05-23-2020, 08:16 PM
(05-23-2020, 03:45 PM)Dean_Gilberry95 Wrote: He played the same number of years on both teams his stats are almost identical in each 7 year span. What made him a great player there and not here? He never had more than 8.5 sacks with either team. I’ll never understand why they thought he was so great in San Fran when his numbers were the same in Cincy.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJu20.htm
Same reason whitworth was all pro with the Rams and not here. It’s because they played for the Bungles. Nobody cares, except us. I still say if Whitworth was on any other team Joe Thomas gets less love over the years. It is what it is.
While I do believe Justin Smith was somewhat undervalued here, and that he better than most people thought, there's no denying he fit much better in a 3-4.
Stats aren't the end all be all. For research, Football Reference assigns an "Approximate Value" to each individual season for every player. In Smith's case you'll see his number hover around the same here (b/t 6-8) and then skyrocket in San Fran (b/t 13-18). It's pretty similar to PFF, but I don't have an account to provide those numbers.
In a 3-4 he's not asked to get down in a stance and rush the edge as much. He's out in space a lot more, which causes sack totals to drop.
And what's really scary is that he got to San Fran at age 29. He ranked #17 in the NFL Top 100 at age 32. Mutiple Pro Bowls. Imagine what those numbers would look like from the ages of 22-29 in a 3-4 vs. 29-36. I think it's safe to say it was a much better scheme for him. He matched or exceed pretty much every career record there (Sacks, Fumbles, Tackles for Loss, QB Hits). To do this in a at an older age, and playing in a 3-4 is pretty incredible.
To each their own, but I don't think there was a bias there. He just played a lot better in that system, even if the numbers don't always show it. He was a monster later in his career. And he pretty decent here too, just not the best fit.
