Another thread got me thinking about this and doing some digging. There’s a perception from some that Ski wasn’t that bad and didn’t deserve to be fired. I can see the point that Murphy had some decent years, KJ broke out his senior year, XT was pretty good this year and Parker burst onto the scene.
As usual, I decided to dig into the stats further. I went back to 2012 for the start of the BV era bc our defense sucked before that haha. Sacks aren’t the only way to determine a DE’s worth but they’re mostly judged by that stat. It’s pretty interesting to see the DE production decrease after Ski came on staff. 2018 was his first year and he had ready-made products in Cle and Bryant. After that, we have only had one year where a DE led the team outright in sacks. Stats below:
Sacks by DEs vs LBs, Total (leader and highest by DE if not the leader in parentheses)
2023: 8 to 12.5, 30 total (Trotter 5.5, Parker 5)
2022: 12 to 17, 40 total (Trotter 6.5, Murphy 6.5, Carter 5.5)
2021: 15 to 13, 41 total (Murphy 7)
2020: 16.5 to 17, 46 total (Spector 4.5, Murphy 4)
2019: 9.5 to 19.5, 37 total (Simmons led the team with 7, Foster 4.5)
2018: 25 to 10.5, 46 total (Cle 11.5, Bryant 8)
2017: 19 to 17.5, 44 total (Cle 9.5, Bryant 8.5)
2016: 8.5 to 12, 46 total (Carlos Watkins led the team with 10.5 and Dex was second with 7!!!! Cle had the most for a DE with 6)
2015: 28 to 11, 38 total (Shaq 12.5, Dodd 12)
2014: 21.5 to 9, 44 total (Beasley 12)
2013: 21 to 7, 38 total (Beasley 13)
2012: 17 to 6, 34 total (Beasley 8, Goodman 7)
Avg Sacks by DE’s 12-18: 20
Avg Sacks by DE’s 19-23: 10
We appear to be relying way more on LBs to get to the QB over the last five years than we did in the past. We have not had dominant pass rushers like Lawson, Beasley, Ferrell, Bryant, even Dodd! With the caliber of recruits like XT, KJ, Murphy, Parker, etc I think it is pretty unacceptable we haven’t been able to develop more consistent pass rushers and, thus, moving on from Coach Hall was the right decision.
As usual, I decided to dig into the stats further. I went back to 2012 for the start of the BV era bc our defense sucked before that haha. Sacks aren’t the only way to determine a DE’s worth but they’re mostly judged by that stat. It’s pretty interesting to see the DE production decrease after Ski came on staff. 2018 was his first year and he had ready-made products in Cle and Bryant. After that, we have only had one year where a DE led the team outright in sacks. Stats below:
Sacks by DEs vs LBs, Total (leader and highest by DE if not the leader in parentheses)
2023: 8 to 12.5, 30 total (Trotter 5.5, Parker 5)
2022: 12 to 17, 40 total (Trotter 6.5, Murphy 6.5, Carter 5.5)
2021: 15 to 13, 41 total (Murphy 7)
2020: 16.5 to 17, 46 total (Spector 4.5, Murphy 4)
2019: 9.5 to 19.5, 37 total (Simmons led the team with 7, Foster 4.5)
2018: 25 to 10.5, 46 total (Cle 11.5, Bryant 8)
2017: 19 to 17.5, 44 total (Cle 9.5, Bryant 8.5)
2016: 8.5 to 12, 46 total (Carlos Watkins led the team with 10.5 and Dex was second with 7!!!! Cle had the most for a DE with 6)
2015: 28 to 11, 38 total (Shaq 12.5, Dodd 12)
2014: 21.5 to 9, 44 total (Beasley 12)
2013: 21 to 7, 38 total (Beasley 13)
2012: 17 to 6, 34 total (Beasley 8, Goodman 7)
Avg Sacks by DE’s 12-18: 20
Avg Sacks by DE’s 19-23: 10
We appear to be relying way more on LBs to get to the QB over the last five years than we did in the past. We have not had dominant pass rushers like Lawson, Beasley, Ferrell, Bryant, even Dodd! With the caliber of recruits like XT, KJ, Murphy, Parker, etc I think it is pretty unacceptable we haven’t been able to develop more consistent pass rushers and, thus, moving on from Coach Hall was the right decision.
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