Less Than 10 Sacks For Johnson = “Fail”

September 3rd, 2014

michael johnson 0805Former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, a fixture on the Buccaneers Radio Network, has studied the Tampa Bay defense and believes it will be special, but he wants to see more of — and more from — Michael Johnson.

It seems everyone is waiting for the big-money free agent defensive end with just 3 1/2 sacks last season to show up.

Becht is adamant that the interior of the Bucs defensive line will draw all kinds of attention from offenses, which sets a table that Johnson must clean up.

“I need to see double digit sacks out of him. There’s no question about it. Anything less, to me, I wouldn’t say nine or eight is bad, but it would be a fail in my opinion,” Becht said on the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM today,

Becht acknowledged that Johnson didn’t get a ton of preseason work and he must produce as a pass rusher because that may be his only strength.

“When you talk about Michael Johnson, I want to see a bigger sample size from him. I want to see four quarters. You know, he’s not the biggest point of a attack guy. He’s never been really known as a run stopping end,” Becht said.

Yes, the pressure is on Johnson. Get the sacks. No excuses.

(You can hear all of Becht’s Bucs takes below)

21 Responses to “Less Than 10 Sacks For Johnson = “Fail””

  1. Scot Says:

    MJ is one of the best run stuffing ends in the league. Thats why he was rated on PFF as one of the top ends last year EVEN WITH only 3 1/2 sacks

  2. Scot Says:

    in case anyone wants to see PFFs list

    Overall top ten 4-3 DE grades:
    Robert Quinn
    Greg Hardy
    Cameron Wake
    Michael D. Johnson
    Michael Bennett
    Rob Ninkovich
    Justin Tuck
    DeMarcus Ware
    Carlos Dunlap
    Derrick Morgan

  3. Georgie Says:

    Michael Johnson is a great run stopper so idk what he’s talking about esp if you take into account his pff run stopping grade. The difference between 9 & 10 sacks is around .1% of his snaps so that’s just a dumb statement

  4. FLBoyInDallas Says:

    Not sure Becht has studied MJ. He’s actually known as very balanced against both the run and the pass. Just like Scot posted above.

    smh @ Becht

  5. Jim Says:

    Michael Bennet may be worth looking at. Woops, I think the Bucs did watch him play a bit. Thanks Greg!

  6. Beeric Says:

    And they could have locked up Bennett for a song…

  7. FLBoyInDallas Says:

    Yep, letting Bennett walk while keeping Te’o Nesheim was one of the laughable moves of the Schiano era.

  8. Mike10 Says:

    I’m worried, just like the signing of Collins, that this was a high priced move for an unproven talent.
    Here’s to hoping that time proves me wrong.

  9. nate Says:

    We should of went after mario williams instead of carl nicks and kept bennett we would be looking so pretty now!

  10. The_Buc_Realist Says:

    I agree that less than 10 sacs is a failure, it just goes to show that adrian slow born has been a failure since he got here. i am counting down the games until the year is over so i don`t have to watch slowborn. after sunday only 15 more games!!!!

  11. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    9.5 sacks would be fine with me….but 10 sacks=failure……I just don’t think so….you have to look at the player’s entire body of work…
    How about this…

    GMC trple teamed 6 sacks
    MJ double teamed 6 sacks

    AC 9 sacks
    Spence 8 sacks
    McDonald 8 sacks
    Gholston 7 sacks
    Bowers 6 sacks

    That’s 50 sacks from the front 4 positions……then would you consider Johnson a failure?

  12. DallasBuc Says:

    Mike10- “I’m worried, just like the signing of Collins, that this was a high priced move for an unproven talent.” Exactly!

  13. Seth B Says:

    So if he got 10 sacks total and lets say 4 in one game…
    Meaning he only got 6 in 15 games, he’d be a success???

    I’m not looking for any statistic to tell me whether a guy is a success or not.

    I’m looking for Strong consistent play and pressure from that spot and if he gets a couple sacks while he’s at it I’m cool with it…

    Sacks are a meaningless stat… Pressures is what your looking for.

  14. stevek Says:

    We haven’t had a 10 sack guy since Simeon Rice, back in the Gruden era.

    The failure to achieve 10 sacks is now on Licht, as Dominick did his best to not acquire a 10 sack player.

    All Hail the Rock Star! #WorstBuccaneerInTheLast10Years

  15. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    I disagree that less than 10 sacks is a failure. While true he had 11.5 two years ago, he was injured and had to come back, resulting in 3 sacks last year.

    So I figure it will take time to get his legs back. 9 sacks would be okay, because it would be a sure sign that by next year he can get more. And you can bet, if he gets 9 sacks, it will help GMC get 15.

  16. Joe Says:

    Yep, letting Bennett walk while keeping Te’o Nesheim was one of the laughable moves of the Schiano era.

    Laugh? Joe thinks it is a crying shame.

  17. pick6 Says:

    i don’t care who gets ’em, i want to see a DL working as a unit out there to produce at least 3 sacks a game on average. any sacks racked up by the likes of lavonte david, mason foster, and mark barron are just gravy

  18. BigMacAttack Says:

    I’m looking for wins. If they come with sack then so be it, but wins are the only thing that counts.

  19. Brandon Says:

    I have a feeling that Johnson is going to bust out against whomever the Panthers wheel out there at LT. He is EXCELLENT against the run, Becht obviously is looking at his body type and not his body of work.

  20. Brandon Says:

    I think you guys are misreading the title. Mathematically speaking, Failure 10 sacks.

  21. Brandon Says:

    Oh my gosh, i used the greater than and less than signs and instead of them being posted it disappeared… I’ll never learn HTML.