Thoughts on Dre K ?

[PDub80]

(03-16-2016, 05:18 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Just me 

and all the NFL teams that wanted him so badly in free agency 

and all the experts who ranked free agents.




But what do we all know.  Pretty silly not to realize that the only way to judge a DE is to go to the stat book and look up "sacks".  And of course stats don't even matter once he went to SF since they went down considerably. 

While, yes, it is true that Justin Smith was the most sought after DE in 2008, the weight of that fact should be held against who else was a FA that year. Basically, it was a trash heap with Smith being the only strong player coming out of it. So, yeah, he was ranked as the best DE and, yeah, teams went after him.... Of course! Given the list below, who wouldn't? Again, Fred, supply vs. demand. Supply was awful so he was in the highest demand.

2008 NFL FA DEFENSIVE ENDS


1. Justin Smith
28
Cincinnati

2. Antwan Odom
26
Tennessee

3. Bobby McCray
26
Jacksonville

4. Chris Clemons
26
Oakland

5. Travis LaBoy
26
Tennessee

6. Marques Douglas
31
San Francisco

7. Kevin Carter
34
ex-Tampa Bay

8. Ebenezer Ekuban
31
Denver

9. James Hall
31
ex-St. Louis

10. Jimmy Wilkerson
27
Kansas City



^ BTW, for those saying the Bengals don't try in FA, notice the #2 ranked DE from that year. BURNT AGAIN! Damn it!!!!!!

- Also, please understand that I feel like Justin Smith was a great player.... as a 3-4 END for the 49ers. But as a 4-3 DE for the Bengals he was not living up to his Franchise Tag contract and in the years leading up seemed like he had totally plateaued into a middle of the pack player - again, in caps - FOR THE BENGALS.

- Ohhhhhhhhh, he had a bunch of tackles? Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!  So did Landon Johnson. And he ran off for a big payday (for him), too. But just because the panthers threw a bunch on money at him, does that make Landon Johnson actually a great player all of a sudden? Hell no!

Besides the BS call in Tampa that kept the Bengals out of the playoffs, what I remember most from watching Justin Smith throughout his whole career was that he was really really good at chasing down running backs from behind after they had broken through the line of scrimmage. In the Bengals 4-3 he had become a chaser. Very very few impact plays: tackles for loss, forced fumbles, passes batted down, and sacks - as I have illustrated - were all low production for him. In Cincy's 4-3, Justin Smith was a middle of the road warm body who was durable and tried hard. In San Fran he was one of the best 3-4 Ends in the league. But, regardless of that, I only care about what he did in the Bengals system..... Not much impact.

But, wait, Fred... There's MOOOOORRRRRRRE!!!!!!!!!

Here is me blowing your mind and finally putting the nail in the coffin on your Justin Smith/Dre Kirk position in this. And, being a lawyer, I hope you can appreciate my Jack McCoying you so hard right now.

Which is it?

Dre Kirk is really good because he starts on a really good D?

Or Justin Smith is really bad because started on a really bad D, that only got better immediately after he left?

You see, in 2007 (Justin Smith's franchise tagged season) the Bengals D ranked 27th in the NFL in defense, 26th against the pass, & 21st against the run. http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/position/defense/year/2007

But, in 2008 (Justin Smith's 1st year off the roster) the Bengals D ranked 12th in total defense, 15th against the pass, & 21st against the run. http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/sort/netTotalYards/position/defense/year/2008

I think it is fair to warn you now that if you start to point out anything other than Justin Smith being OR NOT being on the roster in a starting role for reasons as to the entire defense improving or being bad than you have to acknowledge that your entire argument about the D being good = Dre Kirk being good because he starts on it is bull crap and illogical. And you must begin to acknowledge the fact that a good player can start on a bad defense just like a bad player can start on a good defense. And you must acknowledge that there are a lot of factors that go into the total performance of a defensive unit.

^ All of which opens the door to everyone else's argument that Dre Kirk sucks - while your defense of him has been myth busted. Poetically enough by your own admission of evidence in the form of one Justin Smith. Like I said... Jack McCoy'd

And now you must also say "I love crepes"