James Harrison: Defensive Player of the Year?
by cgolden on Dec 2, 2008 12:17 PM EST
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PrintBefore anyone calls me homer, consider what Silverback has done this year and where he ranks among his defensive mates around the league. He's third in the NFL with 14 sacks and he leads the league in forced fumbles with six. He's also recorded a safety, an interception and defended four passes. He's also 28th in the league in total tackles but his 80 tackles are more than any other OLB in a 3-4 system.
Other Candidates and why they don't measure up to Silverback:
DeMarcus Ware and Joey Porter: ranked 1 & 2 in sacks (with 15 and 14.5 respectively) but neither have near as many tackles, neither have broken up or picked off a pass and they don't have as many combined forced fumbles as Harrison.
Troy Polamula: Leads the league in picks and third in passes defended but zero sacks, zero forced fumbles and only 54 tackles hurts his case.
D'Qwell Jackson: Who? Yea that's what I said. He's the league leader in tackles and he's got two sacks and a pick but he plays for Cleveland. I'm guessing if I've never heard of him than neither have some of the voters.
Patrick Willis and Jon Beason: Talk about two really good 23 year old, sophomores in this league. They're 1 & 2 in tackles (111 and 103) but outside of that they've combined for just one sack, one forced fumble and four picks.
Looking at his competition, I'd have to say Silverback is the front runner. Agree or did I miss some one?
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The one other name that always comes up is Albert Haynesworth who has 38 solo tackles and 44 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. Not bad stats but I agree Silverback is more Valuable.
DPOY options
People rarely look at tackle totals as a big deal in DPOY, and MLB’s rarely win it, unless they have int’s, PD’s, tackles, STF’s, and sacks. Willis is the only traditional LB that could sniff the award this year. There aren’t any CB’s that have a shot at it (Finnegan or Woodson would be real long shots), as the best CB (Asomugha) has essentially no stats and one of the worst CB’s (Hall) actually has some of the best stats in PD’s and INT’s. Collins and Woodson have had a great years in Green Bay as well, but Troy’s had a lot more national press and name recognition than either of them, so he probably has the best shot of any DB.
Looking at the DE and OLB’s, most of the guys in the top 10 in sacks can make a case for the award: Tuck, Peppers, and Harrison are leading great defenses. Meanwhile Williams, Abraham, Porter, and Ware have had spectacular years despite very little help. Jenkins, Haynesworth, and Rogers are all playing like absolute monsters at DT, getting double and triple teamed with great frequency. They obviously aren’t going to have great stats, but their presence is extremely valuable. Rogers won’t win because of his team, Jenkins won’t win because of his stats, but all three have been excellent players.
I’m sorta rambling here but I guess to summarize, the main candidates are Troy, Haynesworth, and all the DE/OLB sack leaders. It will be interesting to see if voters can pick one guy out of the mess of sack leaders or if they will go with Troy or Haynesworth.
charity standing orders
mmm
Good article.
“A lot of people want to talk to you, interview you, blah, blah, blah,” [Harrison] said. “It’s not like I sat back and looked at it and admired it. I had a good game. That’s as far as I took it.”
Good stuff.
charity standing orders
if james harrison reads this post....
i want him to know that i voted “hell yea.”
….otherwise, he might show up at my front door.
two interesting facts
the youngest of 14 children, and his hero was former quarterback Bernie Kosar.
Ok, I can believe he liked the browns since he was born in Ohio.
But the youngest of 14 children? That’s wild! To have 14 siblings, and to be the youngest. Actually that reminds me of a group of my friends when I was a kid and they had 9 children in the family. The youngest and second youngest boys were built like tanks because we were always beating their ass growing up. Then one of them went to college with a scholarship to play linebacker. I felt like I helped that out. Maybe that’s why Harrison is so nasty.
Anyway, the Silverback is probably my favorite Steeler except Ward, and I think he deserves DPOY if he finishes the season at this level of production, but unlike Ward, I do not want to meet him. He’s scary.
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
It was likely a progression
The first child toughened up the second, so the second kid toughened up the third even more, and so on…the end product was a mean SOB we call Silverback.
by CarlWeathersMustache on Dec 2, 2008 9:47 PM EST up reply actions
Yes, like layers of paint
Harrison is actually built upon the foundations of 13 people. No wonder hes such a monster.
also...
on the last play of his college career, sacked big ben 5 times
by tha1andonly57@aim.com on Dec 15, 2008 4:31 PM EST up reply actions
What kind of system do they imploy
Demarcus Ware dosen’ t drop back into pass covrage as much as he used to but I think your on to something there. I like Haynsworth he makes that defense go.
by dallasfansince75 on Dec 6, 2008 12:35 PM EST reply actions
No doubt
Silverback plays like he lives under a bridge and eats children. What are the Steelers feeding their linebackers? If anyone is close it is Polamalu, just because of some of the more spectacular plays he has made as well as his popularity. Ware and Haynsworth are monsters but don`t have the overall stats to compare. The 7 FF Harrison has are so big because he does`t just sack people, he rips the ball out for turnovers.
by SteelerDomination on Dec 8, 2008 5:08 AM EST reply actions
Yeah
I would say probably 6/7 recovered. Thats the thing I like is his form. He doesnt just dive on you trying for the sack. He gets one beefy arm on your left shoulder and then the other arm chops the axe and takes the ball.
Turnovers are valuable, and he does it better than anyone. Ware may have more sacks, but 2 FF is not 7.
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