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Originally Posted by Idgit
I wasn't a fan of extending Rat...I'd have franchised him and then let him walk this season, and I thought last season he'd really lost a step. At his age, DTs almost never continue to produce, much less get better after the significant elbow injury. You can't count on many players like LaRoi Glover justifying that second-contract premium on your roster after the body breaks down.
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I'm with you here.
It was not a good move. I agree with everything you say above and would add this. Ratliff is very undersized for his position of 3-4 nose tackle, so the clock is ticking even moreso on his career because of that fact. Normal-sized 3'4 NT's take a beating, it's even more amplified when you're undersized.
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That said, Rat was an absolute beast in limited action this year. I was pleasantly shocked how good he looked early on. I don't know what the stat line says for the games he played, but if he's back and healthy, we definitely need him. The only shot this team's got against good teams is to get ahead of them on the scoreboard and make teams one-dimensional, and then put pressure on their QBs. Rat could be huge in that regard if he's able to come back. Especially with Brees and RGIII coming up in a few weeks.
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The numbers don't back that up at all.
He's got 16 total tackles (10 solo and 6 assists) and 1 pass defensed in the 6 games he played.
We differ in that I'm not holding out hope for the playoffs, so I would prefer to make long-term moves and decisions based on next year and the years following.