07-08-2020, 11:42 AM
(06-28-2020, 11:10 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Does Jonah Williams really count as a "step up" player since he did not play at alllast year? If so then there is no contest in that catagory.
If Jonal does not count then I would pick Lawson, BUT I have serious doubts about his durability.
So my choice is Germain Pratt. What jumped out to me from last year was his consistent development over the season. He barely played the first half of the year with only 101 snaps on defense (app 20%) and never more than 38% of the defensive snaps in any game. Then in game #9 against Baltimore he played 50% of the defensive snaps, and Preston Brown was immediately released. Pratt still did not play more than 68% of the snaps until the final 4 games. Then he played over 70% in 3 of them. Here is how his season broke down
Game..snaps...tkl...solo..asst..blitz..TFL
1-4 ........ 25... 4..... 1..... 3..... 1..... 0
5-8 ........ 76...12.... 9..... 3..... 6..... 0
9-12.......148...22...14..... 8..... 7..... 0
13-16.....187...34...23.....11....14..... 4
Project that last quarter of the season over a full 16 games and you get 136 tackles and 16 tackle for loss. That would be an awesome year from any of our LBs.
I know 4 games is a very small sample size, but those numbers were not just a fluke spike in production. Instead you can track consistent improvement throughout the entire season.
Gotta say I agree with you Fred. Pratt is my main guy I think we are going to see Darius Leonard-like numbers from this season. I think he will play 70% of the snaps all season and this guy will bolster the middle of our defense. Im really excited to see him play this year.
I do also agree some people are basing "step back" too much off of productivity lost due to health of players around them. I would say Bobby Hart but let's be honest, how much worse can he get. I do think we could start to see Dunlap or Geno begin to step back just due to age and wear & tear. I hope I'm wrong about this but I dont think too many other guys are going to step back in play.
