A Suh Stats Revival?
May 6th, 2020
When Ndamukong Suh became a Buccaneer last May, general manager Jason Licht detailed why Suh was in prime position to rack up huge statistics for Tampa Bay.
“His best years statistically were when he was playing a position that we’re going to put him in,” Licht told Buccaneers.com before the season. “This is a pressure defense. He’s good at pressuring the quarterback. He’s good at re-establishing the line of scrimmage for the defensive side of the ball.”
But those traditional numbers — sacks, tackles, tackles for loss, quarterback hits — didn’t come.
Suh, 33, finished with 2 1/2 sacks, the lowest total of his career, plus 41 combined tackles (third-lowest career total), 7 tackles for loss (he averaged 12 annually before last season) and 14 quarterback hits (also the third-lowest total of his career).
Still, Suh was consistent and productive for the NFL’s top run defense last year. And per official NFL NextGen Stats, Suh was the third-best NFL interior lineman at “QB Pressures,” as tracked by technology.
Given how Licht strongly implied that Suh should put up some of his best stats in the Bucs defense, and how Suh played hard to the whistle and stayed healthy, Joe’s thinking Suh is primed for a stats revival this year if Father Time doesn’t tackle him.
If Suh can just get back to his season average in sacks (6) before joining the Bucs, and tackles (53) and tackles for loss (12), that would go a long way toward making up the production lost when Carl Nassib left the building in free agency. It’s not just about numbers, it’s about how plays made from Suh’s position often directly or indirectly lead to turnovers.
May 6th, 2020 at 5:44 am
His own personal health & the health of those teammates around him being the ultimate deciding factor of course, but as long as everyone on that side of the ball can remain consistently healthy throughout the season, I’m sure Suh’s “stats,” will benefit from having the pass rushing tandem of JPP & SHAQ forcing helpless QB’s into his & Vea’s laps from game 1 on.
May 6th, 2020 at 5:44 am
Stats doesn’t tell the full story, he has always been a stud for us
May 6th, 2020 at 5:52 am
I think the whole defensive line will benefit from an improved secondary. Just look at how much better they were when they released Vernon “Ne-ne” Hargreaves! I could’ve completed passes to WRs covered by VHIII!
I think the line will play better as a whole and we won’t see the huge sack numbers from Shaq, maybe closer to 10-12. Better overall though.
May 6th, 2020 at 6:02 am
The defense as a whole will be better in year two. The Bucs rarely jumped out to lead in games, usually the opposite with a Jameis pick to dig an early hole. If we can get some leads, and make teams have to pass, everyones numbers might go up.
May 6th, 2020 at 6:34 am
Anyone who watched our games will tell you he was a consistent dominant force and sack numbers do not tell the whole story. I saw a statistical analysis on Raiders’ pass rusher Crosby that showed he had an insanely high amount of sacks based on his win rate. Sacks only tell part of the story for pass rushers. Suh is still one of the most feared linemen in the league and I expect him to have another solid year.
While we’re on the topic, I still think we need to add one more veteran pass rusher before the season starts. Teams will fill out rosters more as we get more clarification on how this season will shake out.
May 6th, 2020 at 6:44 am
Suh was double teamed more than Vea last year. This tells you how good he was. Both Vea and Suh will require multiple defenders, with one being doubled teamed, allowing DE to have 1 on 1 assignments.
May 6th, 2020 at 6:52 am
Our run defense was so good last year teams were forced to pass even with a lead…..I expect the same this year…..without the lead.
May 6th, 2020 at 6:52 am
I’m sure we don’t see it the same way Joe, but Suh got lots of sacks last year in my mind … credited to Shaq (19.5), JPP (8.5), Nassib (6) and a few others. Suh & Vea allowed all of them to feed. Although their sacks aren’t on his stat sheet, most wouldn’t have happened without Suh & Vea pressuring through the middle. And in the process the 2 of them anchored the #1 run defense. It’s a shame how some ‘undervalue’ what Ndamukong Suh accomplished last year.
May 6th, 2020 at 7:27 am
Everyone do me a favor go look at Shaq’s numbers in both games against the Saints last year. We are going to need more from Suh in those HUGE games this year apparently.
May 6th, 2020 at 7:37 am
Lol @ the suh double team excuse for his numbers being low. Suh old. No other way to put it. Naturally suh got double teamed more because he plays more snaps than Vea. Believe me, when the game on the line, teams are gonna double Vea before they even think about doubling suh. And from what I hear, barrett gets doubled, pierre paul gets doubled, vea gets doubled and suh gets doubled which means only 1WR is going out for a pass but somehow we still were 30th in pass defense…. just stop it
May 6th, 2020 at 7:41 am
I agree with the comments above…Matt and all the guys below him. Such was very good…and it’s awesome to have hime back!
May 6th, 2020 at 7:54 am
“30th in pass defense” is as misleading as #3 ranked offense. It doesn’t tell the whole story.
Regardless of your opinion of Suh, he was an integral part of that improved defense. There’s no way that you can deny that the 2019 squad was better than the 2018 squad, and not just from a pure rankings standpoint either. That defense was far less passive and soft.
May 6th, 2020 at 7:59 am
30th ranked pass defense is misleading?? Hahahahahah bucs have been one of the worse pass defenses over the last 8 years. Misleading lol. Whats misleading is the #1 run defense that no one needed to run on because you had turnstiles in the secondary
May 6th, 2020 at 8:04 am
For me the 2 biggest pieces are Suh and JPP. If they both take a step back because of age, then this defense is screwed because we have no one behind them that can produce. That would mean that now offenses can focus on Barrett and will take him out. Licht and Arians better pray that father time hasn’t caught up to both of them if not we’re back to being a 500 team.
May 6th, 2020 at 8:04 am
He’s getting the push….our DEs are getting the stats. I’m fine with that. The goal is to be effective. Great stats aren’t all that great if you’re not meeting the ultimate objective. Ask Winston how that worked out.
May 6th, 2020 at 8:06 am
All you guys do is make excuses for the defense… are you ready for the list of excuses
Jameis puts defense in bad spots
Mike smith didnt know how to run a defense
Gerald mccoy was the reason our defense was trash
Vernon hargreaves was the reason our defense was trash
Kwon alexander was the reason our defense was trash
Before all those guys our defense was trash
With all those guys our defense was trash
And guess what…….. after all those guys left…. you ready for it? Our defense was trash.
When jameis got suspended our defense was trash
When jameis missed games due to injury our defense was trash
When GMC missed games due to injury our defense was trash
When kwon missed games our defense was trash
When hargreaves was on IR our defense was trash
Give up the excuses for this trash ash defense
May 6th, 2020 at 8:18 am
Funny, you never showed concern for McCoy’s 17 total tackles in 2018. You have been scrutinizing Suh since day one. I don’t know why because he came in making less that what McCoy was to make. He saved us money plus put up better stats than McCoy.
May 6th, 2020 at 8:19 am
941- That wasn’t my point, and there are no amount of excuses for the worst ranked defenses of the last 5 years.
I’m pretty sure that you’ve made your point about how you feel about the defense! LOL
Again, last year’s defense was far more aggressive than previous. There’s no way you can deny it. That in itself is an improvement for all the reasons you listed.
Blah, blah, blah…
May 6th, 2020 at 8:36 am
Bucsfanman Schiano defense was aggressive too. You see how that ended right?
May 6th, 2020 at 8:37 am
And it goes longer than 5 years. Much longer.
May 6th, 2020 at 9:07 am
He we was Solid as hell.
Since we can’t and don’t draft d lineman, we have to sign free agents
May 6th, 2020 at 9:13 am
Freaking love Suh I hope he breaks Matt Ryan in half. So much better than McCoy’s shoot the gap soft a**, never could make a play when it was needed.
May 6th, 2020 at 9:41 am
Meant to say he was solid as hell
Itzok you nailed it bro
May 6th, 2020 at 11:26 am
941- I just hope it continues to improve. Otherwise, we are going to be picking high in the draft again next year. Know what I mean?!
May 6th, 2020 at 11:34 am
He was a stud last year. He was money in the 4th Q unlike the last DT to wear 93… He made life hell for other O’s …
May 6th, 2020 at 11:53 am
Guys like Merlin Olson and Reggie White played until their mid and late 30’s.
Their longevity is just one part of their exceptional play over the years. I think JPP and Suh have 3 or 4 good years left if they REALLY want them.
Both players put in the work, they stay in shape…the biggest downer is one of them seems to fall victim to freakish accidents.
OK if you want to have some fun and drive Mike Johnson crazy just imagine this.
As Joe just suggested there is every reason to believe that Suh reaches his historic levels and perhaps even blows up. Vea is also somebody who can clearly improve.
Now imagine JPP healthy!!! Shaq in his prime.
Then take a look at who is behind them. LVD has already historically proven he can be a very effective rusher from back in his Schiano days. No reason to believe D White wouldn’t be a tremendous Blitzer and now we can add Winfield and perhaps a corner or two.
This D is starting to load up with ATHLETES and SPEED!
Top ten hope for this D is shooting low…top five!!!!
May 6th, 2020 at 11:58 am
I’m not concerned about our defense. We will be very good on both sides of the line this year. I was impressed with the progress our young secondary made last year and they’ll be much better this year. Just hope the season gets started on time.
May 6th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
He’s disruptive as hell, stats don’t tell the true picture.
May 6th, 2020 at 7:36 pm
People are so blinded by hating McCoy that they don’t realize Suh was average. The defense turned the corner when JPP came back and the schedule got easier.
May 6th, 2020 at 8:00 pm
30th ranked pass defense is misleading because the defense at the end of the year was completely different from the defense in the beginning.
But you’d Have to watch the games and not be a troll to know that.
May 6th, 2020 at 11:33 pm
Suh is an attitude DAWG leader for the young pups…Glad Bucs signed Suh for 2020.