Defense lost 5 NFL Draft Picks

[Purple-Ed]

Been a disaster for @rutgersal so far.

Well, he is a nitwit.

 

[mikemarc1]

Absolutely, at 100% we are a playoff team. However after all the injuries, we are not a playoff team.

That doesn’t make much sense.

 

[rutgersal]

That doesn’t make much sense.

You know how last years jets season went into the tank after they lost Aaron Rogers? Same concept.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I’ll claim utter ignorance here…what is a “shell”?

helmets and shorts and tees.. ie.. non-contact

 

[mikemarc1]

You know how last years jets season went into the tank after they lost Aaron Rogers? Same concept.

And most people who said jets were a Super Bowl contender last season admitted after the season they were well wrong with that prediction.

 

[ashokan]

I’ll claim utter ignorance here…what is a “shell”?

"Helmets and shells" mean helmets and shoulder pads and shorts. There was no contact with helmets and shells . You wore them to be acclimated to moving in pads. Throwing a pass or reaching for a high ball with or without "shells" was different. I never heard the term in HS but it was used by my college coach who played at Michigan St. Monday's and Fridays were for "helmets and shells."

 

[RAC93]

• Toure
• Powell
• Longerbeam
• Rogers
• Lewis

Certainly not an insignificant number of defenders. Losing 1 or 2 is bad enough. Losing 5 is Catastrophic, because its 45% of our defense. Their replacements will continue to do the best they can, but it won't be easy because they have learning curves, and are getting acclimated to this level of play. Not a coincidence that after Lewis went down, their back kept bouncing out to Lewis' side for big gains.

Not only are we losing these players, we're losing their experience, their maturity, their leadership, and the time they spent developing. Intangibles that are impossible to quantify. Some of the replacements are reacting to what they see, rather than instinctively positioning themselves to make the play. Lots of tackles are happening downfield, rather than in the backfield, for a TFL. So we just have to be patient, while the newbies develop. What other choice do we have?

If A Lewis is drafted then I think I am the next pick after him in the draft. He was better a few years ago, has not gotten better and certainly has not boosted his stock as a draft pick for the NFL. He may get invited to an NFL camp as a free agent like many guys do, but a draft pick?

 

[RAC93]

Absolutely, at 100% we are a playoff team. However after all the injuries, we are not a playoff team.

 

[rutgersal]

If A Lewis is drafted then I think I am the next pick after him in the draft. He was better a few years ago, has not gotten better and certainly has not boosted his stock as a draft pick for the NFL. He may get invited to an NFL camp as a free agent like many guys do, but a draft pick?

Can you run 4.7 and bench 220 20 times like Aaron can? I don’t think so.

He is much stronger than he was a few years ago, going up against bigger tackles and very stout against the run. He went up against Future NFL tackles last year and held his own. He has gotten one sack, which is disappointing, but has come close to a number of others. The first thing Wisconsin did after his injury was attack his side of the field, successfully. As possibly our best defensive player, our defense became a sieve after he went down, and that is testimony to his importance. Now that he’s damaged goods, all bets are off, but his critical importance to our defense cannot be understated. He is our best pass rusher and without him, our pass rush becomes nonexistent against better teams.

 

[ashokan]

If A Lewis is drafted then I think I am the next pick after him in the draft. He was better a few years ago, has not gotten better and certainly has not boosted his stock as a draft pick for the NFL. He may get invited to an NFL camp as a free agent like many guys do, but a draft pick?

A helmet that fits him without crimping vision would help

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Would have been a disaster if we were 2-4. Were 4-2, with lots of opportunity ahead of us

We wouldn’t be 4-2 if Felter didn’t play in those 2 games. There’s no way and that’s the sad hard reality. One guy matters when your running with a game manager QB. It’s not AK’s fault. We knew he was that going into the season. It was what we needed to compete best with line we started the season with. With a good OL we could excel in a run first style. Felter was the nucleus of that and now it appears we aren’t even average with protection. The D is a whole other story. But every team deals with injuries. We just seem less equipped to navigate them.

 

[rutgersal]

We wouldn’t be 4-2 if Felter didn’t play in those 2 games. There’s no way and that’s the sad hard reality. One guy matters when your running with a game manager QB. It’s not AK’s fault. We knew he was that going into the season. It was what we needed to compete best with line we started the season with. With a good OL we could excel in a run first style. Felter was the nucleus of that and now it appears we aren’t even average with protection. The D is a whole other story. But every team deals with injuries. We just seem less equipped to navigate them.

No doubt we lost a lot when we lost Felter.

Taj White showed a lot of improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, though his matchup wasn't as difficult. While he won't replace Felter 100%, let's hope he improves enough so that we can at least have a functional offense. Line gave up 0 sacks to Wisconsin. Kids have to catch the ball.