I Love Wilkerson but we are terrible against the run and we haven't been able to get to the QB. Wilkerson needs to start getting some sacks maybe if he has some real OLB it would help him out...He is a young big player..we have to be able to figure out how to get production from him and coples
We might need to come up with a different adjective for Watt than beast cause someone in this thread called Wilkerson a beast. They both can't be described the same way cause Watt is on a whole different level.
Son. Bruce Smith is once-in-a-generation type of talent, Ok? To expect his kind of production out of an ordinary 1st round pick is a sacrilege in itself. (But then, JJ Watts looks like a legitimate 3-4 DE that threatens the QB on any given down. Maybe you do have a point.)
I liked last night after being beaten by the screen play on a previous play, Wilkerson figured out what was going on another screen play and defended Foster well. If Schaub didn't throw the ball so high and Foster didn't have an amazing catch, then it could have been intercepted. Seriously Wilkerson has been playing well. I don't believe he is apart of the problem in the run defense. There was a few plays where I saw David Harris just run into the pulling guard and not shoot the gap which gave up big yards. Our linebackers just suck.
this is the first time in a while i can remember that I just really have no faith in our linebackers at all. I love Harris, a lot, but he really has been playing subpar this year so far. Definitely his worst season so far.
Watching the linebacker play this year is taking me back to 2003. That's Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones out there how can the run D be so bad?
I have to agree somewhat with the op. I don't expect Wilkerson to get to the passer like a 4-3 end or 3-4 olb but it wouldn't hurt if I saw him near a QB at some point. A good 3-4 end should be good for 7-8 sacks. Also we are the worst team in the league against the run so I don't want to hear people say how great he has been in that department. Sure most of the big runs are to the outside but i dont see him on weekly basis stuffing runners at the line. If i had to describe Wilkerson so far this year it would be average starter. That's not what I want out of a first rd pick who people call the best defensive pick in the Ryan era.
I guess the op expected Wilkerson to be a star and he's just not that at the moment. He's done a solid job thus far.
He's a second year player who was selected 30th. He also wants to compare him to someone who is the favorite to win DPOY right now. Wilk has played real well. He's not a star but I'm very happy with the pick as should everyone be.
Richard Seymour must not have been a very good 34 DE then, because he only managed that range twice in his career. Well that, or you have no idea WTF you are talking about. In the 34 it depends largely on waht is being asked of the end. Wade Phillips in Houston runs a very different scheme from the one Dick LeBeau does, who runs a diffent look than Rex and Rob Ryan. Houston lines thier lineman up over the gaps and expects penetration not gap cloging or eating up multiple blockers. Pittsburgh uses the 34 linemean mainly as space eaters and expects the linebackers to be the playmakers in thier D. Rex and Rob both run hybird fronts with looks that vary from the bear 46 D, to a 34 base, to a 43 in thier nickle packages. Mo has been our most consistant Lineman against the run and in getting pressure. He needs to do more, but the lack of talent around him makes his job harder due to often facing multiple blockers. This is why we need Coples or someone else to step up and start producing more. The more lineman we have capable of making plays the more likely it is we get one on one blocking one someone that can make a difference.
To inject a few more facts into this thread, via PFF: - Wilkerson "has 21 stops on the season, which is the second most for all defensive linemen this year." - In the positional ranking, Wilkerson is the 3rd highest rated 3-4 DE, behind only J.J. Watt and Calais Campbell. - Wilkerson is essentially tied with Watt as the highest rated 3-4 DEs in the league against the run.