The Good And Bad Of The Interior Line
June 28th, 2012
- Roy Miller did not grade well in a study by the football geeks at ProFootballFocus.
Now Joe and just about every Bucs fan has noticed Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has been active in the offseason picking up free agents.
But lost in the glitz and the accolades of landing high profile players like Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson, if one is to believe Khaled Elsayed of ProFootballFocus.com, Dominik’s signing of lesser known interior defensive linemen will have as much or maybe more of an impact as Jackson and Nicks.
Elsayed decided to put interior defensive linemen from last year under the microscope, and two of the defensive tackles who graded out the best for pass pressure under Elsayed’s study were picked up are now Buccaneers: Amobi Okoye and Wallace Gilberry.
Per Elsayed, Okoye was sixth in the NFL for logging plays on pass rushing snaps and Gilberry was rated at No. 6 for getting heat on the quarterback. (Two spots lower than Gilberry is former Bucs defensive tackle Facestomper Haynesworth.)
Now there’s also a cautionary tale amid this study. Fourth-year Bucs defender Roy Miller was graded as the fourth-worst defensive tackle in the NFL in 2011 for getting after the quarterback.
Joe believes Miller has scant time to prove himself in training camp. The way Dominik loaded up on defensive tackles, that’s not a sign of security for Miller, who in three seasons has done little to establish himself as a solid NFL defensive tackle.
June 28th, 2012 at 8:12 am
ProFootballFocus is awesome. I saw that report. Thank God we picked up Okoye. They also ranked Carl Nicks #26 in a list of best players in NFL after watching EVERY SNAP of EVERY GAME
June 28th, 2012 at 8:21 am
Miller was never supposed to be a pass rusher. He was almost always seen as a high motor, blue collar tackle if I remember right. That being said if he was completely healthy coming back from a knee issue in the preseason (MCL strain?) then its probably going to take some major improvement for him to keep his job here. In 2010 he started all 16 games on that line and while he never put up great sack or pressure stats, his high motor was on display. He will probably only make the bucs as a 5th DT over Okam to provide more depth at a position where so many have been or are injured.
June 28th, 2012 at 8:36 am
Why is it that the short-comings of last years’s team are explained away by a lack of a training camp? The Niners had a new coach and a QB WIDELY considered to be a bust (one of the top busts of all-time considering his pre-CBA #1 overall paycheck) and look what they did.
Miller was here the year before. The scheme wasn’t a mystery to him. It’s not like he showed up and the surprised him with a 3-4 defense.
RAHEEM MORRIS WAS THE WORST COACH IN THE HISTORY OF THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS.
June 28th, 2012 at 9:21 am
On an unrelated note..(who cares about Miller. He will be cut during camp). How about Sapp picking two Bucs on the man network to have breakout years. And one of them Sapp is working with personally.
June 28th, 2012 at 9:40 am
Put Miller at corner…I mean he spent more time back peddling than Aquib last season.
June 28th, 2012 at 9:41 am
I am going to follow Schiano’s lead and give everybody a clean slate going into training camp. We have coaches this year that should be able to judge talent and coach up players not playing at full potential.
I don’t offer this as proof positive, but it’s worth noting. The majority of players that have been released recently have been picked up by other teams and most have stayed, some have even contributed. Even Kyle Moore is still with the Bills (loss track of Alex MaGee). Detroit seems to have an affinity for ex-Buc players. I think everybody we released or didn’t re-sign this year, has been picked up by another team (except Haye, Haynesworth, Graham).
My point is coaching makes a difference and may be the variable that matters most. Training camp will make things a lot clearer and is where the wheat is separated from the chaff!
June 28th, 2012 at 9:46 am
I’m usually a homer and love everyone in red and pewter but this guy has got to go. Roy Miller just isn’t cut for professional football. Maybe bullfighting is right for him.
June 28th, 2012 at 9:47 am
LOL…mILLER IS GOING NOWHERE. (oops caps)
He is exactly what he has always been…a backup. Tell me, was that ranking amongst starters only? Because I’m sure Miller is better than a lot of backups.
June 28th, 2012 at 9:58 am
To say Rah was the worst coach in Buc history is a gross understatement……..
he was no coach, he was an assclown.
June 28th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Pete,
It sucks that all of our drafted defensive linemen, but Clayborn, have played at a “backup level”, whether it be attributed to sucking or inability to stay healthy.
New coaching this year should yield better results, if not, clean out the D-Line and start anew.
June 28th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Miller was drafted as a run stopper one who could occupy a double team allowing good down linebackers to do their jobs and does hold at the point of attack when he is healthy and has intangibles that don’t always make their way to the surface, like keeping the assignment and doing what the team asked of him. when both highly scouted 1st and 2nd round guys couldn’t go who was the mainstay….miller.
Let’s take a closer look at miller stats he ranks 16th, tied with Suh among DT, for the combined total tackles in 2011, of course there was the suspension with Sue, miller played injured. He is ranked 6th among NT with 2 more tackles that Terrance Cody who had no sacks at in the 2011 season. Okoye, Amobi is ranked 31st amongst DT’s. Was he an upgrade to replace miller?…. think not
Just a few stats for you statistics type of guys in 2010 miller ranked 5th overall among DT and tied for 5th amongst NT’s and had 5 more solo tackles than Okoye that season. this is a significant drop off from 2010 to the 2011 season but for fighting injuries that still not a bad 2011 season
So you decided do your research and come back to the table with the facts not so much your popularity meters
June 28th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Ranking a player by the amount of tackles he makes is not in any way an accurate rating of the value of that player. Okoye is far more valuable than Miller.