Aldon Smith will get 18 QB Sacks or More ?

I'm wondering if his transition to an every down player will affect his sack totals. Will be be dropping into coverage more? Will he strictly rush the QB on 3rd (or obvious passing downs)? Wondering if him playing every down will affect the amount of energy he can bring with the rush. He should be in better shape than last year but will he wear down? It's tough coming into a game cold for 1 play but a lot easier giving all on 1 play a series than 50-60 plays a game. Also, do we line him up as a DE on 3rd downs like we did so much last year or is he playing back? A bunch of his sacks were coverage sacks and him being relentless. We will be playing some better offenses this year.

We know who will be on the line on 3rd downs so that means Aldon Smith will get a few more opportunities while knowing what he is doing. He will not have to wait until his 3rd - 4th game to figure it out. In addition with more tape on Smith that will leave a few more opportunities for J. Smith and RayMac to get a few more sacks. It will also open the door for Brooks, Willis, and Bowman. So we should see another 10-15 sacks for the team this year.

Originally posted by DirtyP:

Originally posted by NCommand:
No way! Even if Fangio moves him around like a Matthews, he'll be most likely playing every down like Brooks last year. He "may" get double-digit sacks but I highly doubt it d/t the mere fact he'll have to 1) Assess the play 2) Stop the run first (and screens) en route to QB pressures 3) Drop back in zone and 4) Deal with fatigue and OL's now having game tape on him.

If he AND Brooks are close to double-digit sacks (plus all the QB hits/pressures/TO's that come with it), while still stuffing the run (sealing the edge and many TFL's) and doing a solid job dropping back in zone for inside or underneath coverage, it would be a TREMENDOUS year for our defense.

While I expect Aldon to be around 10 sacks (lower than last year) I expect his overall game will increase dramatically...becoming a well-rounded WILL and one of the best in the game eventually.

Demarcus Ware is an OLB in a 34 and all he does it rush the passer and he collects huge sack totals every year. Aldon Smith got every single one of his sacks on obvious passing downs where he did not have to diagnose much of anything. He will still be in on such downs next year. There is absolutely no reason to think he can't improve his sack total from last year. He will simply have more opportunities to rush the passer next year. On the additional downs he will be playing, of course he will have additional responsibilities, but that shouldn't subtract from his pass rushing production last year when he was playing less than half of the snaps he is playing now. I don't buy the fatigue excuse either. This player is a 23 year old freak and he trains with Justin Smith year round. I fully expect him to have the same type of endurance as Smith and McDonald.

Yeah, hard to refute any of the points made here today by all. I can genuinely see both sides of the coin here too. Its quite conceivable that if Fangio lines him up all over the place on every down like a Matthews or Ware, he could get more sacks with more opportunities...if we open up the defensive playbook and exploit mismatches along the OL. We shall see if Fangio does this or keeps it more vanilla b/c we had so much success with it last year. Either way, nice to see him in the film room studying hard to be the best! For what it's worth, I hope you guys are right all around!

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by DirtyP:

Originally posted by NCommand:
No way! Even if Fangio moves him around like a Matthews, he'll be most likely playing every down like Brooks last year. He "may" get double-digit sacks but I highly doubt it d/t the mere fact he'll have to 1) Assess the play 2) Stop the run first (and screens) en route to QB pressures 3) Drop back in zone and 4) Deal with fatigue and OL's now having game tape on him.

If he AND Brooks are close to double-digit sacks (plus all the QB hits/pressures/TO's that come with it), while still stuffing the run (sealing the edge and many TFL's) and doing a solid job dropping back in zone for inside or underneath coverage, it would be a TREMENDOUS year for our defense.

While I expect Aldon to be around 10 sacks (lower than last year) I expect his overall game will increase dramatically...becoming a well-rounded WILL and one of the best in the game eventually.

Demarcus Ware is an OLB in a 34 and all he does it rush the passer and he collects huge sack totals every year. Aldon Smith got every single one of his sacks on obvious passing downs where he did not have to diagnose much of anything. He will still be in on such downs next year. There is absolutely no reason to think he can't improve his sack total from last year. He will simply have more opportunities to rush the passer next year. On the additional downs he will be playing, of course he will have additional responsibilities, but that shouldn't subtract from his pass rushing production last year when he was playing less than half of the snaps he is playing now. I don't buy the fatigue excuse either. This player is a 23 year old freak and he trains with Justin Smith year round. I fully expect him to have the same type of endurance as Smith and McDonald.

Yeah, hard to refute any of the points made here today by all. I can genuinely see both sides of the coin here too. Its quite conceivable that if Fangio lines him up all over the place on every down like a Matthews or Ware, he could get more sacks with more opportunities...if we open up the defensive playbook and exploit mismatches along the OL. We shall see if Fangio does this or keeps it more vanilla b/c we had so much success with it last year. Either way, nice to see him in the film room studying hard to be the best! For what it's worth, I hope you guys are right all around!

One of Aldon's strenghts coming out of college was his ability to rush from the inside. We saw them utilize that ability to a small extent with the stunts he and Justin would run. However, that seemed to be a little more based on scheme than Aldon's raw talent. I remember when he was coming out of college some said that since there was any game film of him rushing from the outside he was a big question mark? Wow, did the scouts have it wrong. With that said, it would be a shame to have a player of his talent only attack from one spot. I would be shocked if we dont see him lining up all over the place.

I think he will have 13 sacks but Justin Smith will have 15.

Crazy idea:

Keep him as a 3rd down specialist only?

I believe that's what the Giants do with Osi, and most admit he's more effective that way.

Unless the goal is for him to be that superstar everydown OLB to compete with the likes of Pierre-Paul.

45 million sacks shouldnt be too hard to get

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:
Crazy idea:

Keep him as a 3rd down specialist only?

I believe that's what the Giants do with Osi, and most admit he's more effective that way.

Unless the goal is for him to be that superstar everydown OLB to compete with the likes of Pierre-Paul.

Aldon has more tools and strength where he can be effective every down. Remember, when he's not in the game, it is more difficult for Justin and the other 2. With Aldon in the game, Justin and Ray Mac have less to deal with. The QB will feel like he's in a cave with a bunch of bats s**tting on him.

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:
Crazy idea:

Keep him as a 3rd down specialist only?

I believe that's what the Giants do with Osi, and most admit he's more effective that way.

Unless the goal is for him to be that superstar everydown OLB to compete with the likes of Pierre-Paul.

Not crazy...worst case scenario, it's still a great one. Less chance of injury, keeps everyone fresh, focused, etc. Not ideal and ideal would mean both your WILL/SAM can play every down and disguise blitzes all over the place. When you bring in a specialist, teams KNOW you're coming and you lose the element of surprise.

He will get the record by having Favre come out of retirement and boot leg out and go down for Aldon...

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:
Crazy idea:

Keep him as a 3rd down specialist only?

I believe that's what the Giants do with Osi, and most admit he's more effective that way.

Unless the goal is for him to be that superstar everydown OLB to compete with the likes of Pierre-Paul.

eh Fred Dean is a HOF playing the elephant spot purely. Why not? I dont see the rush to push Aldon to start every snap. Parys is a monster in the run game. Aldon in the pass. Best of both worlds for us.

maybe

I say yes to his season total rising from 14, because as a poster notes he will still be on the field on third and longs but the one thing I haven't seen mentioned is that we play a lot of heavy pass teams on our schedule this season which will give him even more oppurtunities

It's possible... of course teams will slide protection towards him, but teams did that last year too and he still got sacks and finished the season strong when he was already in the running of DROY.

He still gets to line up next to J. Smith, teams still have to account for Ray Mac and Brooks... you can only protect so much before you just concede the play to the defense.

That isnt even taking into account blitzing, which we didnt even have to do last year. Let offenses double both Smiths, and it just give Willis/Bowman a straight shot to the QB.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Yeah, hard to refute any of the points made here today by all. I can genuinely see both sides of the coin here too. Its quite conceivable that if Fangio lines him up all over the place on every down like a Matthews or Ware, he could get more sacks with more opportunities...if we open up the defensive playbook and exploit mismatches along the OL. We shall see if Fangio does this or keeps it more vanilla b/c we had so much success with it last year. Either way, nice to see him in the film room studying hard to be the best! For what it's worth, I hope you guys are right all around!

I think you are right Fangio is going to find some creative ways to use Aldon Smith as he gets more coaching. After what I saw last year I fully expect Aldon Smith to become the next Demarcus Ware just like Willis instantly became the next Ray Lewis. He's got that much physical talent.