Originally posted by Draftology:
https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/malcolm-smith/6394
See his 2016 PFF rank above. Raw stats rarely tell the story when it comes to defensive players given how significantly a player can impact a play (negively or positively) without touching the ball or ball carrier.
His grade on PFF was 46 which falls into the "Poor" category. Given that there's a "Below Average" category ABOVE that, I'd say that's pretty bad. His rank is also #67 among OLB's. If you assume each team has two starters, he isn't even a starting quality OLB...
I know your response may be to challenge the validity of PFF grades, but they are no doubt a better indicator of performance than raw stats. We have better tools to evaluate performance these days dude. Don't just blindly read a stat sheet and draw a conclusion.
Additionally, I'd point to the performance of the Raiders defense and their willingness to resign him. He played along side the defensive player of the year, yet their defense was still sub-par. I know there are 9 other guys on the field, but again, it's another indicator of poor performance. If he was one of their few strong performers, they would have made an attempt to resign him as opposed to giving a similar contract to Bruce Irvin.
Also, read the article below which has some more meaningful metrics to look at such as missed tackles and touchdowns allowed in coverage - metrics that aren't reflected in the stats from the 60's that you use...
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-7-free-agency-moves-that-make-no-sense
I'll rely on the guys that do this for a living. So far the new regime has been very forth coming. To wit our local beat writers are quick to be negative. Both sources have said he was having the best camp of any of our LB's. If he wasn't one of the two would have contradicted the other.
As for your arguments. PFF is not a good source. They try to add substance to stats, but are often times way off because they don't know for sure what that players responsibility is on any given play, nor what the responsibilities of those around him were. You don't rack up the 6th most tackles by an olb (100+ is a lot of tackles), while playing in a scheme that still performed poorly despite having the defensive player of the year on it, especially when that scheme doesn't mesh well with your skillset yet still be one of the worst starting 4-3 olb in the league last year. Period. You're just effing wrong dude. Get over it.
He's not a superstar, but far from the claim you made, and his loss is going to be felt
[ Edited by WINiner on Aug 7, 2017 at 11:19 AM ]
