Bob Sanders

by jason97673 on Apr 19, 2008 8:04 PM EDT Comment 4 comments

This is more of a rant, but has statistical truth to it.

Ive seen alot of people talk about how Bob Sanders is the best Safety in the league. He also won Defensive Player of the year last year I believe.

Anyway his numbers for a safety are not what you would expect from a DPOY. I picture a DPOY getting 8-10 interceptions, 15 sacks etc. A guy like Cromartie who had 10 INTs last year. I'm a strong believe that without Cromartie, SD might not have made the playoffs last year.

Numbers don't always tell the whole story but for awards they usually do. Brady got the MVP cause of his numbers. Manning had the MVP in years past cause of his numbers etc.

Also, alot of people over look forced fumbles. FF are big plays, they can even be better than Interceptions.

I will also compare our very own Troy Polamalu with Sanders.

Just a quick analysis: Last year Sanders had two INTs, 0 Forced Fumbles, and 6 Pass Deflections, along with 97 tackles. But for DBs the tackle stat doesn't mean much.

Sanders: Has played seasons of 6, 14, 4, and 15 games. This past year was the first year he ever recorded a sack. He has had 2 FF in 39 games, and the most Pass Deflections he has had was 6 last year. A total of 13 for his career. Also, someone can correct me if Im wrong, but I believe the Colts play there Safeties very deep, hence never giving up big pass plays. This means Sanders should have much more PD and INTs, but he does not.

Polomalu: Has Played a full season 3 times, and played 13 and 11 games the past two years. Has had 1 FF in each of his first 4 years. And 3 FF this past year. Has had 5 INTs in 2004, 2 in 2005, and 3 in 2006. The least amount of Pass Deflections he has had was 4, in his rookie year where he was a backup. Had more than 8 in every year, and even hit 14 in 2004. That year alone was more then Sanders entire Career. Lastly, Troy had between 1 and 3 sacks in every year but this past year.

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Sanders

The numbers are certainly better for Troy. I think the reason that Sanders is so respected is that, in 2006, their run D was worst in the league during the regular season, which he missed most of. But, when he came back in the playoffs, they became a dominant run D. Most people credit Sanders with that. Maybe others also stepped up, but he was the most obvious difference.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 19, 2008 10:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with that

But I do not think one safety can help ALL that much. There run D was like one of the worst ever. The Jags had like 350 yards on the ground or something that year. And a safety shouldnt help your run D that much. Plus I believe he plays the FS role which is more of a coverage guy then a guy like Troy who plays SS and is lined up within 5 yards of the line most of the time.

There DE's are very fast which IMO helps there run D if they play smart. They can get around the blockers extremely quick.

I think if a DT was injured or a few Linebackers that would help but a Safety returning shouldn't improve it that much.

by jason97673 on Apr 19, 2008 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

great stuff with the numbers

but....Sanders does play "in the box" and is great at penetrating into the backfield to blow up running plays.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Apr 20, 2008 1:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't know

This is a little different, but NC State's run defense sucked the first half of last season, but at the bye, the staff looked at the team and completely rebuilt the secondary. That is the main reason that most people believed our run D improved in the second half, was because the DBs learned how to roll up in run support when needed.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 20, 2008 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs