How Defensive has this Defense been

[rusty28264]

I just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on how everyone on defense has played this year so far. Here's my thoughts

Everson Griffin/Stephen Weatherly: obviously Griff missed alot of times so I would give him an N/A. Weatherly had been a pleasant surprise and had given us a 3rd end to rotate

Linval Joseph: Big Goon has been good this year but not great like the previous couple years

Sheldon Richardson: Sheldon started the season off great but had slowed down. Has been average

Danielle Hunter: What can I say. He has become one of the best edge players in the league.

Anthony Barr: He had missed the last few games. With all the talk about using him more as an edge rusher I honestly thought we would see more of it. He has been average and I dont believe he deserves to get a huge deal.

Erica Kendricks: this one is puzzling. I am a big Kendricks fan but he has been our weakest defender this season. He is getting lost in coverage and not coming down hill like he has in seasons past.

Trae Waynes: Trae has been solid. I do wish he would trust his recovery speed and play closer to the line and bump more.

Harrison Smith: Harry hasn't been as good as the last 2 seasons but he has still been very good.

Andrew Sendejo/Anthony Harris: Andrew has been ok but has missed games. Ant has been very solid since he has taken over. It might be his job now.

Xavier Rhodes: This one is also puzzling. As a big Rhodes fan I have expected top corner play and we have not gotten it this year. He has been ok but honestly something has been off with him since week one. Is he playing with an injury?

Mackenzie Alexander: Average at best

[SemperFeist]

As a whole, the defense has been very good. However, there have been situations where they’ve failed to stop our opponent we’ve needed it most. 

Last night’s game was great, except with 4:00 left on the clock the defense needed to get off the field and they gave up a 17 yard play on 3rd and 8. Against the Saints, we held them to low yards, and realitively low points, but they gave up an 8+ minute drive to New Orleans, failing to get off the field. And against Buffalo, the offense had some bad turnovers, but the defense compounded them by allowing the Bills into the end zone. 

On the year I’d give them a “B”

[Scottish_Viking]

I noticed that 3rd and 8 late in the 4th quarter Harrison Smith seemed to dash back 20+ yards a second or so pre snap and Trubitsky completes a simplish pass and smith must be a good 15+ yards too deep. don't understand it was a huge down as it was a 1 score game at the time

edit the play is mentioned by semperfeist

[VikeManDan]

14 hours ago, rusty28264 said:

Linval Joseph: Big Goon has been good this year but not great like the previous couple years

Perhaps it was just me but we gave up way too many big runs on 1st down to the Bears. It seemed Linval was part of the pile 6-7 yards down the field.

[Vikes_Bolts1228]

Probably a "B"

We're really good but it doesn't quite feel "elite/dominant" like it did last year. It kinda seems that, besides Hunter, everyone has taken a step back. Harry, Rhodes, Griffen (not his fault), Kendricks, and Linval aren't at 2017 level of play. Rhodes certainly went from maybe the league's best CB down to a good CB as he doesn't feel like the same CB who will own a game. Harry has even been uncharacteristically beaten badly a few times. Kendricks has had some bad play as well.

Like someone said above, we have patches of game where we get zero resemblance of a pass rush and there's been a few occasions where we need a big defensive stop but we don't convert. We also STILL get shredded by running backs catching the ball out of the backfield. A lot of times, there's not a defender within 5 yards of the RB.

We've needed big plays against the Rams and Saints but didn't get any and the D wasn't clutch against Chicago when we needed them to be (although you CANNOT put that loss on them AT ALL). There was also some very very very stupid and costly penalties against the Bears that knock the defense down a peg (Looking at you, Harry).

[TENINCH]

I think it's time for some turnover and fresh "blood" Its time to start looking for replacements for Joseph, Richardson, and Sendejo. These guys are approaching 30 or older. They really aren't as effective anymore.

[vikingsrule]

29 minutes ago, TENINCH said:

I think it's time for some turnover and fresh "blood" Its time to start looking for replacements for Joseph, Richardson, and Sendejo. These guys are approaching 30 or older. They really aren't as effective anymore.

Sendejo has already been replaced it seems with Harris, he's young. 

 

[SemperFeist]

I’m not bringing Richardson back, if I were making the decisions.

Sendejo is an easy cut.

[Vikes_Bolts1228]

On 11/22/2018 at 2:06 PM, SemperFeist said:

I’m not bringing Richardson back, if I were making the decisions.

Sendejo is an easy cut.

Earlier this season, I would have FOR SURE re-signed Richardson. He looked great.

After the last couple.....we can do without him.

[SotanKing]

 

[SotanKing]

 

[swede700]

On 11/22/2018 at 12:54 PM, TENINCH said:

I think it's time for some turnover and fresh "blood" Its time to start looking for replacements for Joseph, Richardson, and Sendejo. These guys are approaching 30 or older. They really aren't as effective anymore.

That's about the funniest thing I've read all week.  I think you had eaten too much turkey when you wrote it.  

[TENINCH]

6 hours ago, swede700 said:

That's about the funniest thing I've read all week.  I think you had eaten too much turkey when you wrote it.  

I hate turkey. Ham all the way.

[SemperFeist]

7 hours ago, swede700 said:

That's about the funniest thing I've read all week.  I think you had eaten too much turkey when you wrote it.  

It’s not as crazy as you think. Sendejo has been replaced. Harris has played just as well, if not better than Sendejo ever has. 

And looking for replacements for Jospeh/Richardson can certainly begin this offseason. Joseph has not been playing at a consistent level this year. He’s flashed, but he’s also had stretches of ineffective play. Same also goes for Richardson. Considering what he was advertised as, he hasn’t lived up to it. Yes, there have been moments, but not nearly the consistency that one would expect for a player of his reported talent along with the other players on this line. And given the contracts being handed out to DTs, I can’t say that Richardson is worth that level of contract with what he’s done so far. 

[Vikes_Bolts1228]

32 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

It’s not as crazy as you think. Sendejo has been replaced. Harris has played just as well, if not better than Sendejo ever has. 

And looking for replacements for Jospeh/Richardson can certainly begin this offseason. Joseph has not been playing at a consistent level this year. He’s flashed, but he’s also had stretches of ineffective play. Same also goes for Richardson. Considering what he was advertised as, he hasn’t lived up to it. Yes, there have been moments, but not nearly the consistency that one would expect for a player of his reported talent along with the other players on this line. And given the contracts being handed out to DTs, I can’t say that Richardson is worth that level of contract with what he’s done so far. 

Linval just turned 30 last month so I don't think we need to make it a priority in 2019 to replace HIM but I like when teams are proactive and get an eventual replacement on the roster so they're ready to jump right in when need be. It's a lot better than having a veteran start sucking and we're stuck with him until we bring a rookie in and he needs a year or two to learn the NFL game.

Being proactive is always a good thing.

As for Richardson, unless he comes back on the cheap.....I don't mind if he leave which means we'd have to draft his replacement anyway. Maybe do his in 2019 and Linval's in 2020. We needs a few things shored up before we draft two DT's.