The Myth of DeMarcus Ware's dropoff (Warning: contains actual facts)

[Stash]

PFF numbers are always meaningless, imo.

As are any that don't show you what you want to see apparently.

Spencer is a better player than Bennett, and has had very few injury problems. Saying that Bennett is having a better year b/c Spencer is out doesn't make sense. Nobody could foresee that.

Could they foresee that they could have made better use of their money or is that also 'not their fault'?

This team could have had Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, John Abraham, or several other options if they could effectively gauge the NFL landscape. But they obviously can't.

Instead, approximately $25 million in cap space is devoted to Austin, Ratliff, and Spencer. Three players contributing nothing to this team.

 

[Future]

These are just actual official NFL rush statistics, not any of their per-play grading statistics.

"Pressure" is subjective...and not an actual stat.

PFF is a garbage site with garbage numbers. If it says that DeMarcus Ware is an impact player, it should be shut down.

 

[Naruto]

don't even know he's out there half the time

He's the guy taking ridiculous angles to the QB while selling out on the sack; often leaving an entire side of the field exposed for easy first downs.

 

[Future]

As are any that don't show you what you want to see apparently.

Could they foresee that they could have made better use of their money or is that also 'not their fault'?

This team could have had Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, John Abraham, or several other options if they could effectively gauge the NFL landscape. But they obviously can't.

Instead, approximately $25 million in cap space is devoted to Austin, Ratliff, and Spencer. Three players contributing nothing to this team.

I don't want to see any numbers from PFF, so I guess you're right.

Why on earth would they have signed one of those guys coming into the season. You had Ware, Spencer, Rat, Hatch, Crawford, Bass. You're going to spend $3 mill on a guy who plays every other 3rd down? I'm paying Spencer the $10 million and having a great player opposite Ware every play, and not thinking twice about it.

 

[visionary]

drafting is good
garrett is great
romo is great
lee is the best
dez is a beast
witten is a HOF
ware is great and a HOF

where then is the problem with the team?

laughable

ware has been a non-factor this year

that is a fact

 

[Nation]

"Pressure" is subjective...and not an actual stat.

PFF is a garbage site with garbage numbers. If it says that DeMarcus Ware is an impact player, it should be shut down.

It's a combination of Sacks, Hits, and Hurries. None of those are subjective, all of those are showed on stat lines every game. Not sure what would be subjective about that. Methinks you have a narrative you want to play out, and factual evidence will not get in the way of "Well he isn't knocking the quarterback down every-other pass rush so he must not be an impact pass rusher"

 

[dmq]

Ware can say he is healthy all he wants, but I think those stingers are not allowing him to be close to 100% anymore. Good news for him is that it should put him in line for a contract extension.

 

[Future]

It's a combination of Sacks, Hits, and Hurries. None of those are subjective, all of those are showed on stat lines every game. Not sure what would be subjective about that. Methinks you have a narrative you want to play out, and factual evidence will not get in the way of "Well he isn't knocking the quarterback down every-other pass rush so he must not be an impact pass rusher"

Hurries is the same thing as pressures, and that's subjective.

 

[BAZ]

If your metrics are saying Ware is not having a bad year your metrics are wrong.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Any SUPERSTAR who is supposedly a team leader and takes himself out of a huge game REPEATEDELY is no superstar or leader in my book.

Imagine Ray Lewis doing that? How about JJ Watt?

 

[Stash]

I don't want to see any numbers from PFF, so I guess you're right.

Fair enough!

Why on earth would they have signed one of those guys coming into the season. You had Ware, Spencer, Rat, Hatch, Crawford, Bass. You're going to spend $3 mill on a guy who plays every other 3rd down? I'm paying Spencer the $10 million and having a great player opposite Ware every play, and not thinking twice about it.

Different strokes then I guess.

For a guy who plays "every other third down", his stats are even more impressive.

Even if Spencer played, the Seahawks got two defensive ends for the price we paid for one.

Oh, and by the way, you never "had Rat", and the front office, more than anyone, should have known how bad that situation was. Shame on them for believing otherwise.

We have flushed away almost $25 million this year with nothing in return.

A disgrace.

 

[Future]

Different strokes then I guess.

For a guy who plays "every other third down", his stats are even more impressive.

Even if Spencer played, the Seahawks got two defensive ends for the price we paid for one.

Oh, and by the way, you never "had Rat", and the front office, more than anyone, should have known how bad that situation was. Shame on them for believing otherwise.

We have flushed away almost $25 million this year with nothing in return.

A disgrace.

I don't think even those who knew exactly what was going on could have seen what was coming with Rat.

I dont disagree that money has been wasted, but to act like it was all Jerry's fault is a mistake. You can't see the injury coming, there's no way to know what was going to happen with Rat, and, to be honest, there's really no way to know Miles hamstring was going to completely fall apart after he signed hiss contract.

 

[ChooChoo73]

The "superstar" IMO are paid and acknowledged as they are precisely for games or times within a game where you need to stop or start momentum for your team in a big situation. Lee, Romo, Harris and Dez have done so in enough spots this year to warrant their status. Ware has not.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

Release him /thread

 

[DWhite Fan]

Ware is done...

 

[Stash]

I don't think even those who knew exactly what was going on could have seen what was coming with Rat.

Did he not get into a screaming match and have to be separated from the owner? Did he not get a DUI weeks after a teammate died in a drunk-driving accident? Was he not injured and ineffective all of last year? Was he not distant and unapproachable for the last two years?

And some still want to act like this debacle came 'out of the blue'? Blinders I say.

I dont disagree that money has been wasted, but to act like it was all Jerry's fault is a mistake. You can't see the injury coming, there's no way to know what was going to happen with Rat, and, to be honest, there's really no way to know Miles hamstring was going to completely fall apart after he signed hiss contract.

Socks to jocks my man. He signs off on everything, remember?

I said my piece already about Ratliff, nobody can act surprised, unless they're a fool.

And Spencer was with this team for years, it's their job to know his body's condition, especially before applying a $10 million franchise tag. This was not a one-time tear, it was a degenerative condition. One they found once they bothered to look.

And Austin's issues go well beyond hamstrings, he cashed-out when he cashed-in and is fine with riding the money train until they send him packing. He doesn't care about anything other than his bank account.

I notice the Austin defenders have all but vanished at this point. Back into hiding like most of the staunch defenders who came out of hiding these past two weeks as we feasted on bottom feeders.

 

[kramskoi]

Lost in all this business about Ware's decline, which I do think has some credibility looking at his sack totals fall precipitously since 2011, is Jason Hatcher's complete disappearance from relevance last night. Nothing apart from a single tackle! When your pro-bowler plays like this on a night that matters then it is all a wash anyway!

 

[Future]

Lost in all this business about Ware's decline, which I do think has some credibility looking at his sack totals fall precipitously since 2011, is Jason Hatcher's complete disappearance from relevance last night. Nothing apart from a single tackle! When your pro-bowler plays like this on a night that matters then it is all a wash anyway!

He was doubled every play. At least he had a couple of pressures.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I dont care what the stats say. The guy is not a gamebreaker. He was completely nonexistent last night, AGAIN. The guy is done.

He is not done; he is just not a marquis player. I've been saying this for a few years, now.

Jerry has been under this illusion that the Cowboys defense has the great D-Ware and he has not tried to reload the d-line with more blue-chip talent. One day he is going to wake up and Ware is rushing the passer in his Rascal scooter and he (Jerry) will be left wondering what happened.

 

[faninjersey]

Nobody has more unrealistic expectations put on them than pass rushers, especially with our "knowledgeable" fanbase. The #1 player in the league in terms of QB Sacks, Hits, and Hurries is Michael Bennett with 52 of them on 489 snaps. That means 10.6% of his plays he's harassing the quarterback, and the other 89.4% of the time he isn't. So when you see in a game thread someone say "Ware will have one big play and then 9 when he doesn't do anything" people should know that is legitimate elite performance. It might not be what you want to see as an irrational fan, but in comparison to his peers it is a high level of place.

DeMarcus Ware is still in the top ten in terms of Sacks/Hits/Hurries per snap played. Beyond stats he's grading out very favorably as a pass rusher and is amongst the top of the 4-3 ends in terms of run defense. For the more advanced stat crowd, he's 3rd in ProFootballFocus' Pass Rushing Productivity percentage.The film in no way, shape, or form fits the narrative of the message board, as hard as that may be to hear for some people that just want to plug their ears and blame Romo, Witten, and Ware for the current state of this team.

DeMarcus Ware Pass Rushing Productivity Snaps per PFF:
2013: 11.8 (3rd in the league amongst 4-3 DEs)
2012: 11.4 (3rd in the league amongst 3-4 OLBs)
2011: 12.9 (4th in the league amongst 3-4 OLBs)
2010: 12.7 (4th in the league amongst 3-4 OLBs)
2009: 12.3 (2nd in the league amongst 3-4 OLBs)
2008: 9.3(4th in the league amongst 3-4 OLBs)

If you want to tell me it's become slightly harder for pass rushers to impact plays on a play-by-play basis because of more spread formations and quicker release times out of quarterbacks you probably have a point. But if you want to say that DeMarcus Ware has dropped off or is not performing at the level of an elite pass rusher in comparison to his peers you are 100% incorrect, and there is truthfully zero argument on the other side.

My concern with him, is that he seems much more reckless in his pass rushing. He's taking such a wide radius to run around the tackles, that it opens up huge holes when teams run against the team. Screens seem to devastate them. His inside move is too inside, and resultantly there is a huge lane. It looks like he's trying to rely much more on natural speed, and run around the guy, rather than good technique with power. His individual stats may be sound, but his team contribution has fallen off. imho