Steve McLendon was brought here (2016) in order to replace Damon 'Snacks' Harrison and in my opinion has done an overall pretty bad job of attempting to fill Harrison's shoes and imo must be upgraded as soon as possible. The NT position within a 3-4 defense is just as important as the IMLB position (if not, more) in terms of sniffing out, stuffing and stopping the run. One could argue that the 3-4 NT position is the most important position on defense when running a 3-4 defensive scheme... But yet no one ever seems to even take a split second to acknowledge 'Steve McLendon' while harping all over Darron Lee with regards to our drop-off on defense against the run (over the previous two seasons). Yes, he's a decent player but at 6'3/310 lbs and 32 years old he's just not the type of impactful and disruptive run stuffing monster and force within the trenches that the likes of both Kris Jenkins @ 6'5/360 lbs and Damon Harrison @ 6'3/ 355 lbs were for us. The very moment we lost Damon Harrison our run defense fell off a cliff and Steve McLendon deserves a lot of blame for our decline against the run; all while Damon Harrison has gone on to the N.Y Football Giants and became an NFL First-team All-Pro the very 1st year he joined Big Blue (2016). Damon Harrison was a 3 year starter for us (started all 48 games from 2013-2015) and this is how our run defense then ranked across the board... 2013: 1st in yards per rush against. 3rd in rushing yards allowed. 3rd in 1st down runs allowed. 19th in rushing TD's allowed. 2014: 4th in 1st down runs allowed. 5th in rushing yards allowed. 6th in yards per rush against. 13th in rushing TD's allowed. 2015: 1st in rushing TD's allowed. 1st in 1st down runs allowed. 2nd in rushing yards allowed. 3rd in yards per rush against. Fast forward to Steve McLendon who's been a 2 year starter for us (started 24 games from 2016-2017) and this is how our run defense has since ranked across the board... 2016: 4th in yards per rush against. 7th in 1st down runs allowed. 11th in rushing yards allowed. 11th in rushing TD's allowed. 2017: 12th in yards per rush against. 12th in 1st down runs allowed. 20th in rushing TD's allowed. 24th in rushing yards allowed. These are big differences and a steep drop off in run defense once going from Damon Harrison to Steve McLendon @ our 3-4 NT position. And one would think that a 7th/8th year NFL veteran of a run stuffing 3-4 NT would be expected to lead and carry a run defense - more than that of only a Rookie/2nd year IMLB within a 3-4 defense would, no? I can almost guarantee you that Darron Lee would have looked so much better against the run while Linebacking behind a 6'3/355 lb run stopping 3-4 NT in Damon ''Snacks" Harrison rather than being forced fed a "Steve McLendon" as his 3-4 NT - The same as an undersized Jonathan Vilma would have looked leaps and bounds better against the run while Linebacking behind Kris Jenkins rather than being stuck behind a 4th overall bust in Dewayne Robertson @ 3-4 NT. The 3-4 NT (as we all know) holds more value and more weight than that of an IMLB in terms of playing the run. And imo it's no coincidence how the Giants (run) defense has seen gigantic improvement over the past two years (2016/2017) while featuring Harrison as their DT within the middle of their D-Line (when in comparison to two years prior to Snacks arriving ala 2014/2015) all while our Jets run defense began to steadily fall off a cliff the very moment that Steve McLendon arrived as our new 3-4 NT... But yet as I mentioned within the "Darron Lee Hate Thread" it's Darron Lee who seems to be everyone's "topic of discussion" as only a 3rd year player - all while a 9th year Pro and NFL Veteran in Steve McLendon (when talking toughness and run defense) seems to get a free pass from the heart and majority of this fan base... To the point of not even acknowledging the fact that our run defense has simply fell apart the very moment we replaced Damon Harrison with Steve McLendon as our defenses hopeful run stopper up the middle. And if I remember correctly most of us all thought that our (interior) pass rush would improve after the addition of Steve McLendon, and that has yet to happen either. We all talk about and emphasize the importance of upgrading our O-Line and Pass Rush in order to become a true contender but an upgrade over Steve McLendon @ our 3-4 NT position (the most important position within a 3-4 Defense) is seldomly discussed around here. And I'm not sure why not... especially considering the fact that Steve McLendon is on no one's top 20 list of DT/NT's and if so, I'd like to see who's...
The thing is McLendon wasn't a NT with the Steelers, he was more of a 3-4 end. He was forced to the inside as a Jet (Jets tried to move Big Cat inside initially and then moved him out when he wasn't as effective, and then tried Wilkerson, and other guys as a NT) but he's done a yeoman's job as he beefed up a bit to handle the rigors of the NT spot. Of course he's no snacks, snacks is one of the dominant NT's in the league. Steve has been good for the Jets. He is a tad bit undersized for a NT and not quite as strong but he's really held his own. As for Lee, yes I feel his job and even Big Cat's job would be easier and they could flash their talent more alongside a more traditional NT but alas, this is what is here. Maybe Foto can be the successor there but right now he is the best choice.
Iirc Robertson was again asked to play a position he wasn't good at , the Jets felt he had he quickness, motor and enough strength to play NT but he was god awful there.
I get everything you're saying but at the end of the day McLendon is a key (big) reason why our run defense has fell off a cliff since trying to replace Harrison with him, and at the age of now 32 years old his game can continue to get worse and worse while holding our run defense back at the same time. He's got to go and must be replaced as soon as possible. I highly doubt Mike Pennel is our long term solution @ NT so therefore we've got to look towards free agency. Unfortunately I don't know of any prototypical 3-4 NT's with the size and strength needed in order to dominate the interior as up coming 2019 FA's... It's such a hard position to fill. Grady Jarrett of ATL is by far my favorite DT who could become a 2019 FA but I'm not sure if he's built for the 3-4 NT position neither.
The obvious question is why was Harrison let go..did the Jets need $ to Mevi$ or Fitz? Either way ...just confounding to give up on a quality player and let him walk
Would we be better with Snacks? Of course no one ever argued against that. They argued against giving that contract to a two down run stuffer. There was no need to write war and peace on a topic that’s two years old that everyone pretty much agreed with. Your also ignoring other factors like the decline in play from Richardson and Wilkerson that lead to the team giving up on them and swapping out an aging David Harrison for a sub par run defender in Lee. It’s not McClendons fault Lee fills the wrong gaps, takes bad angles and over pursues. His mental side of the game does not match his athleticism.
You seem to have missed four key points of my OP. 1.) The 3-4 NT position is the most important position on defense when running a 3-4 defensive scheme (especially in regards to stuffing and stopping the run). 2.) Darron Lee would look so much better against the run while Linebacking behind a 6'3/355 lb run stopping 3-4 NT in Damon ''Snacks" Harrison rather than being forced fed a "Steve McLendon" as his 3-4 NT - 3.) And one would think that a 7th/8th year NFL veteran of a 3-4 NT (In McLendon) would be expected to lead and carry a run defense - more than that of only a Rookie/2nd year IMLB within a 3-4 defense would, no? 4.) The Giants run defense has drastically improved since acquiring Damon Harrison while the Jets defense has fallen off a cliff since settling for McLendon and there is only one common denominator (and his name is not "Darron Lee") and that common denominator is none other than, Steve McLendon. (And I'm really not sure how you can dispute points 1 through 4). And post(s) like this (below) is why I created this thread to begin with ala fans who complain about our run defense seem to harp all over a young Darron Lee but yet give a 9th year veteran playing the most important position within a 3-4 defense a "free pass". It's extremely hypocritical. Two can play that game. Not to mock you buy I could just as easily say, claim and state that.. The decline in play from both Wilkerson and Richardson along with McLendon (struggling to replace Damon Harrison) was the sole reason behind Darron Lee being setup for failure during only his rookie year while being forced to play behind a D-Line in which was in over it's head; which resulted in the team not only giving up on Wilkerson and Richardson but also having to draft Nathan Shepherd come 2018's draft etc, etc And/or... It's not Lee's fault that McLendon doesn't have the capability to stuff the run with dominance as a 3-4 NT, gets manhandled and blown off the ball at the snap, puts his IMLB's whom are Linebacking behind him in bad position (causing them to take bad angles) and does not have the physical ability to stuff the run up the gut such as a dominant Damon Harrison type; which in essence means that as a 3-4 NT he's not capable of setting up his IMLB's (playing behind him) for NFL success. And with all due respect (you're a very knowledgeable poster from what I've seen) but I'd say that my assessment is more accurate and closer to the truth as well (when talking Lee vs. McLendon and/or 3-4 NT vs IMLB importance).
Am I crazy or was McClendon ranked higher than Harrison by PFF as a run stopper each of the years he’s been here since replacing him? Not that PFF is the be all end all but it certainly argues against this post or at the very least, introduces logical things like who he’s playing with, the decline in people he’s playing with, etc. Also I loved Snacks and I’m glad he got paid and I’m also glad it wasn’t by us.
Hell no PFF has Snacks rated as an elite defender (90.9) and McLendon as above average defender at 81.0.
This was discussed when Snacks wasn't retained. It's past history. Plenty have bitched about it, Mac paid the wrong guy in Mo. As for your 2017 stats, The Jets actually gave up less rushing yards Less yards per attempts Way less first downs and had fewer penalties. Maybe McLendon doesn't suck as much as everyone thinks. He's not Snacks, but he's a little underrated.
Is it possible Mcclendon gets the axe on cutdown day? He gets $3 mill guaranteed if he makes the team.
McClendon had a solid year. Keep searching for excuses on Lee's inability to defend the run, this one didn't work.
Ok and those tweets were before the Jets finished the season going 1-5 while being gashed for a combined 708 rushing yards against and 7 rushing TD's allowed. And are you really comparing a 7th year veteran with no potential other than down-hill decline to that of a raw 2nd year kid with a full career of potential ahead of him? The Jets run defense fell off a cliff all while the Giants improved their run defense drastically over the past two years; with the only common denominator being that of Steve McLendon.
I didn't miss your points. Its just that they are very, very misguided. 1. NT is not the most important position when running the 34, not really close. You may have been able to argue that in the 70's and 80's, but the game has drastically changed. Edge rusher and Corner far outweigh it. Positions that protect or disrupt the QB are the most important in the era. 2. Darron Lee would still be making the same mental mistakes no matter who was in front of him. I'm really wondering if you do all your analysis on wikipedia and google or if you actually watch the game at this point. 3. Run defense is a team effort. I only takes one player to not fill his gap to give up big runs. Placing the decline all on one person is either be blind on purpose to prove your invalid point or simply not knowing what is going on when you watch the games, if you do. 4. The Giants run defense improved so much they gave up 120.8 yards per game last season which is more than the Jets 117.9. Thats with overpaying a very good interior player in Snacks. You figure he would be able to anchor down that run defense if its all about one guy right? ...and with all due disrespect, you either trolling, or just very un-knowledgeable as well as far too long winded to help hide the sticking pile of shit that is the things you often post.
You know what has really worked out well for the Giants the last few years? Being a dominant defense against the run. Man, they’ve been knocking on the door of another title ever since. You don’t pay a nose tackle almost $10 million a year to stop the run. You just don’t. Unless you think you are on your way to a title which the Giants clearly thought they were. Like I said before, I’m a big fan of Harrison and I’m glad he got paid but I’m glad it wasn’t with us. But back to the topic at hand, McLendon has been more than adequate replacing Harrison. Up until the entire team took a nosedive last season, he was among the highest rated run stoppers in the entire league. Harrison wasn’t even in the top five. I’m actually not even sure at this point with the topic at hand was. Can’t follow along with these behemoth posts.
