Za'Darius Smith v. Danielle Hunter

[Uncle Buck]

Long term, I'd rather have Danielle Hunter, but I think Zadarius has had a slightly better season in 2019 (although Hunter has also been very good).

[joru1000]

Hunter plays exclusively from the LE position, except when Everson Griffen goes crazy. It's the objectively harder position to generate sacks from, yet he had more than Smith, including more tackles and more forced fumbles, despite always having his hand in the ground.

 

Yes, I do know Smith had more pressures, though.

 

This is still Hunter, easily. He's a prototypical speed rusher, who just happens to play on the strong side. When Griffen leaves, and Hunter moves to the RE position he'll be eyeballing 20 sack seasons.

Edited January 3, 2020 by joru1000

[Soko]

57 minutes ago, joru1000 said:

It's the objectively harder position to generate sacks from

Eh. You lose the blindside advantage but the talent is generally at left tackle over right tackle. I don’t think it makes that much of a difference at the end of the day. If you’re dominant, you should be dominant on either side.

[vikingsrule]

59 minutes ago, Yin-Yang said:

Eh. You lose the blindside advantage but the talent is generally at left tackle over right tackle. I don’t think it makes that much of a difference at the end of the day. If you’re dominant, you should be dominant on either side.

I don’t think side matters as much as it used too. You see plenty of talent at RT like Lane Johnson, La’el Collins and Ryan Ramczyk. The fact that Hunter never moves around like a lot of other top pass rushers certainly makes it easier for defenses to prepare for him. 

[SteelKing728]

Z. Smith is crazy good. Should've made the probowl.

That said, Hunter is better overall and a better player long term.

[BlaqOptic]

On 1/3/2020 at 6:06 PM, joru1000 said:

Hunter plays exclusively from the LE position, except when Everson Griffen goes crazy. It's the objectively harder position to generate sacks from, yet he had more than Smith, including more tackles and more forced fumbles, despite always having his hand in the ground.

 

Yes, I do know Smith had more pressures, though.

 

This is still Hunter, easily. He's a prototypical speed rusher, who just happens to play on the strong side. When Griffen leaves, and Hunter moves to the RE position he'll be eyeballing 20 sack seasons.

Smith was the 2nd most double teamed player in the league. Griffin was middle of the pack.

[BlaqOptic]

On 1/3/2020 at 7:05 PM, Yin-Yang said:

Eh. You lose the blindside advantage but the talent is generally at left tackle over right tackle. I don’t think it makes that much of a difference at the end of the day. If you’re dominant, you should be dominant on either side.

Exactly. This "Left Tackle vs Right Tackle" argument is moot in today's NFL.

[joru1000]

I'm confused. You contradicted yourself in the same paragraph. Are left tackles better than right tackles, or are they the same talent wise, thus giving the RE the advantage since he gets the blindside and no tight end? 

[JAF-N72EX]

41 minutes ago, joru1000 said:

I'm confused. You contradicted yourself in the same paragraph. Are left tackles better than right tackles, or are they the same talent wise, thus giving the RE the advantage since he gets the blindside and no tight end? 

It's not contradicting at all. You may just not be understanding it is all.

The old notion that blindside tackles are better and more valuable than right tackles are no longer a thing in today's NFL. The same way that blindside pass rushers are no longer more valuable than defenders who play on the right side. 

Between the fact that how much the QB position has changed and how defenses have adjusted to this,  the NFL has evolved to the point that both are equally as important as the other.

In fact, gun to my head, I would even go as far as to say that a pass-rusher who spends the majority of his snaps on the right side is even more valuable than those who play the blindside simply because;
A) left-handed QB's are no longer a thing.
B) Right-handed QB's are more accurate throwing to their right. 
C) Right-handed QB's are more comfortable going to their right when escaping pressure from the pocket.

2 hours ago, BlaqOptic said:

Smith was the 2nd most double teamed player in the league. Griffin was middle of the pack.

To be fair, his numbers were inflated in the 2nd half of the season by playing 4 of the worst offenses in the league (CHI, NYG, CAR, WAS). Before that, his pressure rate was just a nudge better than average despite recording 8 of his 13.5 sacks during this span.

 

[FinneasGage]

i only watch redzone and packer games, so can't really speak on hunter, but za'darius has had the second best season i've seen from a packer defender in my 15 years of fandom. second only to cwood's dpoy year.

[JAF-N72EX]

11 minutes ago, FinneasGage said:

i only watch redzone and packer games, so can't really speak on hunter, but za'darius has had the second best season i've seen from a packer defender in my 15 years of fandom. second only to cwood's dpoy year.

Even as a Bears fan, your disrespect for Nick Collins in this post is disturbing. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by JustAnotherFan

[FinneasGage]

1 minute ago, JustAnotherFan said:

Even as a Bears fan, your disrespect for Nick Collins in this post is disturbing. 

collins 2008-2010 was elite. what za'darius did this season was ******* ridiculous. better than prime clay imo. without Z packers are like a .500 team maybe worse. 

[JAF-N72EX]

6 minutes ago, FinneasGage said:

collins 2008-2010 was elite. what za'darius did this season was ******* ridiculous. better than prime clay imo. without Z packers are like a .500 team maybe worse. 

I respectfully disagree with both. With Collins, the Packers defense was a top-5 for 3 years straight, and immediately declined the year he got injured. And IIRC, has never had a top defense since.

Collins was a beast and did alot more than stats will ever show.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by JustAnotherFan

[FinneasGage]

38 minutes ago, JustAnotherFan said:

I respectfully disagree with both. With Collins, the Packers defense was a top-5 for 3 years straight, and immediately declined the year he got injured. And IIRC, has never had a top defense since.

that's fair i probably have some recency bias maybe. wood in a tier at the top, but collins, cm3, Z are in that next tier for me. 

[JAF-N72EX]

17 minutes ago, FinneasGage said:

that's fair i probably have some recency bias maybe. wood in a tier at the top, but collins, cm3, Z are in that next tier for me. 

That's cool. I don't have a problem with Wood being on anyone's Packers defense list. His longevity and consistency speak for its self.

I know this thread, and your post, was about Z and I kinda took it in another direction (my bad btw), but the lack of respect for Collins (from a Packers fan of all people) got me a bit heated for a second lol,  because I watched that man get overlooked and underrated for so long, year after year, only because he played in the same era as three of the best safeties who have ever played the game. (Troy, Reed, and X)