Any News on Andre Carter?

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by Monksdown

Didnt he say that at the end of last year, the coaching staff finally just let him go. That's what our boy Sam was saying on Riggo last night. For most of the year, they were limiting him to a particular gap to control. Once they let him free lance, he was able to generate pressure on the quarterback.

Doesnt that type of freelancing encourage the offense to run at you on that side?

The problem with this thinking that a DE should be able to stop the run and rush the passer is no one in the NFL does it.

Dwight Freeney's best season of all (as far as tackles) he had 45 tackles, 12 sacks. His best for sacks? 16 and 32 tackles. A sack also counts as a tackle, so he had all of 1 tackle a game outside of those sacks, but he was still widely regarded as a menace.

Simeon Rice never had more than 44 tackles in a season in Tampa.

Julius Peppers has never had more than 53 tackles and he's one of the best defenders in the league.

Andre Cater had only 6 sacks, but he did have 47 tackles last year. About par for a guy whose focus is the pass rush.

Ends are not going to put up a ton of tackles if their goal is to get to the quarterback. I still contend that Warrick Holdman is the reason Andre was dubbed Highway 99. If Andre gets up the field, the run will go right by him, the outside linebacker should be the one to stop a big gain, not the end. Holdman should take more responsibility for getting eaten up on big running plays than Andre Carter should.

[Monksdown]

Those are very accurate points. So should we be more upset with GW for holding him back? Why would he have not just let him go from the start?

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by Monksdown

Those are very accurate points. So should we be more upset with GW for holding him back? Why would he have not just let him go from the start?

I'm not really upset either way. I don't think "freelance" is necessarily the word to use, though, given the context it has been used here in the past. In regards to an end, if his forte is rushing the passer, just get him up the as quickly as possible. Tell him go after the QB, if he can react to the run, that's great. Now, if he anticipates run, say 3rd and 1, rein him in, but I don't think they should tell him to cover a gap on any reasonable passing down. I don't want Carter filling a gap on a 2nd and 7. That down and distance could go either way, but I want him to primarily go after the QB and I think that would be when he would be most effective, rushing the passer, not playing the run.