Disruptor
May 28th, 2021
Terrorized QBs.
Yesterday, Bucs outside linebackers coach Larry Foote seemed to grouse a little bit about Bucs sack king Shaq Barrett.
Oh, please don’t misunderstand. Foote loves Shaq. And while Foote gave Shaq props for dominating the playoffs, Foote thought Shaq got off to a too slow of a start to the regular season and needs to be a bit more consistent.
Hey, Joe will take balling out in money games anytime.
However, even though Foote believes Shaq can have a better season this fall, NextGen stats show Shaq was one of the dominant pass rushers in the NFL last season, despite not getting a whole bunch of sacks in the regular season.
Nick Shook of NFL.com has the details and suggests Shaq was the NFL’s No. 8 disruptor in 2020.
Disruption rate: 15.2%
Sack rate: 1.8%
Total disruptions: 66
Sacks: 8Barrett landed at No. 7 on this list last year after recording a league-best 19.5 sacks, and he’s only one spot lower this time around even though he posted less than half as many quarterback takedowns in 2020. I’ll say it again: Sacks are an incomplete stat, folks! Barrett’s disruption rate was nearly identical, going from 15.4 percent to 15.2, and while his sack rate dropped by two percentage points, his disruptions dipped just a bit, from 78 to 66. Barrett is a master of forcing turnovers via QB pressure, becoming the only player in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) to force six or more turnovers on pressures in consecutive seasons (2019-2020). He’s also the only player with 10 or more turnovers forced on pressures since 2019 (Barrett has 12). Barrett’s sack total decrease has a valid explanation, too: He had 73 fewer pass-rush snaps in 2020 than he did in 2019, and his coverage snaps jumped from 65 to 94. Despite that, Barrett was still one of the best at getting after the quarterback.
Well, Joe will also offer another reason why Shaq’s sacks fell off last season. Jason Pierre-Paul toughed out the year with a bum knee. He’s healthy now. But that bum knee last year dragged JPP down.
Joe truly expects Shaq to have a better season this year.
May 28th, 2021 at 5:26 am
Missing VVea getting double teamed also hurt.
May 28th, 2021 at 5:50 am
@Joe … “Well, Joe will also offer another reason why Shaq’s sacks fell off last season. Jason Pierre-Paul toughed out the year with a bum knee. He’s healthy now. But that bum knee last year dragged JPP down.”
Missing something here Joe, but hey it’s early in the morning. JPP had a pretty decent year I thought for a 32-year-old DE/OLB … bum knee, bum neck, bum hand and all. And especially since a key element of our interior DLine … Vita Vea … went down in Game 5 for the rest of the regular season. And especially since JPP played the most defensive snaps (943) that he’s played in the 3 years he’s been a Buc. The guy’s a Beast, with a capital B: 9.5 sacks in his 16 games, 14 QB Hits, 2 INTs, 4 FF, 7 TFLs and 55 tackles. And on top of all that, it was a COVID season, with far fewer TEAM practice opportunities prior to season start.
Nah, Shaq’s drop-off in sacks should’ve been expected, although maybe not all the way down to 8 sacks from his 2019 total of 19.5 sacks. And like Shook wrote … “I’ll say it again: Sacks are an incomplete stat, folks!”
What’s important is TEAM production. And the Bucs as a TEAM were obviously much better overall in 2020 than in 2019. TEAM sacks were quite consistent: 48 in 2020 versus 47 in 2019. So were QB Hits: 116 in 2020 versus 117 in 2019.
May 28th, 2021 at 6:12 am
Great Post Joe, all the more credibility for the Big Shaq Attack….
I posted this before wanted to post it again.
Hey SB, and anyone that always wants to point out, that Shaq is somehow not as good as advertised without his TEAMMATES, playing a TEAM game, no one is.
This is no reference to you AKickinthebucnuts, but to others on JBF…
I wonder how sacks TJ Watt would have without his defensive line and other LB’s, and while we are at it, Brady would look like crap without and O line or WR’s catching the ball. And Running backs do not do real well getting hit 2 yards behind the line every play. Shaq is a FLAT OUT STUD, and glad he is on the Bucs.
Vea is awesome and my favorite player, but asking him to get big sack numbers is not going to happen. Again it is a TEAM game.
BTW Rod Munch… Vita’s value will never be his sack numbers.. So to say he has not really done anything is denying the facts. The fact is that when Vita has played in the last 2 years next to Suh and Golston, the Bucs have the BEST run Defense in decades in the NFL Yes one of the BEST run defenses since the merger in 1970. Check the historic numbers against the run for the Bucs D in 2019-20 when Vita plays.
The D Line allows the LB’s to hunt, that is how Bowles likes it. The D line will never lead in Sack numbers in T Bowles 3-4 Defense. The heat will always consistently come from the LB’s. And this is why they took D White with the 5th pick.
The Front 7 of the Bucs is awesome and will continue.
GO BIG SHAQ ATTACK and the RESIDENT RHINO VITA VEA!!!! GO WORLD CHAMPION BUCS!!!!
May 28th, 2021 at 6:44 am
He had 73 fewer pass-rush snaps in 2020 than he did in 2019, and his coverage snaps jumped from 65 to 94.
Personally I hate seeing Shaq drop into coverage. I get why they do it, I just don’t like it.
May 28th, 2021 at 6:45 am
When Vita Vea is in the lineup, the Dline plays a hell a lot better. Seems like Vita might be the biggest disrupter on the line. He may not get a lot of sacks but he sure does create a huge push causing the entire Offensive line to shift. If vita can stay healthy, he would be the best NT in the league.
May 28th, 2021 at 7:05 am
Vita Vea was ranked by PFF the #3 pass rushing tackle after Aaron Donald and Chris Jones; somewhat overlooked is that Will Gholston had a breakout year and was ranked #9–no other team had two tackles in the top 10. Best DL?
May 28th, 2021 at 7:11 am
TBBF likes him sum Shaq…….Shaq plays good…..luvs his Bucs…..talks good…and he was that way from the get-go.
May 28th, 2021 at 8:08 am
An outside rusher can’t get home if the QB can just step up into the pocket. That is why Vea is so valuable, he pushes the center of the pocket back 3 yards so the QB has nowhere to escape.
May 28th, 2021 at 8:11 am
Shaq draws a lot more attention from opposing teams than he did during the 18 sack season. That creates more openings for the other guys like Gholson. My only criticism of Shaq is how often he gets offsides trying to anticipate the snap count. He gave away quite a few first down penalties that prolonged opponents drives last season. He had much fewer sacks last year because teams had to focus on him but he was still a big disruptive force. Sack totals are not the only important force he brings to the Bucs defense.
May 28th, 2021 at 11:27 am
A lot of journalists hating on Bucs D-players recently …
Suh, Vea, JPP are too old
Shaq declined
White overrated
Tryon over drafted
If the best team in the league sucks … what does that make the rest of NFL?
May 28th, 2021 at 12:23 pm
Bucs turned the ball over 41 times in 2019. Thats roughly 3 games worth of extra drives. Of course 7 of them did go directly to the house. Thats a lot of extra snaps the defense had in 2019.
May 28th, 2021 at 4:44 pm
Barretts sack total dropped because Vea wasnt there most of the year moving the Center back into the QB and forcing him to take deeper drops. Beyond that Barrett was the same player. He did seem to disappear mid year but I am glad we have him long term he is not a one trick pony for sure.
May 28th, 2021 at 8:16 pm
Stepping up when it counts. Being available in the playoffs. Yeah I take that over DPO. (Insert Al Davis’ slogan)