Originally posted by Blitz:
Originally posted by NCommand:
Originally posted by NinerFan408:
Jason Cole of Yahoo sports has the niners ranked 19th as far a D-Line is concerned.
LINK
Quote:
19. San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers like to sell people on the greatness of Aubrayo Franklin(notes). Nice player, but more along the lines of Cincy’s Domata Peko, a tough, hard-working sort. That leaves ends Isaac Sopoaga(notes) and Justin Smith(notes), who are both solid. Smith is terribly overpaid, but that’s the nature of free agency in the NFL.
Agree or Disagree?
Kind of dumb. They should compare 4-3 d-line with 4-3 d-lines, 3-4 d-lines with 3-4 d-lines, etc.
I don't care about how much Smith is paid but he is certainly doing everything and more esp. for a 3-4 RDE. I somewhat agree re: Franklin b/c he'll never be a Wilfork or Williams but in a one-gap, he's above average. Sopoaga is a very solid LDE and should continue to get better. Of the other 3-4 defensive lines, I'd say we're above average for sure. We need to keep perspective that how often did teams run against us vs pass? Was that b/c we were so effective along the d-line with our LB's or b/c we were more weak against the pass?
I read somewhere...a statistic site somewhere that Smith was the top end in the league in the QB pressures/ general makin' chaos on passing downs dept. It didn't shock me...I believe it...I truly do think he is the most disruptive end in the league. We lose Smith, our D is not near what it is now. He is worth every penny, easily.
But that was probably done by a site that had actually seen him play and/or did research. That doesn't follow proper protocol.
Justin Smith? Did he have a sack in the Pro-Bowl? Don't think so. He Sux.
The above logic is a much more atypical way to confirm value. Its the same system used by professionals everywhere, like ratings agencies on Wall Street, as well as multi-billion dollar energy internationals, like BP.