Daily Short #69, September 27th, 2017: Top Run-Stoppers
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Run-Stop Rankings Per Snap through 3 Weeks (of players with at least 30 snaps)
total snaps / (tackles + assists + TFLs + run-stuffs)
1) LB Malik Jefferson - 2.7 snaps per stop
2) LB Gary Johnson - 4.1 snaps per stop
3) DB John Bonney - 8.5 snaps per stop
4) NT Poona Ford - 9.38 snaps per stop
5) LB Anthony Wheeler - 10.38 snaps per stop
6) DE Malcolm Roach - 10.93 snaps per stop
7) S Brandon Jones - 11.8 snaps per stop
8) CB Holton Hill - 12.21 snaps per stop
9) DE/LB Breckyn Hager - 12.33 snaps per stop
10) DE Charles Omenihu - 12.71 snaps per stop
11) BB Jeffrey McCulloch - 13 snaps per stop
12) CB Kris Boyd - 13.64 snaps per stop
T13) CB Davante Davis - 15 snaps per stop
T13) BB Naashon Hughes - 15 snaps per stop
15) S Deshon Elliott - 16.27 snaps per stop
16) DE Chris Nelson - 16.75 snaps per stop
17) NCB PJ Locke - 24.62 snaps per stop
At the top of the list are Texas' two best linebackers, Malik Jefferson and Gary Johnson - as they should be. In Todd Orlando's 3-4 defense, much of the design asks the down linemen in the trenches to hold up defenders and eat up blocks allowing the linebackers to come freely downhill and/or sideline-to-sideline in clean pursuit.
Johnson got in on the first series of the game versus USC, but was used only in a sub-package role when the team would go to 4 true linebackers, whereas versus SJSU, he was actually in there for Anthony Wheeler in the nickel base featuring three LBs. One thing to watch versus ISU is if Johnson continues to operate only as a situational player or if his run with the starters in nickel will continue to uptick.
It's clearly a different defensive staff at Texas than last season, but you can glean a little bit about how often coaches may have seen it necessary to go with a four-LB approach to Iowa State's offense last season in projecting this matchup's personnel usage, and it wasn't very heavy in that department last time. Texas only had four linebackers on the field for 8 of 74 snaps in the the 2016 iteration of this game. If Johnson retains his role versus USC in this matchup versus ISU as solely a sub-package player, he isn't likely to see the field often, which is a mistake any way you slice it.
It's a bit surprising to see Bonney atop another list detailing per-snap efficiency, but as I've been saying, the staff has certainly made the most out of its use of Bonney in the third-down "Cowboy" dime package where Bonney (presumably the Cowboy) is lined up in position to make big plays.
Poona Ford is the only interior down-lineman with a qualifying sample to show up among the top tier or two in this category. While the traditional statistics of the two "Big" DLs (the nose and the strong end) in this system will always suffer given what they are asked to do in the scheme, the Deep Dig counts "run-stuffs" which is a non-traditional measure of whether or not a runner's designed pathway to a hole or lane was "stuffed" (filled up and blocked) by and opposing player, causing the runner to divert course.
Ford has been an excellent run-stuffer this year in addition to also going above and beyond to generate the third-best number on the team for QB disruption and pass-rush efficiency. To say he's been a more formidable player this season than fellow starter Chris Nelson would be an understatement.
While Nelson picked up his game big-time versus USC (generating double the number of run-stuffs he'd been responsible for in the first two games combined), he's still lagging far behind on the season and is one of the least effective run-stoppers on the entire defense from an efficiency standpoint. Hopefully the USC game was a sign of things to come.
Finally, in a recurring theme in these "bye-week" sort of "roundup of stats" and leaderboards leading into Iowa State, Naashon Hughes is not generating effective production and is not efficient on a per-snap basis in yet another metric central to his role as outside linebacker. There are five DBs on the roster that have been more effective in this metric through 3 games. For the health of the defense, a Naashon Hughes breakout is badly needed if his role on the defense is that of a made-man, which certainly appears to be the case.
presented by the Dental Offices of Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
Run-Stop Rankings Per Snap through 3 Weeks (of players with at least 30 snaps)
total snaps / (tackles + assists + TFLs + run-stuffs)
1) LB Malik Jefferson - 2.7 snaps per stop
2) LB Gary Johnson - 4.1 snaps per stop
3) DB John Bonney - 8.5 snaps per stop
4) NT Poona Ford - 9.38 snaps per stop
5) LB Anthony Wheeler - 10.38 snaps per stop
6) DE Malcolm Roach - 10.93 snaps per stop
7) S Brandon Jones - 11.8 snaps per stop
8) CB Holton Hill - 12.21 snaps per stop
9) DE/LB Breckyn Hager - 12.33 snaps per stop
10) DE Charles Omenihu - 12.71 snaps per stop
11) BB Jeffrey McCulloch - 13 snaps per stop
12) CB Kris Boyd - 13.64 snaps per stop
T13) CB Davante Davis - 15 snaps per stop
T13) BB Naashon Hughes - 15 snaps per stop
15) S Deshon Elliott - 16.27 snaps per stop
16) DE Chris Nelson - 16.75 snaps per stop
17) NCB PJ Locke - 24.62 snaps per stop
At the top of the list are Texas' two best linebackers, Malik Jefferson and Gary Johnson - as they should be. In Todd Orlando's 3-4 defense, much of the design asks the down linemen in the trenches to hold up defenders and eat up blocks allowing the linebackers to come freely downhill and/or sideline-to-sideline in clean pursuit.
Johnson got in on the first series of the game versus USC, but was used only in a sub-package role when the team would go to 4 true linebackers, whereas versus SJSU, he was actually in there for Anthony Wheeler in the nickel base featuring three LBs. One thing to watch versus ISU is if Johnson continues to operate only as a situational player or if his run with the starters in nickel will continue to uptick.
It's clearly a different defensive staff at Texas than last season, but you can glean a little bit about how often coaches may have seen it necessary to go with a four-LB approach to Iowa State's offense last season in projecting this matchup's personnel usage, and it wasn't very heavy in that department last time. Texas only had four linebackers on the field for 8 of 74 snaps in the the 2016 iteration of this game. If Johnson retains his role versus USC in this matchup versus ISU as solely a sub-package player, he isn't likely to see the field often, which is a mistake any way you slice it.
It's a bit surprising to see Bonney atop another list detailing per-snap efficiency, but as I've been saying, the staff has certainly made the most out of its use of Bonney in the third-down "Cowboy" dime package where Bonney (presumably the Cowboy) is lined up in position to make big plays.
Poona Ford is the only interior down-lineman with a qualifying sample to show up among the top tier or two in this category. While the traditional statistics of the two "Big" DLs (the nose and the strong end) in this system will always suffer given what they are asked to do in the scheme, the Deep Dig counts "run-stuffs" which is a non-traditional measure of whether or not a runner's designed pathway to a hole or lane was "stuffed" (filled up and blocked) by and opposing player, causing the runner to divert course.
Ford has been an excellent run-stuffer this year in addition to also going above and beyond to generate the third-best number on the team for QB disruption and pass-rush efficiency. To say he's been a more formidable player this season than fellow starter Chris Nelson would be an understatement.
While Nelson picked up his game big-time versus USC (generating double the number of run-stuffs he'd been responsible for in the first two games combined), he's still lagging far behind on the season and is one of the least effective run-stoppers on the entire defense from an efficiency standpoint. Hopefully the USC game was a sign of things to come.
Finally, in a recurring theme in these "bye-week" sort of "roundup of stats" and leaderboards leading into Iowa State, Naashon Hughes is not generating effective production and is not efficient on a per-snap basis in yet another metric central to his role as outside linebacker. There are five DBs on the roster that have been more effective in this metric through 3 games. For the health of the defense, a Naashon Hughes breakout is badly needed if his role on the defense is that of a made-man, which certainly appears to be the case.
