2018 pass rush

[WFE12 9,191]

 

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Why Auburn football’s 2018 pass rush is in better spot than usual despite Jeff Holland’s early exit

Justin Ferguson

For the fifth consecutive year, Auburn football must replace its sack leader from the previous season. It’s become the norm for the Tigers since 2013 — Dee Ford to Kris Frost to Cassanova McKinzy to Carl Lawson to Jeff Holland.

Holland’s early departure for the 2018 NFL Draft came after one of the best seasons for Auburn’s defense in a long time. Some of that came down to the excellent pass rush. The Tigers had a player hit double digits in sacks for the first time since Ford’s 2013 season, and they cracked 30-plus as a team for the first time since the same campaign.

Auburn will undoubtedly miss Holland, the linebacker-turned-defensive end from Jacksonville, Fla., who became “Sensei Mud” in his breakout 2017 season.

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For Auburn, pass rush and overall team success has gone hand-in-hand for most of the past decade. Auburn had a fierce pass rush in 2009 with Antonio Coleman that set the tone for Nick Fairley’s Lombardi season in the Tigers’ 2010 national championship campaign.

Auburn went backward in 2011 and 2012 and had 22 sacks in each season. In 2013, Ford had his 10.5-sack season, and Auburn went to the final BCS National Championship Game. The Tigers lacked a true pass rusher in 2014 and 2015, and on-field performance sagged again.

In 2016, Lawson stayed healthy and engineered 9.0 sacks en route to a Sugar Bowl berth. Holland capitalized on what he learned behind Holland and raised the level to 10 sacks on an improved 10-win team.

Those trends suggest Auburn needs a strong pass rush in order to succeed at a high level again in 2018. Fortunately for Auburn, it’s arguably more equipped to do that than at any other time in the past 10 years.

Even with Holland’s departure — along with the production of seniors Tre’ Williams and Tray Matthews — Auburn will return 23.5 sacks in 2018. That’s 64 percent of its production, the most since 2012. Auburn hasn’t returned more than 20 sacks in the past decade.

YEAR	PREV. YR. SACKS	RETURNING SACKS	% RETURNING
2018	37	23.5	64%
2017	25	14.5	58%
2016	19	9	47%
2015	21	10.5	50%
2014	32	16.5	52%
2013	22	11.5	52%
2012	22	19	86%
2011	35	11.5	33%
2010	28	15.5	55%
2009	21	15.5	73%

Though Holland was one of the nation’s best players in terms of sacks last season, he didn’t cause havoc on opposing quarterbacks alone.

Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be able to rely on plenty of players with pass-rushing experience in 2018. Auburn will bring back 11 players who had at least a half-sack in 2017. Seven of them — Marlon Davidson, Deshaun Davis, Derrick Brown, Dontavius Russell, Big Kat Bryant, Nick Coe and T.D. Moultry — had multiple sacks.

The Tigers had much more success in 2017 with their blitzes from the linebacker and defensive back positions than they did in 2016 under Steele. A defense that can attack quarterbacks in a variety of ways is definitely a more dangerous one.

That’s a great sign for Auburn in 2018. Here are how many players recorded at least a half-sack in each of Auburn’s past 10 seasons, along how many players came back for the following season:

• 2017: 14 (11 set to return)
• 2016: 9 (6 returned)
• 2015: 13 (8 returned)
• 2014: 12 (6 returned)
• 2013: 14 (8 returned)
• 2012: 12 (10 returned)
• 2011: 10 (8 returned)
• 2010: 15 (7 returned)
• 2009: 14 (11 returned)
• 2008: 9 (6 returned)

Note the two previous seasons Auburn brought back double-digit players who had a sack that year — 2009 and 2012. Auburn won the SEC title and played for a national championship in both of the ensuing seasons.

That’s not to say that Auburn will continue the trend and play for it all in 2018. However, recent history shows the high value of returning experienced pass rushers.

Although Auburn lost its biggest one from 2017, it’s in a better spot than usual for 2018.

 

 

[corchjay 5,311]

I like the idea but I'd rather see it on the field first.  Hollands outside rush helped a lot of other guys get sacks when the QBs had to step up in the pocket.  Plus our DBs held coverage very good and were underrated most of the year.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

59 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I like the idea but I'd rather see it on the field first.  Hollands outside rush helped a lot of other guys get sacks when the QBs had to step up in the pocket.  Plus our DBs held coverage very good and were underrated most of the year.  

Definitely got some coverage sacks last year that we're not going to get this year.