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The Grand Poobah
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[SIZE=+2]Expect NFL teams to look for multiple big pass rushers
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]11:36 PM CST on Saturday, March 1, 2008
[/SIZE]
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/sports/columnists/mugs/mug_rgosselin.jpg
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The NFL is a copycat league. When something works, everyone copies it.
The New York Giants put a new wrinkle in an old success formula in winning an NFL championship last season. The Giants unleashed the NFL's best pass rush on the league's most explosive offense in the Super Bowl and dismantled the New England Patriots.
The Giants won two Super Bowls under Bill Parcells with the NFL's best pass rusher in Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor. But New York's latest championship team sent its pass rushers at quarterbacks in waves.
Twelve Giants contributed to an NFL-leading 53 sacks in 2007. Justin Tuck, a backup end who moved inside to tackle on passing downs, finished with a team runner-up 10 sacks. Ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan collected 13 and nine sacks, respectively.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/rgosselin/vitindex.html
Mathias Kiwanuka, a backup end who moved to linebacker, chipped in 4½. Even the loss of Kiwanuka at midseason with a broken leg did not slow the pass rush.
The New York front seven dominated the offensive lines of Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay in the NFC playoffs before sacking NFL MVP Tom Brady a season-high five times in the Super Bowl.
Big people win in the NFL. The more the better. Expect that philosophy to surface in the 2008 NFL draft.
"I don't know that the pass rush has ever not been a premium," Seattle Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said. "But the emphasis now will be on getting as many of them as you can. Having one is not enough."
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/03-08/0302giantstrio.jpg Getty Images
Justin Tuck (left), Osi Umenyiora (center) and Michael Strahan combined for 32 sacks in 2007.
There are pass rushers aplenty in the 2008 draft. Big people inside such as nose tackles Sedrick Ellis and Glenn Dorsey and fast folks on the outside in Vernon Gholston and Derrick Harvey will be snapped up fast.
There are big school pass rushers (Lawrence Jackson of Southern California and Chris Long of Virginia) and small school pass rushers (Kroy Biermann of Montana and Bryan Smith of McNeese State). There are tall pass rushers (6-8 Calais Campbell of Miami) and short ones (6-0 Trevor Laws of Notre Dame).
All figure to be in demand this April.
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]11:36 PM CST on Saturday, March 1, 2008
[/SIZE]
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/sports/columnists/mugs/mug_rgosselin.jpg
• E-mail
The NFL is a copycat league. When something works, everyone copies it.
The New York Giants put a new wrinkle in an old success formula in winning an NFL championship last season. The Giants unleashed the NFL's best pass rush on the league's most explosive offense in the Super Bowl and dismantled the New England Patriots.
The Giants won two Super Bowls under Bill Parcells with the NFL's best pass rusher in Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor. But New York's latest championship team sent its pass rushers at quarterbacks in waves.
Twelve Giants contributed to an NFL-leading 53 sacks in 2007. Justin Tuck, a backup end who moved inside to tackle on passing downs, finished with a team runner-up 10 sacks. Ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan collected 13 and nine sacks, respectively.
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/rgosselin/vitindex.html
Mathias Kiwanuka, a backup end who moved to linebacker, chipped in 4½. Even the loss of Kiwanuka at midseason with a broken leg did not slow the pass rush.
The New York front seven dominated the offensive lines of Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay in the NFC playoffs before sacking NFL MVP Tom Brady a season-high five times in the Super Bowl.
Big people win in the NFL. The more the better. Expect that philosophy to surface in the 2008 NFL draft.
"I don't know that the pass rush has ever not been a premium," Seattle Seahawks president Tim Ruskell said. "But the emphasis now will be on getting as many of them as you can. Having one is not enough."
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/03-08/0302giantstrio.jpg Getty Images
Justin Tuck (left), Osi Umenyiora (center) and Michael Strahan combined for 32 sacks in 2007.
There are pass rushers aplenty in the 2008 draft. Big people inside such as nose tackles Sedrick Ellis and Glenn Dorsey and fast folks on the outside in Vernon Gholston and Derrick Harvey will be snapped up fast.
There are big school pass rushers (Lawrence Jackson of Southern California and Chris Long of Virginia) and small school pass rushers (Kroy Biermann of Montana and Bryan Smith of McNeese State). There are tall pass rushers (6-8 Calais Campbell of Miami) and short ones (6-0 Trevor Laws of Notre Dame).
All figure to be in demand this April.
