Pursuit

This week’s blog post is about pressure. And I’m not talking about the songs by Billy Joel and Ari Lennox. I’m talking about pressure on the most critical position on the football field: quarterback. If the recent Super Bowls have proven anything, defense is back in style. More precisely, effective pass rushing. Six of the top ten sack leaders this season were on playoff teams. In fact, the top five teams that led the league in quarterback pressures this past season were playoff teams. The Denver Broncos (who set a record with a 42.9% pressure rate) had only six more than the second-place team, this year’s Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

You don’t even have to sack the quarterback to be effective. You only have to threaten to sack him.

Because I’m a Law & Order guy at heart, I don’t believe in coincidences. Apparently, the league is also catching the vapors. In the mock drafts that I’ve been perusing, the emphasis is on this year’s crop of edge rushers. In speaking at the recent NFL combine, Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn (who’s team was 22^nd in pressures this season) made it plain: “You want to see someone who has demonstrated speed and initial quickness to beat somebody on the field.”

Here is a quick look at the ones that I will have an eye on in this year's draft:

·       David Bailey (Texas Tech): Led the nation in sacks. Also had the fastest time in the 40 yd. dash at his position. Most of the mock drafts I have seen have him in the top three players to be selected overall.

·       Rueben Bain (University of Miami): Had 9.5 sacks this past season. Played half of the season against the top 20 teams in the country, including an eight tackle (1 sack) performance in this year’s national championship game.

·       Here's a two for one: Arvell Reese (6.5 sacks) and Sonny Styles from Ohio State. Hard to separate the two even though Reese was the edge guy and Styles was the linebacker. What peaked my interest was that the previous year Styles had 100 tackles and six sacks before switching to linebacker.

·       My dark horse candidate is Cashius Howell from Texas A&M. He had 11.5 sacks this past season and was clocked running ten yards in 1.58 seconds at the combine. Not a typo. Less than two seconds.

Here’s hoping that your team gets the guy that they want. And always, this is for entertainment purposes only so please, no wagering.