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Former NFL defensive end Chuck Smith contends that today's pass-rushers lack the technical pass-rushing skills of their 1990s counterparts. After hearing this, my first thought was to wonder how today's elite sack masters compare with the best of the previous decade.
Pass-Rushing Glossary
Here's an explanation of the seven basic pass-rush techniques to look for when grading pass-rushers:
1. Bull rush: This is the most basic power move when the rusher tries to get his hands inside of the pass blocker and drive him toward the quarterback.
2. Rip move: A technique used by a rusher to get through the arms of a blocker. The defender brings his arm under the blocker's arms and tries to tear his way through the block.
3. Shoulder club: A set-up move used to keep the blocker off balance. The defender will drive his forearm into the blocker's shoulder and make a subsequent move off of that.
4. Speed rush: Used mostly by blitzers and rush linebackers. Is simply a race with the blocker to get to the corner of the pocket.
5. Spin move: The hardest of the standard pass-rush moves. The defender will usually fake an outside rush, drive his inside shoulder into the blocker's outside shoulder and spin to the inside. When it is done properly, it is almost impossible to block, but when it is done incorrectly, the pass-rusher simply spins in a circle and generates no pass rush.
6. Swim move: When a defender takes his outside hand to pull on the blocker's outside shoulder and then takes his inside arm and reaches over the blocker's outside arm to pull his way past. Can also be used with the outside arm going to the inside.
7. Wrist club: A set-up move used to keep the blocker's hands off of the rusher. The defender hits the offensive player's wrists to prevent contact from occurring.
-- KC Joyner I happen to have some film from the 1990s, so I decided to see how the best pass-rushers of 2007 compare with the best rushers of the '90s.
There are seven basic pass-rushing moves (see above) that provide the basis for any pass-rusher's overall repertoire. Each of these techniques requires mastering a specific skill as well as variations on the standard moves, so most pass-rushers will lean heavily on two or three techniques (or combinations of techniques) and not use the others.
The first step in the analysis is to name the five best pass-rushers from each period. When I rank pass-rushers, I lean primarily on two criteria:
1. The ability to generate one-on-one sacks (a one-on-one sack being defined as when a defender gets a sack because he beat a pass-blocker in a one-on-one blocking situation).
2. The effective usage of a wide variety of rush techniques, preferably four or more.
Using that criteria, by my estimation
the top five pass-rushers in 2007 were:
1. Jared Allen
2. Patrick Kerney
3. Elvis Dumervil
4. DeMarcus Ware
5. Michael Strahan
Honorable mentions go to Shawne Merriman, Greg Ellis, Trent Cole and Justin Tuck.
My list of the top five pass-rushers from 1990-99 were:
1. Reggie White
2. Bruce Smith
3. Derrick Thomas
4. Kevin Greene
5. Chris Doleman
After reviewing the tape and metric breakdowns, I found there were a number of similarities between today's players and the great players from the previous decade. They break down into four different categories.
Overall technique specialists: Allen, Doleman, Kerney, Smith and Strahan.
Every one of these players showed a mastery of at least four pass-rush techniques. Allen was the best of the contemporary sackers. He had 7½ one-on-one sacks last year, and he used six different moves or move combinations to put up these sacks.
Another way to illustrate Allen's skills is by pointing out that he had four sacks from speed moves and three sacks from power moves. That is a rare combination of skills and shows why Kansas City put the franchise tag on him.
Kerney had a strong showing in this realm as well. He did tend to lean heavily on the shoulder club/rip move, but he also picked up two sacks with a bull-rush move and one sack with a wrist club/swim move. Strahan didn't vary his moves as much in 2007 as he has in seasons past, but he still tallied a sack with three different pass-rush types.
As impressive as Allen's showing was, the player in this group with the most impressive set of pass-rush techniques had to be Smith. Smith had phenomenal size, strength, speed and power, so he wouldn't be a player expected to rely on pass-rush moves, but he used a ton of them.
Smith had many moves in his bag of tricks, which were on display during a two-game analysis I did on Smith from the 1992 season. On the eight plays he used a bull-rush move in combination with another pass-rush technique, he did not repeat a set of moves once. That sounds incredible enough, but it doesn't even take into account Smith's multiple-move variations when he wasn't bull rushing.
Doleman wasn't quite in Smith's class with play-to-play variations, but in the three games I broke down, he used every pass-rush move with the exception of the swim. If today's players want to emulate someone from the past, Smith and Doleman would be terrific pass-rushing role models.
Undersized bull-rush specialists: Dumervil and Greene.
The bull rush is thought to be a power move, but these two made great use of it despite their relative lack of size (Dumervil is 5-foot-11, 260 pounds; Greene was 6-3, 247 pounds). Three of Dumervil's one-on-one sacks last season were the result of a bull rush and he beat offensive tackles on all three plays.
Greene was quite similar in that he used terrific hand and foot placement to get under the big blockers and push them off their feet. It was quite a sight to see him drive through Bills right tackle Glenn Parker (6-5, 305 pounds) on his way to a sack in a 1994 game. That Greene was able to post double-digit sack totals in 10 of his 14 seasons provides ample proof why the undersized speed merchants of today should take the time to learn how to effectively use bull-rush moves.
Rush linebackers with limited moves: Thomas and Ware.
These are the sorts of players who Chuck Smith is talking about. In 2007, Thomas and Ware both tended to rely heavily on their natural talents and not on moves. Ware got all of his one-on-one sacks last season with speed, outside-rip and bull moves, and Thomas was quite similar in his approach.
One of the reasons Thomas may not have utilized a large number of moves is that he was able to master the hardest speed pass-rush move, the dip. The dip is a move in which the rusher makes a burst toward the corner of the pocket and lowers his inside shoulder downward. As the blocker tries to make contact with his shoulder, the rusher keeps lowering his shoulder until he reaches the corner and starts his inward turn. Once the rusher reaches that point, he brings his shoulder back up and collapses the pocket.
This move is very hard to execute because the rusher has to keep leaning downward away from the contact while still driving hard upfield to get to the corner. If it isn't done properly, the rusher can lose his balance and/or be pushed to the ground by the blocker and be taken out the play entirely. It takes tremendous speed and balance to do this move, so it is normally executed by only the best of the best.
In a class by himself: White.
White is one of the few players who was able to dominate by leaning primarily on one move, the bull rush. He was able to do this because he (A) had elite physical strength and (B) he used this strength to create a new pass-rush move, the hump.
The hump move is really just a bull-rush move followed with an inside shoulder club, but White was able to use that combination in a way that no one had before. His bull rush was so powerful that he would frequently get the offensive linemen back on their heels. When that happens, most pass-rushers will simply drive their way through the blocker, but White was so strong that he took another route.
Instead of applying his shoulder club move to the outside of the blocker's inside arm, he would drive it up underneath the armpit of the blocker's inside arm. This would then have the effect of throwing the blocker out of the way and completely opening up the rush lane.
Very few defensive linemen in NFL history have possessed dexterity and strength on the levels that White did, so this isn't a move that is usually taught to pass-rushers. That's why White was in a class by himself.
After looking at dozens of hours of game film, I believe that, for the most part, today's elite defensive ends do measure up to the ones from the 1990s in both overall physical skills and technique usage. None of them match up to Smith or White, but those two are among the best of all time at their respective positions, so failing to reach their level isn't a sign of inferiority.
On the other hand, today's 3-4 rush linebackers aren't quite as polished as their predecessors. Current defensive coaches would be wise to place a high emphasis on teaching these pass-rushers how to better utilize the many pass-rushing moves at their disposal.
Pass-Rushing Glossary
Here's an explanation of the seven basic pass-rush techniques to look for when grading pass-rushers:
1. Bull rush: This is the most basic power move when the rusher tries to get his hands inside of the pass blocker and drive him toward the quarterback.
2. Rip move: A technique used by a rusher to get through the arms of a blocker. The defender brings his arm under the blocker's arms and tries to tear his way through the block.
3. Shoulder club: A set-up move used to keep the blocker off balance. The defender will drive his forearm into the blocker's shoulder and make a subsequent move off of that.
4. Speed rush: Used mostly by blitzers and rush linebackers. Is simply a race with the blocker to get to the corner of the pocket.
5. Spin move: The hardest of the standard pass-rush moves. The defender will usually fake an outside rush, drive his inside shoulder into the blocker's outside shoulder and spin to the inside. When it is done properly, it is almost impossible to block, but when it is done incorrectly, the pass-rusher simply spins in a circle and generates no pass rush.
6. Swim move: When a defender takes his outside hand to pull on the blocker's outside shoulder and then takes his inside arm and reaches over the blocker's outside arm to pull his way past. Can also be used with the outside arm going to the inside.
7. Wrist club: A set-up move used to keep the blocker's hands off of the rusher. The defender hits the offensive player's wrists to prevent contact from occurring.
-- KC Joyner I happen to have some film from the 1990s, so I decided to see how the best pass-rushers of 2007 compare with the best rushers of the '90s.
There are seven basic pass-rushing moves (see above) that provide the basis for any pass-rusher's overall repertoire. Each of these techniques requires mastering a specific skill as well as variations on the standard moves, so most pass-rushers will lean heavily on two or three techniques (or combinations of techniques) and not use the others.
The first step in the analysis is to name the five best pass-rushers from each period. When I rank pass-rushers, I lean primarily on two criteria:
1. The ability to generate one-on-one sacks (a one-on-one sack being defined as when a defender gets a sack because he beat a pass-blocker in a one-on-one blocking situation).
2. The effective usage of a wide variety of rush techniques, preferably four or more.
Using that criteria, by my estimation
the top five pass-rushers in 2007 were:
1. Jared Allen
2. Patrick Kerney
3. Elvis Dumervil
4. DeMarcus Ware
5. Michael Strahan
Honorable mentions go to Shawne Merriman, Greg Ellis, Trent Cole and Justin Tuck.
My list of the top five pass-rushers from 1990-99 were:
1. Reggie White
2. Bruce Smith
3. Derrick Thomas
4. Kevin Greene
5. Chris Doleman
After reviewing the tape and metric breakdowns, I found there were a number of similarities between today's players and the great players from the previous decade. They break down into four different categories.
Overall technique specialists: Allen, Doleman, Kerney, Smith and Strahan.
Every one of these players showed a mastery of at least four pass-rush techniques. Allen was the best of the contemporary sackers. He had 7½ one-on-one sacks last year, and he used six different moves or move combinations to put up these sacks.
Another way to illustrate Allen's skills is by pointing out that he had four sacks from speed moves and three sacks from power moves. That is a rare combination of skills and shows why Kansas City put the franchise tag on him.
Kerney had a strong showing in this realm as well. He did tend to lean heavily on the shoulder club/rip move, but he also picked up two sacks with a bull-rush move and one sack with a wrist club/swim move. Strahan didn't vary his moves as much in 2007 as he has in seasons past, but he still tallied a sack with three different pass-rush types.
As impressive as Allen's showing was, the player in this group with the most impressive set of pass-rush techniques had to be Smith. Smith had phenomenal size, strength, speed and power, so he wouldn't be a player expected to rely on pass-rush moves, but he used a ton of them.
Smith had many moves in his bag of tricks, which were on display during a two-game analysis I did on Smith from the 1992 season. On the eight plays he used a bull-rush move in combination with another pass-rush technique, he did not repeat a set of moves once. That sounds incredible enough, but it doesn't even take into account Smith's multiple-move variations when he wasn't bull rushing.
Doleman wasn't quite in Smith's class with play-to-play variations, but in the three games I broke down, he used every pass-rush move with the exception of the swim. If today's players want to emulate someone from the past, Smith and Doleman would be terrific pass-rushing role models.
Undersized bull-rush specialists: Dumervil and Greene.
The bull rush is thought to be a power move, but these two made great use of it despite their relative lack of size (Dumervil is 5-foot-11, 260 pounds; Greene was 6-3, 247 pounds). Three of Dumervil's one-on-one sacks last season were the result of a bull rush and he beat offensive tackles on all three plays.
Greene was quite similar in that he used terrific hand and foot placement to get under the big blockers and push them off their feet. It was quite a sight to see him drive through Bills right tackle Glenn Parker (6-5, 305 pounds) on his way to a sack in a 1994 game. That Greene was able to post double-digit sack totals in 10 of his 14 seasons provides ample proof why the undersized speed merchants of today should take the time to learn how to effectively use bull-rush moves.
Rush linebackers with limited moves: Thomas and Ware.
These are the sorts of players who Chuck Smith is talking about. In 2007, Thomas and Ware both tended to rely heavily on their natural talents and not on moves. Ware got all of his one-on-one sacks last season with speed, outside-rip and bull moves, and Thomas was quite similar in his approach.
One of the reasons Thomas may not have utilized a large number of moves is that he was able to master the hardest speed pass-rush move, the dip. The dip is a move in which the rusher makes a burst toward the corner of the pocket and lowers his inside shoulder downward. As the blocker tries to make contact with his shoulder, the rusher keeps lowering his shoulder until he reaches the corner and starts his inward turn. Once the rusher reaches that point, he brings his shoulder back up and collapses the pocket.
This move is very hard to execute because the rusher has to keep leaning downward away from the contact while still driving hard upfield to get to the corner. If it isn't done properly, the rusher can lose his balance and/or be pushed to the ground by the blocker and be taken out the play entirely. It takes tremendous speed and balance to do this move, so it is normally executed by only the best of the best.
In a class by himself: White.
White is one of the few players who was able to dominate by leaning primarily on one move, the bull rush. He was able to do this because he (A) had elite physical strength and (B) he used this strength to create a new pass-rush move, the hump.
The hump move is really just a bull-rush move followed with an inside shoulder club, but White was able to use that combination in a way that no one had before. His bull rush was so powerful that he would frequently get the offensive linemen back on their heels. When that happens, most pass-rushers will simply drive their way through the blocker, but White was so strong that he took another route.
Instead of applying his shoulder club move to the outside of the blocker's inside arm, he would drive it up underneath the armpit of the blocker's inside arm. This would then have the effect of throwing the blocker out of the way and completely opening up the rush lane.
Very few defensive linemen in NFL history have possessed dexterity and strength on the levels that White did, so this isn't a move that is usually taught to pass-rushers. That's why White was in a class by himself.
After looking at dozens of hours of game film, I believe that, for the most part, today's elite defensive ends do measure up to the ones from the 1990s in both overall physical skills and technique usage. None of them match up to Smith or White, but those two are among the best of all time at their respective positions, so failing to reach their level isn't a sign of inferiority.
On the other hand, today's 3-4 rush linebackers aren't quite as polished as their predecessors. Current defensive coaches would be wise to place a high emphasis on teaching these pass-rushers how to better utilize the many pass-rushing moves at their disposal.
