Who Were The Cowboys' Most Productive Defenders In 2014?

[waving monkey]

The Cowboys use a production points system to grade some of their defensive players. We look at what the results of such a system could look like and also look at which defenders were more productive than others.

When Cowboys linebacker coach Matt Eberflus served as defensive coordinator in Missouri under head coach Gary Pinkel from 2001-2007, the Tigers used a production points system to evaluate and grade their defensive players. A production points system awards a certain number of points for each defensive play like a tackle, a sack, an interception or a defensive score.

Nick Saban at Alabama also uses a production points system (as do many other college programs) which means former Alabama players like Rolando McClain are familiar with it. Saban may have used the system when he was briefly the coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Jason Garrett may have come across the system there.

Whether he did or not ultimately doesn't matter. What matters is that the Cowboys are today using such a system to evaluate their linebackers. In November 2013, Jason Garrett praised Kyle Wilber's performance after the 24-21 win over the Giants, and referenced production points.

linl/http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2015...las-cowboys-most-productive-defenders-in-2014

 

[PoundTheRock]

Interesting, but I'm not putting much stock in a system that rated Kyle Wilber over Anthony Hitchens or Rolando McClain.

 

[Crown Royal]

But the biggest story here is one that isn't immediately obvious. in 2013, DeMarcus Ware (0.31 PPS), Jason Hatcher (0.31), George Selvie (0.28) and Everette Brown (0.28 on only 159 snaps) were at the top of the table for defensive linemen. Every other lineman was at 0.20 or lower. This year, every single lineman with the exception of the rookie (whom I've already made excuses for) is above that threshold. The D-line may not have been as good at the top, but it was much better in depth.

This matches what I saw on the field.

 

[Crown Royal]

2013 PPS2014 PPS
Linebackers0.410.47
Defensive Line0.240.24
Secondary0.270.25

This also matches what we saw on the field. Linebackers were the stars of the defense, secondary was alright, defensive line left a lot to be desired.


I kind off like this in the aggregate. Certainly there are exceptions on individual players (I find it hard to believe Jack Crawford was more effective than Lawrence), but any individual statistic must be balanced against other variables.

 

[Doomsday101]

For all the issues defensive has I can honestly say I was very proud of them as a unit. These guys never quit they hustled and fought through out the games overcoming their individual short comings and making some very big plays to help put away games for this team. I like everyone else wants to see upgrades on this defense especially along the DL but I will say they went out and earned my respect and look forward to seeing the grow as a unit

 

[Nation]

I would hope the Cowboys system is not using the same values as a Youth Football team. A regular tackle being +2 and a -1 for a missed tackle does not make sense for NFL players.

 

[Crown Royal]

For all the issues defensive has I can honestly say I was very proud of them as a unit. These guys never quit they hustled and fought through out the games overcoming their individual short comings and making some very big plays to help put away games for this team. I like everyone else wants to see upgrades on this defense especially along the DL but I will say they went out and earned my respect and look forward to seeing the grow as a unit

I kept waiting for The Game where, like Chicago last year, they were completely destroyed and could never pick themselves back up. It kind of happened on Thanksgiving, but it never really hurt overall. I think they needed to perform better against Green Bay, but that's true for the whole unit. They did a very good job last year considering their level of talent, injuries, etc. They need to get better, but they performed better than I expected.

 

[Doomsday101]

I kept waiting for The Game where, like Chicago last year, they were completely destroyed and could never pick themselves back up. It kind of happened on Thanksgiving, but it never really hurt overall. I think they needed to perform better against Green Bay, but that's true for the whole unit. They did a very good job last year considering their level of talent, injuries, etc. They need to get better, but they performed better than I expected.

I agree, there is no doubt more talent needs to be added and some guys replaced. Nick Hayden has been a whipping boy around here and I as well think his talent is limited but he like so many others showed the heart a desire and found ways to step up and make key plays. I look forward to seeing players brought in that can elevate this defense but I have no personal knock against any of the guys on the 2014 unit they never quit on this team or their teammates and they gave it their all. I have seen more talented units who have given up and quit on this franchise but this group never did and I respect that a lot

 

[HellCrowe]

Statistics like these are skewed. Let's hope a veteran player with less snaps and fresher legs can make more plays (pps) or whatever, than the starters. Intresting but should be divided between starters and back ups to have a better understanding who are our stat stuffers.

Wilber? Heath? Yeah...

 

[dogberry]

Lawrence's number zoomed in the two playoff games.

With our rotation system, should players like Ware only be on the field 75 percent of the time?