The coaches have consistently stood by this guy. I get that this is part of their job, but I’m wondering, how this might play out on Monday. One thing to consider is that Clemons has been rated a better run defender than Reddick. According to Pro Football Focus, even in a down year like 2023, Clemons’ PFF run defense grade was better than Reddick’s (66.3 to 63.7). More to the point, coaches say that Clemens has improved at least to his performance in 2022, when he had a run grade of 86.4. If this is true, Clemons Will be much stronger against the run on early downs than Reddick ever was or can be. Reddick achieved a PFF grade against the run of 70.4 in 2020 but otherwise never earned a PFF run grade higher than 59.9 from 2018 to 2022. Hopefully, Clemons can plug up the run and hold his own on the pass on early downs. Then McDonald and McKinley can pin back their ears on passing downs and do what they do best.
Going from Reddick to Clemons is a gargantuan downgrade. Rushing the passer is much more important and Clemons has shown very little ability to rush the passer in the pros.
I agree about the downgrade. No doubt I’m trying to make lemonade when handed the lemon of Reddick’s holdout. I just have a feeling that the 49rs game plan will be to run the ball down the Jets throat. If this is the case, Reddick might not be as effective as Clemons on run downs.
The key to success against the 49rs first and foremost, Reddick or not, is to stop the run and seal the edge. . Pass rush won’t mean crap if they carve us with 4-5 yards per down and we don’t push their O line back.
Was gonna say this. Clemons can hold the edge and that's a good thing. He can handle those duties. Then they'll rotate McDonald in.
True but Bryce Huff and John Franklin Myers were. And they took their combined 13.5 sacks elsewhere. Reddick was supposed to make up that level of production. Michael Clemons won't.
Yeah and honestly I would have just preferred to keep Huff even at the deal he got from Philly I know we have huge contracts coming up for Sauce, GW, and JJ, and even Breece but we should have worked harder to keep Huff
I'm not sure Bryce Huff wanted to stay in a system that he knew he'd be sharing snaps with 5 other guys. The system isn't designed for any one guy to have a huge role.
Meyers completely untimely RTP penalties in critical stop situations will not be missed. I think our inside D line got better.
McDonald taking on a Huff role now. He'll get sacks, but whether he's gonna make a difference like Huff. and justifies himself being picked where he was is yet to be seen. The dude is lightning fast and athletic. It's also possible that out of Taylor, McKinley, and McGregor they might've scored with a couple of them.
That's the trick. Huff wasn't a run stopper, but whenever they put him on the field in a pass rushing role he maximized the snaps he was given. So far we've seen McDonald flash a bit but do nothing consistently, and Clemons is just a big bully without a second gear. It's a little much to expect UDFAs to do a great job picking up the slack.
McDonald may be fast and athletic but he doesn't look explosive, there's a difference. His build is just not there. I hope I'm wrong but I see nothing to suggest he comes even close to producing Huff's type of production or physicality.
Okay, but that's where they're at. They lost Huff and he's getting replaced by McDonald. They didn't lose against the run having lost Huff. I'm not counting McDonald out until I see him. He a freakish athlete. He's extremely quick also. I'm not looking at at not having Reddick as some massive blow, and maybe they're a little more prepared than people think. He may not match Huff, but he made add pressure and open things up for Quinnen and these other guys inside. I wouldn't count Taylor and McKinley out out either.
Fair point, but I do think WMD will make up for Huff's production as a situational pass rusher. I also think we'll get more sacks from JJ this year. Obviously the team is better with Reddick, but I do think Reddick is not great at setting the edge against the run. Clemons might just have him beat in that department, but as a pure pass rusher, definitely not.
