02-26-2021, 12:43 AM
(02-25-2021, 04:25 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Our offenses sucked with Burrow. Based on your logic that mean Joe is expendable.
You can't judge individuals on how the team performs.
The main difference between the two examples is that for Burrow you can point to hard stats like yards, completions, TDs, first downs, and ratios(TD/INT, yards/attempt, completion %, etc.). Those stats are empirical facts. A 10 yard completion is not a "close to 10 yard completion." A passing touchdown is not an "almost touchdown." A person can reasonably look at his rookie stats and surmise that he is a franchise QB who will earn QB1 money some day.
For Lawson to stake his claim as a top DE(who should be paid like a DE1), you really have to go beyond the empirical stats. His sack numbers and TFL numbers over four years are underwhelming. He hasn't been able to stay on the field. You have to project his coulda woulda shoulda ghost stats as well as better results in the health department in order to justify his being paid like a top defensive talent. What use is it if Lawson defeats an OT over and over again right after the ball is released? What use is it if he gets an "almost sack" but doesn't get the guy on the ground? I really like the guy and enjoy rooting for him, but paying the dude QB money for 5 sacks/year and hardly any healthy years seems downright absurd to me. Projecting that a guy who was chronically injured or was a 5 sack guy as miraculously turning into a 10+ sack super healthy guy once he gets paid is some risky business.
