FanPost

Why we need Shane Ray on the field, and why Shaquil Barrett didn't replace him...




Hi MHR,

I will keep this post short so that we can discuss the numbers more in detail in he comment section.

First thing first the raw data:

Year Nb snaps Tackles Tackles % Sacks Sacks % FF FF % PD PD%
Shaquil Barrett 2015 497 50 10.1% 5.5 1.1% 4 0.8% 4 0.8%
Shane Ray 341 20 5.9% 4 1.2% 0 0.0% 1 0.3%
Shaquil Barrett 2016 420 23 5.5% 1.5 0.4% 1 0.2% 2 0.5%
Shane Ray 666 48 7.2% 8 1.2% 1 0.2% 0 0.0%
Shaquil Barrett 2017 223 12 5.4% 1 0.4% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

What we can see is that Shaquil is not replacing Shane production in term of production this year.

In fact, following a really promising 2015 season, Shaquil has been underachieving despite playing the same amount of snaps in 2016 and getting a ton of snap this year without Shane Ray available. (please note that those are just Defensive snaps.

Opposite to that, Shane Ray has developed quite a bit between year 1 and 2 and has still been able to be efficient rushing the passer.

From my eye test, the pass rush this year is really limited and the opposite QB has a pretty decent pocket, despite the Offense putting most of their attention towards Von Miller.

Having Shane Ray back soon could add a significant element to the defense, which is increasing the pressure on the QBs, which will undoubtedly limit the offense opportunity to have big plays... You can't pass the ball if you are laying on the field...

There is just 1 element I don't have access to, but that could be of interest here, it's the number of pressure per snap that each of them have produced... (Sacks don't tell the whole story, but when you don't have access to the whole information, you discuss the story with the data in your hands)

All in all, my personal feeling is that the Defense will be much more dangerous for the opposite QB, and it will free Von a little bit more which will lead to more unpredictability and more sacks/FFs/INTs overall... Shaquil is a good player, but he is not the pass rushing threat we desperately need opposite Von...

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.