SB Nation - Erasmus James

Can Aaron Maybin fix Buffalo's pass rush woes?

Brian Galliford — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:30:09 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Over the past two seasons, the Buffalo Bills - sporting one of the league's most anemic pass rushes - have accrued just 50 sacks. For that reason, the Buffalo Bills spent their first-round draft pick on Penn State DE Aaron Maybin in the 2009 NFL Draft.

We're all aware of what Maybin brings to the table - from both the 'pro' and 'con' departments. Speed, athleticism, a quick brain, loads of untapped potential and inexperience. He's being counted on to provide a shot in the arm for a Bills pass rush that is critical to the team's success this coming season; without consistent pressure, Tom Brady, Chad Pennington and even Mark Sanchez will have all day to pick Buffalo's defense apart. Buffalo was 0-6 against their AFC East foes last season.

How much can be expected of the rookie pass rusher? Judging by the rookie production of defensive ends over the past five years, Maybin's got a difficult trend to buck.

Listed below are every defensive end drafted in the first round over the past five seasons, coupled with their first-year sack production. 20 such players exist; four were drafted per season. The group was split up into the type of defensive scheme they were drafted into; let's face it - ends entering a 3-4 system had a better shot of accumulating larger sack totals based purely on their role within the scheme, and the proof is in the pudding with regard to both personal and average sack totals. Maybin, clearly, would fall into the first (4-3) group - so those numbers are far more relevant in discussing his potential impact this season.

4-3 DE drafted Round 1, 2004-2008
Name, Team - # sacks rookie season
Chris Long, St. Louis - 4
Derrick Harvey, Jacksonville - 3.5
Lawrence Jackson, Seattle - 2
Gaines Adams, Tampa Bay - 6
Jamaal Anderson, Atlanta - 0
Jarvis Moss, Denver - 1
Mario Williams, Houston - 4.5
Tamba Hali, Kansas City - 8
Mathias Kiwanuka, NY Giants - 4
Erasmus James, Minnesota - 4
Will Smith, New Orleans - 7.5
Kenechi Udeze, Minnesota - 5
Jason Babin, Houston - 4
TOTAL - 53.5
AVERAGE - 4

3-4 DE/OLB drafted Round 1, 2004-2008
Name, Team - # sacks rookie season
Vernon Gholston, NY Jets - 0
Lawrence Timmons, Pittsburgh - 0
Anthony Spencer, Dallas - 3
Manny Lawson, San Francisco - 2.5
Kamerion Wimbley, Cleveland - 11
DeMarcus Ware, Dallas - 8
Shawne Merriman, San Diego - 10
TOTAL - 34.5
AVERAGE - 5

It's unclear at this point how Buffalo plans to use Maybin. We do know that he won't be playing linebacker in its traditional sense - he's a defensive lineman, and this is a 4-3. But that doesn't mean that Maybin won't rush from a standing position; it might be the only way to give the thin, raw Maybin a chance to beat tackles with his pure speed as a rookie. He's certainly not going to do it with strength; that's an area that he still needs serious work in.

If you're going by recent history, if Maybin has an average season this coming year, he'll pick up only 4-5 sacks. Clearly, a sack is a poor measure of a consistent pass rush - you can be an effective pass rusher without picking up gobs of sacks - but it's the best metric we've got for this exercise.

There are two ways to look at this. If you're the sarcastic realist, you'll note that the 4 sacks Maybin should get as an average rookie NFL DE would, in fact, put him in contention for the Bills team lead - Buffalo's leading sackers managed just 2.5 each (Kawika Mitchell, Marcus Stroud) in 2008. On the other hand, is 4 sacks going to be enough to significantly shift a team's blocking schemes when facing the Bills?

Maybin has a shot to be an excellent pro. Factors such as an improved offensive attack, playing with leads, and the return to health of Aaron Schobel will play their part as well. But one thing is painfully clear: rookie defensive ends generally do not come in and make big plays as rookies. Buffalo needs Maybin to do exactly that. Make no mistake about it: the Bills are rolling the dice with their selection at No. 11 overall.

Where We Talk About Draft Grades and Their Uselessness

Gonzo — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:39:25 -0000

"The Vikings targeted speed on their board and they definitely got it with wide receiver Troy Williamson, who wowed Minnesota enough that the Vikings passed on Mike Williams. Defensive end Erasmus James gives them much-needed help up front, guard-tackle Marcus Johnson will solidify the offensive line and running back Ciatrick Fason has the potential to be a terrific steal in the fourth round. Dustin Fox is a good cornerback and defensive tackle C.J. Mosley is a motivated overachiever.”

That was Mel Kiper's assessment of the Minnesota Vikings' 2005 Draft the day after said draft had taken place. Kiper and his hair gave the Vikings a B+ "grade" for their draft.

As any Viking fan knows, Minnesota's 2005 draft class is on the short list of worst drafts in NFL history. To review. . .

Troy Williamson - Everything that can be said about Williamson has already been said. Although it could probably be said with fewer expletives. Or more expletives, depending on what makes you happier.

Erasmus James - When he was on the field, he wasn't awful or anything. It's just that he could never get on the field. He was eventually traded for a seventh-round pick. . .the Vikings sent that pick back to the Redskins in the trade to move up in the fifth round this year and select South Carolina LB Jasper Brinkley.

Marcus Johnson - Played a couple of positions on the offensive line, and was relatively horrible at all of them, save one surprising performance at left tackle in the 2008 season opener against Green Bay. Actually lasted longer on the roster than any other member of this class. . .which, considering that this draft saw two first-round picks for the Vikings, is embarrassing and sad.

Dustin Fox - Who? Yeah, that sums it up.

Ciatrick Fason - Was briefly used as a goal-line back. . .which was, apparently, the ideal role for him, as his 3.2 ypc average in two years indicates that was really all the further he could get.

C.J. Mosley - Probably the best performer from the Vikings' 2005 draft class. Showed some promise as a backup DT as a rookie, and was eventually traded to the New York Jets as part of the trade that brought Brooks Bollinger to Minnesota.

Adrian Ward - Didn't even make the roster.

Grading a draft less than 24 hours after it occurs is a ludicrous practice, and one that I haven't engaged in as long as I've been running this site. After I get home from work this afternoon, I'll have my impressions on the Vikings' 2009 draft and how I feel the Vikings fared, but we don't know anything about how successful this draft is for the Vikings at this point in time.

The same thing goes for pretty much everyone other team, too. Sure, the Raiders were roundly ripped for selecting Darrius Heyward-Bey at #7. . .but what if he turns out to be a better WR than Michael Crabtree, the "consensus" best wide receiver in this year's draft? What if Matthew Stafford turns out to be more like Tim Couch than Peyton Manning in terms of QBs drafted #1 overall? Heck, what if. . .God forbid. . .Percy Harvin decides his love for pot is greater than his love for football and gets repeatedly nailed by the league's substance abuse policy?

We all have our impressions of how each team did this weekend at Radio City Music Hall. But the fact of the matter is that nobody. . .not you, not me, not Mike Mayock, not Mel Kiper. . .has any idea how any team in this year's draft did at this moment in time. I'm not saying that the draft "grades" aren't fun to read and provide a nice little distraction, but it's pretty much impossible to put any real stock into them at this point in time.

With that said, you can feel free to discuss the draft grades from the "experts," as well as your own personal thoughts and impressions of this year's draft here. I'll have my impressions of Minnesota's draft and the draft in general later this afternoon. Thanks to everyone that visited the site this weekend to make it a success, and if you're here for the first time, go on and sign up for an account so you can join the party!

A Slightly Abridged History of Vikings' First-Round Picks

Gonzo — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:30:34 -0000

With the 2009 NFL Draft now a scant three months away, I thought it would be interesting to do sort of a cross-section of Vikings' first-round draft choices throughout the team's history. . .where they've spent their picks, any potential trends, and so forth. I'll probably do this with the second round as well, and possibly the third, but the first round seems to be as good a place as any to start.

In the history of the Minnesota Vikings, the team has selected 47 players in the first round of the NFL Draft. There have been seven seasons where the Vikings had no first-round selection (1962, 1981, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 2008). There have also been three seasons where the team has had two first-round picks (1994, 1995, and 2005), as well as one season where they had three first-round selections (1967).

The Vikings have only had the #1 overall selection in the NFL Draft twice in team history. The first time was in 1961, prior to the franchise even playing their first game, when they made Tulane running back Tommy Mason the first draft choice in team history. The other time was in 1968, and the Vikings did quite well with that selection, grabbing Southern Cal offensive tackle Ron Yary with the first pick. The highest selection the Vikings have had in the first round in the 40+ years since then came in 1985, when the Beloved Purple selected defensive end Chris Doleman at #4 overall.

Minnesota has drafted players from many different schools over the years, but much of their attention has seemed to focus on two particular conferences. This is a breakdown of what conferences and schools the Vikings have pulled their first-round selections from. . .and keep in mind, these are their current conferences, not the ones that certain schools might have been in when the players in question were drafted:

Conference	# Players	Player/School Breakdown
Big Ten	12	LB Chad Greenway, Iowa (#17, 2006) DE Erasmus James, Wisconsin (#18, 2005) RB Michael Bennett, Wisconsin (#27, 2001) DE Dimitrius Underwood, Michigan State (#29, 1999) OT Korey Stringer, Ohio State (#24, 1995) RB Robert Smith, Ohio State (#21, 1993) RB D.J. Dozier, Penn State (#14, 1987) RB Leo Hayden, Ohio State (#24, 1971) RB Clint Jones, Michigan State (#2, 1967) WR Gene Washington, Michigan State (#8, 1967) OT Jerry Sharry, Purdue (#7, 1966) DT Carl Eller, Minnesota (#6, 1964) Total: Ohio State 3, Michigan State 3, Wisconsin 2, Iowa 1, Penn State 1, Purdue 1, Minnesota 1
Pac Ten	12	DE Kenechi Udeze, Southern Cal (#20, 2004) DE Duane Clemons, California (#16, 1996) OT Todd Steussie, California (#19, 1994) OG Randall McDaniel, Arizona State (#19, 1988) DE Keith Millard, Washington State (#13, 1984) S Joey Browner, Southern Cal (#19, 1983) RB Darrin Nelson, Stanford (#7, 1982) DT Doug Martin, Washington (#9, 1980) RB Fred McNeil, UCLA (#17, 1974) OT Steve Riley, Southern Cal (#25, 1974) LB Jeff Siemon, Stanford (#10, 1972) OT Ron Yary, Southern Cal (#1, 1968) Total: Southern Cal 4, California 2, Stanford 2, Arizona State 1, Washington State 1, Washington 1, UCLA 1
Atlantic Coast	6	OT Bryant McKinnie, Miami (FL) (#7, 2002) DT Chris Hovan, Boston College (#25, 2000) DE Derrick Alexander, Florida State (#11, 1995) CB DeWayne Washington, North Carolina State (#18, 1994) RB Ted Brown, North Carolina State (#16, 1979) RB Chuck Foreman, Miami (FL) (#12, 1973) Total: Miami (FL) 2, North Carolina State 2, Boston College 1, Florida State 1
Big Twelve	4	RB Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma (#7, 2007) DT Kevin Williams, Oklahoma State (#9, 2003) DT James White, Oklahoma State (#25, 1975) OT John Ward, Oklahoma State (#25, 1970) Total: Oklahoma State 3, Oklahoma 1
Southeastern	4	WR Troy Williamson, South Carolina (#7, 2005) LB Dwayne Rudd, Alabama (#20, 1997) DE Gerald Robinson, Auburn (#14, 1986) OT Jim Dunaway, Mississippi (#3, 1963) Total: South Carolina 1, Alabama 1, Auburn 1, Mississippi 1
Conference USA	4	QB Daunte Culpepper, Central Florida (#11, 1999) WR Randy Moss, Marshall (#21, 1998) QB Tommy Kramer, Rice (#27, 1977) RB Tommy Mason, Tulane (#1, 1961) Total: Central Florida 1, Marshall 1, Rice 1, Tulane 1
Big East	2	DE Chris Doleman, Pittsburgh (#4, 1985) DE Randy Holloway, Pittsburgh (#21, 1978) Total: Pittsburgh 2
Independents	2	DE Alan Page, Notre Dame (#15, 1967) WR Jack Snow, Notre Dame (#8, 1965) Total: Notre Dame 2
Mountain West	1	DE Mark Mullaney, Colorado State (#25, 1975) Total: Colorado State 1

Strange that the Vikings have taken as many players from Conference USA as they have from the big, bad Southeastern Conference, including the only two times in team history the Vikings have drafted a quarterback in Round 1.

As you can see from the breakdown above, much of the Vikings' focus on draft day throughout their history has been on the trenches. Of the Vikings' 47 first-round draft choices, over half of them. . .25, to be exact. . .have been offensive or defensive linemen. Broken down further, there have been 11 defensive ends, 8 offensive tackles, 5 defensive tackles, and 1 offensive guard. If we do the full position breakdown, it looks something like this:

Position	# of Vikings' First-Round Picks
Defensive End	11
Running Back	10
Offensive Tackle	8
Defensive Tackle	5
Linebacker	4
Wide Receiver	4
Quarterback	2
Cornerback	1
Safety	1
Offensive Guard	1

Prior to doing this breakdown, I didn't know that the Vikings had drafted THAT many running backs over the years. The Vikings have had a lot of great backs in their history, so you wouldn't think that there would be that many, but there have been some pretty good flops in there as well. Still, one could easily argue that the top three running backs in Vikings history were all first-round picks of the club (Adrian Peterson in 2007, Robert Smith in 1993, and Chuck Foreman in 1972). The team has also never used a first round pick on a center or a tight end.

Of the Vikings' first-round draft selections, three of them currently have a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Carl Eller, Alan Page, and Ron Yary), two of them are on the ballot this year (Randall McDaniel and Chris Doleman), and two of them appear, at this point, to be well on their way to a spot in Canton (Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson).

And that's a brief history of the Vikings' first round selections throughout their history. I think it's safe to say that the Vikings have had way more "hits" than "misses" in the first round of the draft over the years, and that's something that I'm sure will continue this season.

Jason Taylor prepares for surgery by playing violent sports

Skin Patrol — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:19:20 -0000

You don't typically expect, in a story titled "DE Taylor will have second surgery" predicting medical procedure next week, to read:

Taylor did not practice but still hopes to play Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He is listed as questionable on the injury report.

At least that's the word from Dr. Taylor:

"There has been talk about it, but to be honest, I don't even know what the gameplan is right now," Taylor said. "I'm going to the hospital now to find out what we're going to do. The only thing I'm really focusing on right now is hopefully playing the game on Sunday and try to help this team beat the Lions. The rest of it doesn't really matter right now. I've been hurt for a month and it hasn't changed. There's been a slight change and that's part of the reason why we're doing all this talking. I really don't know any details."

Coach Zorn said the problem was something like, uh, playing football isn't conducive to healing stabby-like wounds.

“He’s trying to play football on it, but that may not be allowing it to heal fast enough,” Zorn said.

Who'd have thought? To get an idea of how that plays out on the field, apparently Taylor has bloody sock syndrome and is bleeding out all over the football field week by week:

"Yeah, that was hot, did you see his sock?" Casey Rabach asked me. "It was all red. Kind of like Curt Schilling, but amplified. It was cool."

"We had quite a bit of blood come out," Taylor said. "It's still bleeding. It's been a month and it's still bleeding, but there's nothing I can do about it."

The "cool" oozing red goo is simply necessary and we're full of it, so Jason Taylor is absolutely right. You can't take any magic pill to cure "Blood." But one thing he can do about it would be... rest a bit, don't expose a leaky valve to the wear and tear necessarily resultant in violent sports. That would be the easy way out, and the question to readers: Does Jason Taylor need to walk this one off for a week or two or should he instead force it and play, with the added potential of this thing dragging on for, per him, a month now and leading to new surgery next week? I love his attitude about it, it is obvious mutant/hybrid Jason Taylor wants to play something fierce, so I hate even suggesting that maybe the medical staff needs to get in his face about healing up.

But we need him. Our pass rush is currently about as bad as anyone in the league besides Kansas City. Football Outsiders pegs us with a 4.8% adjusted sack rate. That puts us well below the 6.6% league average and higher than just Jacksonville, Cincy, and the aforementioned Chiefs. As skinsider pointed out, Taylor draws double teams that free up Andre Carter to go do harm and pain to the opposing quarterback. We don't have enough starter-quality defensive ends. If Taylor isn't on the field, Carter gets the double team and Demetric Evans or whomever on the far side isn't capable of defeating a single blocker with any sort of consistency. Chris Wilson, Rob Jackson, Demetric Evans and Erasmus James have combined for one sack. Someone please step up.

I won't fence sit, I want him to play. While a part of me almost thinks -- and this is crazy considering what happened two weeks ago -- if ever there was a game to miss, it's tomorrow, I appreciate too much the attitude exhibited by a player's willingness to fight through the pain. That's the kind of thing that makes me love football, and I'm certain that it impresses teammates. Leaving human gore on the field is leadership, man. Get out there and hurt them Jason.

I may not feel the same way three weeks down the road if/when we're still talking about this damn calf injury.