Raji to RDE?

[Harlan Huckleby]

As an expert evaluator of the nuances of defensive line play, I say Raji is perfectly suited to playing over nose, or as we experts put it "in the 1 gap." He's quick, stout, slippery, short. why the fuck move him out to the end?

[Pugger]

Well they must have said that mid season. Poe in 2011: 33 tackles, 8 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 FF

Raji over 4 years: 99 Tackles, 23 TFLs, 9 sacks
Poe over 3 years: 101 Tackles, 21.5 TFLs, 5 sacks

Raji played in the ACC conference and Poe in the Conference USA. Big difference in competition, no?

[Fritz]

I wonder if anyone's ever thought of scouting the Japanese sumo wrestling circuit for a nose tackle.

I mean, if all you need is someone to take up space and blockers and hold his ground, these guys might be just the ticket.

And I guess I thought that's what Poe would do - suck up blockers and eat up space. But I guess there's more to it than that.

[ND72]

Raji played in the ACC conference and Poe in the Conference USA. Big difference in competition, no?

Poe was on a 2-10 Conference USA team to add to it.

[KYPack]

I've been thinking about this move for some time. To me, having Raji play the zero tech is like hitching a race horse to a milk wagon. Not only that, Raji isn't very good at nose, either. My brother said he saw a site that rated Raji as the lowest rated NT in the NFL.

I'd like to see Raji at a 5 tech on the right side myself. All the LT's would have to account for him and it would open up things for whoever the ROLB is. Raji's quick and a real slasher. RDE just seems like a natural spot for him.

Poe? This kid doesn't take plays off, he takes 2 out of 3 plays off. If he keeps his approach, he will get blown off the field in the NFL.

Maybe uncle TT has an NT on his super secret board that will allow us to do this move.

I hope so.

[ND72]

I've been thinking about this move for some time. To me, having Raji play the zero tech is like hitching a race horse to a milk wagon. Not only that, Raji isn't very good at nose, either. My brother said he saw a site that rated Raji as the lowest rated NT in the NFL.

I'd like to see Raji at a 5 tech on the right side myself. All the LT's would have to account for him and it would open up things for whoever the ROLB is. Raji's quick and a real slasher. RDE just seems like a natural spot for him.

Poe? This kid doesn't take plays off, he takes 2 out of 3 plays off. If he keeps his approach, he will get blown off the field in the NFL.

Maybe uncle TT has an NT on his super secret board that will allow us to do this move.

I hope so.

Raji is by FAR better at NT than at the DE position. 2010, super bowl year, he played the nose and was a force. 2011 he was put back at a DE spot, and many felt he disappeared. the biggest reason they moved Pickett back was because they felt as a defense they were better with Pickett at nose than him at DE, and that Raji was fine in either position. Can't believe Raji would be considered the lowest rated NT when his best season was when they had him at the Nose spot.

[Scott Campbell]

As an expert evaluator of the nuances of defensive line play, I say Raji is perfectly suited to playing over nose, or as we experts put it "in the 1 gap." He's quick, stout, slippery, short. why the fuck move him out to the end?

I want to see him drop into coverage more.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I wonder if anyone's ever thought of scouting the Japanese sumo wrestling circuit for a nose tackle.

I know you're a joke, I mean you're joking, but this might actually work.

Heavy weight wrestlers often make excellent nose tackles. Why, how long has it been since I reminded you of my Tim Krumerie story?

[denverYooper]

Raji is by FAR better at NT than at the DE position. 2010, super bowl year, he played the nose and was a force. 2011 he was put back at a DE spot, and many felt he disappeared. the biggest reason they moved Pickett back was because they felt as a defense they were better with Pickett at nose than him at DE, and that Raji was fine in either position. Can't believe Raji would be considered the lowest rated NT when his best season was when they had him at the Nose spot.

That site was likely PFF. They constantly harped on Raji for "just leaning on guys" last year. While he did not have as good a year last year with so little help, I am of the mind that what he was asked to do may have, at times, looked like "leaning on" someone.

[3irty1]

Are you getting those stats from Wikipedia? Official senior year stats has him listed as 28 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3 TFL, and 1 FF. Wikipedia has a completely different number, 33 tackles, 8 TFL, 2 Sacks, 1FF. And, most networks only list solo tackles, not total tackles since you can jump on a pile and get credit for a tackle. He had 57 solo tackles in 3 years, 101 total (accroding to wikipedia).

On Wikipedia They list Raji as having 13 tackles his freshman year, 27 his sophomore year, and 63 his junior year without giving any stats his senior year, and giving him a total of 99 tackles...even though if you total his frosh-junior year, that total is 103 tackles, which is more than what they say is his total amount is including his senior year. So I'm curious where you're getting stats from so I can see those. Wikipedia isn't a creditable source.

http://www.cfbstats.com/2009/player/404/1024683/tackleforloss/split.html

Tackles aren't an official stat I believe so I can see the difference between sources. Where did you get yours?

[swede]

I wonder if anyone's ever thought of scouting the Japanese sumo wrestling circuit for a nose tackle.

I mean, if all you need is someone to take up space and blockers and hold his ground, these guys might be just the ticket.

And I guess I thought that's what Poe would do - suck up blockers and eat up space. But I guess there's more to it than that.

The Packers tried that experiment with Kimoshi Itakowa back in training camp of '83. He managed a fair amount of pressure against the middle of the pocket, but they cut him after the linebackers complained about salt getting in their eyes.

[pbmax]

Raji did not have a good year in 2011 and to my eyes (which means I could have missed it) it did not matter whether he was at Nose, 3 or 5 tech. He would just get run out of his gap and surrendered too much ground to double teams. He finally stood his ground in the Giants game.

If it was simply a struggle when he was out of position, he needs to go back to nose. I think he could handle the 3 tech. Would prefer someone else at 5.

[3irty1]

This is getting confusing. Raji plays 2 different position. NT in our 2-gap 3-4 defense but more commonly he is one of two interior lineman for our 2-4, neither of which is really a NT position. Raji is a decent NT although no better than Pickett was in 2009 IMO. What makes him special is that he also has value on 3rd down since he is lb-for-lb one of the most explosive players in the NFL and can get into a gap and reset the line of scrimmage.

Poe offers the same value. He's an ideal body for a 3-4, 2-gap NT but has value on 3rd down as well. For our purposes there really isn't a position he couldn't play. He could be Raji, Pickett, or Green in our 3-4. He could be Raji or Pickett/Jenkins in either our run-stuffing or pass-rushing version of the 2-4. Tremendous value for a defensive coordinator with guy like Poe.