrence Cody, a favorite among may Cowboys draftniks last year, played sparingly for Baltimore last year because he lacked the conditioning necessary for the NFL's speed. The Ravens are bullish on him, but want him working on his speed this offseason as much as his power.
Zone blocking teams require defensive linemen to work quickly laterally to prevent being hooked inside and away from their assigned gap. Ratliff can do this; he finished 5th on the team in '08 with an impressive 51 tackles, ranking behind the two inside backers, Demarcus Ware and S Ken Hamlin.
Despite the size concerns, Ratliff has the skills to excel in the 3-4 scheme. He's the rarest of rushers of the nose, and has the reach and power to beat centers and guards one-on-one. I've never tired of re-telling the story of the match up between Ratliff and Leonard Davis in the '08 training camp. Ratliff repeatedly smacked Davis in the chest with a two-handed punchout and bowed the 366 lb. Bigg backwards. Say what you want about Davis' sluggish feet, but he's one of the few Cowboys linemen who can maul you when he locks on. He's also one of the biggest humans in the league. Ratliff's speed with his punch, and his long reach won him the vast majority of those duels. If he can bend Leonard Davis backwards, Jay Ratliff can push just about any lineman around.
Ratliff doesn't need to move. He needs help. Ratliff has played an extreme number of snaps in his short career and could use fewer snaps on 1st and 2nd downs. Dallas believes it has the solution to Ratliff's high snap counts in 2nd-year nose/DE Josh Brent. The supplemental pick from Illinois has the squatty nose tackle body, packing 315 lbs. into a 6'2'' frame. He's very quick off the ball and has a powerful lower body. He surprised Andre Gurode early in training camp with a swim move that got the rookie into the backfield.
Brent broke his hand on that impressive first day, missed most of camp and tried playing catch up during the regular season. Paul Pasqualoni worked Brent extensively on the nose in his half as defensive coordinator and also gave Brent lots of snaps at DE.
The raw tools appear there, but Brent needs lots of work on his hands. He bull-rushed almost exclusively in the final games. Brent can get a push, but if he can get the point of getting past linemen has quickly as possible, he can be that 1st down rotational player who can keep Ratliff fresher on passing downs and add some sacks of his own. Can Brent improve? His new position coach may make the difference.
Rob Ryan had high praise for new D-line coach Brian Baker in last week's presser. Baker has received little notice, but he may be one of the most important hires this off-season; returning the line to it's '09 production would go a long way to getting the defense back to that elite level.
Posted by Rafael at Sunday, February 20, 2011
Part II of the series on Dallas' nose tackles considers the rarity of a rush nose tackle, and how Jay Ratliff has regain the dominant rush form he showed in '08 and '09.
Jay Ratliff has 20 sacks in four full seasons as a starter, a clean, even 5.0 per campaign. He had a 7.5 sack season in '08 and a 6.0 season in '08. How does that rank historically among his nose tackles? The NFL has only kept official sack stats since 1982, so some of the earlier greats like the Dolphin's Manny Fernandez and Oilers' Curley Culp have only unofficial numbers behind them. A good portion of the Broncos' Rubin Carter's, the Dolphins' Bob Baumhower's. and New England's Sugar Bear Hamilton's stats don't exist.
Still, the 3-4's history is young. The first teams to use the 3-4 as a base front were the Bills, Patriots and Oilers, around '73 and '74. The scheme grew in popularity though the decade and by the mid-80s, it was the dominant front in football. The 4-3 returned to vogue in the '90s, but the 3-4 has been on a comeback lately, with the growth of Steelers and Packers-style zone-blitz schemes.
I've looked at every top nose tackle from '82 to the present to find their production as pass rushers. The Tim Krumries, Baumhowers, Fred Smerlases, Ted Washingtons, Vince Wilforks, and Casey Hamptons had their stats run, among others. I set the bar at a modest level. How many other nose tackles in the last 29 seasons have had, like Ratliff, at least five sacks in two or more seasons?
I found only two others in that span. The 49ers Michael Carter, an SMU product and an Olympic shot putter, anchored three Super Bowl teams. He had a 7.0 sack campaign in '85 and a 6.5 sack season in '88. As impressive as Ratliff has been, the nose tackle sack crown belongs to the Chiefs' Bill Maas, who had four consecutive 5+ sack seasons between '84 and '87.
It's interesting to note that many of the best nose tackles in the '70s, '80s and early '90s were, like Ratliff, considered undersized for their position. Fred Smerlas was 277. Bob Baumhauer was 261. Tim Krumrie was 270 , Reggie Kinlaw was only 245. Maas played 271. Carter was the giant of the bunch, and he weighed only 285 lbs. Like Ratliff, they all relied on power, quickness and superior technique to succeed.
The monster-masher, the Ted Washington, Jamaal Williams, Vince Wilfork-type, the 340 lb. space eater, is a product of the last decade. And it's not simply the size that makes guys like this successful, but their ability to stack runs directly at them and chase down plays to the edges of the line of scrimmage. The massive Terrence Cody, a favorite among may Cowboys draftniks last year, played sparingly for Baltimore last year because he lacked the conditioning necessary for the NFL's speed. The Ravens are bullish on him, but want him working on his speed this offseason as much as his power.
Zone blocking teams require defensive linemen to work quickly laterally to prevent being hooked inside and away from their assigned gap. Ratliff can do this; he finished 5th on the team in '08 with an impressive 51 tackles, ranking behind the two inside backers, Demarcus Ware and S Ken Hamlin.
Despite the size concerns, Ratliff has the skills to excel in the 3-4 scheme. He's the rarest of rushers of the nose, and has the reach and power to beat centers and guards one-on-one. I've never tired of re-telling the story of the match up between Ratliff and Leonard Davis in the '08 training camp. Ratliff repeatedly smacked Davis in the chest with a two-handed punchout and bowed the 366 lb. Bigg backwards. Say what you want about Davis' sluggish feet, but he's one of the few Cowboys linemen who can maul you when he locks on. He's also one of the biggest humans in the league. Ratliff's speed with his punch, and his long reach won him the vast majority of those duels. If he can bend Leonard Davis backwards, Jay Ratliff can push just about any lineman around.
Ratliff doesn't need to move. He needs help. Ratliff has played an extreme number of snaps in his short career and could use fewer snaps on 1st and 2nd downs. Dallas believes it has the solution to Ratliff's high snap counts in 2nd-year nose/DE Josh Brent. The supplemental pick from Illinois has the squatty nose tackle body, packing 315 lbs. into a 6'2'' frame. He's very quick off the ball and has a powerful lower body. He surprised Andre Gurode early in training camp with a swim move that got the rookie into the backfield.
Brent broke his hand on that impressive first day, missed most of camp and tried playing catch up during the regular season. Paul Pasqualoni worked Brent extensively on the nose in his half as defensive coordinator and also gave Brent lots of snaps at DE.
The raw tools appear there, but Brent needs lots of work on his hands. He bull-rushed almost exclusively in the final games. Brent can get a push, but if he can get the point of getting past linemen has quickly as possible, he can be that 1st down rotational player who can keep Ratliff fresher on passing downs and add some sacks of his own. Can Brent improve? His new position coach may make the difference.
Rob Ryan had high praise for new D-line coach Brian Baker in last week's presser. Baker has received little notice, but he may be one of the most important hires this off-season; returning the line to it's '09 production would go a long way to getting the defense back to that elite level.